Week 1 of the NFL season is finally upon us.
Is it just me, or did it seem to take a long time get here?
As you all know, I’m a meat and potatoes man, so let’s get right down to it.
The NFL schedule makers decided that us fans were going to eat dessert, before supper. The very first game of the regular season, might just be game of the year. The Baltimore Ravens travel to Arrowhead Stadium, to take on the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs.
Game starts at 8:20 PM (EST) on NBC and Peacock.
The Chiefs are looking to win their 3rd straight Lombardi Trophy. Derrick Henry will be making his Ravens debut. Lot of people have predicted that this will be a preview of the AFC Championship Game later this season. Both teams are pretty healthy on the injury front.
The Ravens are going to want to slow the game down, and just pound the rock. Along with Henry is Justice Hill, who averaged 4.6 YPC last season and the previous two seasons, he averaged above 5.0 YPC in both. He’ll take on a larger role this season. The Chiefs are hoping the rookie Xavier Worthy becomes their new Tyreek Hill.
The truth is, its Patrick Mahomes vs Lamar Jackson, are two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Of course fans are going to watch.
Prediction: I think the Chiefs defensive line will give the Ravens problems all game long. I’ll take Kansas City to win 28-24.
The Chicago Bears host the Tennessee Titans, in a much-anticipated game. The Bears took rookie quarterback Caleb Williams with the 1st pick in the draft this offseason.
How will the loss of the afore mentioned Derrick Henry effect his former team? The Titans drafted quarterback Will Levis last season, and he’s now the unquestioned starter.
Bears GM Ryan Poles actually went out and got Williams so help, which he did not do with their previous quarterback Justin Fields. Getting veteran receiver Mike Williams and drafting receiver Rome Odunze in the first round, gives Caleb plenty of weapons. Levis isn’t exactly dearth of options either. The Titans will trot out a starting wide receiver corps of Calvin Ridley, DeAndre Hopkins, and Tyler Boyd.
Both defenses would like to get more pressure on the quarterbacks this season. Titans did have 2 players finish with 10+ sacks each, but it was a nothing-much-burger after that. Bears acquired defensive end Montez Sweat at the trade deadline last season. He had 25 tackles and 6 sacks in 9 games with them. He should end up with over double digits this season.
The Cleveland Browns host the Dallas Cowboys in “America’s Game of the Week” on FOX. Game starts at 4:25 PM (EST).
There are so many storylines in this game. First and foremost, this is Tom Brady‘s broadcasting debut. Can Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson play a good game for 4 quarters? I’m a die-hard Browns fan. I hear and see my fellow fans talking about Watson getting back to his 2020 season form. Yeah, that’s all well and good, but how about giving me, one whole entire game of solid play first. Gotta crawl before you walk.
Is this Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott‘s last season on this team? The very public contract dispute between the starting QB and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, has been going on for what seems like forever. Cornerback Trevon Diggs only played in 2 games last season; how will he look coming back?
Prediction: It will be a close game, but my Cleveland Browns will get a late, 4th quarter stop, and win the season opener 23-17.
The Denver Broncos will be starting their rookie quarterback Bo Nix against the Seattle Seahawks.
The Atlanta Falcons and quarterback Kirk Cousins will host the Pittsburgh Steelers. Head coach Mike Tomlin named Russell Wilson the starting quarterback over Justin Fields. We’ll see how long that lasts though. Week 9 is the date to watch if they pull the trigger on that move. On Friday Night, the Green Bay Packers take on the Philadelphia Eagles. Packers quarterback Jordan Love is looking to carry over the momentum of last season. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts wants to forget about last season and his 21 total turnovers (15 INTs and 6 FUM).
The Buffalo Bills lost a lot this offseason, but they still have quarterback Josh Allen.
Buffalo will host the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1. Quarterback Kyler Murray has not played a full season since 2020. He’ll look to cut down on his touchdown to turnover ratio. 13 to 10 is not what you want in 8 games. He’ll have rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr to help him now. Joe Burrow is healthy to start the season for the Cincinnati Bengals. Hopefully, he’ll stay that way for the entire season. Can the Houton Texans and 2nd year quarterback CJ Stroud keep the ball rolling, or does quarterback Anthony Richardson return from injury and lead his Indianapolis Colts to a big divisional upset.
Will Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert be better under new head coach Jim Harbaugh. We do know this about Harbaugh, he runs the football. They travel to Las Vegas to play the Las Vegas Raiders. I feel so badly for wide receiver Davonte Adams. For the love of everything holy, can the Minnesota Vikings get a decent quarterback for the season. Losing JJ McCarthy for the season already, just plain sucks for Vikings fans. They travel to New Jersey, to play the New York Giants. Quarterback Daniel Jones is returning from season ending injury. Big Blue fans are hoping that he doesn’t suck as bad as he did, to start last season.
The Jacksonville Jaguars need less turnovers from quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and the offensive line to be better. It won’t matter in Week 1 though, because the Miami Dolphins, led by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receiver Tyreek Hill are going to win by three touchdowns or more. The Carolina Panthers with quarterback Byrce Young, go up against the New Orleans Saints and quarterback Derek Carr, in a game that their own fans might not want to watch.
Now, it wouldn’t be a preseason, without SOME kind of Aaron Rodgers drama.
The New York Jets travel to the west coast to take on the San Francisco 49ers. I don’t know what we are going to get from this game. I can see a defensive struggle or an offensive shootout. The Washington Commanders are going to ride as far as their 1st round rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels will take them. Quarterback Baker Mayfield is waiting to welcome him into the NFL. Baker led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the playoffs last season. They’re going to start off 1-0, winning this game.
The Detroit Lions will host the Los Angeles Rams in what is a very interesting game. Two great quarterbacks in Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford leading playoff teams. The retirement of Aaron Donald leaves a massive hole on the LA defense, but they did well to play it, by taking Jared Verse and Branden Fiske in the draft. The Lions are hoping that defensive end Marcus Davenport is able to help out on the pass rush. I’ve seen a few pundits pick this as a sleeper “preview” of the future NFC Championship Game.
Week 1 is a good start to a hopefully, memorable season of football.
– by Sean McKenzie
Follow me on X(Twitter) at JoeAmerican6771.
Stats and information courtesy of…..NFL and ESPN.
Pictures courtesy of…..X, wallpapercave, lineups, kansascitychiefs.
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