The arrival of the 2025 NFL season means more than just making spread or total picks, as it also gives bettors the opportunity to make NFL prop bets on the league’s biggest stars. From the 13 games on Sunday to Monday Night Football, you’ll have no shortage of player props to wager on. There are several players returning from injury-plagued seasons a year ago who want to start 2025 off on the right note, including Trevor Lawrence, Alvin Kamara and Stefon Diggs. Their Week 1 NFL prop odds could be a bit off considering how last year ended, and this could be an opportunity to cash in.

Kamara has a rushing + receiving yards NFL prop total of 93.5 (-112/-114) versus Arizona on Sunday after the running back averaged 106.6 scrimmage yards in 2024. The Cardinals allowed the eighth-most rushing yards per game to running backs last year, in addition to giving up the eighth-most receiving yards per game to the position. 

Before making any Week 1 NFL prop bets on Kamara’s Overs, you also have to remember he’s now 30, playing under a first-year head coach and has a young quarterback who’s winless in six career starts. If you are looking for NFL prop bets or NFL parlays for Week 1, SportsLine has you covered with the top Week 1 player props from its Machine Learning Model AI.

Built using cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques by SportsLine’s Data Science team, AI Predictions and AI Ratings are generated for each player prop. 

Now, with the Week 1 NFL schedule quickly approaching, SportsLine’s Machine Learning Model AI has identified the top NFL props from the biggest Week 1 games.

Week 1 NFL props for Sunday’s main slate

After analyzing the NFL props from Sunday’s main slate and examining the dozens of NFL player prop markets, the SportsLine’s Machine Learning Model AI says Bengals WR Tee Higgins goes Under 63.5 receiving yards (-114) versus the Browns in a 1 p.m. ET kickoff. Excluding a 2022 game in which he played just one snap, Higgins has been held under 60 receiving yards in three of his last four meetings with Cleveland. 

Entering his sixth NFL season, Higgins has never had more than 58 yards in any Week 1 game, including going catchless on eight targets versus the Browns in Week 1 of 2023. The SportsLine Machine Learning Model projects 44.4 yards for Higgins in a 5-star pick. See more Week 1 NFL props here.

Week 1 NFL props for Bills vs. Ravens on Sunday Night Football

After analyzing Ravens vs. Bills props and examining the dozens of NFL player prop markets, the SportsLine’s Machine Learning Model AI says Ravens QB Lamar Jackson goes Over 233.5 passing yards (-114). The last time Jackson took the field was against Buffalo in last season’s playoffs, and the two-time MVP had 254 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air. The SportsLine Machine Learning Model projects Jackson to blow past his total with 280.2 yards on average in a 4.5-star prop pick. See more NFL props for Ravens vs. Bills here. 

You can make NFL prop bets on Jackson and others with the Underdog Fantasy promo code CBSSPORTS2. Bet at Underdog Fantasy and get $50 in bonus bets after making a $5 bet:

Week 1 NFL props for Bears vs. Vikings on Monday Night Football

After analyzing Vikings vs. Bears props and examining the dozens of NFL player prop markets, the SportsLine’s Machine Learning Model AI says Bears QB Caleb Williams goes Under 218.5 passing yards (-114). Primetime games like what he’ll see on Sunday night weren’t too favorable to Williams as a rookie. He lost all three he played in, had one total passing score across them, was sacked an average of 5.3 times and, most relevant to this NFL prop, Williams failed to reach even 200 passing yards in any of the three. The SportsLine Machine Learning Model forecasts him to finish with just 174.8 passing yards, making Under 218.5 a 4.5-star NFL prop. See more NFL props for Vikings vs. Bears here. 

You can also use the latest FanDuel promo code to get $300 in bonus bets instantly:

How to make Week 1 NFL prop picks

SportsLine’s Machine Learning Model has identified another star who sails past his total and has dozens of NFL props rated 4 stars or better. You need to see the Machine Learning Model analysis before making any Week 1 NFL prop bets.

Which NFL prop picks should you target for Week 1, and which star player has multiple 5-star rated picks? Visit SportsLine to see the latest NFL player props from SportsLine’s Machine Learning Model that uses cutting-edge artificial intelligence to make its projections.

Artificial intelligence is emerging as a powerful tool for patients facing expensive surprise medical bills, sometimes saving them thousands of dollars.

On this week’s Your Money Matters, Dave Davis shared the story of Lauren Consalvas, a California mother who was told she owed thousands in out-of-pocket maternity costs after her insurance company denied her claim two years ago.

