Indianapolis at Chicago
It is amazing how the media would not stop with the Andrew
Luck talk all throughout last season, and now here he is and all we hear about
is RGIII and Tim Tebow. The number one draft pick looks to regain the spotlight
with his first game in the NFL. Luck drew a tough matchup though as the
Indianapolis Colts travel to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears. The
Bears perennially own one of the league’s top defenses and will continue to
maintain that status as long as Brian Urlacher dresses in a Bears uniform.
Offensively, Jay Cutler returns from a 2011 thumb injury and will now be paired
with star wide receiver Brandon Marshall for the second time in their careers.
A talented, veteran defense coupled with a revamped offense could vault the
Bears to the top spot in the NFC North. Their road to a division championship
begins this Sunday with a win over the Colts as Andrew Luck starts his career
with two interceptions.
Chicago- 27
Indianapolis- 19
Philadelphia at Cleveland
Is there anything exciting about the Cleveland Browns? Awful
uniforms. A 28 year old rookie quarterback.
Relatively no big names on defense. A rookie runningback who is already haunted
by injuries. 15 rookies on a 53 man roster. The Browns will be the worst team
in the NFL this season. Their first loss comes in week 1 against the “Dream…”,
actually let’s not get back into that again this year. The Philadelphia Eagles
main goal in the regular season is obviously to make the playoffs, but their
priority should be keeping Michael Vick healthy. The Eagles biggest questions
though are on defense where defensive coordinator Juan Castillo struggled in
his first season. While this first game should be a cakewalk facing a putrid
Browns offense, Philadelphia has a tough road ahead in a difficult division.
Cleveland- 14
Philadelphia- 31
New England at Tennessee
Wes Welker has to be livid with himself for dropping that
pass in the Superbowl. With just under four minutes left in the game, Welker
dropped a wide open pass at the Giants 20 yard line that certainly would have
locked up victory for the Patriots. Instead, the Giants got the ball back and
the rest is history. Going into the 2012 season, expectations are equally as
high for this Patriots team. They added Brandon Lloyd to an already explosive
passing attack. Questions remain on the offensive line as Tom Brady was
constantly under pressure during the pre-season. Fortunately for the Patriots
offensive line, the Titans were 31st in total sacks last year,
bringing down the quarterback only 28 times in 2011. If Brady is given ample
amounts of time, expect him to pick apart the Titans secondary. Jake Locker, CJ2K, and the Titans offense
will be incapable of keeping up with the Patriots offense.
New England- 35
Atlanta at Kansas City
Very rarely are teams best acquisitions in the offseason
coordinators. However, for the Atlanta Falcons, offensive coordinator Dirk
Koetter and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, will be their biggest additions.
The aggressive nature of both coaches will undoubtedly make the Falcons a
better team. Koetter will especially take advantage of the strengths of Matt
Ryan which are his intelligence, abilities to adjust the play at the line of
scrimmage, and his accuracy on timing routes. Defensively, Mike Nolan will use
playmaker Sean Weatherspoon in a diverse way and utilize his talented
cornerbacks in the nickel package. Kansas City, Atlanta’s week one opponent,
will be without superstar outside linebacker Tamba Hali and cornerback Brandon
Flowers. Without Hali and Flowers, Matt Ryan should have ample time in the
pocket to find Julio Jones downfield, demonstrating the explosiveness of
Koetter’s new offense.
Kansas City- 24
Atlanta- 33
Jacksonville at Minnesota
There is not much to like about either of these teams heading
into week 1. Both teams have superstar runningbacks with serious issues, Adrian
Peterson might not play because of knee injuries suffered last season. Maurice
Jones-Drew just ended his holdout from training camp and according to Coach
Mularkey will only be a third down runningback. There has been a lot of
discussion about the improvements of sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert
during the pre-season; but I will believe it when I see it. Until then, he is
still the worst quarterback in the league in my opinion. Minnesota outlasts
Jacksonville in a game of two irrelevant teams.
