Well I wrote an article for a fellow and his website so mine is really in depth but you guys can just post who you think will win in week1</p> </p> Thursday, Sept. 6New Orleans at Indianapolis, 8:30 PM (NBC)The Saints are coming off of a year that no one saw coming. Calling the Saints a Cinderella story is like calling Appalachian State a favorite. On the other end of the football spectrum, the Colts were the pre season favorites to win it all, and that’s exactly what they did. The Colts had a horrible defense until late into the regular season and into the playoffs. Will losing all those free agents on defense effect the team? Considering how bad that defense was at one point ( come on the Jaguars ran on them like a pee wee football squad in week 14, Ind 14 Jac 44) I wouldn't be overtly worried about the "losses". The Colts were last in the league in rush defense last year. The Saints also sported a mediocre defense themselves. Both teams did little to improve that. With players like Manning, Harrison, Wayne, Addai on one side and players like Brees, Bush, McAllister, and their young pups at the Wide Receiver position, expect a competitive shootout. Indianapolis comes out on top, don't be surprised if it comes down to a field goal by none other than Mr. Adam Vinatieri.Sunday, Sept. 9Philadelphia at Green Bay, 1 PM (FOX)QB Brett Favre decided to come back for a 17th year. Its a shame he comes back to a Green Bay team with an unproven rookie RB, an unproven line and a banged up receiving core. The interior offensive line of the Packers has a combined 8 years of NFL experience. Some refer to Brett as the greatest ever at his position. Regardless of his notoriety, its looking like another shaky start for Brett and the boys. There are positives, the Packers LB corps look like they have the potential to be one of the best LB tandems in the league. But like most of the Packer team, they are young and unproven. We haven't even considered who they are playing in week 1. Donovan McNabb had one of the best passer ratings in the NFL before his injury verse the Tennessee Titans in week 11. Brian Westbrook has continued to progress as a runner and a receiver out of the backfield, year, after year, after year. A questionable move the Eagles made this preseason was cutting Jeremiah Trotter. Trotter was a pro bowl MLB last year and was renown for his work ethic and his leadership role with the Eagle organization. The Eagles take this one in a yawn of a game.Atlanta at Minnesota, 1 PM (FOX)Where my dawgs at? Okay, not funny, yet, in a blink of an eye the Atlanta Falcons are without their star Running....I mean Quarterback, Michael Vick. The staple of the Falcons offense has been its illustrious running game, ranking first in the NFL at an astounding 183.7 rush yards a game. They still have Warrick Dunn and Jerious Norwood at the RB position. Joey Harrington has the NFL's worst passer rating EVER! That’s definitely not something you want attached to your name. The Falcons have a great pair of Cornerbacks in DeAngelo Hall and Jimmy Williams ® and some great leadership from veterans like Joe Horn, Lawyer Milloy, and the always consistent Keith Brooking. Minnesota also has some rebuilding to do. Tarvaris Jackson is going to give it another go at the QB position this year. The kids got potential but he still has ALOT to learn. Drafting Adrian Peterson was a great move for the Vikes. That pick will relieve some pressure off of Chester Taylor, who had a solid year last year with 1216 yards with 6 rushing TD's. A big surprise last year was the Minnesota Defense. They were 3rd against run last year. Considering this is a young defense expect them to continue with another great year. Its a shame they won't have much offensive support. The run defenses for both teams will be the key to this game. Expect a field goal battle, with the Vikings coming out on top.Miami at Washington, 1 PM (CBS)Miami was everyone’s sleeper last year. I don't think people meant that they would actually be asleep for half the season. With that said, they picked it up mid year and stole a couple from some good teams (They broke the Bears chances at a perfect season in week 9). Trent Green will be at the helm for the Dolphins this year. No more Daunte, no more Harrington, no more blame? That’s to be seen! The Dolphins still have some strong defensive presence but are a shell of the force they were just a couple of years back. The Dolphins Offensive line looks a bit more consistent then last years bunch with the addition of LJ Shelton. Shelton was a one time, 1st round pick, an underachiever but the guy still may have something left to help out that line. Washington hasn't made the Playoffs since 2000 and are in one of the more difficult divisions in the league. Jason Cambell had a scare in preseason with a low hit that looked bad and probably didn't feel any better. The Redskins say that he is fine but some have their doubts that he will be a 100% for week 1. The Skins are living proof that paying out random great players doesn’t get the job done. Clinton Portis hasn't been able to stay healthy since his days in a Bronco's jersey. Carlos Rogers had a rough time transitioning to the NFL speed. Antawne Randal-El and Brandon Lloyd had a combined 716 yards receiving last year. Ouch is an understatement. Miami has an upper hand with a healthy QB and a better defense.New England at N.Y. Jets, 1 PM (CBS)New England has been a beast in the AFC East for a long time now. People are amazed how they always part ways with players, fill the gaps, and then continue to succeed. This time around, the Pats decided to get Mr. Brady some weapons. Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, and Wes Welker all signed with the Pats this season adding some much needed stability at WR. Asante Samuel ended his holdout. That stringent Defense of the Patriots is back for more with the addition of former Raven Addalius Thomas. Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour will be both out for some substantial time but the Patriots make more with less then any other team in the league. The Jets are coming off of a shocking (for some, not me) 10-6 season. The Jets average defense should improve with a Jonathan Vilma being a year more under his belt, 1st round draft pick CB Darrelle Revis and another year in Eric Mangini's system. The Jets offense is back with an upgraded RB in Thomas Jones. Jerricho Cotchery and Laveranues Coles worked very well with each other last year and both had extremely productive years. Chad Pennington is known as one of the most accurate QB's in the league. He is also known as one of the weakest arms in the league. Interestingly, the Jets have been average starters over the last 5 years with a 14-15 record within the first 6 games of the year. Take away 2004's 5-0 start (bye week 3) and that’s a horrid 9-15 record. The safe route is the Patriots but expect the Jets to put up a fight. Tennessee at Jacksonville, 1 PM (CBS)1st year phenom Vince Young opened some eyes last year. VY showed some great leadership skills and some clutch ability. With that said, statistically, he struggled severely with a passer rating of 66.7% So you would think that the Tennessee Titans organization would surround him with some players to make some sort of push. Well, like everyone else, you guessed wrong. Tennessee signed Eric Moulds and that’s about it. No offense to Eric Moulds but, he is on the "last straw" of his career. The Titans failed to retain RB Travis Henry and drafted a promising youth by the name of Chris Henry in the 2nd round. Keith Bullock looks to carry a group of over achievers for another year. Jacksonville just named David Garrard the starter at QB and released Byron Leftwich. The Brightside is that the Jags have a nice mix of youth and veteran leadership at RB with Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor. An interesting fact, The Jaguars receiving corps dropped more passes than any other team in the league last year. The good news is that the Jaguars defense is consistently in the top 10 year after year. The Jags win by an average margin.Denver at Buffalo, 1 PM (CBS)Jay Cutler is given the QB job this year. The second year player looked good last year but failed to lead them to the playoffs. Many seem to be overlooking his inexperience. Some are even favoring Denver this year, but with the tragic passing of Darrent Williams and Damien Nash this team has a lot of obstacles to overcome. RB acquisition Travis Henry is already ailing with injuries. I see some rough times on Denver's horizon. Buffalo came under great criticism for their lack of off-season activity. Putting that to the side, they had what looks to be a very promising draft and picked up some quiet role players. J.P. Losman has steadily improved and Lee Evans is becoming a better Wide Receiver because of it. Although there are some holes in Buffalo and they might not crack 6 wins this year, this is my sleeper pick of the week. Buffalo beats Denver by a slim margin.Pittsburgh at Cleveland, 1 PM (CBS)A new era starts in Pittsburgh with Bill Cower leaving and Mike Tomlin coming in to fill the coaching vacancy. Ben Roethlisberger seems to be healthy after a tumultuous 2006 season. He threw a league high 23 Interceptions. Hines Ward has had health problems each of the last 2 seasons and this year doesn't beg to differ. Although he doesn't miss many games, his presence isn't as strong when not healthy. The Pittsburgh passing Defense was porous last year. Releasing Jerry Porter didn’t seem like the most rational move ever but a young LB by the name of Lawrence Timmons will fill the need. Don't expect the Steelers defense to be lights out this year. Cleveland recently announced that Charlie Frye will start week 1 verse the Steelers. Browns organization is trying to be patient with Brady Quinn, their first round pick. LeCharles Bentley is out for the season for the second year in a row. The Browns defense was in the bottom half of the league as was the offense. The Browns have some good pieces in Winslow, Edwards, and Thomas on the offensive side. The main question is how will those pieces play with a limbo at the QB position. The Browns started 3 different QB's in 2006. A dominant stat to consider is: The Steelers haven't lost to Cleveland since early in the 2003 season. Steelers take this one comfortably, but Cleveland has some potential to make it a bit interesting. Carolina at St. Louis, 1 PM (FOX)Carolina was another one of those favorites who didn't do much in 