It is that time again ladies and gentlemen. The NFL season is back! The season officially kicked off on Thursday night after the Ravens and Broncos got done hiding underneath their fans for protection against some lighting in the area. Once that went away, nothing could save the Ravens from the Peyton Manning lightening that struck in the end zone SEVEN times. It has been a long few days for Ravens fans, but after today, almost half of NFL fans will be joining them in a sad state of 0-1. Let’s get to it and try and figure out who those other teams are.
Cincinnati Bengals @ Chicago Bears (-3): In the off-season, the Bears fired long term coach Lovie Smith and replaced him with CFL offensive specialist Marc Trestman. Trestman went 59–31 as a head coach up north. Impressive. however, The Bengals are a force to be reckoned with this year. I think Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins are going to wreak havoc on the Bears offensive line. Harrison coming over from Pittsburgh should be a good addition at strong side linebacker to keep the Bears running game in check. On offense, the Bengals will be mixing up runs with Green-Ellis and rookie scat back Giovani Bernard. This should enable Dalton to manage the game more and make a big throw to A.J. Green off of play-action. I like the Bengals here, and I am going to take them to win! Bengals +130 (3 units)
Tennessee Titans @ Pittsburgh Steelers (-6.5): This is one of those games where you simply judge a book by its cover. The Pittsburgh Steelers we associate with success, and the Tennessee Titans we associate with failure. I do not know if it’s the case these days. The Pittsburgh Steelers from a few years ago were a very promising and successful team, like Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana, now, with a questionable O-line, depleted receiver corps and almost nonexistent running game, the Steelers have begun to twerk it a bit. Don’t get me wrong, the Titans are no powerhouse themselves, but I like their focus on physicality this year. I think Titans keep it close, if not win. Tennessee +7 -125 (To win 2 units)
Atlanta @ New Orleans (-3): If these two teams were politicians trying to get you to vote for their team to win, the Falcons would tell you that they one lost three games last year and held a 17 point lead in the NFC Championship game before squandering that lead to the 49ers, meanwhile, the Saints had the worst defense in the NFL. That may be true, but it’s not the whole story. Everybody knows about bounty-gate, and the ramifications that it had on the Saints last season, especially on defense. Now all of the players have been reinstated, and most importantly, they have their coach back. Let’s not forget, even in all of last years turmoil, the Saint’s still beat the Falcons in New Orleans. I’ll take the Falcons to run out of gas first in this shootout. Saints cover the spread! Saints -3 -120 (To win 2 units)
NFL Week One 2013 Picks, Predictions and Stone Cold Locks
Now for a quick rundown of the rest of the games, I predict the teams in bold to win:
Patriots @ Bills
Dolphins @ Browns
Vikings @ Lions
Raiders @ Colts
Buccaneers @ Jets
Seahawks @ Panthers
Chiefs @ Jaguars
Cardinals @ Rams
Packers @ 49ers
Giants @ Cowboys
Eagles @ Redskins
Texans @ Chargers
