Guide to watching the opening weekend of NFL

We’ve finally made it here! 

The NFL season is back, with the opening weekend of play only a couple of days away.

Since Mecole Hardman caught the final snap of the season to cement the third championship in five years for Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, a series of league-altering moves have unfolded. These changes have set us up for what could be one of the most interesting seasons of football in a long time. 

The offseason saw a number of familiar faces relocating to new cities: Saquon Barkley to Philadelphia, Stefon Diggs to Houston, and Haason Reddick to New York (however even that situation hasn’t been fully resolved yet…). It also saw the introduction of a brand new draft class filled with all kinds of exciting, young talent such as Caleb Williams, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Brock Bowers. Finally, we also saw a number of esteemed head coaches being replaced by a new wave of young coaches, signifying a changing of the guard. 

All of these swirling moves have laid the foundation for an incredibly exciting 23 weeks of action-packed football, and I personally cannot wait to see who can attempt to knock the crown off the head of the Chiefs!

Without further ado, let’s get into a brief overview of what I see transpiring over the course of this first weekend.

Best Game: Baltimore Ravens @ Kansas City Chiefs 

Last season started off with a bang as the Detroit Lions clinched a nail-biter over the eventual champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, and I expect this year to be no different. In what has become a staple match-up over the years between two of the league’s best quarterbacks, I expect the opening game of the season to be a great one.

Both teams have the capability to come out with their offense firing on all cylinders; however, I believe that this game will be defined more so by establishing a consistent run game and being able to defensively capitalize on the few mistakes that each offense will make.

Ultimately, I do believe that the Chiefs will be able to leave Arrowhead Stadium with a win, but I expect to see a close game with the Chiefs pushing just out of reach in the final quarter.

On a side note, I also think the Monday Night Football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Jets will be very interesting and could be a potential sleeper pick of a Super Bowl matchup (although that is completely dependent on whether Aaron Rodgers can return to his MVP form of 2021).

Outstanding Rookie: Marvin Harrison Jr. vs Buffalo Bills

This rookie class has a number of potentially generational talents, and so there is a lot of excitement around the performances that we might be seeing from them in their first year in the NFL. While there will undoubtedly be some growing pains for all, I do believe that Marvin Harrison Jr. (MHJ) has the best shot to come out of the gate on fire.

I believe that MHJ has a set of tools that will immediately place him in the upper echelon of NFL receivers. Despite the fact that he will be facing a Bills secondary that performed well last season, I think he will thrive and make a strong opening statement to the league from day one.

While it is entirely possible that the best rookie this weekend is one of the premier QBs selected in the first round, I think that it may take a week or two for them to fully adjust and get into a rhythm, just as we saw with CJ Stroud last year.

Upset of the Week: Tennessee Titans +4 @ Chicago Bears 

While it might seem crazy that the team with this year’s first overall draft pick would be heading into week one as favorites to win their matchup, the Chicago Bears have absolutely turned around the direction of their franchise and look in a significantly better position than they did 12 months ago. 

However, in saying this, I do believe that they are on upset alert this week and that the Titans, led by their second-year QB Will Levis, might march into Soldier Field Stadium and take home a seemingly unlikely victory.

The Bears, despite the noticeable improvement to their roster, may take a couple of weeks to establish a real identity. Combined with their rookie QB Caleb Williams finding his feet in the offense, this may end up costing them a couple of closely fought games. 

Similarly, the Titans have made a number of savvy roster moves to improve their team: trading for LB Ernest Jones IV, CB L’Jarius Sneed and signing WR Calvin Ridley. The Titans could be a sneakily good team in a strong AFC South. 

In the end, this is all valuable experience for a young, up-and-coming team, however, I think it might be short-sighted to expect for them to turn around their fortunes in Week One, and it might result in a vastly improved Titans team being able to squeeze a win out. 

Picks of the Week:

I’ve decided that this year might be the year I finally start keeping track of my picks for each week, and so this is where I will be holding myself accountable for the undoubtedly abysmal performance that I will put up. Nevertheless, here are my predictions for this week’s slate of games!

Overall Record: 0-0

Ravens @ Chiefs (-3): Chiefs

Packers @ Eagles (-2.5): Eagles

Panthers @ Saints (-4): Saints

Vikings (-1.5) @ Giants: Vikings

Patriots @ Bengals (-7.5): Bengals

Steelers @ Falcons (-3.5): Falcons

Texans (-2.5) @ Colts: Texans

Cardinals @ Bills (-6.5): Cardinals

Titans @ Bears (-4): Titans

Jaguars @ Dolphins (-3.5): Dolphins

Broncos @ Seahawks (-6): Broncos

Raiders @ Chargers (-3): Chargers

Cowboys @ Browns (-2.5): Browns

Commanders @ Buccaneers (-3): Buccaneers

Rams @ Lions (-3.5): Lions

Jets @ 49ers (-4.5): 49ers

*All odds are sourced from DraftKings as of 09/04/2024