Six Things I Look Forward To: Week One

The NFL regular season is approaching, and I'm sure I am one of the many jittery with anticipation. In just six days, the Tennessee Titans take on the returning champions.

Seems like a lifetime away, doesn't it?

With every week, questions always surface. We, as sports fans, wonder about everything. From Tuesday morning until Sunday morning, headlines consume our lives.

We can't wait until that Sunday morning (Saturday if you are a college football fan, but we all know college doesn't hold a candle to the NFL. That's a different discussion though.) Sunday morning will be here soon, and we have to keep ourselves busy.

Every week during the NFL season, I will make a slide show talking about the things I look forward to seeing the most. As the season goes on, I'm sure the list will get longer, but for now, it will stay as six things.

Just How Many Points Will New Orleans Score?

I will start this week off with a joke of sorts.

The highly prolific New Orleans' offense faces the team that had a historic season last year.

Unfortunately, that history was being 0-16 for the first time in an NFL season.

The Saints look to score fast and score often against the Lions, which should happen easily. The real question is, just how many points will the Saints score? I say 35.

At the end of the first half.

Drew Brees looks to start the season off right and to get this offense moving just how it ended last year.

The Lions will be trying to get their first meaningful win since the 2007 schedule, but it looks like that will not be happening this week.

This game could get ugly fast, and the Saints fans going to the game should see a blowout by their home team.

Who-dey? They are the New Orleans Saints.

How Will Mark Sanchez Handle Himself?

Rookie Mark Sanchez has to face plenty of heat in week one. He has to learn to deal with the New York media and the defense of Houston.

Mario Williams. Demeco Ryans. Amobi Okoye.

Three dangerous defensive players for the Texans, who will be sure to put tons of pressure on Mark Sanchez. The pressure will be on him not only during the game, but afterwords too.

The New York media is the toughest crowd to please, and we all know that if he falters during the first couple of weeks, these blood thirsty journalists would be asking for his head.

How Will Tom Brady Do in the Regular Season?

The lights shining down on him. The entire country watching his every move. The media will be surrounding him.

Will Tom Brady be able to handle it?

The preseason is over. Brady handled it well, with the pressure and everything.

But the regular season is different; every game counts. The defense comes faster and hits harder.

I'm sure that Brady will be fine. He'll put up devastating numbers with that offense. I'm more interested in seeing once he gets hit multiple times and has to get back up and keep slinging.

Which Rookie Head Coach is Over His Head?

There are plenty of rookie head coaches coming into this season, and plenty going to new teams. Rex Ryan, Josh McDaniels, and Raheem Morris are just a few. Sometimes, teams strike gold and get a future hall of fame coach, but other times, the coaches burn out quickly.

The question is, which one of these rookie head coaches will burn out quick?

The most obvious choice has to be Josh McDaniels, and that is who I am going with.

He comes into towns and runs out a franchise quarterback. Now, it looks like they will lose their star wide receiver.

During the draft, he requested they take Knowshon Moreno with the 12th overall pick. Why? It's because he didn't feel comfortable with the quarterback position.

The position he doomed.

He has been making poor move after poor move, and I don't think he knows what he is doing. It isn't like he turned some average offense into an amazing offense, he had Tom Brady as his quarterback.

Team president Pat Bowlen made a terrible mistake in firing Mike Shanahan, and an even worse move by hiring McDaniels. I do not see McDaniels lasting long in the league.

Will the Champs Regress?

The Steelers had the toughest schedule last year. They had injuries on the offensive line, lost their rookie running back early in the year, and had to face tormenting defenses week in and week out.

Yet they still won the Superbowl.

Many wonder how they will fare this year. Will they win the division? Make the AFC Championship game? Superbowl? Champs for two years in a row?

The road to winning back-to-back Superbowl starts in week one, and it starts by hosting the Tennessee Titans.

I expect a great, physical matchup, with the Steelers taking the victory at home.

Upsets and Locks for Week One

Every week, there are always some games that are locks for a team to win. But sometimes, the underdog comes through and pulls an upset. Here are my views of three games that classify as locks, and two possible upsets.

Locks:

New Orleans over Detroit. I don't think this needs much explaining.

San Diego over Oakland. Again, not much explanation needed.

Baltimore over Kansas City. Baltimore with their solid defense will take over this game.

Upsets:

Cincinnati over Denver. I really like the Cincinnati team this year, and I think if their offensive line can stay healthy, they can win a couple of shoot outs. The Broncos are going in the wrong direction.

Washington over New York (N). Some may think I'm crazy for this, but I think the Washington defense this year can be really good. I expect a great battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball between these two teams, and fully expect close games both times. I think the 'Skins can shock the Giants though.

My Predicitions For the Season

Since this is the first week, I will put my predictions in for this upcoming season.

Playoff seeding

AFC

Patriots
Steelers
Chargers
Colts
Ravens
Texans

NFC

Packers
Saints
Eagles
Cardinals
Giants
Falcons

Superbowl

Ravens over Saints

I really like the Ravens this year. The defense will still be solid, Flacco has looked amazing in the preseason and will only get better, and their front offices are some of the best in the league.

Just like everyone else reading this, I'm excited.

Is it Sunday (Thursday, for this week) yet?