Game Previews
Week 1
9/8/05

As I said in my last article the Pats are a team of destiny. They beat the Eagles but not as much as I thought they would. They lost some key members of that famed coaching team with both Romeo and Charlie taking the first trains out. Bruschi is gone and we all hope he gets better. He is a class act that guy. They will feel some pain to begin with but will take it up a notch as the season goes on. Bottom line is they still have Brady, Branch, Dillon, Givens, Seymour, and a whole heck of a lot of other guys. Deep, Deep, Deep. I don’t think they will make it three but they will win this one. Go with most of their front-line starters as Oakland’s D is horrible. Watch for TE Ben Watson he could be a sleeper.

Final Score: Pats 30, Raiders 27

Well here we are. Those folks that had mini-orgasms when Gibbs was hired aren’t quite as excited as last year. Fact is that times have changed. It was easier when you had a sold out stadium every week and could put all that money to having the deepest team in the league. No matter how much money you make now you can only spend so much. A little harder that way. In any event, Gibbs will win this one because he finally wised up and put in Ramsey, which he should have started with last year. Portis will be looking for redemption but it won’t happen on this day. Chicago D is too good. Avoid anyone not named Portis.

Final Score: Skins 20, Chicago 13

Cincinnati (-3 1/2) at Cleveland, 1:00 p.m.
Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou. He is in Cleveland. Hope everything works out for him. Now enter the great Trent Dilfer. Antonio Bryant is now the 2nd coming of Reggie Wayne. Whatever. Pre-season is always the time to be the optimist but I am not sold…at all not this year. The Browns are really going to have a tough time scoring. Lee Suggs will be the next Curtis Enis and Droughns is the next option. I think he has something about him that I would like to have starting in the backfield. I just think Dilfer will have a tough time in this one. The Bengals still have defense problems as they were watching Owens do some end zone dancing a couple of weeks ago. But Bryant is no Owens. It would be tough to start either back because they will be sharing time. Other than that I would leave this team alone for week 1.

This should be a fun team to watch. Palmer will come of age this year. He is looking pretty good in pre-season. This offense is a good one. R. Johnson is the back and Chad Johnson is the man!! He has a Michael Irvin type swagger to him. I like what he brings to the table. On the other side is an up-and-coming guy in T.J. He has a lot of upside and will see primarily all single coverage all year. You can really start any of these guys this week and should do ok. I think they will put up some points and win this comfortably.

Final Score: Bengals 28, Browns 17

Denver (-4.5) at Miami, 1:00 p.m.
What can you say? Miami has got a new coach in Saban and a new tailback, QB, old tailback, defensive scheme, and a new punch that a lot of media people are drinking. Saban may be a good coach (remains to be seen at the NFL level) but talent wins and the Dolphins are missing a little. Especially on the offensive line where most people in Miami have no idea what their names are. Receivers are either has-beens are never was. The best part of this team was the defense and they changed that too. Ricky is back but with whom? Ronnie Brown will not make $10 million and sit on the bench. Anyway, they will struggle to score all year and wide up with Matt Lineart. Start the backs if you want. But don’t expect them to have a great day.

Has Shanny lost his mind? Drafted Clarett and signing the worst defensive line in football last year. Not quite easy to do things when you don’t have Elway bombing footballs 40 yards. Plummer is still the QB so that means another 22/22 year. He makes his standard bonehead mistake that puts the team’s hopes in the drainpipe. Tatum Bell should eventually start but he has shown nothing so far. Anderson has really looked great and probably deserves it right now. Rod Smith is back with Lelie. Lelie could be the man this year. One thing that Plummer does is throw for yards. He isn’t afraid to pull the string to anyone. The other team…whoever. They will do well in this one. Put up point and put a pretty big stomping at the aqua colored Division II-A football team. Play Plummer, Anderson, Smith, and Lelie.

Final Score: Broncos 27, Fins 14

Houston at Buffalo (-5.5), 1:00 p.m.
The Texans looked a little lost so far in PS. Carr needs to make some things work this year. He is looking more like Harrington now. You have to make strides at some point. He has the weapons in Davis and Johnson. Two of the best young offensive guys in the league. This will be a tough day at the office on Sunday. Buffalo is a fast, hungry, defensive machine that has its sites on being one of the best in the league. It will be hard to make much progress. They should be just praying they get out of up state with a win. But that is not going to happen. Start Johnson and Davis.

