The Baltimore Ravens face the Denver Broncos in the Mile High City Thursday night to get things started this
Who can forget last year's choke job by Peyton Manning and the Broncos in the AFC Divisional Playoffs when they allowed the eventual Super Bowl champion Ravens to steal the game by scoring in literally the closing seconds of regulation to force overtime.
From there, the Ravens intercepted a Manning pass to set up the game winning field goal in the second quarter of OT to move forward.
The Broncos have been downplaying the "revenge" factor for the opener tomorrow night, but be real, they want to win this game and if they could do so, they'd love to win it in blowout fashion.
It's a whole new season and all 32 teams get it started this weekend with the Sunday night showcase game featuring the New York Giants at the Dallas Cowboys. The Monday Night Football games will have the Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins and the Houston Texans facing the host San Diego Chargers.
There are some big tilts taking place in Week One, especially the Green Bay Packers opening up in San Francisco against the 49ers, the team that blew away the mighty Pack in the divisional round of the NFC Playoffs last year.
Two dark horse contenders this season, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Chicago Bears, face each other in Soldier Field in Chicago. Tampa Bay travels to face the New York Jets, a team still searching for a starting quarterback, as Darrelle Revis faces his old team in the Big Apple.
A big showdown in the NFC South right out of the gate in The Big Easy as the New Orleans Saints host the Atlanta Falcons in what could be a real shootout. Quarterbacks Drew Brees and Matt Ryan will be flinging the ball around the Superdome all game long.
One never knows what to expect in the opening games around the NFL, especially these days with so many players changing teams in the off-season.
Well, here we go with another venture at picking the games for the season. The following offers a capsule style breakdown/analysis for each game with the Heftyinfo picks for Week One following . . . One new feature this season will be the "Lock of the Week" winner picked in BOLD FACE type.
Thursday Night Game
Baltimore at Denver - The Broncos (and especially Peyton Manning) want to win this game in the worst way. And they should do so this time around, just make sure to avoid OT Denver and you should be just fine.
Sunday Games
New England at Buffalo - The Patriots are ironing things out on offense as the new season begins. The Bills are going with a totally inexperienced starting QB in this one.
Cincinnati at Chicago - The Bears begin "life without Lovie (Smith) and Brian (Urlacher)" in their season opener against a formidable foe. A Must See game!
Miami at Cleveland - The Dolphins have playoff aspirations this season. But do not sleep on the Browns this year.
Atlanta at New Orleans - The winner of this game could control the NFC South this season... or not.
Tampa Bay at New York Jets - Darrelle Revis wanted to pick off a Mark Sanchez (out with injury) pass in this one... oh well, perhaps another time.
Tennessee at Pittsburgh - Both of these teams will have some questions answered in this opening game.
Minnesota at Detroit - An NFC North tilt in Motown as Adrian Peterson begins his attempt to go over 2,000 yards rushing for a second straight season.
Oakland at Indianapolis - Can Andrew Luck and the Colts perform more miracles this year? Beating the Raiders is NOT a miracle so we will have to wait and see.
Seattle at Carolina - The Seahawks strong defense gets an early test vs. Cam Newton and company.
Kansas City at Jacksonville - Chiefs roll!
Arizona at St. Louis - Rams roll!
Green Bay at San Francisco - The Packers will get a good look at the team that crushed them in last season's playoff game.
NY Giants at Dallas - It seems like every season this game is in prime time. Why?
Monday Night Football Games
Philadelphia at Washington - The return of RG3 from knee surgery. Hmmmm.
Houston at San Diego - The Texans want to make a statement in this game.
The Heftyinfo Week One predictions . . . (Home teams listed in bold and LOCK OF THE WEEK pick listed in BOLD CAPS)
Denver over Baltimore
New England over Buffalo
Chicago over Cincinnati
Cleveland over Miami
New Orleans over Atlanta
Tampa Bay over NY Jets
Pittsburgh over Tennessee
Detroit over Minnesota
INDIANAPOLIS over Oakland
Seattle over Carolina
Kansas City over Jacksonville
St. Louis over Arizona
San Francisco over Green Bay
NY Giants over Dallas
Washington over Philadelphia
Houston over San Diego
Last Season's Record: 160-95-1
NFL SEASON PREDICTIONS
NFC East 1. NY Giants (10-6) 2. Washington (10-6) 3. Dallas (8-8) 4. Philadelphia (5-11)
NFC North 1. Green Bay (11-5) 2. Chicago (10-6) 3. Detroit (8-8) 4. Minnesota (6-10)
NFC South 1. Atlanta (11-5) 2. New Orleans-wild card (10-6) 3. Tampa Bay (10-6) 4. Carolina (6-10)
NFC West 1. San Francisco (12-4) 2. Seattle-wild card (10-6) 3. St. Louis (8-8) 4. Arizona (3-13)
AFC East 1. New England (11-5) 2. Miami-wild card (9-7) 3. Buffalo (4-12) 4. NY Jets (4-12)
AFC North 1. Baltimore (10-6) 2. Cincinnati-wild card (9-7) 3. Cleveland (8-8) 4. Pittsburgh (7-9)
AFC South 1. Houston (11-5) 2. Indianapolis (8-8) 3. Tennessee (5-11) 4. Jacksonville (3-13)
AFC West 1. Denver (12-4) 2. Kansas City (8-8) 3. San Diego (6-10) 4. Oakland (3-13)
NFC Playoffs AFC Playoffs
Seattle over Atlanta Baltimore over Miami
New Orleans over NY Giants Houston over Cincinnati
Seattle over Green Bay Denver over Baltimore
San Francisco over New Orleans Houston over New England
NFC Championship Game AFC Championship Game
Seattle over San Francisco Denver over Houston
SUPER BOWL 48 (XLVIII)
Seattle Seahawks over Denver Broncos
Peyton Manning was awesome in first game. Go Broncos!
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