I have to atone for the utter beating I took last year. Thursday was not a good start; stupid half-point.<\/p>\n
Sunday 1:00<\/strong> Raiders @ Tennessee(-6)<\/em> Bengals @ New England(-4.5)<\/em> Browns @ Tampa Bay(-3)<\/em> Colts @ Houston((+2)<\/em> Lions @ Chicago(-6.5)<\/em> Falcons @ Pittsburgh(+1.5)<\/em> Dolphins @ Buffalo(+3)<\/em> Panthers @ New Jersey Giants(-6.5)<\/em> Sunday 4:15<\/strong> Cardinals @ St. Louis(+3.5)<\/em> Niners @ Seattle(+3)<\/em> SNF<\/strong> MNF<\/strong> Chargers @ Kansas City(+4.5)<\/em> I have to atone for the utter beating I took last year. Thursday was not a good start; stupid half-point. Sunday 1:00 Broncos @ Jacksonville(-2.5) Two teams that were very average last year, neither of whom I have any reason to think will be any different this year. I think Denver maybe has the better … Continue reading NFL Week 1<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[16],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBroncos @ Jacksonville(-2.5)<\/em>
\nTwo teams that were very average last year, neither of whom I have any reason to think will be any different this year. I think Denver maybe has the better defense, and generally the defenses have the advantage early in the season, so I\u2019ll go with the Broncos and the points.<\/p>\n
\nI have the sense that Oakland will be better than they were last year, and I don\u2019t see any reason to think that the Titans will be any better. On the other hand, they have Chris Johnson and the Raiders have… uhh… well, they have Raiders players. Oh, wait, no they have a merely average new quarterback, which is several levels better than what they had last year. Sure, again, I\u2019ll take the points<\/p>\n
\nSomething just seemed utterly wrong with the Bengals\u2019 doing so well last season. I just can\u2019t believe in them to look so good this year, and the T.O. thing never seems good to me. I\u2019ll take the Pats at home.<\/p>\n
\nThis has to be the worst game on the schedule for opening weekend. Ugh. For no particular reason, I\u2019ll give the points.<\/p>\n
\nLooking forward to this one since I\u2019ll be in the stands for it. I think the Texans will be about as good as they were last year, and because they play in a really tough division, it won\u2019t be enough… again. All-time the Texans are 1-7 against the Colts\u2014they just cannot seem to win these games, so I\u2019m giving the two points.<\/p>\n
\nI think the Bears will be awful again this season. Cutler is a head case, the defense is yet another year older, and I think the Lions will actually be better. Not good or anything, but maybe just kind of below average, like 6-10 or 7-9. I don\u2019t see the Bears as being any better than that, so I like getting almost a full TD here.<\/p>\n
\nNot taking a team starting Dixon for the first time ever. I think it\u2019s going to be a long year for the Steelers.<\/p>\n
\nNice of the league to make the \u201cat Buffalo\u201d game for Miami now rather than in, say, November or December. Anyway, it is my belief that C.J. Spiller is the real deal. However, Lee Evans isn\u2019t getting any younger and Trent Edwards is still… Trent Edwards. The Dolphins might actually be pretty good this year with Henne having a year under his belt and with someone decent to throw to. Also, they\u2019ll start the season with both Brown and Williams healthy, right? I\u2019ll happily give these points. <\/p>\n
\nThe battle of the Steve Smiths? Actually, I expect this to be an ugly slugfest. The ball might not cross midfield more than a handful of times. However, the Giants have a QB, and the Panthers don\u2019t really. I\u2019ll give the TD, I guess, but I don\u2019t feel good about it.<\/p>\n
\nPackers @ Philadelphia(+3)<\/em>
\nPfffft. The Packers might be the class of the NFC this year, and Kolb has like what, three starts, none of which were particularly impressive. Packers cover by a ton. I\u2019m surprised the spread is this small.<\/p>\n
\nA terrible game, competing with the Browns-Bucs for worst game of the day. This one at least has the intrigue of two questionable starting QB decisions both taking the field. With Wells hurt for Arizona, I don\u2019t like them as a road favorite, even against the lowly Rams. I\u2019ll take the points.<\/p>\n
\nAhh, the Pete Carroll era begins in the Emerald City. He was a train wreck his last time through the NFL, and now we see the reason he did so well at USC: he was cheating the whole time. (Given the consistently ridiculous level of talent that USC had, I can\u2019t say I\u2019m surprised\u2014I never got the sense that Carroll was actually outcoaching anyone.) The Seabags, however, do not have any kind of edge in talent; they still have Hasselbeck at QB and nobody worth throwing to, so I\u2019ll give the points.<\/p>\n
\nCowboys @ Washington(+3.5)<\/em>
\nUhh, anybody watch this matchup the last couple years? The Cowboys own<\/em> the Redskins right now. Plus, it\u2019s early in the season which is when Dallas has been at their best lately. Give the points.<\/p>\n
\nRavens @ New Jersey Jets(-2.5)<\/em>
\nWell, with Revis in, the Jets just seem a lot better than they would have otherwise. On the other hand, the Ravens seem like a team on the rise, particularly with Flacco coming along and now finally actually having someone to throw to\u2014though that might not matter much if none of those guys are ever open. I like the Jets in this game, but just to riverside Al, I\u2019m taking the points and hoping it\u2019s really close.<\/p>\n
\nSan Diego just wins this division by default, don\u2019t they? It\u2019s not like the Chefs have the goods to put up much of a fight. Give the points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"