A Look At Week One In The NFL

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore

The top teams in the AFC North begin the season squaring off against one another. Pittsburgh has had the overwhelming edge in the rivalry lately, winning six of the last eight matchups. The two losses have come in games that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger missed due to injury. Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco has thrown six touchdowns and seven interceptions in his career against the Steelers, and has only thrown for more than 200 yards in three of his starts against the Steelers. This game means a lot to Baltimore, opening the season at home against their biggest rival, but the Ravens haven’t proven that they can defeat the Steelers when they are at full strength.

Pick: Pittsburgh

Atlanta @ Chicago

The Falcons are in a tough spot to start the season. Chicago is a tough place to go on the road and win, and the Falcons have been going through some issues with their offensive line, and will be without center Todd McClure, who is out with a knee injury. The Bears also play the cover-2 style of defense, which will make it more difficult for Atlanta to stretch the field and take advantage of the vertical threats they have in Roddy White and Julio Jones. The Falcons defense also isn’t anything special, and if Jay Cutler can avoid careless mistakes, I like the Bears in this game.

Pick: Chicago

Cincinnati @ Cleveland

With Carson Palmer refusing to report and Chad Johnson and Terrell Owens all gone, the Bengals have a dramatically different look offensively than they did a year ago. Rookie Andy Dalton will make his first career start, and he’ll be throwing to Jerome Simpson and first-round pick A.J. Green. The Browns are also beginning a new era, with former Eagles quarterback coach Pat Shurmur taking over the head coaching job. The Browns are high on some of their young offensive talent, Peyton Hillis, who ran for over 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns, and second year quarterback Colt McCoy. The Browns are a little more established than the Bengals at this time, and should win this game at home.

Pick: Cleveland

Indianapolis @ Houston

After dominating the division for years now, it seems the reign of the Colts may finally be at an end with Peyton Manning’s season in doubt due to a neck injury. Their chief rival, the Houston Texans, get the first crack at the Manning-less Colts, and they get to do it in front of their home crowd. I wouldn’t write off the Colts just yet, but it’s going to take some time for Kerry Collins to get on the same page with his new teammates. Houston may be without one of their top weapons if running back Arian Foster can’t go with a hamstring injury. The Colts have a lot of questions to answer (can they stop the run on defense, can they run the ball on offense, can they protect Collins?), and this game means too much to Houston for them to lose.

Pick: Houston

Tennessee @ Jacksonville

Each team will begin the season with a different starting quarterback from what they had in 2010. Matt Hasselbeck is in command now for the Titans, and Luke McCown gets the call for Jacksonville, who just released former starter David Garrard earlier this week. The move came as a shock for many of the players in the Jacksonville organization, and though they’ll try to rally around McCown, its unlikely that the offense will be able to generate much against Tennessee, who will now be able to focus on taking Maurice Jones-Drew out of the equation. The Titans are more established, and better prepared for this game, and should come away with the victory.

Pick: Tennessee

Buffalo @ Kansas City

After a surprising season that resulted in a 2010 division title, expectations are high for the Chiefs this season. Matt Cassel certainly has an abundance of weapons to work with, with one of the league’s rising young stars at running back in Jamaal Charles, Dwayne Bowe, and veteran Thomas Jones. For Buffalo, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick quietly enjoyed a solid season, throwing for 3,000 yards with 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He too has a trio of promising young weapons with wideout Steve Johnson (82 catches, 1073 yards, 10 touchdowns in 2010), Fred Jackson (over 1,100 total yards, seven touchdowns), and former first-round pick C.J. Spiller. The Bills have won three of the last four meetings, but this game is too important for the Chiefs, they can’t afford to allow a winnable game at home slip away to start the season.

Pick: Kansas City

Philadelphia @ St. Louis

The Eagles begin the season by facing off against an up and coming Rams team. Philadelphia enters the game with a lot of question marks (can the offensive line protect Michael Vick, can Juan Castillo succeed as a defensive coordinator, etc). There’s no denying the talent on the Eagles roster, but it may take some time for it to come together. Expect the Rams to make a strong effort to establish the run on offense, and to try and take advantage of a suspect offensive line and get plenty of good shots in on Vick. These aren’t the same pathetic Rams that have been around for recent seasons, they’ll be a tough matchup on the road this early in the season, but I don’t believe that they have the offensive firepower they need to outscore the Eagles.

