ymakerpi8d
: 05.06.23
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 : 05, 2023 9:53 am : 2018 NFL Schedule Heres the must-watch g |
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The 2018 NFL schedule was released, which means we have more than four months to ponder the specifics of matchups that almost certainly will hold nowhere near the same amount of weight they carry now. To predict what game is the best game of each week -- or at least which game I want to watch the most is an exercise in futility. Fortunately I've got a gym full of it, so let's hit the treadmill.The goal here is to pick the game I would not mi s, the game where, if I could only watch one game that week, this would be the game I choose. Pretend you're stuck in 1984, Johnny Pesky Jersey have a single television and are going to get locked into one game. That's all you get. No Red Zone, no multiple televisions, no bouncing around channels. One game.For instance, in Week 1, I basically had to pick between ' debut as the full-time starter against going against the , while makes his Minnesota debut. It was close, but ultimately Jimmy G won out.The end result, because we're doing this in the 12 hours after the schedule is released and a full week before the draft, is that it skews towards recency bias. The teams who were succe sful last year, particularly in the NFC, make for easy targets to watch. There will be surprises along the way and there will be teams who I have no interest in seeing that looked like contenders at this time (see: the in 2017). And there will be matchups -- like some random vs. game -- that ultimately feature young quarterbacks that will be must-watch games for football junkies. It's just too big a gamble to predict right now. And I'm not worried about overloading, within reason, on certain teams. There's a lot of games on here, but that's perfectly OK unle s they magically turn into a toad.Here's how I would lean for each week of the season:Week 1 - at Vikings (1 p.m. ET, Fox)It's a random game, but there's no chance I'll mi s this action. We're talking about a situation where down the stretch last year -- Jimmy Garoppolo -- going against one of the best defenses in football as the 49ers start up what many believe could be a surprisingly special season. On the other side, -- Kirk Cousins -- suiting up in purple for the first time in his career, trying out new digs for the first time since the drafted him. Cousins will have an easier defense to deal with, but he is also going up against a coach in Kyle Shanahan who helped turn him into the quarterback he is today. Shanahan knows Cousins as well as anyone, and this offseason .The Vikings open as 4.5-point Nomar Garciaparra Jersey favorites per the Las Vegas Westgate SuperBook.Honorable Mention: at , Chiefs at Week 2 - at (4:25 p.m. ET CBS)A rematch of the AFC Championship Game featuring two teams who should be just as good or close to as good as they were last year. A suming and don't up and retire, the Patriots will be fine. They lost and , but they're the Patriots. They'll figure it out. Jacksonville should be pretty good again as well, especially with their addition of Austin Sefarian-Jenkins in the pa sing game and the growth and development of young players on the defensive side of the ball. Even if becomes a problem again next year, everyone shouldn't be freaking out just two weeks into the year. In theory the Jags receivers should all be healthy here as well. Jacksonville will have revenge on the mind and could even be favored here. This could easily be a Jim Nantz-Tony Romo special too. Honorable Mention: at , Vikings at PackersWeek 3 - Chargers at Rams (4:05 p.m. ET CBS)This is kind of annoying because of the way the NFL is shoveling Los Angeles down our throats. Did you know they have two teams there?? They're going to share a stadium but they're playing against each other right now! L.A. Baby! Still, these are two teams Martin Perez Jersey who could be in the championship hunt next year. The Chargers looked great down the stretch, have and a lot more experience that should help them from stumbling out of the gate. This could be a huge game for them after opening up against the Chiefs in Week 1. The Rams have returning, added , have and brought in , and on the defensive side of the ball.Honorable Mention: at Falcons, 49ers at Chiefs, Patriots at Week 4 - Vikings at Rams (Thursday, 8:20 p.m. ET, Fox)I mean, look, this is a lot of Minnesota and a lot of the Rams, but they should be good again. I wanted to go with Texans-Colts because it could be vs. , but there's no way that Tyler Thornburg Jersey right now, in the middle of April, I can honestly tell you that if I could only pick ONE GAME to watch this week it would be that. It could be Tom Savage-Jacoby Bri sett for all I know. I really hope it's not. Instead give me a rematch of what was an excellent regular season game last year and what could be a preview of the NFC Championship Game with a pair of really stout defenses.Honorable Mention: Texans at Week 5 - Vikings at Eagles (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox)AGAIN WITH THE VIKINGS. Here's the reality: they're a really good team that was in the NFC Championship Game, they just added Kirk Cousins and they clearly have a strong schedule, which will feature them playing two of the other top NFC contenders on the road in back-to-back weeks. If something has gone awry by this point, or if they get scattered, smothered and covered by the Rams, it's po sible this is a mistake. But an NFC Championship rematch is hard to pa s up when debating the best game of the week. Honorable Mention: Rams at , at TexansWeek 6 - Chiefs at Patriots (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC)I really will have been waiting all day for Sunday night in this case, and I've been waiting all post to include the Chiefs as a must-watch team. That Week 1 debut for Patrick Mahomes in Los Angeles was tempting, but I can't let my feelings on the Chargers sway the choices here. This, however, is an outstanding Craig Kimbrel Jersey matchup of coaches -- Andy Reid vs. Bill Belichick -- and might really tell us how Mahomes is doing. He has a murderer's row to open the season, with road games against the Chargers and to open, followed by home against the 49ers, road against the , home against the Jaguars and then this matchup against Belichick's defense. Brutal.Honorable Mention: 49ers at PackersWeek 7 - Titans at Chargers (London, 9:30 a.m. ET, CBS)Not every International game is one where you have to set your alarm, but this one is for me. It features two teams that are really interesting to me. Both teams have franchise quarterbacks, even if we need to see take another step in his first year under Mike Vrabel and Matt LaFleur. The Titans have quietly put together a nice little defense that could make some noise in the AFC South this year, even though they're being largely counted out. This isn't even the top International matchup on the docket this year, which is particularly impre sive.Week 8 - Eagles at Jaguars (London, 9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network)Because this game is. Honestly, I wanted to pick the Jets-Bears game, which sounds insane, but might very
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