{"id":895890,"date":"2026-05-19T23:36:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T23:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/895890\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T23:36:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T23:36:24","slug":"week-1-nfl-starter-odds-tua-tagovailoa-slight-favorite-to-start-for-the-falcons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/895890\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 1 NFL starter odds: Tua Tagovailoa slight favorite to start for the Falcons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\tGambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our editorial standards<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n

The Falcons\u2019 quarterback battle is about as close as it can get.<\/p>\n

Atlanta enters training camp with one of the more fascinating position battles in the NFL<\/a>, as Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. are essentially even money to win the starting job.<\/p>\n

Tagovailoa, who signed a one-year minimum deal with the Falcons<\/a> in March after being released by the Dolphins, is an ever-so-slight -120 favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook<\/a> to be behind center for Atlanta during Week 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Penix is right behind him at -106, suggesting that there\u2019s still plenty to be decided in Atlanta in the coming months before the 2026 NFL season kicks off.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Tua coming in here, he knows he\u2019s coming in to compete,\u201d Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham said in March. \u201cJust like Michael knows that he\u2019s coming in to compete and everybody, quite frankly \u2014 not just those two at the quarterback position \u2014 but everybody\u2019s coming in to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tagovailoa, 28, has spent the last six seasons with the Dolphins since being drafted 5th overall in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He had 260 completions for 2,660 yards and 20 touchdowns, along with 15 interceptions, in 14 games last season.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Penix Jr. #9 of the Atlanta Falcons looks on prior to the game against the Carolina Panthers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Penix, who underwent surgery for a torn ACL in November, is rehabbing with the hopes of returning to action in Week 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since I got hurt, that\u2019s been a goal,\u201d Penix said Tuesday, per ESPN<\/a>. \u201cBut at the same time, I\u2019ve got to focus on the right now and right now I\u2019ve got to do whatever I can to get better each and every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Betting on the NFL? <\/p>\n

In two seasons since being drafted No. 8 overall, Penix has thrown for 2,757 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions across 14 appearances.<\/p>\n

New Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski said Tuesday that the pair will rotate first-team reps and that he plans to be \u201cvery\u201d intentional with how they split looks.<\/p>\n

Why Trust New York Post Betting<\/p>\n

Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He\u2019s particularly knowledgeable about the big three \u2014 MLB, the NFL and the NBA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":895891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2074],"tags":[223,254,2554,1107,224,7,1879,6,6020,9,5433,7634,3452],"class_list":["post-895890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-atlanta-falcons","tag-atlanta","tag-atlanta-falcons","tag-atlantafalcons","tag-betting","tag-falcons","tag-football","tag-michael-penix-jr","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-betting","tag-sports","tag-sports-betting","tag-sports-picks","tag-tua-tagovailoa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116603872117369533","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}