NFL Monday Night Matchups for Week 1
September 8th 2008

 

We have the opportunity of watching what should be two spectacular Monday night football games. The first games features Aaron Rodgers debut as the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers.  Rodgers will be facing a Vikings team that is expected to have one of the highest ranked defenses in the NFL with the addition of Jared Allen.  Meanwhile the Oakland Raiders take on their division rival, the Denver Broncos.  This will be JaMarcus Russell's first Monday night football game as a starter for the Raiders. The Raiders will also be showcasing rookie sensation Darren McFadden.

Key Stats between Packers and Vikings:
1. The Road team is 8-2 against the spread in the last 10 games.
2. Packers beat the Vikings 34-0 at Lambeau in 2007
 
Key Stats between Raiders and Broncos:
1. The Raiders have covered against the Broncos in the last 4 meetings
2. The Raiders rushed for 175 yards against the Broncos in Oakland last year.

Week 1 Recap
The NFL season is underway and Week 1 was full of upsets, key injuries, and the return of Brett Favre.  In his debut as a New York Jet, Brett Favre threw for 2 touchdowns and led his team to win over the Miami Dolphins.  However, the road for the Jets does not get any easier as they play the Patriots and Chargers next. 

How many starting QB's out there wish they could transfer their job to New England?  The news is out that 3 time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady has suffered a season-ending knee injury.  Can Matt Cassell step in and be the next Tom Brady?  It will be interesting to watch how Randy Moss will perform with Brady sidelined.  Will he step up and be a team leader or disappear like he did in Oakland because he had no one to throw him the ball?

With Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis sidelined, Donovan McNabb once again showed everyone how great a QB he can really be and that it doesn't matter who he has for wide receivers.  The Eagles take on the Dallas Cowboys next week.  The all-star Cowboys team already looks to be in Super Bowl form. 

The Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears pulled off major upsets in Week 1.  The Bears completed dominated the Colts and the Panthers pulled off some heroics with a last second TD toss from Jake Delhomme to Dante Rosario. 

The Tennessee Titans knocked off the Jaguars on opening day for the second year in a row. Some experts have the Jacksonville Jaguars winning the Super Bowl this year.  It sure isn't going to happen with the offense they put on the field in week 1. 

Teams that just looked completely awful in Week 1:
Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans, Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams, Houston Texans, and Seattle Seahawks.  A long list of teams, but the Seahawks and Texans should be able to recover. The Seahawks are completely depleted at Wide Receiver and have never looked good on the road.  The Houston Texans, a team with much higher expectations coming into the 2008 season, got completely run over by the Steelers.