Gameweek 1

kmart6

Right.....finally were at the stage of another whopper season. Going to be even better with all the games Sky Sports are showing this year.

I think we should have a weekly thread to cover all games and going on's in the week.

To kick it off here's the list of games for the first week:

Thursday, Sept. 4 Washington Redskins at New York Giants 7 p.m. NBC
Sunday, Sept. 7 Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens 1 p.m. CBS
Sunday, Sept. 7 New York Jets at Miami Dolphins 1 p.m. CBS
Sunday, Sept. 7 Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots 1 p.m. CBS
Sunday, Sept. 7 Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers 1 p.m. CBS
Sunday, Sept. 7 Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans 1 p.m. CBS
Sunday, Sept. 7 Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons 1 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Sept. 7 Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills 1 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Sept. 7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints 1 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Sept. 7 St. Louis Ram at Philadelphia Eagles 1 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Sept. 7 Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns 4:15 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Sept. 7 Carolina Panthers at San Diego Chargers 4:15 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Sept. 7 Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers 4:15 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Sept. 7 Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts 8:15 p.m. NBC
Monday, Sept. 8 Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers 7 p.m. ESPN
Monday, Sept. 8 Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders 10:15 p.m. ESPN
All times E.T

So who do you think's going to win?!(my picks in bold)

Pyjamarama

Thursday, Sept. 4 Washington Redskins at New York Giants 7 p.m. NBC: The Redskins upset the Superbowl Champs in New York in this one. An awful lot of pressure on Eli to step up and be the leader here. The loss of both starting DE's is a huge blow. I'd be shocked if the signing of Jerome McDougal makes any difference. The Skins will be more up for it in my opinion so i'm going with them.

Sunday, Sept. 7 Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens 1 p.m. CBS : Two poor teams but I think that the Ravens will squeak a close one. The Bengals once again have a good team on paper but they are ravaged by injury and the usual internal fighting. Calling back Henry is madness...


Sunday, Sept. 7 New York Jets at Miami Dolphins 1 p.m. CBS : Favre starts his Jets career with a win on the road. The Dolphins are terrible, Pennington will play ok but they just don't have the D to back him up.

Sunday, Sept. 7 Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots 1 p.m. CBS : the Patriots start with a home win. The chiefs have issues at Qb and in all honesty their o-line is in tatters aswell. Hard to believe a few years ago they were giving Priest Holmes caverns to run through! The Pats will miss Asante on D but they should easily have enough to deal with the Chiefs.

Sunday, Sept. 7 Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers 1 p.m. CBS : The Steelers win this one easily. I saw nothing last year that makes me believe that the Texans have found their QB. The Steelers will be solid this year and I imagine they'll be back in the playoff hunt once again.

Sunday, Sept. 7 Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans 1 p.m. CBS : tough one to call. The Jags would prob be favourites here but it is in Tennessee. I think the Titans are one of the worst teams in the NFL but with Vince Young you never know. He clearly will never be a true NFL QB but he might be effective none the less... I'll go with the Titans in an upset...

Sunday, Sept. 7 Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons 1 p.m. FOX : The Falcons are the worst team in the NFL. The Lions will pick them apart in the passing game because they have to! they have NO running game... I only they still had Barry huh!!! A bad start to the Ryan era i'm thinking...

Sunday, Sept. 7 Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills 1 p.m. FOX : I fancy the Bills here. They're an improving team and the seahawks are on a downward turn. It should be very very close though. If the Seahawks stop Lycnh early then they'll prob win but I think Lynch is going to be a real star this year.

Sunday, Sept. 7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints 1 p.m. FOX : The Saints win this one easily. they have the offense in place and the D has improved. The Bucs are a year older and really I see them having a top 5 pick in next years draft. this is the make or break year for Bush imo. He needs to start producing a bit more consistently. No reason he can't be the Saints version of Westbrook.

Sunday, Sept. 7 St. Louis Ram at Philadelphia Eagles 1 p.m. FOX : Speaking of which I think Westbrook will dominate the Rams in this one. The Eagles have lost both their starting WR's to injury but Deshaun Jackson has shown massive potential in pre-season. He's unlikely to start but expect him to get a few touches. If the Rams do manage to stop Westbrook they have a chance at the upset.

Sunday, Sept. 7 Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns 4:15 p.m. FOX : This will be closer than a lot of people think. The Browns are a good team and their WR's will cause the cowboys a LOT of trouble. I think they might just sneak it. Although if the Cowboys can give Romo time they could put Cleveland in a hole early and from there i'd be hard pressed to see the Browns come back.