Pick: Philadelphia

Detroit @ Tampa Bay

Many people believe that the Lions have made significant improvements, and have a strong chance to be a playoff team this season. I don’t see it. I can buy into the idea that they’ll be a better team than they were a year ago, but they play in such a tough division with Green Bay, Chicago, and even Minnesota, there’s just no way that they can pick up enough wins to be a wild card team. Their offense has a chance to be dynamic, but they still have issues with the defense. They open up the season with a road game against another up and coming team in Tampa Bay. The Bucs are looking for Josh Freeman to take another significant step in his development in his third season. He threw for over 3,400 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2010, nearly leading his team to the playoffs. I think this is a tough game for Detroit to win on the road, I like Tampa Bay.

Pick: Tampa Bay

Carolina @ Arizona

Kevin Kolb will make his debut as the Cardinals’ starter at home against what was the worst team in football a year ago. That’s a much easier task than he had a year ago, when he began the season against Clay Matthews and the Green Bay Packers as the Eagles starter. Former Eagles coach Ron Rivera makes his debut as head coach, and Cam Newton will make his first career NFL start. This time Kolb should be able to start things off on the right foot, and lead his team to victory over an inferior opponent.

Pick: Arizona

Minnesota @ San Diego

Speaking of former Eagle quarterbacks, Donovan McNabb makes his first start for the Vikings on the road, facing a Chargers team that is looking to avoid another slow start. Minnesota hopes that McNabb will bring stability to the quarterback position, and help return their team to the playoffs, but they aren’t as strong defensively as they were two years ago. The Chargers have some of the best talent in the league, but traditionally have underachieved and let down since Norv Turner became head coach. They were normally able to overcome their poor starts, but last season they dug themselves too big a hole, and lost the division to the Chiefs. I don’t think they’ll let it happen again, and I think they come out of the gates strong for once.

Pick: San Diego

Seattle @ San Francisco

The division champion Seahawks begin the season with a road trip to face the 49ers. Newcomer Tarvaris Jackson makes his first start at quarterback, but he’ll do it without the help of Sidney Rice, who is likely out for this game with a shoulder injury. The 49ers are once again going with Alex Smith at quarterback, who has the faith of the new head coach Jim Harbaugh. They hope the addition of Braylon Edwards will help add a spark to the offense. With the Seahawks coming into the game a little banged up, I like the 49ers to win at home.

Pick: San Francisco

New York Giants @ Washington

The Redskins haven’t done much to improve themselves from what they were a year ago. Neither Rex Grossman or John Beck remotely resemble being the answer at quarterback. The Giants have dominated the series with the Redskins in recent years, winning nine of the last 10 games against the Redskins. Expect them to make it 10 of the last 11 on Sunday.

Pick: New York

Dallas @ New York Jets

The Cowboys are a team that I am pretty high on. If Tony Romo and Felix Jones stay healthy, and the new-look offensive line proves that they can play, the Cowboys have a chance to really make some noise in the NFC. New defensive coordinator Rob Ryan should also help that unit improve from what it was a year ago. However, they’re in a tough spot this week, going on the road to New York, and they’ll likely be without several starters (Terrence Newman, Tyron Smith, possibly Mike Jenkins as well). An already suspect offensive line will have trouble with the Jets defense, and Romo could be forced into turnovers. The Jets are relatively healthy, and should be able to take down the Cowboys to start the season.

Pick: New York

New England @ Miami

Not much of a chance for Miami to successfully take on New England this week. The Patriots have significantly upgraded their talent with the additions of Albert Haynesworth and Chad Johnson, and Miami has done very little to improve themselves significantly. The Patriots won’t have much trouble on Monday night.

Pick: New England

Oakland @ Denver

The Raiders turned in a decent 8-8 season a year ago, and now will look to build on that momentum and continue their improvement. Denver was one of the worst teams in the league last season. Their defense is still poor, and on offense high draft picks like Knoshown Moreno haven’t lived up to expectations. Kyle Orton remains the quarterback, despite Denver’s best efforts to trade him. I think Oakland is the more talented, and more established of the two teams.

Pick: Oakland