NFL Week 1

Week #1
It’s nice to finally have the NFL back in season.  Can the Patriots three-peat?  Will Randy Moss and Terrell Owens perform to the potential that everyone knows they can?  This first week won’t give us the complete answers to that.  But America’s most watched sport does give us some intriguing first week match-ups.  So without further adieu here are the inaugural predictions.  (The game of the week will be in bold print.)

Oakland at New England
-Oakland’s offense may be lethal but New England has too many weapons on both sides of the ball for Oakland to contain for a whole game: Pats 31, Raiders 21
Chicago at Washington
-Chicago gives its offense over to Kyle Orton while Washington has quarterback problems of its own.  Offensive production will be lacking: Redskins 17, Bears 14
Cincinnati at Cleveland
-The Bengals have steadily improved over the past few years while the Browns are still in a rut.  Cincy has too much talent for Cleveland: Cincy 24, Browns 10
Denver at Miami
Ricky Williams is back but that’s about the only weapon Miami will have.  Denver isn’t superb but they are solid enough to beat Miami easily: Broncos 27, Fish 13
Houston at Buffalo
There’s no way the mediocre Houston defense will stop an explosive Buffalo offense that includes McGahee, Evans, and Moulds: Bills 30, Texans 17
New Orleans at Carolina
The Saints probably have more on their minds than football.  Not to mention it might be hard to move the ball against that Carolina defense: Panthers 20, Saints 14
N.Y. Jets at Kansas City
The passing game will be lethal for both teams especially with mediocre defenses.  With that said KC has more weapons to win in a shoot out: Chiefs 38, Jets 31
Seattle at Jacksonville
Maybe the most evenly matched game this week.  Whoever makes that one extra mistake will lose this one, and I bet it’s Jax: Seahawks 21, Jags 20
Tampa Bay at Minnesota
The Bucs offense has way too many question marks while Minny has Culpepper.   If Michael Bennett can get going then this one’s over: Vikings 31, Bucs 17
Tennessee at Pittsburgh
The perfect game for second year QB Roethlisberger.  The Titans are just plain bad which means Big Ben doesn’t even have to show up to win: Steelers 27, Titans 3
Arizona at N.Y. Giants
If Kurt Warner can use his wide receivers’ talent then Arizona will be a threat. NY is solid, though, and they should contain the Cardinals enough to win: NY 30, Cards 20
Dallas at San Diego
Drew Bees will return to earth someday but the Dallas D won’t be the ones that make him do it, especially since San Diego is home: Bolts 31, Cowboys 12
Green Bay at Detroit
If Detroit is to win then Joey Harrington is going to have to step up and deliver or it’s going to be a long night for the Lions: Packers 24, Lions 20
St. Louis at San Francisco
The Niners still have a very limited supply of weapons and the St. Louis offense is too good for the Niners’ defense to stop: Rams 28, Niners 10
Indianapolis at Baltimore
“Defense wins championships.”  Well we’ll see if that holds true for this game.  Ray Lewis and the Raven defense will have their hands full with Peyton Manning and the Colt offense: Colts 24, Ravens 21
Philadelphia at Atlanta
A great Monday night match-up featuring two of the marquee quarterbacks in the game.  McNabb and T.O. should be able to make amends by Monday, though and I would expect for the Philly defense to clamp down on the inconsistent Falcon offense: Eagles 35, Falcons 24

This week’s parlay:
Denver (-4.5) over Miami
Cincinnati (-3.5) over Cleveland
(Home team in Italics)