The first week of the NFL regular season has some gems. Click here to buy a monthly or season nfl picks package. Now onto the big games for the week. First up, the winners of the last two Super Bowls:
NEW ORLEANS AT GREEN BAY - Thursday, September 8
It didn’t take long for the New Orleans Saints to realize just how many ducks have to stay in a row for your team to win a Super Bowl title. In Super Bowl 44, the Saints capped off a magical season with a stunning victory over the Colts. Their season was magical because they never had to endure long periods of injured combatants. They were kings of the takeaway and made huge plays at all the right times. They didn’t get to SB 45 because there were injuries, mainly to Reggie Bush and their secondary. The defense was too vulnerable to advance past Seattle in the first round of the tournament.
The upcoming season presents opportunity for the Saints to go after another title. The secondary is healed and they’ve dealt with their running game deficiencies by bringing in Darren Sproles and drafting Mark Ingram out of Alabama. With QB Drew Brees’ ability to spread the ball around to Marques Colston and others, there shouldn’t be a problem scoring points.
Of course, the question will be on defense. Without the turnover stream the D was able to create in the previous season and the injuries, the Saints were vulnerable. The little-respected Seahawks proved that. The Saints had two draft picks in the first round. Ingram was taken with one and California DE Cameron Jordan was the other. While rookies don’t often have an immediate impact, Sean Payton is hoping that his D front can pressure opposing quarterbacks better than they did a year ago.
On the other side of Lambeau Field will be a team that didn’t follow that injury free path to the Super Bowl that the Saints took two years ago. The Green Bay Packers suffered 16 season ending injuries last year. Only to overcome them all, sneak into the playoffs and take it the distance for their third Super Bowl victory.
If the Saints are going to get to the Super Bowl this season, they’re going to have to go through their first opponent at a much later date. There clearly are no weakness on the defending champs. With the returnees from injured reserve, their offense will have plenty of choices for Aaron Rogers to employ. RB Ryan Grant was out in week 1 in 2010. Huge and fast TE Jermichael Finley was out in early October. Both will start the season in the lineup. Their absence a year ago allowed the Packers to find solid replacements, a host of running backs and breakout WR Greg Jennings.
Defensively, the Packers have two great leaders in LB Clay Matthews and CB Charles Woodson. They’ve got a dominating nose in B.J. Raji and a significant pass rush. Overall the defense was second in the NFC. They take the ball away and limit the opposition, while Rogers is strafing the defenses.
One of these two teams could represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. The winner will be given a boost of confidence.
PITTSBURGH AT BALTIMORE - Sunday, September 11
Pittsburgh’s main problem is that they are getting old. But in this post lock out year, the Steelers may be the one team that is helped by the situation. One might expect a stable team, all their defensive starters return, to be further ahead than the rest of the league. Especially if those teams were active in the free agent market and had major holes to plug.
Offensively, the Steelers appear to be loaded. Rashard Mendenhall is developing into a productive yardage and clock eater. Receiver is a deep and talented position. Heinz Ward is getting older, but Mike Wallace and Emmanuel Sanders appear ready to pick up any slack. And the value of Ben Roethlisberger is huge. The offensive line has been visited by the injury bug with great regularity. Add in Ben’s propensity for stretching out plays and nothing turns out to be easy for this offense. But it scores when it needs to.
Hard to complain about the #2 defense overall in the AFC, but coverage has been anything but their strong suit. Ike Taylor gets the top receivers on the opposition and does a good job in limiting them. When the pass rush is on, the secondary doesn’t look so ordinary. DE Aaron Smith is returning from injury and there is that age thing, but second year man Ziggy Hood will improve and Cam Heyward comes in from Ohio State as the future. This defense doesn’t yield much. And if the offense can give them some breathing room, the Steelers will mow their opposition down.
They’ll have to. As usual, the Baltimore Ravens are the team the Steelers likely will need to dispose of. Baltimore and Pittsburgh usually play later in the season. Often, the winner finds themselves in a position to play beyond the regular season. For this meeting, only a good start is on the line. But this is a series where the road team has been very successful.