2006. Jake Delhomme looked like a washed up scrub towards the end of last year. Steve Smith was the one Brightside of last years team. Carolina also had a lot of injuries on the defensive side of the ball. Regardless, you know what you get from Carolina defense year in and year out, streaky but hardnosed defense. Julius Peppers is one of the most athletic players in the league and will continue to tear it apart. Will the rest of the D follow? That’s to be seen.... St. Louis had an amazing offensive year with Stephen Jackson literally carrying people on his back left and right. Marc Bulger, Isaac Bruce, and Torry Holt have great chemistry. Drew Bennett will definitely help out the cause this year. St. Lois Defense has never been a staple for the team. Its been more of a casualty than anything else. To expect them to play lights out is foolish, but their isn't much that doesn't indicate improvement. Carolina shut St Louis out last year, I think the Rams taste blood and are out for revenge. Look for them to win this one.Kansas City at Houston, 1 PM (CBS)Kansas City looks to have it slew of problems on paper this year. Larry Johnson isn't a 100%, there’s a small QB controversy brewing in KC, and their offensive line has slowly worsened every year. With that said, paper can play tricks on you, Damon Huard had a statistically monstrous year filling in for Trent green last year. So you would think he would start. WRONG! Young gun Brodie Croyle will start week 1 despite a horrible preseason. The Chiefs are one of those teams you need to see play a bit before you make any rash decisions for or against them.The Chiefs have one of the best return tandem in the league with Dante Hall and Eddie Drummond returning punts and kicks. Houston is rebuilding AGAIN! This time acquiring Matt Schaub from Atlanta ( Do you think Atlanta are kicking themselves right now?). Andre Johnson has been one of the few consistent players on this team, and look for him to continue being a good player on an underachieving team. The defense has some great building blocks in Mario Williams and Defensive Rookie of the Year Demeco Ryans. Look for KC to take this one with an average amount of ease.Tampa Bay at Seattle, 4:15 PM (FOX)Tampa Bay just signed Jeremiah Trotter to a one year deal. I guess they have a thing for ex-Eagles. Jeff Garcia also joins them to play QB. Cadillac Williams had a disappointing year but look out for him to bounce back. Tampa lacks a solid #1 WR, but because of their West Coast offense that shouldn't be a major hurdle. A problem could be the lack of an explosive player on offense or defense. Derrick Brooks isn’t getting any younger, and neither is Ronde Barber. Look for TB to have a mediocre year in a hard division. Seattle is coming off of a season full of injuries and inconsistency. Shaun Alexander failed to reach a 1000 yards because of his foot injury. I guess the Madden Curse still lives on. Matt Hasselback isn't any younger and got banged up a bit last year. Seattle's defense was up and down all year. Take week 3 verse the New York Giants; through 3 quarters the Seattle D allowed 3 points. They allowed 27 in the 4th quarter. Watch out for the streaky Seattle D, you never know which Defense your going to get. Seattle takes this game because of home field advantage. Qwest Field is known as one of the loudest in all the NFL.Chicago at San Diego, 4:15 PM (FOX)The Bears are the defending NFC champions. Don't expect that target to be a small one. The Bears defense was an anomaly last year. Through the first 8 games, they were on pace to be one of the best ever. Through the 1st eight they played sub-par. Expect Brian Urlacher to be ready to go but there are some question marks on both sides of the ball. Lance Briggs' peculiar off-season activities ( a hold out and a recent car accident / soap drama) may have a bigger effect then most think. Rex Grossman had a up and down year and showed signs of regression instead of progression. Thomas Jones is also now a Jet, leaving the weight on an unproven Cedric Benson. The WR position is a weak one for the Bears, Mushin Muhammad isn't getting up there in age and Berrian and Gage have some ways to go before they take that #1 WR position. The Chargers went 14-2 and still fired their head coach last year. Anyone else think that sounds a bit crazy? The Chargers are also in the midst of something weird, crazy, and unpredictable. LaDanian Tomlinson broke the NFL TD record last year and shows no signs of slowing down. Antonio Gates had a big year and Philip Rivers seems to be coming along well. The Charger Defense seems to have gained a lot of media hype, and deservedly so. An interesting fact to consider is that minus the playoff loss, the Chargers won straight regular season games. The Chargers win and by a substantial amount.Detroit at Oakland, 4:15 PM (FOX)Detroit and Oakland had the 2 worst records in the league. Both teams have fallen on hard times over the last couple of years. JaMarcus Russell, the number one pick in the 2007 NFL draft, still isn't signed. Daunte Culpepper is filling in for now and in preseason has looked healthier and hungry. Lamont Jordan was a disappointment last year, as was the Raider offense, ranking 32nd in the league. The WR core doesn’t look insanely promising but, we have seen more done with less. The Raiders Defense was the total opposite and ranked in the top 10 in pass and rush Defense. Expect them to keep on that course on the account of not losing many players in Free Agency. Detroit has a veteran QB and a young and promising core of WR(William, Furrey, and Johnson). Jon Kitna guaranteed 10 wins this year. In the NFC North, its an unlikely, but not abstract possibility. Kevin Jones can’t stay healthy and that’s why TJ Duckett and Tatum Bell were brought in. Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz isn't much for that silly running thing anyway. There haven't been many changes in Detroit, especially on D, besides the subtraction Dre Bly. So that’s why the Raiders take this one in a painful battle. Jon Kitna will throw at least 2 Int's.N.Y. Giants at Dallas, 8:15 PM (NBC)The N.Y. Giants had a great start at 6-2 and dropped off towards the end of the year, finishing 8-8. Take away Tiki Barber and all mayhem might ensue in the Big Apple. Not so fast my friends, they play in the NFC East, where you never know who comes out on top. Eli Manning has taken a lot of undeserved heat for the Giants late season plunder. Eli Manning has thrown 48 Td's in the last two years with a patched up line and a slew of injuries. Brandon Jacobs looks like the next coming of Jerome Bettis, watch out for this bull. Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey always show up to play. The big question is the offensive line. How will they respond? If preseason is any indication, they will respond with flying colors. David Diehl has proven a true asset to the Giants organization, play LT after years of shifting all over the line. The Giants Defense will have their pass attack back but their pass defense will once again, be the downfall for this team. The Cowboy's had a rocky season as well. After barely winning the NFC East, things looked good. Until a fumbled special teams snap by Tony Romo shook the Cowboy world. Tony Romo has a lot to prove this year after a very inconsistent end of last year. Terrell Owens is as unpredictable as any player in the NFL, a good player, but also shows signs of insanity. A lot of the teams hopes unfortunately rely on if new head coach Wade Philips keeps him in line. The Cowboys defense looks quicker and younger. Demarcus Ware looks to be getting better every snap. Like the Giants, the Achilles heal of this team is the pass defense. Expect the Giants to win this one in a close battle. It should be a fun game to watch.Monday, Sept. 10Baltimore at Cincinnati, 7 PM (ESPN)The Ravens are known for one thing in the NFL. A stringent defense that won't give up. Don't expect a fall off for this defensive squad. Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, and crew won't allow it. The Ravens offense has also improved with the acquisition of Willis McGahee. Willis has had some health problems but with such a great line in front of him, he should have a big season. The Ravens against will have passing problems with Steve McNair at QB. McNair has never been a passing machine and has always been known as a good mix of mobility and accuracy. With his mobility getting worse and worse, a lack of WR depth besides TE Todd Heap and a semi consistent Derrick Mason, don't expect huge things from that aspect of the Ravens. Cincinnati had an up and down 2006 season. Streaky would be an understatement. Carson Palmer is almost 100% after playing with a healing knee last year. Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmanzadeh are one of the best WR combinations in the league. The Cincinnati Defense was ranked in the bottom half of the league, 31st in passing defense. An interesting stat for this game is that the Bengals have won 3 of the last 4 meetings. Bengals win a very close one, Baltimore's air "assault" will be the cause.Arizona at San Francisco, 10:15 PM (ESPN)The Arizona Cardinals seems to be everyone’s favorite for break out team of the year. Sure they are stacked on the offensive side of the ball. Edgerrin James had, by far, his worst year as a pro last year and looks to be ready to bounce back. 2nd year quarterback Matt Leinart has a lot of toys to play within the Arizona Offense. Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald, if healthy, are some of the best Young WR in the league. The Arizona D has some bright spots like pro bowlers Bertrand Berry and Adrian Wilson. Dansby and Rolle also add some stability to the Defense. With that in mind, the defense won’t be a force, but don't be surprised to see improvement. San Francisco 49ers definitely surprised so people with how well they played for such a young team. Frank Gore carried the team for a franchise record 1695 yards. Gore isn’t 100% healthy right now but is close. Alex Smith is steadily improving. His targets are questionable. Arnez Battle, Darrell Jackson and Ashley Lelie all have potential to be great players, but that potential word isn’t anything more than a 50-50 shot in the NFL. The Niners made some noise in Free Agency acquiring Nate Clements. It still looks like that Defense is a piece or 2 from being consistently good. San Francisco lost to Arizona by 7 last year look for a close game resulting in a San Francisco revenge win.</p> </p>
