NFL Week 1 Preview

After roughly seven months, the NFL regular season is ready to kickoff. For the first time in a decade, the defending champions open their title defense on the road as the Baltimore Ravens visit the Denver Broncos in a rematch of a stunning AFC Divisional Round game last year. The Broncos had Super Bowl aspirations and things were looking good until QB Joe Flacco hit WR Jacoby Jones to shock the fans in Denver. That would spark a fire in the team that led them past the New England Patriots in the AFC title game before doing enough during the first half of the Super Bowl to hold off the San Francisco 49ers to give the team their second Super Bowl title and MLB Ray Lewis' second ring before he retired.

They now enter the year minus Lewis and other members of their championship team but still should contend for a division title and a playoff birth and might have another Super Bowl run in them. The road back to the Super Bowl will not be easy as they start against QB Peyton Manning and the Broncos. They are hungry for not finishing the deal last year as no team was hotter in the second half of the year than them. They upgraded at wide receiver with Wes Welker but will miss LB Von Miller during the first six games. Definitely a great way to start the year but there are other great games to start the year off. 

Here are the top 4 games of the week followed by the rest.

TOP 4:

Baltimore Ravens at Denver Broncos: The Broncos have waited nearly eight months to get their revenge against the Ravens. They even get them at home, the scene of their tough loss. The Ravens are now without MLB Ray Lewis (retirement) and SS Ed Reed (Texans) among a few other pieces of their championship team. The Broncos lost DE/LB Elvis Dumervil to the Ravens and will be without LB Von Miller until their 7th game. QB Peyton Manning is looking for revenge. S Rahim Moore is looking for redemption. And the Ravens and QB Joe Flacco are looking for vindication. The hero for the playoff game, WR Jacoby Jones, might be someone to watch if Denver targets him while the x-factor in this one will be Peyton's new toy: WR Wes Welker. Look for a dozen targets and possibly catches for Welker including at least one score. Both teams can use strong running games to slow this game down if necessary but expect lots of big plays by both during the first half. HB Ray Rice will likely be called upon to pick up some of the slack the team will need without TE Dennis Pitta. Can Flacco keep up with Manning if this becomes an offensive shootout? Manning will play with January on his mind and look to make an early statement for 2013. PICK: BRONCOS

Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints: Last year, without head coach Sean Payton, the Saints took a step back and opened the door for an easy path to the division title for the Falcons. The year before they battled it out for the division until Week 16. It looks like this year will be more like 2011 and less like 2012 in the NFC South. They are clearly the two best teams in the division and with Payton's return to the sidelines, the dome in New Orleans will be packed and shaking. Atlanta QB Matt Ryan has been nearly unstoppable at home but is 1-4 in New Orleans. HB Steven Jackson gives the Falcons another weapon to go with possibly the best receiving duo and best tight end in the league. This one has shootout written all over it with the Saints edging the Falcons at home. PICK: SAINTS

Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers: These two teams are starting to reignite the battles of the late 90s when playoff positioning and wins were extremely important in deciding each team's potential fate. QB Colin Kaepernick continues to grow as a dual threat and Green Bay's defense will have to play a bit better than their two meeting in 2012 including the playoffs to slow him down. QB Aaron Rodgers might need to bide time as his offensive line continues to gel a bit during its offseason transition largely due to injuries. This one should be another solid matchup. Look for either WR Anquan Boldin or TE Vernon Davis to be an x-factor and score the winning score as the 49ers make it three in a row. PICK: 49ers

New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys (Sunday Night): Nothing like a classic rivalry game to start the Sunday night slate for the year. The Giants are undefeated in the Cowboys' new stadium and that provide side fodder for this game and rivalry. Both teams have big expectations again as the Super Bowl will be in the Meadowlands this year and the Cowboys continue to put a bigger spotlight on themselves each year. WR Dez Bryant's growth will be huge if QB Tony Romo is expected to take the next step and get the Cowboys back in the playoffs. QB Eli Manning will have his own weapon hopefully healthy and back on the field in WR Victor Cruz. The game could turn into a contest of which duo is doing better on the stat sheet. Could be a sloppy type of start that turns into a shootout with the Cowboys finally beating the Giants in Jerry's World. PICK: COWBOYS

THE REST

Oakland Raiders at Indianapolis Colts- QB Andrew Luck made a big splash in the NFL during his first season leading multiple 4th quarter comebacks and taking the Colts to the playoffs. They look to have added a couple pieces to allow them to build on their success last year and make a run at the Texans. While the Raiders are a major work in progress. The only thing that might be fairly good right now is a couple of potentially solid running backs. The Colts should pull away during the second half. PICK: COLTS

Tennessee Titans at Pittsburgh Steelers: The Steelers enter 2013 with some of the same questions on age as the last couple years but now have some injuries to deal with along with the loss of WR Mike Wallace. Keeping QB Ben Roethlisberger healthy has also been a struggle and he will likely need to scramble at times to make plays and keep himself away from defenders. The Titans have some pieces in play to improve and will need to get HB Chris Johnson back to his 2,000 yard form to assist a still developing QB Jake Locker. One can point to have a solid running back can lift a team by looking at HB Adrian Peterson and the Vikings last year. Could be low scoring and physical with the Steelers edging the Titans in a closer than expected game. PICK: STEELERS

