NFL football betting fans will get their first taste of Monday Night Football action tonight! The Kansas City Chiefs will take on the San Diego Chargers in the nightcap, but in the main course, the Baltimore Ravens will face the New York Jets. Check out these prop picks for the first Monday of the year.

Ray Rice Over 80.5 Yards
Even though the Ravens are probably going to have more of a chance of focusing in on the passing game now that WR TJ Houshmanzadeh and WR Anquan Boldin are in the fray, that doesn’t mean that Rice isn’t going to be a dominating force this year. Without DL Calvin Pace in the lineup, the big boys up front are going to be thinner than normal for the Jets. Conventional wisdom suggests that New York, who had one of the best rush defenses in the NFL last year, would be able to shut Rice down. We tend to think otherwise. Rice Over 80.5 yards carries (-115 at Hollywood Sportsbook) is the choice for this prop.

Will Mark Sanchez Throw a TD or INT First?
The oddsmakers did a nice job making this line to try to throw you off. On one hand, it is clear that Sanchez threw more INTs than TDs last year. On the other, Baltimore is going to be crushed in the secondary with injuries. However, we still look at a guy like Ed Reed and the depth in that front seven and wonder how Sanchez is going to be finding ways to find the end zone either on the ground or through the air. That being said, the only team that can pressure a quarterback more than Baltimore might be the team on the other side of the field. If the Ravens can get to Sanchez as we expect, especially right up the middle in what could be a relatively shaky center of the Jets offensive line, Sanchez could be prone to multiple INTs in this one. Go with Sanchez to throw an INT first (-110 at Hollywood Sportsbook).

Longest TD of the Game Over/Under 43.5 Yards
Neither one of these offenses has the same type of firepower that they did last year on offense in terms of explosive plays, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t think there will be a long touchdown at any point over the course of this game. Remember that we have both special teams and defensive tuddies that count in here as well. Javier Arenas is going to want to make a great impression on his new team on kick and punt returns, and he was one of the most prolific returners in the history of college football. LaDainian Tomlinson is gone, but both RBs Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles are potential home run hitters for the Bolts. We also know that new OC Charlie Weis is going to do the best he can to stretch the field and get some confidence in a relatively weak crop of receivers. We already know that his QB Matt Cassel certainly has the arm to make this work. At some point, there is bound to be at least one score that goes Over 43.5 yards (-115 at Hollywood Sportsbook).

Antonio Gates Over/Under 74.5 Receiving Yards
The bottom line here is that QB Philip Rivers is just more comfortable throwing the ball to his massive tight end than he is anywhere else, especially with WR Vincent Jackson still holding out. Yes, there will be plenty of dump offs to Mathews and Sproles out of the backfield, and WR Malcom Floyd might be in for a big day as well, but unless the Chiefs are going to use Eric Berry to shadow Gates the entire game, there could be a ton of holes in the middle of this defense. Look for HC Norv Turner to find ways to get Gates in some open space, even if that means lining him up at wide receiver from time to time. He’ll get at least ten looks in this game, and if that’s the case, he’ll come down with at least seven of the ten and easily fly past this number. Gates will well exceed Over 74.5 yards (-115 at Hollywood Sportsbook).