Let's Do This

For all those of you out there whose NFL teams have yet to take a regular season snap, today is a big day. I think we can all agree how badass it is that football season is back in full swing. This Sunday heralds the beginning of about four months of football...and we are lucky enough to live in an age where we can watch a game almost every single day of the week. Right off the bat, here are a few things that jump out at me from on the first Sunday of the NFL season:

Chad Pennington puts something extra on this 3 yard completion.

The AFC East:

1) The Brett Favre/Jets Vs. The Chad Pennington Dolphins...A year ago at this time if someone had offered me the choice between watching the Dolphins play the Jets or doing sets of squats and deadlifts in an unairconditioned attic, I might have chosen the latter. I am actually pretty excited to see how this one pans out. The Jets have been installed as 3 point favorites, and my gut says that they would be a good bet to cover. Is Chad Pennington really capable of exacting revenge on anyone? Well, perhaps, if by 'exacting revenge' you mean lobbing a 27 yard duck down the middle of the field on a deep corner route. But, Ricky Williams could be an X factor for Miami. I'm not a huge believer in the Jets Defense. On the other side of the ball Brett Favre is always capable of a 4 INT game. I think the Jets cover, just like I thought that Florida would cover last night (and would have without a heartbreaking illegal procedure penalty in the 4th quarter....aaaaghhhhh.)

Dude...weak.

2) New England Vs. Kansas City. I know what you're thinking, this game is interesting only to Patriots fans and Chiefs fans (I have never met one, by the way), but I am intrigued by the Chiefs rookies...I think that we can all agree that they had a pretty good draft in 2008. I'm excited to see Brady back in action. I am curious to see if the Patriots will have a running game of any kind this season. I am concerned that the secondary is either very young, very old, and very burned by Plaxico Burress. I wasn't surprised when the Patriots cut John Lynch a week or so ago. I know... a defensive backfield featuring Rodney Harrison and John Lynch would have been fucking awesome...in 1998. I think this is the biggest question mark for the Patriots this season. If healthy, the New England defensive line is easily one of the three best in the league, so that should help the secondary out a little. Patriots are favored by 15 last time I checked. I think they cover, KC is too young and the Patriots have a lot to prove.

Your time is coming, but it aint coming now.

3) Buffalo Vs. Seattle. A few weeks back I picked Buffalo to finish 2nd in the AFC East so now I have to put my money where my mouth is. The Bills are giving 1 point to Seattle. I think Buffalo is going to surprise some teams this year. Marshawn Lynch has already established himself as a very solid NFL running back and this could be his breakout year. Also, I just don't believe in the Mike Holmgren-Sean Alexander combo the way I might have in years past. Maybe its the moustache, I don't know. My only fear here is that Seattle seems to have been a team famous for strong starts to the season followed by a precipitous collapse and an inevitable early exit from the playoffs...but it is week one. Hmmmm. I have to go with Buffalo anyway.

The Beast of the AFC East.

The Rest Of the NFL:



There's really too much to touch on in one post but a couple of things I'm into:



Im intrigued by the Dallas Vs. Cleveland matchup. The Cowboys are giving 6 to a browns team that may ave vastly overachieved last season. Sure they have some great offensive weapons in guys like Braylon Edwards...but they haven't had a strong running game and their defense was porous at times last season...I'm not sure how much better they got this off season and one touchdown shouldn't be too much to overcome for Tony Romo, TO, and the special teams difference maker Adam Jones, who, if I had my way would be starting at cornerback for the Patriots today. Speaking of Pacman (Im still calling him Pacman if we have to actually call Chad Jaohnson 'Chad Ocho Sinco'.) I was sitting at the Winner's Circle sports bar in Salisbury, MA yesterday evening and a group of people were conducting their fanstasy draft at the table next to me. Someone made the comment about how no one shied away from picking players with off field issues. How true. Fans and the media critisize teams all the time for taking chances on guys who have a history of arrests, substance abuse issues, you name it. But, when I sat down to draft my fantasy team these things never crossed my mind. There isn't even money at stake in my league! I guess Al Davis makes a little more sense to me now. Just a little though, and it should be noted that I fucking suck at fantasy sports.



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My Upset pick of the week is Atlanta (+3) Vs. Detroit. Even typing this right now, its not all that exciting. This would be great for the Falcons franchise in their ongoing cut-all-ties-to-Michael-Vick-quick scheme and even greater for the Detroit-continues-to-suck-trend-entering-its-third-decade storyline. If you wanted something more risky and/or rediculous, walk outside with your pants off and start singing "Lady in Red". This is all I've got for you until I pick Buffalo to upset San Diego on October 19th.

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Nick wrote a great post on the top teams in College Football last week. Already we have seen some of the pretenders show their true colors. West Virginia gets handled by ECU 24-3 yesterday, and Clemson was handled by Alabama in their opener. Let me say this, I hate Clemson. They will always break your heart. Below you will find a picture of my good friend Bobcat who requested that his head be shaved following the aforementioned Clemson loss. Let this serve as a disclaimer...gambling on college football is dangerous.