We've reached the start of football season, which means our weekly Saturday posting of picks has returned. For those of you new to the blog, I still pick the Thursday night game and count it in my record. I just don't talk about it. The only exception to the Thursday rule is Thanksgiving, because there are three games instead of one. Also, I don't pick against the spread. The reason? I don't actually care. They don't take the win away from you if you were "supposed" to win by six and only win by three. A win is a win.
So, with that being said, here we go with 2015's first edition of my weekly NFL picks...
Thursday Night: New England (Win)
Colts at Bills: Indianapolis-I'm interested to see this new-look Bills team with Rex Ryan at the helm. I definitely think Buffalo's going to be better and a nightmare to play. Except I think Indianapolis will be up for the challenge. Andrew Luck's got all these new toys to play with as his team thinks about the Super Bowl. The first step will be a Week 1 road win.
Packers at Bears: Green Bay-Like Indianapolis, I picked Green Bay to be in the Super Bowl. They start with the renewal of their rivalry with Chicago at Soldier Field. This is John Fox's first game as Bears coach. I'd like his chances of winning it better if they were playing another team. But against the Packers? Not so much. I've gotta say Aaron Rodgers and Co. (who don't have to play San Francisco in the opener for a change) have the edge.
Seahawks at Rams: Seattle-A lot of people are picking the Seahawks to win their third straight NFC title. I think a lot's going to need to go their way for that to happen. I can even see them losing their opener against a much improved Rams team that teams are not going to want to play as the season goes on. Fortunately for Seattle, they get their trip to St. Louis out of the way early. They should come away with a win.
Browns at Jets: Jets-Why, NFL? Why? Last year the Jets opened with the Raiders at home, and this year it's the Browns. Is it some sort of rule that the Jets play the crappiest team possible so they can start 1-0? If I didn't have Red Zone, I'd be subjected to this as my only option for an early game. (Or I could just watch the Yankees lose to the Blue Jays yet again.)
Dolphins at Redskins: Miami-With the Super Bowl anniversary this year, they're doing something special for all previous Super Bowl matchups that are being played in the regular season. This is the first of those. Miami capped its undefeated 1972 season with a win over the Redskins in Super Bowl VII, while Washington returned the favor 10 years later in the strike-shortened 1982 season. Neither team has any legitimate Super Bowl aspirations this year, but Miami in the playoffs isn't an outrageous suggestion. The Dolphins should win this one.
Panthers at Jaguars: Carolina-In celebration of both these teams' 20th anniversary seasons, they meet in the opener. The Panthers have won back-to-back NFC South titles, while Jacksonville vs. a good college team would probably be a pretty good matchup. I still have no idea how the Jaguars haven't picked No. 1 at any point over the last five years. Maybe this year's the one!
Chiefs at Texans: Kansas City-This is one of the better Week 1 matchups, and it could have a major impact on the playoff race. If these two end up tied for a wild card spot, the winner here could actually decide who's in and who's out, providing the counter argument to all those morons who say Week 1 isn't that important. Even with the game in Houston, I'm going with Kansas City as the winner.
Saints at Cardinals: New Orleans-I've got a feeling about the Saints. I don't know why, but I think they're gonna have a really good year. It should start with a victory in Arizona. The Cardinals, of course, got off to that awesome start last year before totally collapsing over the final six weeks, then lost to Carolina in the playoffs. Will that linger? Either way, I'm not sure it matters.
Lions at Chargers: San Diego-Detroit's not going to be good this season as last year's playoff team, and a cross country trip to San Diego for the opener doesn't help. Of course, the Chargers are notorious for starting slow before picking it up down the stretch. I do see them beating the Lions, though.
Ravens at Broncos: Denver-For the first time in I don't even know how long, CBS has late games in Week 1, and their national game is a good one between Baltimore and Denver. Of course, the last time the Ravens opened the season in Denver, it didn't go too well for them, as Peyton set a single-game NFL record for touchdown passes. Baltimore's a popular Super Bowl pick, but I think their 2015 season will start the same way their 2013 season did. With a loss in Denver.
Bengals at Raiders: Cincinnati-Marvin Lewis doesn't get enough credit for the perennial contender he's built in Cincinnati. Sure, the Bengals haven't won a playoff game since the 1990 season (which is their punishment for ending Bo Jackson's career?), so it's been overshadowed, but the Bengals could easily be playing in January again this year. A trip to Oakland late in the season sometimes becomes a trap game for good teams. Fortunately, this isn't late in the season. The Bengals should be fine.
Titans at Buccaneers: Tennessee-See what the NFL did here? They knew the quarterbacks were going 1-2 in either order, so they set it up that they'd face each other in the first game no matter what. Sneaky. So, one of them gets a win in his first NFL start. That should be Mariota.
Giants at Cowboys: Dallas-NBC's annual Giants-Cowboys Sunday night opener. As Cris Collinsworth said on Thursday, "We do all of them!" That was a bit of an exaggeration, but not completely...because at least one Giants-Cowboys game is on a Sunday night every year. Until last season, the Giants owned the Cowboys at Jerry's World, but that changed last year, when Dallas swept the season series. The Cowboys are still the better team, so I expect them to make it two in a row at home over the Giants. Expect a shootout. This one should be fun.
Eagles at Falcons: Philadelphia-The Eagles are better than the Falcons, yet for some reason, the NFL and ESPN think that America wants to see this game as part of the Week 1 Monday night doubleheader. Philadelphia is fun to watch, and I think they'll continue to be so with Sam Bradford at quarterback instead of Nick Foles, but as for the game, I'm just not feeling it. Atlanta's going to struggle again this season.
Vikings at 49ers: San Francisco-Talk about teams that are going to struggle this season. The San Francisco 49ers. Week 1 ends at the same site as the Super Bowl with them playing the Vikings in another game that the NFL thinks people want to watch on a Monday night. The Vikings think they can make the playoffs (I don't), and this is Adrian Peterson's first game in almost a year. He's gonna run wild agaisnt that San Francisco defense. Even still, I like the 49ers to win. The Vikings will need to make me a believer.
This Week: 1-0
Season: 1-0
No comments:
Post a Comment