The Spotter’s View: Week One Picks

August 3, 2012; Green Bay, WI, USA; The NFL Logo is displayed on the goal post padding prior to the Family Night scrimmage at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

It’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!…. Yes!!!! The NFL hiatus is over. The regular season is upon us. Imminent even. In less than two hours we’ll all be engulfed by the monster that is NFL football. All across America – from Gotham to the desert, Lambeau to the Bayou – we wait. Anxiously. Excitedly. Anticipating the payoff to our patience. We’ve waited, we’ve wanted and we’re about to receive the greatest gift a sports fan can receive – Week One. NFL. Regular Season!

I know baseball used to own the “opening day” title when our grandfathers were young. But not in 2012. The NFL has evolved beyond America’s Pastime. It’s America’s “present” – in both senses of the word. It’s the now. It’s a gift. It’s the reason I’m sitting in a St. Louis airport ignoring my cheese omelet breakfast so I can type this post before boarding my aircraft. And this omelet looks good! The fact that anything can prevent me from eating it, well…it must be important. Really important. So….don’t question my dedication at this point. I’m ready, I’m here and I’m excited. As are the 32 NFL teams that are about to kickoff their seasons. Here’s The Spotter’s View on who comes out on top in Week One:

• Eagles +9.5 @ Browns: Frenzied pass-rush + rookie QB usually = crippling mistakes. We saw this same scenario play out during the pre-season when these two teams met. I see the same outcome this time around. Brandon Weeden doesn’t have the experience to deal with Philly’s versatile pass-rush or the weaponry to disarm it. Birds win: 30-17.
• Colts -9.5 @ Bears: Chicago is my Super Bowl pick for the NFC and they’ll win this game against Andrew Luck and co. at home. That said, Luck is poised and accurate enough to handle Chicago’s Cover-2 scheme and will string together a few successful drives to keep things close. Take the points. Bears win: 27-20.
• Rams -9.0 @ Lions: Matchup between my surprise team of 2012 (Rams) and my regression team of 2012 (Lions). Big picture, I think the Rams shock a lot of people this year while the Lions disappoint Detroit. That said, who can cover Megatron in this one? Nobody. Expect huge numbers in the passing game from Stafford and Calvin Johnson as the Lions roll but fail to cover: Motown wins: 38-31.
• Patriots +4.5 @ Tennessee: Bill Belichick and Tom Brady vs Jake Locker and Mike Munchack. ‘Nuff said. Pats cruise: New England 45-14.
• Chiefs -3.0 vs Falcons: I’m liking the home dog especially when the home dog plays in front of the best NFL fans out there…yep, KC and Arrowhead Stadium present a huge problem for Matt Ryan this week. I like the Chiefs pass-rush. I like that they’re healthy. And I expect an upset. Chiefs circle the wagons: 24-20.
• Vikings +3.5 vs Jaguars: This should be a good game between two young and improving teams with solid defenses but I like what Minnesota does at home. They feed off that crowd and DE Jared Allen continuously benefits from it as he routinely beats opponent OTs off the ball. He’ll be the deciding factor. Vikings 21-14.

THE REST:

• Saints +8.5
• Bills -3.0
• Packers +5.0
• Seattle: +3.0
• Buccaneers -3.0
• Denver +2.0

That’s all I got…Happy Week One and enjoy the games. I’m late for my flight!