The Bills are a very underrated team coming into this year and if Losman plays better then they have a real shot at making some noise. That defense is all that and a bag of chips. Lee Evans is a star waiting to happen and Moulds is the veteran. The big news is Willis. McGahee is just a monster with the ball in his hands and with some help may be Thurman Thomas like at some point. He has the tools and might be bigger and faster than Thomas. He is definitely a start in this one along with Evans.

Final Score: Bills 30, Texans 17

N.Y. Jets (+3) at Kansas City 1:00 p.m.
The Jets aren’t exactly what I would call the luckiest team in professional football, losing last year in the playoffs as a result of a faulty kicker, but they have always had resolve, and certainly aren’t the pushovers they once were. I think Curtis Martin and Chad Pennington are both strong plays this week, although the Chiefs made some major moves in the off-season on defense, picking up Kendrell Bell and Sammy Knight. Look for some ball movement from both offenses, and the Jets new offensive scheme working out well in its infancy.

The Chiefs need more big plays than the Jets — which they should get, since Pennington’s shoulder won’t likely be testing its limits downfield with Coles and McCareins. Look for KC to get big games from Holmes, Green (if he stays healthy) Kennison and Gonzalez.

Final Score: Jets 27, Chiefs 23

Seattle (+3) at Jacksonville 1:00 p.m.
The Seahawks, still looking for a first trip to the Super Bowl, have a good shot this year, but won’t be going anywhere if they can’t dispatch the Jags and get off to a good start. With Seattle, confidence is the supreme factor. I like the running back matchup of Alexander versus Taylor, and if it’s a question of durability, Alexander is the man. The Jaguars will have some issues if either Taylor or Leftwich goes down, but they should contend this year as well. In this matchup, I think the Jags will need to come from behind, so look for Reggie Williams and Jimmy Smith to post good numbers.

Final Score: Seahawks 23, Jags 17

Tampa Bay (+6) at Minnesota 1:00 p.m.
The Buccaneers and Vikings should both provide some fireworks in this one. For the Bucs, I’d start Cadillac and Griese, as well as Clayton. Where’s Randy Moss? He’s in Oakland, where Al Davis is hoping for the second coming of the Mad Bomber Daryl Lamonica in Kerry Collins. But Daunte Culpepper will now have to look more often for Troy Williamson, Burleson, Marcus “Underachiever” Robinson and Jermaine Wiggins. Go with the Burleson and Culpepper combo if you’ve got it, but stay away from the Vikings running backs.

Final Score: Vikes 24, Bucs 14

Tennessee (+7) at Pittsburgh 1:00 p.m.
Remember when Tennessee was a favorite every week? Neither do I, and neither do the Steelers. Look for the Titans to fall behind and get big numbers from their WRs, but nothing more. For the Steelers, almost everybody on offense should be a good play, at least for the first half. Don’t think the Steelers aren’t still a little ticked about last year.

Final Score: Steelers 37, Titans 17

Green Bay (+3) at Detroit 4:15 p.m.
The Packers getting points against Detroit? Times have certainly changed. Don’t believe the hype until you see some results from the Lions. I’d go with Favre and all the usual suspects in Green Bay and throw in Roy Williams for Detroit. Kevin Jones is also solid, but he’s not what he’s cracked up to be.

Final Score: Packers 30, Lions 21

St. Louis (-6) at San Francisco 4:15 p.m.
Marc Bulger, Bruce, Holt and both Faulk and Steven Jackson should take it to the 49ers, and the Niners will be lucky to scrape together a score. I don’t anticipate anything from the 49ers offense, especially with the horrendous attitudes that still abound. He’s over the line — mark it zero, dude.

