i just realized / remembered that i did this every week last year and i haven’t yet done it this week… so here goes, opening weekend, the weekend we’ve all been waiting for… this year things will be a little different in that i’m being pressured to watch College football as well, so i suppose at some point in the year i may comment on those games as well, but i wouldn’t expect that any time soon…
Anyway, clearly i can’t pick last night’s game legitimately, though, i probably would’ve gone the wrong way if i had… thing is, i watched some of the game and considered staying up late to watch the end, but i dislike no team more than i dislike the Steelers and as a Bills fan, i have remnant angst towards the Titans still because of the forwards/backwards lateral that haunts my memory…
moving on… key matchups from this weekend begin with Jacksonville and Indianapolis… I’m excited about this game, because whenever these teams meet, it seems like the Colts end up being a more physical team as they try to match the intensity that the Jags always manage to bring to the table… i’m also looking forward to seeing how the Colt’s offense unfolds for the season and seeing if they can continue to dominate the rivalry… i’m calling it for the Colts in a close one, 27-24
as for the rest of the one o’clock games, i’ll sweep through them rather quickly… i expect to see:
- the Falcons over the Dolphins big…
- the Ravens rack up a dozen or so sacks while rolling over the Chiefs…
- Carolina cringe as the Eagles explode for big point totals whilst McNabb pleads his case as the big man on campus…
- the Bengals edge out the Broncos as both teams really fight their own demons…
- a big game from Peterson early and a few big plays from Favre late as the Vikings beat up on the Browns…
- the J-E-T-S to make a surprise trip to the victory circle giving Mark Sanchez the confidence he’ll need to choke the rest of the season away…
- the Saints to yawn their way through beating the new-look, but still no-good Lions…
and
- the Bucs fall short of beating the cowboys…
on to the four o’clock schedule… much thinner selection, but the big matchup has to be… the Skins and the G-men… sure, both teams have been a little slow to get out of the gate – okay, the Skins are still looking for the gate – but this is always a big matchup and i expect it to be a nice bit of smashmouth football… lots of questions for sure and, though i’m pulling for the Skins, i’m expecting the Giants to walk away with a 21-9 victory…
and the other two games don’t promise to be all that exciting as the Cards will likely blow out the struggling 49ers (though i’m rooting for the niners for Mike Singletary’s benefit) and the Seahawks and Rams will probably both struggle to find the end zone with the Rams winning by a slim margin…
Sunday Night Football features a classic matchup in the Bears and Packers, but it doesn’t ring quite as true as it used to… i do see the Bears trio of Cutler, Hester and Forte reminiscent of McMahon, Gault and Payton, but the former are simply too inconsistant at this point to really bank on them… same goes for the defense… and that said, i’m giving the game to the Pack by the score of 31-21…
and that leaves me with the Monday night doubleheader… of course, i’m stoked about the Bills / Patriots game, but not without heisitation… it’s easy to pick the Patriots blindly going into this one since Brady’s back and the Bills forgot what the end zone was during the preseason, but this should actually be a pretty decent game… you’ve got the battle of the 81s in To vs Moss and you’ve got New England’s suddenly shaky defense vs the always shaky offense… all said and done, i still give it to the Pats, but by the slimmest of margins… 14-12…
Round two goes to the Chargers in a big way, but that’s just a gimme, really… i mean, who thinks the Raiders are going to be winning more than five games this year?
And that’s all for right now… i think that sometime early next week, i’ll put together a bracket for this year’s playoffs and pick the champs and the chumps…
peace… love… bdg…