5 Games We Care About that the NFL Doesn’t
__________________________________________________________________________The 2010 NFL Schedule came out today, adding more restlessness to the seemingly endless wait between the Superbowl and the start of the next season. In most cases, it’s obvious who’s going to get the prime time shout outs (NFC East, Favre, Patriots) and this season was no exception. However we picked out five games that seemed to fly under the NFL’s radar. We think NFL all five of these stepchild spectaculars will carry some weight in the grand scheme of things.
Week 1: Dolphins @ Bills. Not necessarily because we think this will be a good game but the Dolphins are our darkhorse pick to come within at least two games of the Superbowl this year. Brandon Marshall be damned (we tend to not go gaga over receivers) Bill Parcells seems to be in the process of using yet another NFL offseason to manufacture a monster. We’re telling you right now, this will be the most lopsided game of the weekend and is a hot favorite to appear on the SpreadSHREDDER come week 1.
Week 7: Eagles @ Titans. On a week where the central story will likely be Favre going back to Lambeau Field (again), we fully expect both the Eagles and Titans to be two of the best teams in the NFL at this point. While we’re not completely sold on the Eagles yet, we expect Philly to at least have a strong start to their season. With the talented and well-coached Titans playing a 3rd place schedule, this tilt may very well be a battle of unbeatens.
Week 8: Packers @ New York Jets. It may be a stretch to say that the NFL “doesn’t care” about a late season showdown between two of its most storied franchise, but the fact that this game didn’t make the prime time lineup astounds me. Both of these legendary franchises made the playoffs last season with few signs of regression (few, not zero). Coupled with Rex Ryan’s direct shot at Charles Woodson during the playoffs last season, this match has the built in story lines for a Monday Night Football showdown that could would garner the monster ratings the NFL has come to consider commonplace. I mean, is Indy @ Houston (the Monday night game that week) really must see TV?
Week 12: Buccaneers @ Ravens. The NFL’s famed parity took a nosedive last season, and one of the casualties of a chalky year were the Tampa Buccaneers. We don’t expect the Bucs to completely turn it around this year, but they will be improved enough to raise some eyebrows. By week 12, the positive effects of a playing a last place schedule may only be residual. However the Ravens will be in the mix in the AFC North and this tilt could bey a key matchup if the Ravens expect to catch the hot potato that is the AFC North division crown.
Week 17: Arizona @ San Francisco. To try to curb dogging it during the last week of the season in favor of resting players for the playoffs, Commissioner hardass decided to make every match during the last week of the season intra-divisional. Of all the possible ‘Division Crown’ showdowns that could seemingly take place, this is the showdown we think will have the most on the line.
The 49ers have been a potential surprise team for years now, to the overt eyeroll of the entire Big Nasty Athletic Dept. However this year we are pulling that trigger for the first time. Arizona should be fine with Matt Leinart entering the starting lineup (again) after sitting behind a legend for years (Aaron Rodgers much?). Both of these teams will at least be competitive in 2010 to the point where we may see the NFC West Divisional Title hanging in the balance during their Candlestick Collision come week 17.
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Tags: Bill Parcells Offseason, NFL, NFL Schedule 2010, Rex Ryan Charles Woodson diss, Rex Ryan is still an asshole
