Biggest Games in the NFL Week 1
On September 7th the Pats and Chiefs will kickoff the NFL season. All thirty two teams will be in action which means sixteen different games, which is a welcome sight after months of weekends of no football and half speed football. The NFL’s first week back offers some great matchups and while it can be infuriating making predictions based on last season in a league with as much turnover as the NFL it seems that a few of these games are guaranteed to be Great.
4. Raiders @ Titans- This is a very interesting matchup as it pits to of the NFL’s best prospects to one day unseat Brady and Rodgers as the next generation of elite quarterbacks. This season the Titans hope to do what the Raiders did last season and take the next step in their franchise development and move from in playoff contention to real playoff threat. Step one of that transition is finding ways to beat other playoff caliber teams, which they certainly have the opportunity to due against the Raiders. Last season left the Raiders with a bad taste in their mouth thanks to the Derek Carr injury but a lot to build on moving forward. The Team has a wealth of young stars and is on the short list of teams that might be able to hang with the Pats in the AFC title picture.
3. Giants @ Cowboys- The NFC East is perennially one of the most tightly contested divisions in football and this game is more than likely going to end up haunting one of these teams down the stretch as division wins are worth more than gold. The Cowboys have had an offseason riddled with scandals as is tradition for them and the combination of Odell Beckham and Brandon Marshall is destined to generate drama and great catches in equal measure. So these teams pack the potential to be competitive both on the field and in the amount of tabloid stories they can create.
2. Seahawks @ Packers- In terms of the on the field product this is likely going to be the best game of the weekend. This rerun of the 2014 NFC Championship game will probably double as a look into a playoff game come this winter. Rogers and Wilson can create offense out of nowhere and improvise better than any other quarterbacks in the league. So we can all look forward to seeing them pull points out of their ass’s and making some linebackers look like morons.
1. Jaguars @ Houston- This game isn’t on this list because of any football reason, if you’ve been anywhere near social media or watched the News you’ve heard and seen what has happened to Houston and Texas as a whole. The torrential rainfall and flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey has driven thousands of people from their homes and has created a state of crisis in one of America’s largest cities. The response to this disaster by the community has been inspiring, from the Cajun Navy rescuing people trapped by the flood to the many donations made from across the country to try to provide any degree of relief to those displaced by the storm. Many average people have risen to the challenge of helping their fellow man, but few have done as much for the city as the Texans best player JJ Watt. Watt has raised more than fifteen million dollars to try to aid in the relief effort for the city and has proven that unlike some he is willing to practice what he preaches and when things get tough he can be more than a football player but also a leader. Sometimes the games that are played on the field can transcend sports and help to heal cities after traumatic events, like the Mets game after 9/11, or David Ortiz yelling “This is our fucking city!” after the marathon bombings, the Texans not only have a chance to win a game but to help the city get back a sense of normalcy after what it has been through.
Written By: Jason MacKinnon (@oohkillemjason)