The NFL season got started on Thursday night with an amazIng performance from Peyton Manning on Thursday night with seven touchdowns against the Baltimore Ravens in a 49-27 victory and he did something no other player had done in 44 years and spread the ball to Julius Thomas, Wes Welker and Demaryius Thomas, who each had two scores in the game.
The first week of the NFL season has some great matchups and each week we will try to pick some good games and here are the predictions for Week 1 on the schedule this season:
New England Patriots vs. Buffalo Bills: Patriots win this one on the strength of Tom Brady, but also because the running game will continue to be as consistent as it was last season with Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen. Even though Brady is losing targets in Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker, he should have no trouble getting in good with Danny Amendola and rookie Kenbrell Thompkins, who is expected to be a nice sleeper in fantasy. The Bills are starting a rookie quarterback and they will be overmatched even with great players like Stevie Johnson and CJ Spiller on offense.
The Bengals and Bears are two teams with playoff aspirations and while the Bears are coming in with a new head coach and Cincy has a rock in Marvin Lewis, Marc Trestman will get his first win as the Bears head coach on Sunday. The Bengals are much improved with Giovani Bernard at running back and some players on defense, but the Bears should be better as well with Jay Cutler in a new offense and Matt Forte in the backfield.
The Falcons and Saints should be a very exciting game and even though Atlanta is on the road and has not won a game since last season after going 0-4 in the preseason, they are set up to win this game. The team signed Steven Jackson and has Matt Ryan as quarterback and with Roddy White and Julio Jones on the outside, the team will be able to pick apart the Saints defense. The Bucs and Darrelle Revis are visiting his old team in NY and they will get the win over a Jets team that has no idea what it's doing and with Mark Sanchez injured it likely will be another disaster season for the Jets.
The Steelers will take down the Titans in Week 1 and the new look Dolphins will get a win on the road against the Browns after adding Mike Wallace in the offseason. The Vikings and Lions are playing and while Detroit is looking to rebound from 2012, the Vikes will win. The 49ers will win over the Packers for the second straight time after the playoffs last season and the Rams will win over the Cardinals to start things off, while the Chiefs will defeat the Jaguars in the 2-14 bowl. The Seahawks will also beat the Panthers even with a tough road test and the Raiders could pull it out against the Colts.
