Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints (Thurs) – Ah yes, the return of NFL football. And what would make the first game even better? That's right, Brett Favre is back! I figure my blood will be boiling by the second quarter. Unless of course the Saints beat the living crap out of him again like they did in the NFC championship. This will be one of many games to see Favre struggle and re-affirm the thought that he should've just stayed retired this time. Last year was a little too perfect for Minnesota and it's not going to happen two years in a row. (New Orleans)

Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills – I promise I won't do this every week, but I did project the entire Bills schedule before the preseason started and it would've been a useless exercise if I didn't at least hold myself to one of those predictions. Since the first week is the easiest to hold to before the Bills completely derail the season, I'll pick the Bills with a week one upset over Miami. Before you go thinking this is completely crazy, keep in mind that Miami hasn't won in Ralph Wilson Stadium since 2003. (Buffalo)

Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears – This has the look of an ugly, close game that will eventually be won by the home team. The Lions are going to improve from last season, but considering the fact that three wins will be an improvement, it still doesn't mean they'll win very many games. (Chicago)

Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Titans – The Titans and Raiders star in Devin's Eliminator Pick of the Week. The Raiders will no doubt be improved from last year, but West Coast teams don't usually fair too well playing the early game on the East Coast. I see a pretty standard day from Vince Young in this game. A handful of bad passes, at least one turnover and maybe a rushing touchdown. It won't win games every week, but it will when they play the Raiders. (Tennessee)

Cincinnati Bengals at New England Patriots – For the second straight season, Terrell Owens gets to start the season off in Foxboro against the Patriots. Last season with Buffalo, T.O. hauled in two receptions for 46 yards. I'm sure it was hardly the splash he was looking to make. I see this game going a little differently for him since he now has a QB on his side that isn't afraid to throw the ball more than three yards. Despite all of that, it won't be enough to stop New England. I see Tom Brady lighting up the Bengals as he begins his quest to remind the Patriots that he deserves a new contract. (New England)

Carolina Panthers at New York Giants – If I were to pick the score for this game, I'd say it will be right around 20-17 with the Giants being on the winning side. Honestly, nothing about this game excites me. I'm glad it's on when Buffalo plays. Then again, watching Buffalo play might be incredibly painful. (New York)

Atlanta Falcons at Pittsburgh Steelers – All offseason I ranted and raved about how the Steelers would be dumb to start Byron Leftwich over Dennis Dixon while Ben Roethlisberger served his suspension for rape. Then I saw Dennis Dixon play against Denver. Naturally this convinced me that Leftwich should get the start, only to see him get injured in the final preseason game and make Dixon the starter by default. Dixon will be dangerous when running around, but his passing game leaves a lot to be desired and will no doubt cost them at least one game. If Atlanta can stop the run and avoid turnovers, this should be a relatively easy road victory. (Atlanta)

Cleveland Browns at Tampa Bay Buccaneers – No surprise here, but the Browns are involved in one of the least attractive matchups of the entire week. Even though I had Tampa Bay ranked higher than Cleveland to start the season in my rankings, I did so with a ton of hesitation. There is nothing about the Bucs that I even remotely like this season. Luckily for them, Cleveland is starting an interception machine at QB so they should be able to squeak out an ugly win. (Tampa Bay)

Denver Broncos at Jacksonville Jaguars – Many "experts" thought that the Jaguars should've drafted Tim Tebow in last April's draft. Instead, the Jaguars passed on Tebow and reassured David Garrard that he was the starting QB for the Jags. I can't say Tebow would've been a better choice than Garard, but he most definitely would've helped fill the thousands of empty seats in Jacksonville. I think Tebow has a good opportunity to succeed in Denver, but I already don't like how they plan on using him. If there is one thing I don't like in the pro game, it's inconsistency at the QB position. If Kyle Orton starts, he should take all the snaps, barring injury. (Jacksonville)

Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans – Oh, those poor Texans. This is the year they are going to break out and make a serious run at the playoffs. Unfortunately, they have to start the season 0-1 with a home loss to the Colts. I was about to call Indy their division rival until I realized the Colts have a 15-1 all-time record against Houston. That's more like a big brother picking on a little brother and I see no reason why it will change this week. (Indianapolis)

San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks – The 49ers begin their quest to win the NFC West and lose in the first round with a division game at rainy Seattle. This also marks the first game for Pete Carroll and will instantly remind people why he was hired by USC in the first place. He's not a good pro coach. (San Francisco)

Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles – The Kevin Kolb era starts off in Philly and I give it about 10 minutes before the fans turn on him. Unless of course he's already thrown for 200 yards and a few touchdowns in those 10 minutes. If Kolb lives up to expectations, this should be a high scoring and fun game to watch. If there is one game that could really swing a few fantasy matchups, this one might be it. I like my NFC favorites to get off to a 1-0 start. (Green Bay)

Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams – Sam Bradford makes his first career NFL start at home against the Cardinals and also gets his first career win. I like what I've seen from Bradford so far and the Cardinals should win, but probably won't because somehow Derek Anderson won the starting job for the Cards. I guess it's not totally crazy that he won the job, seeing that Matt Leinart was his main source of competition, but I think it's absolutely insane to go from Kurt Warner to Derek Anderson in one season. When is the last time there has been that big of a drop-off at QB for a team? (St. Louis)

Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins – The Cowboys are facing an immense amount of pressure this season and almost all of it is self-inflicted. Typically Dallas gets a ton of spotlight and high expectations placed on them, but this year is much different since the Super Bowl will be hosted in Dallas. By the end of September this will be the most talked about and pounded into the ground topic on ESPN. Needless to say, Jerry Jones isn't going to enjoy watching another NFC team play the Super Bowl in his stadium. However, Dallas will spoil the Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNabb era in Washington and get off to a good start. (Dallas)

Baltimore Ravens at New York Jets (Mon) – The Jets get to unveil their brand new stadium on Monday Night Football. I'm sure the Jets along with every major media outlet will ignore the fact that the Giants played in the stadium the day before though. I suppose giving the Jets the main stage in the new stadium is fair, after all, the Jets have won a Super Bowl recently while the Giants have done nothing but run their mouth. We also get to see the season debut of Revis Island. I'm sure he won't be rusty at all after not practicing or playing all training camp or preseason. (Baltimore)

San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs (Mon) – I've often enjoyed having two Monday night games to start the season, but like usual, the second game is a gigantic pile of crap. This year instead of the Raiders hosting the game, we have the 4-12 Chiefs! In other words, the Chargers are starting out 1-0 again this season. (San Diego)


 
Last Week: N/A

Entire Season: 0-0


 
As always, Scott will be posting his picks along with mine in our never-ending competition against each other. This year there is a twist though. While the picks will just be for bragging rights, the results of our fantasy leagues won't. We decided that the person who finishes better in two of the three leagues, wins the bet. The bet being a fresh new jersey of the winner's choice. Knowing the both of us, this has a high chance of being one of the shiny new Sabres jerseys that will debut in October. So be looking for the updated results starting after Week One. And now, here are Scott's picks (in bold).


 
Minnesota @ New Orleans

Miami @ Buffalo

Detroit @ Chicago

Oakland @ Tennessee

Cincinnati @ New England

Carolina @ New York Giants

Atlanta @ Pittsburgh

Cleveland @ Tampa Bay

Denver @ Jacksonville

Indianapolis @ Houston

Arizona @ St. Louis

Green Bay @ Philadelphia

San Francisco @ Seattle

Dallas @ Washington

Baltimore @ New York Jets

San Diego @ Kansas City