JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
Finally, September is here, and the NFL has returned! The last week leading up to the start of the NFL season has had a number of big moves, with Arizona parting ways with Matt Leinart, the Seahawks getting rid of their number one receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and the Jets finally signing Darrelle Revis. All of those will make for interesting headlines heading into these games.
Minnesota at New Orleans: We start off the season with a rematch of the NFC Championship game, and I think the results will be the same. I like Brees and the Saints to knock off Favre and the Vikings to start the season.
Pick: Saints by 7
Cleveland at Tampa Bay: A battle of the no-goods. Tampa is still really young, so I'm going to give this one to the slightly more experienced team, although I think it's close between two teams still rebuilding.
Pick: Browns by 3
Miami at Buffalo: A battle of two teams that I believe are better than people might give them credit for, but I like the Miami running game to win this one for them.
Pick: Dolphins by 4
Cincinnati at New England: It's always hard to pick against the Patriots, although I think the Ochocinco/Owens tandem will give that defense some trouble. But Brady/Moss will be too much for the Bengals.
Pick: Patriots by 7
Indianapolis at Houston: Houston is a team that keeps getting better every year, and they almost build their defense around beating Peyton Manning. I call this as my upset of the week!
Pick: Houston by 3
Denver at Jacksonville: These are two teams that are trying to find themselves, Denver its identity and the Jags their fans! The loss of Brandon Marshall is a big hit to Denver, and I expect to see that offense lose some production.
Pick: Jaguars by 4
Atlanta at Pittsburgh: Steelers fans just need to cross their fingers and hope that Dennis Dixon doesn't shoot them in the foot too much this week against a strong Falcons team.
Pick: Falcons by 14
Oakland at Tennessee: The only question for this game is whether or not Chris Johnson can break 200 total yards in the first game of the season against the terrible Raiders.
Pick: Titans by 17
Carolina at New York Giants: Any team from the NFC East comes into the season as a potential danger, and I can't say the same for the Panthers. I see a long year ahead of Matt Moore.
Pick: Giants by 10
Detroit at Chicago: This is truly the battle of the weakest, as these could be two of the worst teams in the entire NFC. But I see Detroit making strides and Matt Stafford can probably lead them past the aging Bears.
Pick: Detroit by 3
Arizona at St. Louis: Another battle of weak teams, as the Cardinals fans probably find out this week that Derek Anderson is not the answer to the loss of Kurt Warner. Meanwhile, we'll get our first glimpse of Sam Bradford as an NFL QB.
Pick: Rams by 7
Green Bay at Philadelphia: Philly is a good team, and may challenge for the NFC East crown this year, but the Packers are simply too stacked all around, and are an early favorite to play in the NFC Championship game.
Pick: Packers by 10
San Francisco at Seattle: I'm big on the 49ers this year, with a healthy Frank Gore and a more mature Alex Smith, that defense can lead them to the division title. The Seahawks dropped their leading receiver from last year, so who knows what they're thinking.
Pick: 49ers by 10
Dallas at Washington: The first game with Donovan McNabb at QB for the Redskins, maybe, so we'll see how well he works in the Mike Shanahan offense. The Cowboys looked bad in preseason, so let's see if they can turn it on for the regular season now.
Pick: Cowboys by 7
Baltimore at New York Jets: This is probably the hardest game of the week to pick, but I like Baltimore even more now that they have T.J. Houshmandzadeh lined up across from Anquan Boldin and Derrick Mason. The Jets have lots of hype on their side, unfortunately they created it.
Pick: Ravens by 7
San Diego at Kansas City: The Chiefs are likely going to be terrible again, and the Chargers still have a good running game, even if they can't seem to keep their receivers happy.
Pick: Chargers by 7