Urdaddy's NFL Week 1 Prediction Thread

Redskins @ Giants

Classic NFC East battle here. Giants dominating the series in recent years winning 5 of the last 6 straight up and against the spread. The Giants have gotten worse on paper since winning the Super Bowl. Their defense doesn’t scare me anymore, and their offense is on the decline in my opinion despite a solid O line. On the other side, I think Jason Campbell is getting better by the game but he’s missing pieces to take this offense to the next level. Daniel Snyder has definitely spent the money to make the defense very formidable. Redskins have the perfect defensive personnel to potentially shut the Giants down. Haynesworth and the rest of the front 7 to contain Jacobs and Bradshaw, and a fantastic secondary to shut down the mediocre receivers of the Giants. Points will be hard to come by Sunday, so the under is probably the best play. That being said, the Giants pull out a close one due to better offensive line play and a big game from Kevin Boss. They won’t cover though.

Prediction – Giants 17 Redskins 13

Rams @ Seahawks

Rams haven’t beat the Seahawks since 2005. Both were rotten last year and both improved very little, if any, in the off season. Rams are a different team with Bulger healthy and prepared. I guess by different I mean not anemic offensively. Hasselbeck has always been a fairly good “game manager” in my opinion, but his running game has declined over the past few years. Neither defense is going to shock the world, but neither needs to against an offense like they face Sunday. Division rivals in Week 1 with a line climbing to as much as 9 – I’m not buying it. Seahawks should win at home, but in a game where I don’t see them scoring more than 20 points I can hardly think they cover the number. Would not surprise if the Rams pulled a shocker and won outright actually. Anything over 40 is too high for this total as well.

Prediction – Seahawks 19 Rams 16

Bears @ Packers

Two of my favorite QBs in the league. I love Cutler. As a Cowboy fan I would have traded him straight up for Romo in a heartbeat. Earl Bennett will become a stud receiver in the league now that he’s reunited with Cutler. Bears are tough up front. Above average D line and above average but aging linebacking corp. Their weakness is the secondary, which unfortunately for them doesn’t bode well when playing a Packer team with an explosive passing game. Packers have all the pieces with exception of a formidable D line and deeper receiving corp. Jermichael Finley is another sleeper than football fans will be talking about by the end of the year. This should be a great game for all the obvious reasons. Will be a lot of energy on the field Sunday night. I think both these teams think they are the team to beat in the NFC North and probably feel like they can make a run at the Super Bowl. Home field means shit in this series so I give no advantage to the Packers for that. I like the special teams advantage the Bears have with Hester and I think Crosby misses a couple kicks for the Packers, but in the end too much Packer offense. Predicting a huge game for Ryan Grant as well.

Prediction – Packers 31 Bears 14

Bills @ Pats

I will start out by saying that I do not see the Pats being the offensive juggernaut that everyone expects. I may be wrong but I may not be, and if I’m not I’ll have bragging rights! Lynch being out is the key to the game. Pats are soft batch cookies in the secondary, but without a legitimate run threat from the Bills the Pats can sit back. I like Trent Edwards, I met him in Tahoe at the celebrity golf tournament. Big kid, big arm, and now big time receivers. Bottom line, I’m not picking up what the Patriots backers are putting down. You just don’t do what they did in 07’ and just because you got your QB back doesn’t mean they return to dominance and continue beating people by 20 or 30 every game. From a betting perspective, it’s the total I’m excited about 47-47.5 with potential to climb by game time!?! Another public perception line. Since I like the Bills to cover anyway, I might as well call for the shot heard round the world. My money will be on the under in the game anyway.

Prediction – Bills 20 Pats 17

Chargers @ Raiders

San Diego begins their run to a Super Bowl title on Monday night in Oakland. I see this game packed with big plays from the outset. LT and Sproles popping some long runs, McFadden for a couple 25+ yarders, Rivers to Chambers and Gates more times than you can count, and maybe even a classic Raiders long ball to speedster Heyward-Bey. The over is without question the best over play of the weekend. Raiders show improvement and stay within the number, but the Chargers prevail on the road in a tough division game.

Prediction – Chargers 34 Raiders 27