New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills: QB Tom Brady has been able to weather many seasons with limited weapons minus the last couple years and their nearly history making 2007 season, Brady has had a collection of receivers who are not big names. With both of his tight ends either injured or in jail and his "safety blanket" in Denver, Brady will need to utilize his ability to lift the ability of those on the field with him. Luckily for him, he draws the Bills this week and the Jets next; two rebuilding teams and might allow him and his offense to get more comfortable. Luckily for the Bills, QB EJ Manuel is healthy and they can get to see if their pick was worth it and he should allow them to play more competitive this week and throughout the year. Game might closer than expected solely based on the Patriots still getting more in rhythm. PICK: PATRIOTS

Cincinnati Bengals at Chicago Bears: Both the Bengals and Bears enter 2013 without a lot of promise. The Bengals are positioned with the talent they have on both sides of the ball to take the division away from Pittsburgh and Baltimore. AJ Green is quickly emerging as a top receiver in the league and expect to see a lot of him in this game. On the other side, QB Jay Cutler will be looking for WR Brandon Marshall throughout the day. The Bears are working some new wrinkles in under their new head coach and an emerging potential tight end for Cutler. This one looks like it could feature multiple lead changes. The Bengals might be a bit more complete, but the Bears do enough at home to escape with a win. PICK: BEARS

Miami Dolphins at Cleveland Browns: The Dolphins has upgraded in a few areas and now QB Ryan Tannehill needs to take the next step especially with the addition of WR Mike Wallace. Wallace should definitely improve the offense. The Browns are still trying to find ways to improve themselves and HB Trent Richardson looks ready to take the next step himself but there is not much around him. This might be a bit of grinder early before the Dolphins unleash a couple big plays. PICK: DOLPHINS

Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions: One team has an all star running back and the other one has an all star receiver. Neither truly has a balanced offense. Both have some holes in their defense. Thus, much of the game will likely be dictated if Vikings HB Adrian Peterson can go off to start the year or if Lions WR Calvin Johnson will provide lots of catches for QB Matthew Stafford. Peterson will likely get close to 100 yards if not more, but HB Reggie Bush will provide enough balance for Stafford and Johnson to get going and the Lions do enough to pull away in the 4th quarter. PICK: LIONS

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New York Jets: There has not been too much excitement around this one. Jets QB Geno Smith makes his first start while Buccaneers CB Darrelle Revis makes his return against his former team. He will likely not be a major threat only cause he is probably not 100% back to form yet. Smith's ball management will decide how close the Jets keep the game. Buccaneers QB Josh Freeman has his own questions to answer and will likely lean on HB Doug Martin a bit until he gets a better rhythm going. Close game with the Buccaneers doing enough. PICK: BUCCANEERS

Seattle Seahawks at Carolina Panthers: The Seahawks enter 2013 with Super Bowl type expectations. They have probably one of the toughest home field advantages in the NFL. Going on road and facing a lesser opponent will test a couple aspects about them. Will they play as dominant or sharp away from home as well as they do in Seattle? It likely will not matter much in this one. PICK: SEAHAWKS

Kansas City Chiefs at Jacksonville Jaguars: With new head coach Andy Reid and QB Alex Smith, the Chiefs should make much improvement from their 2-14 record a year ago. They had multiple pro bowl caliber players and certainly could make a case for the best team behind Denver in the AFC West. This is a perfect game for them to make a statement at the expense of the Jaguars, who are essentially a major work in progress. PICK: CHIEFS

Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams: While Seattle and San Francisco rightfully so get most of the credit in the NFC West, these two squads will use this game as an avenue to potentially make a case for themselves. The Rams are looking to replace HB Steven Jackson and will use a couple backs most of the time likely. While Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald should begin to see results right away from having QB Carson Palmer now at the helm. This will likely be a push and pull type of match and Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein might be the x-factor providing a couple key field goals. PICK: RAMS

Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins (Monday Night): High powered offenses. This one might be summed up in that phrase. The Eagles led by new head coach Chip Kelly are hoping to unveil some surprises in Week 1 with their offense. It has not looked especially great in the preseason but could be unleashed in Washington. On the other side of the field, QB Robert Griffin III returns for the Redskins and it might take most of the first half for him to truly get close to where he was most of last year as he tests his knee. With offense likely be a key factor for both teams' gameplans, the defenses could be the side of the ball to watch. Whichever team can slow down the other team's offense more efficiently will likely win. Also, turnovers could be key then for the two quarterbacks. Griffin makes a couple more plays than Michael Vick in the end. PICK: REDSKINS

Houston Texans at San Diego Chargers (Monday Night): The Texans hardly got much coverage last year as they had their best season and start this one in a late primetime slot on Monday night. QB Matt Schaub will need to take another step forward as a top quarterback to give the team a leader to guide weapons like HB Arian Foster and WR Andre Johnson. Their defense looks even better on paper than their offense. Chargers QB Phillip Rivers has his demons to battle as he has taken a couple steps back as a top quarterback the last couple years and much of the team's success will rest on his shoulders. HB Ryan Mathews has not lived up thus far to his first round pick status. Foster does enough on the ground while WR DeAndre Hopkins for the Texans begins to provide a second threat for Schaub in this one. It will probably be close in the first half before the talent of the Texans pulls away. PICK: TEXANS

It should be a good opening weekend with a playoff rematch featuring the defending champions and QB Peyton Manning and another rematch of two games last year with the Packers at the 49ers. A double header on Monday night and a rivalry game on Sunday night add to what should be a fun weekend. Are you ready for some football?