Sunday, Sept. 7 Carolina Panthers at San Diego Chargers 4:15 p.m. FOX : The Chargers should win this one fairly easily. Rivers has the look of a top quality QB and the players have learned a lot from last year if their press confrences are anything to go by. The work ethic seems to have returned. The loss of Merriman is huge but the Chargers should have enough to get past the Panthers. the Panthers NEED Delhomme to stay healthy. If he stays healthy they're a wildcard team if he goes down again they might be regretting trading that pick to the eagles.

Sunday, Sept. 7 Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers 4:15 p.m. FOX : Two poor teams although as usual the Cards are the sexy pick for surprise team of the year. They still have no O-line to speak of though so Warner who gets the start ahead of Leinhart will have to get the ball out very quickly. That's not his strenght though. This game comes down to how the 49ers establish the run. If they get it going then they win if not the cards do. I'm gonna say the cards D steps up and they win a tight one.

Sunday, Sept. 7 Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts 8:15 p.m. NBC : The Bears still have the same problem they had last year. No QB. And they're in trouble on the ground aswell. the colts will be there or there abouts again this year and should take this home opener easy. The colts ain't getting any younger though,

Monday, Sept. 8 Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers 7 p.m. ESPN : How will rodgers fare as starter? Well he couldn't have picked a worse team to begin against. The Vikes are prob the best team in the NFL if Tarvaris Jackson doesn't lose them too many games. They have a dominating D, a great O-line some decent players at WR and of course All Day in the backfield. The Vikings should win this easily enough.

Monday, Sept. 8 Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders 10:15 p.m. ESPN : Two teams that will likely be lower mid pack this season. the Broncos need Cutler to really step up and the Raiders will be better than they've been in a while but not good enough. In this one I think that the Raiders will squeak it...

Hazys

Washington Redskins at New York Giants
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans
Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons
Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints
St. Louis Ram at Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns
Carolina Panthers at San Diego Chargers
Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers
Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders

Sea Devils

Washington Redskins @ New York Giants
Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens
New York Jets @ Miami Dolphins
Kansas City Chiefs @ New England Patriots
Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans
Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons
Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints
St. Louis Ram at Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns
Carolina Panthers at San Diego Chargers
Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers
Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders

Trampas

Sky Sports are showing the following

WEEK ONE
Thursday 4 Sept Washington Redskins @ New York Giants 12.00am
Sunday 7 Sept Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ New Orleans Saints 6.00pm
Sunday 7 Sept New York Jets @ Miami Dolphins 6.00pm i
Sunday 7 Sept Dallas Cowboys @ Cleveland Browns 9.00pm
Sunday 7 Sept Carolina Panthers @ San Diego Chargers 9.00pm i
Sunday 7 Sept Chicago Bears @ Indianapolis Colts 1.00am
Monday 8 Sept Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers 12.00am
Monday 8 Sept Denver Broncos @ Oakland Raiders 3.00am

bruschi

Washington Redskins at New York Giants
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans
Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons
Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints
St. Louis Ram at Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns
Carolina Panthers at San Diego Chargers
Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers
Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders

Go Patriots!

kev_s88

Washington Redskins at New York Giants
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans
Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons
Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints
St. Louis Ram at Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns
Carolina Panthers at San Diego Chargers
Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers
Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders

c'mon jags.....get better Richard Collier

eagle eye

Washington Redskins at New York Giants (Giants to beat a team that will take time to gel, they could be interesting later in the season)
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens(Bengals Offensive power to be too much for the Ravens)
New York Jets at Miami Dolphins (I don't know why, just have a gut feeling that the tuna will have them ready for this one)
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots(Greatest team in NFL history to start off with a big win)
Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers (Steelers have Parker fit and Mendenhall in, I think they will go very close this year)
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans (Based on another post I just read, I think you could see a very spirited performance from the Jags here)
Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons (Like last year, its all about which Detroit turns up, I am going to go for the Falcons at home)
Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills (Seahawks in a canter here)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints(I think this could be a very tight game, go with the home team)
St. Louis Ram at Philadelphia Eagles(No question here)
Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns( I think this could be the game of week one, very tight affair I reckon, and I always go with the home team in a tight one)
Carolina Panthers at San Diego Chargers(Chargers at home are almost unstoppable)
Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers(I don't know what way to go here, so its home team again)
Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts(I think the Bears will improve a lot this season, liked their draft picks but I cannot see them winning here)
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers(This is a big one in so many ways for the Packers and I think they might just pull it off)
Denver Broncosat Oakland Raiders(I'm looking forward to seeing new Raider Darren McFadden who I think will be a superstar in the NFL and I'm going for the shock home win here)

We're looking to win one more than last year. Goooooooooo Patriots!!!!!!!!!!

