Week 1 Picks

Today I'm going to introduce something that might get promoted to a permanent Joe Brackets feature: weekly NFL picks.  I figured everybody else does them, so why don't I give it a try.  I've never gotten involved with points spreads and I probably never will.  All I care about is who actually wins the game.  If you're one who wants to pick the underdog because you think the 7.5-point favorite is only going to win by seven, go right ahead.  Just keep in mind that I won't be doing that.

So, here we go.  I'll start with the easy one.  The Packers will win a shootout.  OK, that one doesn't count, but I did pick Green Bay in my Yahoo! picks league, so I'm already out to a 1-0 start.  Now on to the rest of the games.  For some, I'll explain my thought process.  For others, the reason for the pick should be pretty obvious.

• Falcons at Bears: Atlanta-The Falcons are a better team, and they get lucky by having a road trip to Chicago in Week 1 instead of in December.
• Bengals at Browns: Cleveland-Does anyone even care about this game?  I didn't think so.
• Bills at Chiefs: Kansas City-The Chiefs aren't going to be this year's surprise playoff team.  In fact, I think they come back to the pack in the AFC West.  But playing one of the three worst teams in the AFC at home is a recipe for a 1-0 start.
• Eagles at Rams: Philadelphia-This is one of the better games on this week's docket.  Both teams are favored (at least by me) to win their division.  St. Louis will keep it close, but Michael Vick will find a way to pull it out late.
• Lions at Buccaneers: Tampa Bay-I'm taking Tampa Bay, but this one could go either way.  The Lions are much improved and could definitely make some noise this season.
• Titans at Jaguars: Tennessee-Will this game be on TV in Jacksonville?
• Steelers at Ravens: Pittsburgh-This matchup of AFC heavyweight and bitter rivals is CBS's national game this week.  It's both good and bad that Pittsburgh and Baltimore are playing each other in Week 1.  I'm sure the teams will be more than happy to get one of the two games out of the way immediately, but us fans lose out on both games being a little more meaningful.  I think having the entire offseason to prepare helped the Steelers more than it helped the Ravens, so I'm taking Pittsburgh by the standard Steelers-Ravens score of 17-14.
• Colts at Titans: Houston-Quick, who was the last quarterback other than Peyton to start a game for the Colts?  That would be 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh.  That all changes on Sunday, as Peyton misses the first game of his 14-year career and the un-retired Kerry Collins gets the start.  How long Peyton's out will have a direct bearing on the Colts' season.  This week, the shock value of not having him in there against an improved and determined Texans team (who beat them in Houston in Week 1 last year) won't be a good combination.
• Panthers at Cardinals: Arizona-The good news for one of these teams is that they get to start the season 1-0.
• Vikings at Chargers: San Diego-The Donovan McNabb Era in Minnesota begins in San Diego.  The Chargers didn't make the playoffs last year, mainly because their trademark early struggles went on a little too long.  Thus, a Week 1 win against a Vikings team that's nowhere near as good as its been over the past couple of years is a must.
• Seahawks at 49ers: Seattle-I'm going to take USC over Stanford in this Pac-12 battle.  Oh wait, Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh are both coaching in the NFL now.
• Giants at Redskins: Giants-Is there any more appropriate matchup on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 than New York vs. Washington?  This is actually the second consecutive meeting in Washington between these two (they played in Washington in Week 17 last season).  Eli Manning officially takes over the longest consecutive starts by a QB streak from his brother (a streak Peyton held for a whopping four weeks after Brett Favre finally missed a game in Week 14 last year) and Rex Grossman begins to realize that the Redskins will NOT win the NFC East as the Giants romp.
• Cowboys at Jets: Jets-In another appropriate scheduling move, the Sunday night game is across the river from where the tragedy took place.  The Jets have been to two straight AFC Championship Games and are definite Super Bowl contenders.  The Cowboys could easily go 12-4 and win the division or just as easily go 6-10.  The Jets lost at home (to the Ravens) in Week 1 last year.  I don't think it happens again.
• Patriots at Dolphins: New England-I'm not really sure why three of the four teams that are playing on Monday night are.  The Dolphins used to be the only team that could figure out the Patriots.  That's not the case anymore.
• Raiders at Broncos: Oakland-Part II of the Monday night doubleheader is a rivalry game that was really good in the early '90s.  Unfortunately, neither team is good now.  I can't believe I'm actually picking the Raiders, but they went undefeated in the division last year and Denver is slightly worse.  Besides, I had to pick one of them to actually "win" this game.  Bonus prediction regarding this game: I'll be asleep by halftime.