Jacksonville- 20
Washington at New Orleans
While Robert Griffin III has not yet played in an NFL game,
we can only hope he plays poorly. All these commercials we see on t.v. with him
need to end. A professional athlete that hurdles his way to Subway during
workouts? Come on. This is someone who has not proven anything who has already
made enough money in endorsements and bonuses to retire and live happily the
rest of his life. Amazing. Griffin’s first opportunity to prove himself comes
against a New Orleans Saints team who received a lot of negative attention this
off-season with Bounty-Gate. While I do think the offseason turmoil will have
an impact on the Saints, the Redskins are no match for the Saints. Defensive
Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will unleash a variety of different blitzes that
will confuse RGIII into a multiple turnover game.
Washington- 13
Buffalo at NY Jets
I would love to know how the New York Jets came to their
decision about acquiring Tim Tebow. Yes, he was the quarterback when the
Broncos beat the Steelers last year in the playoffs. Yes, he mastered a
miraculous comeback against the Jets last year in the final two minutes. But
how can he possibly help this football team? It should be particularly
interesting to see what happens with the quarterback situation in New York if
the Jets get off to a poor start. We could see Tebow starting halfway through
the year. Week one will prove to be a challenge for the Jets. The Bills added
All-Pro outside linebacker Mario Williams and their identity seemed to change
this offseason with that addition. However, the Bills biggest weakness is the
Jets best strength. The Jets secondary should be able to contain the poor
receiving core of Buffalo. A low scoring game at Met Life Stadium won bydefense and fields goals.
Buffalo- 13
St. Louis at Detroit
Can a head coach really make that big of a difference? Teams
hunted for Jeff Fisher as though he has the solutions to all teams’ problems. I
just don’t see it happening this year for the Rams. Their only real weapon is
an aging runningback and Sam Bradford has nothing to work with in terms of wide
receivers. They should look at their opponent in week 1 for an example toward
creating a high-powered offense with the weapons to produce points. The word
weapon is probably a poor choice of words when it comes to the Lions. Some of
their players might take that too seriously… If the Lions expect to return to
the playoffs, they need to beat teams like the Rams. They get that win week one.
St. Louis- 17
Miami at Houston
Watching the Miami Dolphins on HBO’s special Hard Knocks gave me a new appreciation
for the rebuilding process a team goes through. The show also opened my eyes to
the importance of the business aspect of an NFL team. First year coach Joe
Philbin handled that business aspect with incredible poise and remained consistent
no matter who the player was. His attitude and personality gives the Dolphins
the perfect personality for development. However, Philbin will suffer a loss in
his first game as a head coach. The Dolphins travel to Houston this week to
take on a healthy and talented Texans team. Without quarterback Matt Schaub at
the end of last season the Texans still managed to make the playoffs and almost
pulled out a victory against the Bengals. The Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson
connection returns in 2012 making the Texans a serious Superbowl contender.
Houston- 27
Miami- 20
San Francisco at Green Bay
What a way for these two 2011 playoff teams to start the 2012
season. Both teams got knocked out of the playoffs last year by the Superbowl
champion Giants and both teams are looking forward to forgetting those losses.
This should be an exciting game to watch for true football fans. The league’s
best offense in the Green Bay Packers faces the league’s top defense in the
49ers. Those units are special. San Francisco’s 3-4 defense brings the perfect
balance of the ability to stop both the run and the pass. Green Bay’s pass-happy
offense has the best player in the NFL in Aaron Rodgers and will continue to
improve if the personnel stays the same. When those two units are on the field,
there should be some serious big plays in either direction. However, this game
will therefore be determined by the 49ers offense and the Green Bay defense. I
know Alex Smith had his breakout campaign in 2011, but I think he’s due for a
letdown in week 1.
Green Bay- 30
San Francisco- 23
Seattle at Arizona
The energy that Head Coach Pete Carroll brings to the
football field is contagious. He came to the Seattle Seahawks and instilled an
attitude that has brought this team from 5 and 11 in 2009, to back to back 7
and 9 seasons and a playoff berth in 2010. While those records might not be
what teams strive for, the improvements he has made in two years are
incredible. The Seahawks boast one of the leagues toughest defenses and there
is excitement surrounding rookie quarterback Russell Wilson. Wilson’s
counterpart in this game John Skelton surprisingly stole the starting job from
Kevin Kolb in the preseason. It seemed like no one on the Cardinals roster
wanted to win that starting quarterback job.
This game will be determined by the team that can run the ball, control
the line of scrimmage, and control the clock. Get the man his skittles, because
Marshawn Lynch will eclipse 150 yards rushing, carrying the Seahawks to their
first win of the season.