Redsoxfan

Washington Redskins @ New York Giants Skins have been awful preseason.
Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens Baltimore have QB issues.
New York Jets @ Miami Dolphins Just because
Kansas City Chiefs @ New England Patriots
Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers Home team wins.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans If the Jags can stop the run, they win this one.
Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons Toss a coin-will be interesting to see how Michael Turner and Rudi Johnson do.
Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints Duece is back and defence has improved (on paper)
St. Louis Rams at Philadelphia Eagles The Rams look like they could suck this year too.
Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns The Browns are my team.
Carolina Panthers at San Diego Chargers Even if Steve Smith weren't suspended, the Chargers win.
Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers The Cards might still find a way to lose.
Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts Even if Manning doesn' play.
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers Just about.
Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders Still too many questions for the Raiders

JJ

Can't be bothered to post my picks at the mo but we've got one more day to go now. I've taken Friday off so I can stay up to watch the Jints.

I've drafted my two fantasy teams and I'm ready to go for the online football pool. I'm doing CBS' fantasy football for the first time as my bro had a vacancy in his league so he invited me. I'd say Yahoo is still better but my bro's league is good craic.

Does anyone want to do Survival Football with Yahoo or did someone already set one up? If not, I could set one up and send out invites to those who PM me.

Tristram

Washington Redskins at New York Giants
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans
Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons
Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints
St. Louis Ram at Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns
Carolina Panthers at San Diego Chargers
Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers
Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders

Vikings

Nice to see the Packers fans dreaming about a win on Monday night.

All I can see is Jared Allen ploughing into Aaron Rodgers back - and then Aaron Rodgers not getting up very fast. Rinse and repeat until Biran Brohm is on the field!

kmart6

And all I can see is Peterson getting injured and become ineffective for the year!:p

Vikings

If it happened it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Put it this way - without AP the Vikings can still win the NFC North, Chester Taylor rushed for over 1,000 yards the year before AP, over 700 yards last year with AP and still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

Without Aaron Rodgers... well, the auld GB QB depth chart does not look the best now does it? (hell, even with Aaron Rodgers i'd still take the Vikings QB depth chart over it!!!!!)

Dr.Slurm

Washington Redskins at New York Giants
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans
Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons
Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints
St. Louis Ram at Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns
Carolina Panthers at San Diego Chargers
Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers
Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders

davyjose

Agree with the op except, there's no pressure on eli - he's got a ring. If giants lose - and i think not - its down to the emaciated D-line. also Saints to beat bucs, and would have to say the jets are a much better side than miami.

JJ

I know the Giants lost two of their best defensive players since last year but they still have some good players there. They strengthened their secondary in the draft and they still have Spags backing them up so I'm still confident the Giants can crush the Redskins in the big season kickoff game.

SantryRed

Washington Redskins at New York Giants
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans
Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons
Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints
St. Louis Ram at Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns
Carolina Panthers at San Diego Chargers
Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers
Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders

tallaghtoutlaws

Vikings wrote: »

Nice to see the Packers fans dreaming about a win on Monday night.

All I can see is Jared Allen ploughing into Aaron Rodgers back - and then Aaron Rodgers not getting up very fast. Rinse and repeat until Biran Brohm is on the field!

Agreed I honestly see a Vikes win myself the Pack had a good preseason but preseason means fook all and is not as intense as the regular season and most likely Rodgers will take that hit that Eli got in his first game blindsided by a LB as a Welcome to the League.

Pherekydes

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

Agreed I honestly see a Vikes win myself the Pack had a good preseason but preseason means fook all and is not as intense as the regular season and most likely Rodgers will take that hit that Eli got in his first game blindsided by a LB as a Welcome to the League.

Rodgers is having his first start, not his first game.

Karlusss

Have Friday off, so I'm gonna be watching the opening game. Gonna be deadly.

I'm going to take the Redskins over the Giants because they beat them in my Madden franchise on the first day, and the Giants lost (arguably) their two best players.

tallaghtoutlaws

Pherekydes wrote: »

Rodgers is having his first start, not his first game.

No Sh*t sherlock what I was getting at that it is his first proper game in the big show. Playing a few snaps and playing from the start as no 1 are two different things. The games he played in last year the Pack were already up or Favre got injured.

Pyjamarama

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

Agreed I honestly see a Vikes win myself the Pack had a good preseason but preseason means fook all and is not as intense as the regular season and most likely Rodgers will take that hit that Eli got in his first game blindsided by a LB as a Welcome to the League.

would prob be best not to tempt fate unless it's a rubbish 2nd or 3rd string LB. Jerome McDuogal the chump that he's been was the player who "welcomed" Eli to the league. He'll be lining up for the Giants on Friday...

And don't you just know the fupper will stay healthy and fulfil his potential for that Jim Johnson pupil (who btw is as much as I hate to say it the best DC in the league while Johnson has no idea how the league works anymore).

kmart6

Here we go!!!!

:D:D:D:D:D:D

davyjose

Pherekydes wrote: »

Rodgers is having his first start, not his first game.