Consalvas said she tried to fight the charges, but her initial appeal letters were denied. That’s when she turned to Counterforce Health, an AI company that helps patients challenge insurance denials.

Using the AI-generated information, Consalvas filed another appeal, and the charges were dropped.

Consumer advocates stress that patients have the right to appeal surprise medical bills, though few take advantage of it. Data shows only about 1% of patients ever file an appeal.

Experts say AI could make that process easier, giving patients the tools to fight back and potentially avoid life-changing medical debt.

It is not a new phenomenon that technology has drawn people closer by transforming how they communicate and entertain themselves. From the days of SMS to team chat platforms, people have built new modes of conversation over the past two decades. But these interactions still involved people. With the rise of generative artificial intelligence, online gaming and viral challenges, a different form of engagement has entered daily life, and with it, new vulnerabilities.

Take chatbots for instance. Trained on vast datasets, they have become common tools for assisting with schoolwork, travel planning and even helping a person lose 27 kg in six months. In one study, titled Me, Myself & I: Understanding and safeguarding children’s use of AI chatbots, chatbots are being used by almost 64% of children for help with everything from homework to emotional advice and companionship. And, they are increasingly being implicated in mental health crises.

In Belgium, the parents of a teenager who died by suicide alleged that ChatGPT, the AI system developed by OpenAI, reinforced their son’s negative worldview. They claimed the model did not offer appropriate warnings or support during moments of distress.

In the US, 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III died by suicide in February 2024. His mother Jessica Garcia later found messages suggesting that Character.AI, a start-up offering customised AI companions, had appeared to normalise his darkest thoughts. She has since argued that the platform lacked safeguards to protect vulnerable minors.

Both companies maintain that their systems are not substitutes for professional help. OpenAI has said that since early 2023 its models have been trained to avoid providing self-harm instructions and to use supportive, empathetic language. “If someone writes that they want to hurt themselves, ChatGPT is trained not to comply and instead to acknowledge their feelings and steer them toward help,” the company noted in a blog post. It has pledged to expand crisis interventions, improve links to emergency services and strengthen protections for teenagers.

Viral challenges

The risks extend beyond AI. Social platforms and dark web communities have hosted viral challenges with deadly consequences. The Blue Whale Challenge, first reported in Russia in 2016, allegedly required participants to complete 50 escalating tasks, culminating in suicide. Such cases illustrate the hold that closed online communities can exert over impressionable users, encouraging secrecy and resistance to intervention. They also highlight the difficulty regulators face in tracking harmful trends that spread rapidly across encrypted or anonymous platforms.

The global gaming industry, valued at more than $180 billion, is under growing scrutiny for its addictive potential. In India alone, which has one of the lowest ratios of mental health professionals to patients in the world, the online gaming sector was worth $3.8 billion in FY24, according to gaming and interactive media fund Lumikai, with projections of $9.2 billion by FY29.

Games rely on reward systems, leaderboards and social features designed to keep players engaged. For most, this is harmless entertainment. But for some, the consequences are severe. In 2019, a 17-year-old boy in India took his own life after losing a session of PUBG. His parents had repeatedly warned him about his excessive gaming, but he struggled to stop.

Studies show that adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the highs and lows of competitive play. The dopamine-driven feedback loops embedded in modern games can magnify feelings of success and failure, while excessive screen time risks deepening social isolation.

Even platforms designed to encourage outdoor activity have had unintended effects. Pokemon Go, the augmented reality game launched in 2016, led to a wave of accidents as players roamed city streets in search of virtual creatures. In the US, distracted players were involved in traffic collisions, some fatal. 

Other incidents involved trespassing and violent confrontations, including a shooting, although developer Niantic later added warnings and speed restrictions.

Question of responsibility

These incidents highlight a recurring tension: where responsibility lies when platforms created for entertainment or companionship intersect with human vulnerability. 

Some steps are being taken. The EU’s Digital Services Act, which came into force in 2024, requires large platforms to conduct risk assessments on issues such as mental health and to implement stronger moderation. Yet enforcement remains patchy, and companies often adapt faster than regulators. Tragedies linked to chatbots, viral challenges and gaming remain relative to the vast number of users. But they show how quickly new technologies can slip into roles they were not designed to play. What is clear is that the stakes are high. As digital platforms become more immersive and AI more persuasive, the line between tool and companion will blur further. Unless companies embed responsibility into their design choices, and regulators demand accountability, more families may face a painful question: how a product marketed as harmless ended up contributing to a child’s death.