NFL Week Two: The Five Most Meaningful Matchups

Philadelphia Eagles vs Dallas Cowboys

Philadelphia Eagles fans passionately hate everyone they play. The geographically close New York Giants are hated with a jealous second city sneer. The Washington Redskins are hated for their beltway glitz and long ago Super Bowl trophies.

But the Dallas Cowboys inspire a special breed of City of Brotherly Love loathing. Maybe its the stars on the helmets. Maybe its Texas or the America's Team crap. Maybe its the Superstars dating movie stars, the Hall of Famers, the Super Bowl Trophies, or the glories.

Whatever it is it has create a witches brew of bile bubbling since 1960.

Remember Buddy Ryan's Bounty Bowl? Buddy Ryan faking taking the knee and throwing for the TD against the sainted Tom Laundry? Michael Irvin taunted with cheers and jeers as he lay potentially paralyzed on the vicious Veteran's Stadium turf? Jimmy Johnson being pelted with snowballs? Wilbert Montgomery running for a score to propel the Eagles to the Super Bowl against the despised Doomsday Defense.

Its the best game of the week and on Monday night the nation will see how good the Eagles really are. In the tight NFC East falling behind in the standings early spells doom.

Stealing this game would ignite the Iggles.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns: Another bitter rivalry game. This year was going to be the year by the lake. Then the Browns were brutally beaten down in Cleveland town by the cocky Cowboys. 0-2 delivered by the hated Steelers will deflate Cleveland and bring out Brown boo birds.

With the New England Patriots reeling, the Indianapolis Colts looking severely weakened, the San Diego Chargers suffering those early season Norv Turner Blues, and the Jacksonville Jaguars looking more stale and boring then usual the Men of Steel seem like the new AFC Super Bowl favorite.

After looking great stumping the Texans a brutalization of the Browns in Cleveland will send a strong message that the Steelers are Super and the Browns still clowns.

New England Patriots at New York Jets: So many angles which will be beaten to death by ESPN and the Gotham press. We have the Brady less Pats, Favre, Belichick vs Mangini, Spygate, and on and on.

One thing if the Jets can't beat the wounded Pats in the Meadowlands a week after they lose Brady they aren't going to seize the AFC East throne for a long, long, time. And the Magic Man might just be another tired carnival act traveling quickly through Jersey.  

Indianapolis Colts at the Minnesota Vikings: Who will be 0-2 in the hole? The Colts showed their soft run defense last week and also the weaknesses of their depleted offensive line. Viking QB Tarvaris Jackson didn't show much of anything.

Questions abound? Can Jackson generate enough action to win? Will the Viking pass rush pound Peyton Manning? If Chicago Bears rookie Matt Forte put up a buck in a half will Adrian Peterson pound out three bills in the game?

Buffalo Bills at Jacksonville Jaguars: The Bills looked good last week the Jaguars boring and bad. A rising team needs a big win over a play off caliber Conference rival to take the next step to success. Can the young Bills exploit injuries along the Jaguar offensive line and ineffective play from QB David Gerrard to steal a game from overly conservative coach Jack Del Rio?

After Five

The battle between the Bears and the Panthers in Carolina is interesting to see which team will be the surprise 2-0 club of the NFC. In the Rocky Mountains the clash between Denver and San Diego has the angle of the Norv Turner's early season angst. Will Turner start 0-2 again? Is Denver really as good as they looked against the Raiders or are the Raiders just a vile mess in Silver and Black?

I'd rather have a healthy tooth yanked instead of watching these five games:

Tennessee Titans at Cincinnati Bengals: Expect five thousand rabid Bengal fans in the stands to disagree. How many times will the announcers mention Vince Young's problems and "pray" for him? Over and Under of 88 times in a 180 minutes.

Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs: Once a storied match up now reserved for sadists enjoying the final crumbling of ancient Al Davis's once proud Raiders regime. Who wants to watch Herman Edwards boring and bad Chiefs?

New York Giants at St Louis Rams: The Giants will be boring methodical in their dismantling of the listless Rams the worst team west of Oakland.

San Francisco Forty Niners at Seattle Seahawks: The glory that was the Forty Niners fades away like a sunset in the Bay. Mike Holmgren just fades away from Seattle.

Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans: This will be billed as a great defensive match up actually it will be a showcase of offensive ineptness. If they cancel it entirely no one will really notice.