Has Rodgers ever taken a snap of importance?

Not only is he taking the weight of a franchise on his shoulders, but he's replacing a legend of the game. Anything less than 10-6 and he'll be eaten alive by the media and fans.

I really can't see the guy being a success, and I feel sorry for him, in the same way I feel sorry for whoever replaces Manning or Brady. It never bodes well for the guy who replaces a legendary QB: who replaced Marino, Aikman, Montana, Elway? Have these franchises (Dolphins, Cowboys, 49er's, Bronco's), been able to replace these guys since? (Romo's good, but the jury remains out). In fact the only franchise I can think of with probably two of the top 10 QB's ever, are the Colts, and look at their record between Unitas and Manning. And Favre is in that class.

In a nutshell, I think GB are going to need a serious running game to get anywhere close to what they did last season. Because Rodgers just won't be good enough IMO.

Tristram

I see AR doing well

davyjose

Tristram wrote: »

I see AR doing well

That's understandable, but I really think people underrate how good a QB Favre is, and unless Rodgers is a future Pro-bowler, the Packers will struggle.

eagle eye

davyjose wrote: »

Has Rodgers ever taken a snap of importance?

Not only is he taking the weight of a franchise on his shoulders, but he's replacing a legend of the game. Anything less than 10-6 and he'll be eaten alive by the media and fans.

I really can't see the guy being a success, and I feel sorry for him, in the same way I feel sorry for whoever replaces Manning or Brady. It never bodes well for the guy who replaces a legendary QB: who replaced Marino, Aikman, Montana, Elway? Have these franchises (Dolphins, Cowboys, 49er's, Bronco's), been able to replace these guys since? (Romo's good, but the jury remains out). In fact the only franchise I can think of with probably two of the top 10 QB's ever, are the Colts, and look at their record between Unitas and Manning. And Favre is in that class.

In a nutshell, I think GB are going to need a serious running game to get anywhere close to what they did last season. Because Rodgers just won't be good enough IMO.

Steve Young replaced Montana and won a couple of rings himself at the 49ers. Steve Bono replaced him at the Chiefs where he spent his last two years but that is kind of irrelevant in the context of what you are implying. Young was considered a failure by the Buccs and went in as backup to Montana. Turned out kind of well for him.
Just on Young, he was originally in the USFL or some name like that when he started out and had something like a $40 or 50 mill contract and he agreed to get paid that at 1 mill a year and up to two years ago he was still getting paid out on that contract. Must be really nice knowing there is definitely a mill a year coming in without getting off your backside.

davyjose

eagle eye wrote: »

Steve Young replaced Montana and won a couple of rings himself at the 49ers.... kind of irrelevant in the context of what you are implying.

My bad; he has best QB rating there is, but yeah, what I'm saying is that when a team has one of the best QB's of all time, well, it is very easy to pin your whole team around that guy. So unless you're in the ridiculously lucky position of finding a Steve Young, you're starting from scratch. He was a rare example.

For what it's worth I want to see Rodgers AND Favre have a good season. I'd genuinely feel bad for either guy to fall apart. Plus the Packers have to be everyones 2nd favourite team(unless you're a Vikings/Bears fan), right? Because they aren't the LA Packers or even the ilwaukee Packers ... if you know what I mean? Maybe they're the last true "Fans" team. So I hope Rodgers does well.

But saying that, Favre is a big part of why I love NFL - the word iconic does not do him justice. So yeah, I'd like to see them both do well, but I really fear for Rodgers; Manning or Brady would struggle with the weight on the guy's shoulders TBH.

sdevine89

NY Jets @ Miami (Backing NY Jets @ 1.64)
Jacksonville @ Tennessee (Backing Jacksonville Jaguars @ 1.65)
Houston @ Pittsburgh (Backing Pittsburgh Steelers @ 1.35)
Carolina @ San Diego (Backing San Diego Chargers @ 1.21)
Dallas @ Cleveland (Backing Dallas Cowboys @ 1.38)

eagle eye

sdevine89 wrote: »

NY Jets @ Miami (Backing NY Jets @ 1.64)
Jacksonville @ Tennessee (Backing Jacksonville Jaguars @ 1.65)
Houston @ Pittsburgh (Backing Pittsburgh Steelers @ 1.35)
Carolina @ San Diego (Backing San Diego Chargers @ 1.21)
Dallas @ Cleveland (Backing Dallas Cowboys @ 1.38)

you have two what I would call certainties in the Steelers and Chargers, but one of the other three will lose I'd say. I am going against you in my predictions in two of them taking the Browns at home and the Dolphins at home. We have heard all the rumours about the playbook troubles for Favre and you just know Parcels will have his team in shape.
The jags are trying to put a really bad season behind them and should do it, but that will be a close game, its all about the Jags offense imo.