Football is back. Your fantasy team is locked in, and you’re ready to do nothing all day but watch football. The NFL Sunday kickoff had a lot of exciting match ups.
NFC
CBS starts it off with the biggest revenge game of the century: Browns at Panthers. Baker Mayfield was named the starter for the Week One match-up and he means business. Mayfield’s career with the Cleveland Browns ended quite poorly. After a full season of injuries, the Browns still blamed Baker for a losing record. Baker is looking for a big revenge game against the Browns with his new team.
Week One brings an NFC North game that could show us the potential of both teams. The Packers and the Vikings are really the only two contenders to win the NFC North. Aaron Rodgers lost his number one receiver in free agency in Devante Adams. Rodgers was dissatisfied with his receivers in camp. “They’ve not been catching balls and running bad routes,” said Rodgers. Meanwhile Kirk Cousins has all the weapons he needs with Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, and Dalvin Cook. The Packers defense is strong this year so it’s not going to be a cakewalk for the Vikings’ offense. This game could be a preview of who is the best team in the NFC North.
The NFC ends with a Sunday night prime time game with the Buccaneers at the Cowboys. Back in February this would have been seen as an easy win for the Cowboys, but then Tom Brady came out of retirement for another year with the Bucs. The Bucs offense is looking to have another great year with weapons like Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The Cowboys D-line is going to have to take advantage of Tampa’s hurt O-line or Brady is going to dice up the Cowboys’ secondary. The Cowboys offense is relying on Dak Prescott and their new number one receiver Ceedee Lamb to get past a tough Bucs defense.
AFC
The Ravens will have a very interesting game this week. John Harbaugh is going against his old Super Bowl winning Quarterback Joe Flacco. The Jets have a very young offense that will be tested by a tough Ravens defense. The Ravens’ secondary will be a tough test for a young Jets receiving core, including Elijah Moore and rookie Garet Willson. Lamar and the Ravens’ offense should have a field day against a Jets defense that struggled last year.
The AFC West is possibly the best division in football, so division matchups are going to be critical to see who’s going to be in the playoffs from the AFC west. The Chargers lost a heartbreaker against the Raiders last year to miss the playoffs. The Chargers have since added to the defense with J.C. Jackson and Kahlil Mack. These additions make the Chargers a scary team with a high powered offense led by 3rd year Quarterback Justin Herbet. Herbert has all the weapons around him including Kenan Allen, Mike Willams, and Austin Ekeler. The Raiders on the other hand added wide receiver Devante Adams. Adams is a huge addition to the offense and a great target for Derek Carr to go to. This game will preview two high powered offenses and two possible playoff teams.
An AFC matchup is boiling in the east. Week one is going to see a new Miami Dolphins team against the New England Patriots. The Dolphins made some big additions with Tyreek Hill, Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert, and Cedrick Wilson. All these weapons are gonna rely on the two year man out of Alabama: Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa had a difficult year one as he suffered fractured ribs in Week Two against the Bills. The Patriots are coming in after getting crushed in a playoff game against the Bills. The Patriots offense is led by Mac Jones, who has the ability to have a great game if he stays patient against a difficult Dolphins secondary. This game is going to rely on each of the team’s quarterbacks against two very difficult defenses.
Although Atholton has had a tough start to the year, the NFL is looking like it’s going to have a great return.
atholtonnews.com 