Arizona- 20
Seattle- 24
Carolina at Tampa Bay
The Carolina Panthers are another organization on the rise.
They demonstrated that through the draft, a team can be rebuilt in a short
period of time. It also helps when you draft the best rookie of all time. Cam
Newton was ridiculous last year. There was no training camp to learn the
offense and even head coach Ron Rivera said that he didn’t know all of the
plays going into week 1 last year. Will he be able to repeat and improve upon
that remarkable rookie season? We could find out in the first week of the
regular season against the Buccaneers. I think rookie linebacker Luke Kuechly
plays a huge part in the outcome of this game. The Panthers weakness last
season was their poor linebacker play. Kuechly was a tackling machine at Boston
College and continued to show that dominance in the pre-season. If the Panthers
improve at all on defense, they could push for a wildcard spot in the playoffs.
Tampa Bay- 23
Carolina- 28
Pittsburgh at Denver
Watching Big Ben evade Eagles defenders in Week 2 of the
preseason was reminiscent of watching George Costanza dodge cars with a Frogger
machine in SeinFeld. Unfortunately for Roethlisberger, his
offensive line took a huge hit as rookie guard David DeCastro went down with a
knee injury in the pre-season. Despite
these issues, Roethlisberger is well known for his abilities to get out of the
pocket and make big plays. Big plays will be critical when the opponent is
Peyton Manning. Recovering from a neck injury, Manning looks to return to his
Hall of Fame level of play. It should be
interesting to see what kind of control Manning is given at the line of
scrimmage on a new team. This is probably the most difficult game to figure out
this week specifically because it is almost impossible to judge how well
Manning will play in his return. The pressure the Broncos are able to put on
opposing quarterbacks coupled with the lack of a rush offense for the Steelers
could make it a long day for Roethlisberger.
Pittsburgh- 20
Denver- 26
Carson Palmer needs to start playing like the quarterback we
saw five years ago. Now. The Raiders gave up way too much to have a mediocre
quarterback. It should help Palmer now that Darrius Hayward-Bey finally learned
how to catch the ball. Carson Palmer’s opponent this week, Philip Rivers, also
needs to return to his old form. Last year Rivers threw a career high in
interceptions and failed to lead the Chargers into the playoffs. With the
talent on this team and the lack of success since the 2009 season, it is
amazing to me how Norv Turner is still the head coach. Turner’s team has to
make a trip to the playoffs and get off to a fast start or this should
definitely be his final season. The difference in this game will be the matchup
nightmare that Antonio Gates is to defenses. His abilities to get open in the
redzone should prevent Rivers from forcing the ball, limiting turnover
opportunities.
San Diego- 31
Cincinnati at Baltimore
This is the year Joe Flacco has to prove himself. Some might
argue he is on the cusp of being an elite quarterback, but he has yet to win
the big game. He also must win now because the window is closing quickly on the
Baltimore Ravens defense. There are rumors that this could be the last year
future Hall of Famers Ray Lewis and Ed Reed play together. Without those two
game-changers, this franchise changes drastically. In week 1, the Ravens will
take on the up and coming Cincinnati Bengals. The sophomore connection of Andy
Dalton and A.J. Green looks to improve upon an impressive rookie campaign and
repeat their appearance in the playoffs. Helmets will be flying in a
hard-hitting defensive game won by the team that forces the most turnovers.
Ravens win.
Baltimore- 24
Cincinnati- 21
San Diego at Oakland
Carson Palmer needs to start playing like the quarterback we
saw five years ago. Now. The Raiders gave up way too much to have a mediocre
quarterback. It should help Palmer now that Darrius Hayward-Bey finally learned
how to catch the ball. Carson Palmer’s opponent this week, Philip Rivers, also
needs to return to his old form. Last year Rivers threw a career high in
interceptions and failed to lead the Chargers into the playoffs. With the
talent on this team and the lack of success since the 2009 season, it is
amazing to me how Norv Turner is still the head coach. Turner’s team has to
make a trip to the playoffs and get off to a fast start or this should
definitely be his final season. The difference in this game will be the matchup
nightmare that Antonio Gates is to defenses. His abilities to get open in the
redzone should prevent Rivers from forcing the ball, limiting turnover
opportunities.
Oakland- 28
