NFL Season Begins This Sunday!

We already watched two of the most explosive offenses in the NFL shoot it out Thursday night for the NFL opener, but tomorrow marks the first full Sunday of the NFL season.  Teams around the league have been working hard over the last couple of days to sign key players to contract extensions, such as Chris Johnson, Troy Palamalu, Larry Fitzgerald, and today Adrian Peterson became the richest running back in the NFL.

Now that we have all the money and contract disputes set aside, we can focus on football.  There are some huge rivalry games to begin the season.  The Steelers are traveling to Baltimore to take on the Ravens, which has became one of the great rivalries in football.  Both teams are always tough and play great defense, so expect this to be a fast, hard hitting game. 

The Bengals travel up state to take on the Cleveland Browns.  These two teams always put on an exciting performance.  Neither team has a real explosive offense this year, but it should still be an exciting game in the battle of Ohio.

The New York football Giants will be at FedEx field in Washington to take on the Redskins, in what will be an emotional game on 9/11 with both communities being effected by the attacks a decade ago.  The Redskins offense will look totally different from a year ago, so it will be interesting to see how this team fairs.  Many "experts" are predicting the Redskins will win the East.  I'm not sold on this until I see Rex Grossman string together some complete games against first team defenses.  I like the Giants in this one.

We wrap up the day in New Meadowlands Stadium with the Cowboys taking on the Jets on Sunday Night Football.  Rex Ryan has again predicted a Super Bowl for his Jets, and the Cowboys who have virtually the same roster as the past few seasons seem to think they are Super Bowl bound...at least the media does.  I don't understand all the hype around this team every year.  I like the Jets winning this game by two touchdowns. 

What to watch for:  The Seahawks take on the 49ers in a key game early in the NFC West.  The team that loses this game could be on the fast track for Andrew Luck and the first pick in the draft next season.  I love Jim Harbaugh but he has his hands full this year with his new team.  If they can keep a coordinator for longer than a year, I think Alex Smith can progress into a decent starting quarterback.  The Seahawks put there chips in Travaris Jackson's basket and they will go down with his ship.  This team has nothing to get excited about this year.  I like the 49ers in this game, 13-6.  

Shocker of the Week: Most people, including myself, have written the Colts off after Manning was ruled out this Sunday, but I think they are going to play better than people think.  Kerry Collins is a proven winner and from what I'm told he's picked up the elaborate Colts offense fairly quickly.  Even Reggie Wayne is on the Collins band wagon now.  Look for Collins to manage the game and spread the ball around to the talented receivers he has at his disposal.  The defense of the Texans should be better than a year ago, but I still think there are some spots that the Colts can exploit.  With Arian Foster questionable coming into the game, I like the Colts to win this one without Manning.