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Week 1 NFL Picks: Predicting All 16 Games

I went through the entire Week 1 NFL schedule and made my picks for the games. Most people enjoy reading NFL picks and predictions so we'll probably have a couple of our contributors posting theirs throughout the week.

Here are my picks for Week 1 in the NFL:

7:30 p.m. (Thursday Night Football)

New Orleans Saints vs. Green Bay Packers (NBC): I'm taking the Packers. This game is too close to call so, as a couple of people pointed out, go with the money. Green Bay's a four point favorite.
12:00 P.M. (Sunday)

Atlanta Falcons vs. Chicago Bears (FOX): Atlanta is the better team and I can't trust QB Jay Cutler so I'll go with the Falcons. That said, I can't see RB Michael Turner being effective all year again. Too many carries in recent years.

Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans (CBS): Uh, Texans. The Colts were a nine point favorite with QB Peyton Manning. Not so much without him.

Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs (CBS): Gotta go with the Chiefs. More detailed prediction plus write-up coming on Sunday morning.

Tennessee Titans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (CBS): You know what? I'm going with the Jags. I think RB Chris Johnson needs a little time to get back into NFL shape and QB Matt Hasselbeck won't be firing on all cylinders in Week 1. Yeah, I know the Jags have their own turmoil but I have a feeling. (Whenever someone pulls out the "I just have feeling they'll win" line, that's a reminder not to take their advice seriously.)

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Cleveland Browns (CBS): I'll take the Browns. I'm a big fan of QB Colt McCoy. Plus, the Bengals are starting a rookie quarterback and a rookie receiver. They could be good but not in Week 1.

Philadelphia Eagles vs. St. Louis Rams (FOX): The Dream Team rides again as the Eagles win this game. If the Rams had a legitimate home field advantage, I'd take them because I love QB Sam Bradford but I think the Eagles swipe this game.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens (CBS): Game of the week? These teams are ridiculously close over the last decade. Just a total guess here as to who wins. I'll say the Ravens.

Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (FOX): This game's blacked out in Tampa and I think the Lions will black them out (see what I did there?). I'll take the Lions with Megatron blowing up.

4:15 p.m. (Sunday)

Minnesota Vikings vs. San Diego Chargers (FOX): The Chargers should win -- should -- but they won't. They always start slow it seems. I'll go with the Vikings as the biggest upset of the week. Everyone should have an upset of the week. This is mine.

New York Giants vs. Washington Redskins (FOX): QB Eli Manning is on my fantasy team so that's where my loyalty lies. Plus, Rex Grossman is quarterbacking the Redskins. I'm taking the Giants

Carolina Panthers vs. Arizona Cardinals (FOX): Gotta go with QB Kevin Kolb and the Cardinals. Can't see QB Cam Newton winning his first career start.

Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers (FOX): Hmm. Not really sure here so let's go with the home team in San Fran. We'll see what Jim Harbaugh has done with QB Alex Smith.

8:20 p.m. (Sunday Night Football)

Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Jets (NBC): Awesome Sunday night game. The Ryan brothers face off and I'm going with Rob Ryan and the Cowboys. I had Dallas ranked 10th in power rankings earlier in the week which caused more than a few people to send emails telling me how dumb I was. (Seriously, do people who send out threatening emails have a family and a job to go to every day? Do their family and co-workers know that this person is spending their evenings telling a blogger to shove certain things up various body parts? Weird if you ask me.)

7:00 p.m. (Monday Night Football)

New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins (ESPN): New England, of course. This is a sell out for Miami, by the way. Yes, they actually had to announce that the first game of the season -- on Monday Night Football no less -- was actually sold out.

10:15 p.m. (Monday Night Football)

Oakland Raiders vs. Denver Broncos (ESPN): Oy. Can I pick neither? I'll say Denver because I trust QB Kyle Orton a little more.

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