In the off season, Joe Flacco has taken his share of criticism for not getting the Ravens over the hump. Flacco has defended himself saying that he thinks he’s pretty good. It’s not just his failure that have kept the Ravens just short of the golden ring in recent years. The offensive line has been vulnerable to rushing linemen and blitzers and it will include new pieces this season. There’s been a rebuilding nature to this preseason, as TE Todd Heap and WR Derrick Mason have been cut loose. QB coach Jim Zorn is no longer on board and the running game dropped off some last year. Flacco is to take on more of the offensive burden in the upcoming season.
Defensively, the Ravens have a strong tradition, but last season, they were outscored 119-80 in the 4th quarter. A new defensive coordinator will be in charge. Chuck Pagano, will bring emotion to the sideline, although there seemed to be quite a bit of that quality emanating from Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs. CB Jimmy Smith, Colorado, will be expected to take some key minutes in the secondary.
Little else need be said. The Steelers are visiting the Ravens in week one. Let the pain begin.
ATLANTA AT CHICAGO - Sunday, September 11
If the prescription for early success in this NFL season includes roster stability, then the Falcons should be in position to get off to a good start. Most of the Falcons’ players are back, some with that all important year of experience under their young belts; all are battle tested.
Matt Ryan is certainly among the most highly thought of quarterbacks in the league. One doesn’t get the nickname, “Mattyice,” without some signs of cool under fire. Ryan led a talented and varied offense to a 13 win regular season. And if WR Roddy White, RB Michael Turner and TE Tony Gonzalez weren’t enough, GM Thomas Dimitroff moved up to draft Alabama WR Julio Jones and Oregon State RB Jacquizz Rodgers to beef up an already potent offense. In order to outdistance New Orleans again, they’ll have to improve on defense.
Not that the defense is horrible, but when they were needed most, they didn’t come through a year ago. The way to play defense in a pass happy league is to pressure the quarterback and pick the opposing QB as often as possible. The Falcons were tied for 20th in sacks. They were 4th overall in interceptions. Still, a couple of well placed picks may have helped them have a longer postseason. The Super Bowl champion Packers took ‘em for 48 in the playoffs. This defense is more dependent on speed than strength.
That’s not the best prescription to beat the Chicago Bears in week one, at Soldier Field, but one wonders how the Bears will respond to all of the controversy surrounding QB Jay Cutler’s premature removal from the NFC title game last year.
The Bears have another of those solid returning units. The offensive line played together over the last part of the season. The bad news is they surrendered 56 sacks. So change was necessary and some change was made to the O front. Former Vikings head coach Mike Tice is in charge of the line. Wisconsin G Gabe Carimi was picked first by the Bears and he’s expected to start. The Bears’ offense didn’t score much, but they did have one offensive weapon that was better than anyone else’s. They were the best punt returning team in the league. Devin Hester was mostly a punt, rather than kickoff returner last year. If there is any team that will be hurt from the kickoff change this season, you’d think the Bears would be that team. Not many KO’s will be returned. So the offense will have to do their own dirty work.
The defense was solid, especially against the run. There is some concern that the Bears are getting old on that side of the ball. In a season where stability might matter, that should serve the Bears well. Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs anchor the linebacking corps, but there is some question about the secondary. DT Stephen Paea from Oregon State should be able to help up front.
On Green Bay’s run to the Super Bowl last season, the Bears and Falcons were both victims. The Falcons surprised the league with their win total a year ago, the Bears did a bit better than expected too. The winner of this one keeps their wheels on the track.
PHILADELPHIA AT ST. LOUIS - Sunday, September 11
How many NFL fans would be happy with their team being a perennial contender and annual playoff participants? The answer in Philadelphia would be, not us. Playoffs aren’t good enough. Eagle fans want a title, nothing less.
The Eagles offense seemed to find their way under Michael Vick. It can’t be too comforting that they lost three straight to end the season, including their playoff loss to the Packers. Add in the miracle win over the Giants for their 10th win and one would have to be concerned overall. The offense is loaded with weaponry, but Vick seemed to be figured out by season’s end. He took quite a beating earlier in the year and it could be that he’ll be back in form when the season begins. WR DeSean Jackson, TE Brent Celek and RB LeSean McCoy allow the Eagles to attack from all angles.
If the offense is stable, the defense is not. That is not to say there isn’t talent. The birds signed up two terrific corners in Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to likely present the toughest cornerback combo in the NFL. The Eagles brought back DE Jason Babbin and have a new defensive coordinator in former O line coach Juan Castillo. 4th round draft pick Casey Matthews has been penciled in to start at middle linebacker on a corps that is inexperienced throughout. Last year everyone ran on this defense. Change will have to happen for the “Dream Team,” to avoid providing the Eagle fans with a nightmare.