Final Score: Rams 31, Niners 0

Dallas (+4.5) at San Diego 4:15 p.m.
Great first game test for both teams. They both could be for real, but this will set the tone for the season. I think we’ll see some moderate to good performances from just about all the main starters, but expect big things from Cowboys RB Julius Jones and, of course, Chargers stud LT. Witten should be a good play and look out for Gates fill-in Justin Peele. Both TEs could possibly leading their teams in catches and yardage in this one. I have a feeling, however, that the Cowboys revamped pass rush will get the better of San Diego and force a few turnovers.

Final Score: Cowboys 20, Chargers 17

New Orleans at Carolina (-7), 4:15 p.m
You have to feel for the Saints players. It has to be difficult for them. At least I heard that all of the players have gotten their own families with them. That is good. New Orleans will be playing on much emotion and that will last for about the first half of a quarter. I think you have to know that their energy will diminish and the emotional toll with eventually overcome them. Brooks is going to be same unpredictable QB. But he will put up fantasy points. McAllister should have a good year along with Horn. Play those guys but the Panthers defense will some at them at some point.

The Panthers are the trendy pick for the NFC grown. I don’t know if I agree. I like Jake and Steve Smith. But Muhsin leaving has to impact them. Davis is back and will start but Foster should be the man. He has more upside and the ability to take it to the house at anytime. I think the Saints D will get slashed up pretty good in this one and that defense will be foaming at the mouth. This is the best D in the league not named the Ravens. Go with Jake, Steve Smith, and Stephen Davis if you have to.

Final Score: Panthers 28, Saints 13

Arizona (+3) at NY Giants, 4:15 p.m.
I like what Arizona has done. I would say especially on defense. They are young, fast, aggressive, and they have a good leader. The offense is a little suspect. Warner is not the Warner of 2000. He should be serviceable for bye weeks and such but I doubt he will be able to stay healthy and productive all year. I know he is a big pick with experts but I just don’t think he is worth the risk. He has the tools to throw to. He has Fitz and Boldin. Two of the best bookends in the business. But I see an offensive line with holes and a RB that is not used to the speed of the pro game. So be careful starting some of these guys by the WR should be worth a spot in this game. Try Warner out and see what he does.

The NY football Giants got a little scare when Eli had elbow problems. The QB of the future looks to be ok and will start this game. However I think this offense has some work to do. Burress is an upgrade and Toomer will benefit from a healthy Manning but I think the O-Line is like a faucet and will get trampled by this defense. It is a good match up for the Cardinals and they will want to prove they are not the same old Cardinals. Burress and Barber will be pretty good starts.

Final Score: Arizona 20, Giants 16

Indy (-3) at Baltimore, 8:30 p.m
Classic match up here. You have the best offense in the league against the best D. This will be a thing of beauty and kudos to the NFL for the scheduling. The Colts almost lost their “Edge” this off-season but wound up ponying the dough and kept him for at least this year. This may be the last. Manning through for a million TDs last year and basically has the same offense in tact. They have added Simon and Calmus on the defensive side of the ball so they will be a little bigger up front. They might be the favorite in the AFC at this point. In this game and will be a little more challenging. I would say Manning, James, Harrison, and Wayne would be the usual suspects. They will get theirs regardless of whom they play.

The defense has a chance to be special. Better than 2000 you say? Probably not but they have a chance in the old Bear 46 system. The offense should be better with Mason and Clayton. Boller is the key to this season. If he struggles he could get the hook sometime this season. Lewis looks like he is ready to roll. It remains to be seen if he can handle an entire season. I think the Colts are just too much for them at this point and they will struggle to score. Start Lewis and Mason. Heap might get some catches as well.

Final Score: Colts 27, Ravens 20

Philadelphia (-1) at Atlanta 9:00 p.m.
Good thing Terrell Owens has decided to ignore his quarterback. That should bode very well for Philly fans, who might now learn their lesson and know their role as perennial bridesmaids. All the smack that was directed my way last year has been squashed and I have been vindicated by Owens and his piehole. What did I say about this team. It can’t last, it won’t last and the long, tragic fall will start in Week 1. Sure, the fantasy numbers from Owens, Westbrook and McNabb will be decent, but Vick and TE Alge Crumpler should make mincemeat of a team with no heart remaining — since T.O. took a big bit out of it in the off-season.

Final Score: Falcons 23, Eagles 20