NFL: Looking Ahead to Next Season

It’s that time of year again. Teams are reloading and re-tooling their rosters for the upcoming season and already some of them have been given something to look forward to. Out of the four recently announced games, three will put divisional rivals head-to-head to start off the season and the other stacks up two recent super-bowl contenders.

The New York Giants get the honor of starting off the regular season with a home game against the Washington Redskins on Thursday, September 4^th. I’m giving the edge to the Giants, both teams only really started playing their best football at the end of last season, but the Giants took it further and I can see some of that confidence carrying over.

The Sunday night game will be a rematch of Super Bowl XLI. The Chicago bears will be trying to prevent history from repeating itself by ruining the Indianapolis Colt’s first game in their new Stadium. I’m giving the game to the Colts. Chicago has a very limited offense and the Colts are perennial playoff contenders with a highflying offense. This one won’t be as close as the Super Bowl was.

The first Monday Night game of the season features the Farve-less Green Bay Packers hosting the Minnesota Vikings. This game is a real toss-up. Will Aaron Rogers lead his team effectively against Adrian Peterson and a tough Minnesota Defense? My guess is that it will be close, but in the end Minnesota will pull out the victory because the game will come down to who runs the ball better and Minnesota stops the run well and has the Adrian Peterson/ Chester Taylor combo to rack up yards of their own.

The second game of the Monday night double-header is one that will get some blood boiling. The over-hauled Oakland Raiders will face off against the Denver Broncos in the heart of Raider nation. The Raiders have made some major moves this offseason and I have to believe the moves will pay off. Jay Cutler is still a work in progress at quarterback and won’t do well against Oakland’s upgraded defensive backfield. Look for DeAngelo Hall to have a big game in his black and silver debut.

Whether my predictions come true or not, week one is shaping up to be an interesting one, too bad we have to wait 4 more months for it to come. Stay tuned until then.

Thursday’s game (7 pm) as well as Sunday’s game (7 pm) will air on NBC.Both Monday night game can be seen on ESPN. (7pm and 10:15 pm respectively)