Gelling will be important to this team. And in week one, they’ll visit a team that is surely on the rise.
While the Rams have improved, they won more games last year than they had the previous three combined, there is still much work to be done. Good news is that the NFC West is still not the toughest division to win. They came close a year ago, but the Seahawks won it with just 7 wins.
There is a strong anchor to build around. Sam Bradford played a complete season, including every snap in every game last year. And perhaps more promising was the fact that Bradford gathered his WR’s and TE’s and taught them Josh McDaniels’ offense while the lockout was keeping official work from taking place. Bradford is a leader. Draft picks two through four were spent on a TE and two more WR’s. At 6-3, Boise State’s Austin Pettis should provide a nice target for Bradford. WR Donnie Avery returns after a season missed due to injury. And who could doubt the heart of RB Stephen Jackson? Jackson is now the career rushing leader for the franchise, passing Eric Dickerson last season.
Defensively, the Rams improved, but there were rarely enough points on the board to provide a breather for this unit. And S O.J. Atogwe is no longer a Ram, so they’ll need to fill a big hole in that position. MLB James Laurinaitis is one of the league’s best young linebackers. DT’s Justin Bannon and Dan Muir were added during free agency frenzy and that should improve the team’s push.
This team may not have the look of the Super Bowl champion Rams of a decade ago, but they are surely on the right track. This first week matchup is a tough one for both of these teams.
DALLAS AT NEW YORK JETS - Sunday, September 11
So, how does a team picked by many to play on their own turf in the Super Bowl wind up losing 7 of their first 8 games, while giving up the second most points in the league? The head coach took a great deal of heat from the fans and media last year, then Jason Garrett’s schedule was moved up and he took over. There were no playoff games for the ‘Boys but they did win 5 of their last 8.
Tony Romo was injured for much of last season and he is still being touted as the Cowboys’ starter. John Kitna didn’t win as many as he lost, but he did put up good numbers. Help is on the way on the offensive line as the Cowboys spent their first pick on an offensive linemen since 1981 on USC’s Tyron Smith. Smith is 6-5, 307 and athletic. Dez Bryant could have a breakout year at WR and TE Jason Witten is right at the top of the league’s best TE’s.
Offense really wasn’t the big problem in Dallas. The defense was awful. There’s room for improvement everywhere. Except, of course, DE. That’s DeMarcus Ware’s position. He registered 15.5 sacks in a year when the team was no better than average in that department. Personnel changes will surely give the Cowboys a better start this season, but their lackadaisical play under Wade Phillips is what did Dallas and Phillips in. Undisciplined penalties at the wrong time, a lack of success at home and a general sense of malaise left the Cowboys with not much to look back on.
The Jets didn’t win the Super Bowl either. But they got close. Again. For the 2nd year in a row, New York’s hopes died on the field of the AFC Super Bowl entrant. It would be hard to put your finger on why they fell short. They seemed to have things going their way.
Mark Sanchez wasn’t the guy that did it all for the offense, but he didn’t kill New York either. He only threw for 17 touchdowns, 13 interceptions. But the running game was fourth best in the game. The Jets will continue to hand the ball off, to Shonn Greene and either toss it to or hand it to LaDanian Tomlinson with great regularity. But the WR’s are a stronger group this year. With Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Burres two very accomplished men will compete for Sanchez’ throws. The offensive line is a good one. Really the only “development” that should occur is that of Sanchez. And he may already be there.
Rex Ryan’s defense is near the top of every category, except interceptions. Given that they’ve got the top cornerback in the game, Darelle Revis, you’d think int’s would come easily. Of course, opposing offenses know that he’s not likely to yield to attack either. CB Antonio Cromartie returns after an off season of trying to get Asomugha, and he’s not chopped liver. Linebacker Bart Scott leads a solid defensive unit. The issue for the Jets is, can they beat out the New England Patriots for the top spot in the AFC East?
New York has plenty of challenges in front of them this season. This game will be played in front of the Sunday night audience, before the Pats play on Monday. This may be the game where the Jets say “it’s us.” Then again, perhaps the Cowboys will say, “we’re back.”
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