—The opening weekend of the season will feature five national games — four in prime time. Three of the five are on network TV. Don’t be surprised if there is a lot of sloppy play because teams don’t practice as much as they did back in the day. The league ended things like two-a-days in training camp to make the game safer which means it takes teams two or three game to get in top shape. Upsets are common in the oddsmakers dont have a good handle on the teams yet. And the odds on 11 of the games are about a field goal. And eight are division games.
–Not a great week for the survivor pools. Denver is a popular choice as a 7.5-point choice over the Titans, the worst team in the league last year, but who knows how rookie Cam Ward will play in his debut. The Cardinals are a 6.5-point choice over the Saints, but the Cardinals tend to be inconsistent. The Eagles are 7.5-point choices over the Cowboys and the Commanders are a 6.5-point pick over the Giants, but both are division games.The Bengals are a 5.5-point pick over the Browns, but the Bengals often start slowly and lost their opener last year when they were heavily favored,
–The weekend starts with the usual Thursday night with the defending champions at home. But the Eagles will host the Cowboys. Granted, the Eagles and Cowboys are divisional rivals, and the Cowboys tend to be a popular team, but owner Jerry Jones just traded their best player, Micah Parsons, and the Eagles could dominate this game.
–The game of the weekend is the Sunday night matchup between Buffalo and Baltimore. The Bills are a slight favorite and are favored in every game this year. But Baltimore is confident think they have their best team since they got Lamar Jackson. Both Jackson and Josh Allen are looking to make the Super Bowl for the first time this year and it is a critical matchup for both teams.
–Kansas City and San Diego play in a rare Friday night game because technically the high school football season doesn’t start for another week, although many high schools now start before Labor Day and will be playing this Friday. As part of their deal to get an antitrust exemption, the NFL agreed not to play on Friday nights during the high school season. This is a critical division game for both teams and quarterbacks. The Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes want to rebound after their Super Bowl loss while Justin erbert wants to prove he can take the Chargers to the Super Bowl. The game is on YouTubeTV but will be free. The Lions-Packers game is another important division game and will be the Sunday doubleheader game. The Monday night game is also a division game with Minnesota at Chicago, but neither is considered a Super Bowl contender.
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