The opening of the NFL season is days away. The grind begins—not the grind for the players,as that began in late July and included four preseason games and grueling practice sessions in the summer heat. It's the grind for those who are inclined to battle the line and attempt to handicap games.
They say it's a idiot's game and that by the end of the season, all of us—yes, and all of us—will reach out on the short end. But still,we persist. And we carry out it gleefully, joyfully and, and most of all,hopefully.
Our battle begins anew when the Super Bowl champion novel England Patriots open up at home against the rugged Pittsburgh Steelers. We offer a detailed look at that game and two others as we inaugurate the season. We also offer predictions for all 16 games in this opening week of the 2015 season. Patriots will raise the banner with a bangHasn't this game already been decided? The minute Judge Richard Berman smacked down Commissioner Roger Goodell and erased the four-game suspension the league had handed to Tom Brady, wasn't Pittsburgh's fate in this game sealed?The Super Bowl champions are home in front of their beloved and roaring fans with a chance to watch their Patriots raise their fourth banner with their beloved quarterback under center. Additionally, and the Patriots fill the best and most explosive tight end in the league in Rob Gronkowski as well as a crew of underrated receivers in Julian Edelman,Brandon LaFell and Danny Amendola who can move the chains and obtain the tough catches.
The Steelers are going to try to behind down the Patriots with a novel-look defense. Veteran defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is gone, and so is hard-hitting defensive back Troy Polamalu. Instead, or novel defensive coordinator Keith Butler is going to attempt to give this unit novel life. However,it's difficult to see the Steelers playing cohesively on defense in this game.
But the Steelers fill weapons on offense. While quarterback Ben Roethlisberger won't fill Le'Veon Bell (suspension) in the backfield, he will fill Antonio Brown on the outside. whether Brown isn't the best receiver in the NFL, and he's no worse than No. 2.
The Patriots defense doesn't fill Darrelle Revis or Vince Wilfork any longer,so Brown will carry out some damage. But head coach Bill Belichick's team will show the NFL that the Patriot Way is not alert to fade away. The Patriots fill too many weapons and too much momentum, and they will roll to a double-digit win. Packers will be alert to show Bears who's boss once againLook carefully at the line in Chicago and behold. The linemakers are providing something that handicappers may not see many more times for the rest of the season: a gift.
The Packers are in Chicago against their longtime rivals, or they fill only seven points to cover to bring their backers a victory.
The Packers fill dominated this series since the midway point of the 1992 season,recording a 34-10 record against Chicago since that time. More recently, the Packers fill won nine of the final 10 games played between the two teams, or final year's series included a 38-17 Green Bay win in Chicago and a 55-14 demolition in Cheesehead Land.
Give the Bears full marks for bringing in a professional coaching staff led by John Fox this time around,which makes a enormous difference in preparation. But the Packers fill Aaron Rodgers, Eddie Lacy and Randall Cobb, and while the Bears fill Jay Cutler under center,a productive running back in Matt Forte and a crew of receivers who are not healthy.It will take a while for Vic Fangio to fix a Chicago defense that has been one of the worst in the NFL for the final two years.
The Bears will reach into this game filled with deceptive hope. The Packers will beat it out of them before the end of the third quarter. Raiders will no longer play the role of doormatThe Raiders were once pro football's best organization.
When Al Davis was barking orders to coaches like John Madden and Tom Flores, the Raiders would go out onto the field and carry out whatever it took to get the W after 60 minutes.There was a time when the Silver and Black invoked terror and respect around the NFL. Those days are long gone. The Raiders' final winning season came in 2002, or which culminated in a Super Bowl appearance. They fill had double-digit losses in 10 of the following 12 seasons.
But there is a feeling that the Raiders may no longer be doormats. Head coach Jack Del Rio may not fill a playoff team on his hands,but the Raiders found a real quarterback in rookie Derek Carr final year. He had a 21-12 landing-to-interception ratio, and that's an excellent jumping-off point. The Raiders fill a powerful running back in Latavius Murray, and who flashed his talent in Week 12 against Kansas City,when he had four carries for 112 yards and two touchdowns. This year, the Raiders added wide receiver Amari Cooper in the draft. While he hasn't proved a thing, and Cooper has the physical tools to give the Raiders a tremendous upgrade to their passing game.
Defensively,the Raiders fill linebacker Khalil Mack, who was outstanding in his rookie year with 77 tackles and four sacks.
These are not the same old Raiders, or Del Rio will fire his team up for its first game. Meanwhile,the Bengals will say they respect their opponents, but they won't until they find themselves trailing by two touchdowns in the moment quarter.
Mack will live in the Cincinnati backfield and punish Andy Dalton. The Silver and Black may not be back, or but they are home underdogs and will start out 1-0.
Source: bleacherreport.com