Kicking Off The NFL Season

The first game of the year is in the books and things started out and ended just how the defending champion Saints would have liked. But it was the middle part of the game that I’m sure they’ll not be pleased with. And instead of boring you with the play-by-play let me get right into what stood out to me. First, the Saints were at their best when they had a strong mix of runs and passes. Pierre Thomas was used to wear down the Vikings and the interior of the Saints line neutralized Kevin and Pat Williams. Fantasy owners take notice, Thomas was the workhorse back AND was used at the goal line. The Saints spread the wealth to all the WRs and I’m sure this didn’t make fantasy owners very happy. As for the Vikings, they tried to feed Adrian Peterson as much as they could, and he did put up 87 yards on the ground, but he still needs more touches. And I’m not sure if those touches are going to increase. The Vikings TD can on a drive that was heavy-Favre. Lots of passes including the TD. So was this Brett’s way of saying “we need to pass the ball more.” Perhaps. And if that’s the case it could be a long season for the Vikings because pressure caused 1 INT and a few near misses, not to mention the Vikings only put up 9 points and lost. So the Vikings really need to get back to the drawing board figure out how to get more out of their offense.

Now on to the rest of the league.

Tom Brady was involved in a car accident, but he walked away from it and he should be unaffected for the game against the Bengals. When news broke regarding the accident I’m sure it put every owner of Brady in a fantasy league on the edge of their seat. But it’s not Brady that will be the focus for many fantasy players this Sunday, it will be who he is throwing to. Can Moss continue to put up good numbers or will he be in a bad mood about something? Who’s gonna be the #2 target. The organization can say all they want but the proof will be Sunday afternoon. Is Wes Welker back to 100%, is his clone, Julian Edelman, able to put up similar numbers? Who is going to run the ball? All these fantasy questions will be answered Sunday, but it won’t be easy. The Bengals should put up a pretty good fight, but if you read my column last week you know I’m pretty excited about the Patriots flying under the radar. This is a good first test for them and I would anticipate them opening some eyes in the first week of the season.

On the other coast the 49es travel up to Seattle in a game that has a lot of storyline, the least of which is the outcome of the game. As training camp wound down Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis got into it and had to be pulled into the locker room for a stern talking to by Coach Singletary. Have these two put it behind them? Will missing all of the preseason hurt Crabtree or will he come out like he did last year and put up strong numbers? Just what does Pete Carroll have going on in Seattle? Will he invigorate the Seahawks or fall flat? Again, lots of questions entering the season for both of these teams and it will be interesting to see just how it plays out.

In a game that clearly has very little interest to most, the Denver Broncos travel down to Jacksonville, but I’m very intrigued. The Broncos got off to great start last year and crashed and burned towards the end, so which version of the Broncos will show up this year? The Jags are built to run the ball and playing at home should have a small advantage, so does this mean the Broncos get off to a slow start, or can Kyle Orton manage the game enough for the Broncos to pull out a victory? And in the secondary story line that will interest more people then the actual game, who’s going to be the #2 QB for the Broncos, Brady Quinn or Tim Tebow? And will Tebow get any playing time. Just another little something to check-in on for week one of the NFL season.

And in possibly the game of the week, Phily hosts Green Bay in the start of the Kevin Kolb era. The Packers looked unstoppable on offense in the preseason, will that continue? Can Kevin Kolb utilize the young weapons he has on the outside in DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin and succeed, or will the pressure to perform in Phily be too much? And the bigger question for Phily fans, can the defense get some pressure on Rodgers or will he pick them apart and march up and down the field?

Entering week one there are always more questions then answers, and that’s what the next few weeks will do for us, answer questions. In the meantime, at least for the next 48 hours, every team thinks they got a shot to do something special this year, and come January half of them will be disappointed. But it is the journey that is going to be the most exciting part. So enjoy the start of the NFL season, and check back next week where we’ll have more answers to all these questions.