Week 1 – Let the Games Begin!

The first week of the season is always impossible. We all have pre-conceived notions about all of the teams and for the fans of approximately 10 teams, this weekend will be a very surprising one where faults and strengths are revealed. If you think I have the power to reveal which 10 teams are going in which direction, clearly you haven't been reading the last few years, because I was below the Joe Theismann-Peter King-Mendoza line of picking games last year.

Manwich Matchup of the Week
Chicago Bears@ San Diego Chargers- Not to put too much emphasis on this game, but I feel like we may learn a lot about the Chargers and the new coaching staff from this tough 1st matchup. Pick: San Diego

Upset of the Week
New Orleans Saints @ Indianapolis Colts- The Colts are a surprising 6 point favorite at the time I’m typing this. That could go down by Thursday’s game, but I think this is a good first game for the Colts, as their defense should get absolutely shredded, and then they can start re-tooling next week. It’s also an interesting matchup under Mighty’s preview, as it’s Megatron (Indy) vs. Magneto (X-man). I guess I’m just assuming that Magneto can use his special powers to do whatever he wants to Megatron.
Pick: New Orleans

Tennessee Titans @ Jacksonville Jaguars- Based off of the Wikipedia webpage, it appears that the Madden curse has occurred in 1) a broken ankle in the playoffs (Garrison Hearst) , 2) retirement in the pre-season (Barry Sanders), 3) a costly fumble by Eddie George in the playoffs, 4) Culpepper’s back in Week 11, 5) Faulk’s ankle, 6) Vick broke a fibula during the preseason and only played 5 games, 7) Ray Lewis (not much of a curse here), 8) McNabb’s sports hernia mid-way through the season, 9) Shaun Alexander’s broken foot in Week 4. Based off of this past data, I’m thinking Vince Young will mess up his knee around Week 7.
Pick: Jacksonville Jaguars / Tailspin

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cleveland Browns- Romeo Crennel needs to grow a pair of balls this season. If I was one of the TV play-by-play announcers, that would be one of my "3 Keys to the Game." That and 2) offense, and 3) intensity.
Pick: Steelers

Philadelphia Eagles @ Green Bay Packers- McNabb should shred the Packers defense.
Pick: Philly

New England Patriots @ New York Jets- Should be another interesting week between Belichick and his former pupil, Coach Mangina.
Pick: Pats

Miami Dolphins @ Washington Redskins- I feel for those who will suffer by having to watch this game.
Pick: Redskins

Kansas City Chiefs @ Houston Texans- Even the bookmakers are favoring Houston in this game! No one believes in the Chiefs!
Pick: Texans

Denver Broncos @ Buffalo Bills- This could be an intriguing game if Denver’s preseason woes actually translate into the regular season. It’s also unclear what the Bills defense will be like this season. P
ick: Denver

Carolina Panthers @ St. Louis Rams- Under Mighty’s preview, this means Scrooge Mcduck (St. Louis) is going to beat Wonder Woman (Carolina) with his cane!
Pick: Rams

Atlanta Falcons @ Minnesota Vikings- I’m also curious about Tarvaris Jackson, but I don’t think that playing Atlanta will tell us much about him.
Pick: Vikings

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Seattle Seahawks- I find it pretty funny that Tampa Bay ended up keeping all 4 QBs on their roster (Jeff Garcia, Gradkowski, Luke McCown, and Chris Simms). I just used Wikipedia to discover a long-lost third McCown brother, Randy McCown, who also played QB, albeit at Texas A&M. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_McCown He’s 30 years old, but I think the Bucs should bring him in for a look. Pick: Seattle

Detroit Lions @ Oakland Raiders- It’s Josh McCown’s turn to exact revenge on the Lions for never playing him! NFL Football on Sundays can be so much fun! But… this game WOULD have been even more fun assuming my beliefs about Culpepper are true and that he is still effective. Coach Kiffin, please get Culpepper in there so he can play Miami in a few weeks. Please!
Pick: Oakland

New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys- Let MJ’s prediction of a disastrous season commence! Pick: Dallas

Baltimore Ravens @ Cincinnati Bengals- Cobra (Baltimore) vs. Captain Planet (Cincy). Now that’s a toss-up every time because one has to assume that Cobra gets involved in storage and removal of toxic industrial waste.
Pick: Cincy

Arizona Cardinals @ San Francisco 49ers- What a fun shootout this game will be. Too bad it’s in that 10:30PM kickoff time, as the 2nd part of the Monday night doubleheader.
Pick: San Fran

Past Years - I'm good in the odd years, just like the San Antonio Spurs
2004 – 150-106
Manwich Matchup: 7-11
Upset Special: 7-9

2005 – 160-96
Manwich Matchup: 10-7
Upset Special: 3-14 (That’s not a misprint)

2006: 148-108
Manwich Matchup: 12-7
Upset Special: 5-12