The time has come and we finally have football back again. As we all know, Tampa Bay defeated Kansas City to win Super Bowl LV. This year, both teams are considered favorites to win their respective conferences. Tampa Bay starts the season out on a Thursday night at home against the Dallas Cowboys. Kansas City will begin the season at home against a team they could see in the playoffs in the Cleveland Browns. Welcome to Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season. As always, my goal is to finish with winning at least 70% of my predictions. Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season is starting off with a bang. I’ll be predicting a total of 11 games right off the bat. Like always, let’s get this thang started.
We start the season off on a Thursday night with a marquee matchup. The Dallas Cowboys will travel to Tampa to face the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers. Dallas will finally see the return of their All-Pro QB in Dak Prescott. Dallas is hoping this is their year with their revamped defense. The Cowboys used the draft to fill in holes on their defense. With a healthy Prescott, the Cowboys offense should be one of the better ones in the league. Tampa Bay is looking to repeat as world champions. The offense should continue to thrive and the defense was one of the better ones towards the end of the year. The Buccaneers brought everyone back so this team should be primed to make another run. With the crowd back and this being a home game, they should upend the Cowboys. Tampa Bay Win 34-27
We have a battle of the birds in the game. The Philadelphia Eagles will travel to Atlanta to face the Falcons. These two teams have become rivals over the past several years. They both will be ushering in a new head coach this season. The Eagles will have a new QB in Jalen Hurts after the team traded Carson Wentz. The offense should be better than expected and the defense also. With Atlanta, everything starts with Matt Ryan as he enters his 14th season. Atlanta traded Julio Jones to the Tennessee Titans in the offseason. The defense is still a work in progress and they will face growing pains. With the addition of Kyle Pitts and still having Calvin Ridley, the offense should strive. This is a tough one, but I’m picking the Eagles to leave with the win. Philadelphia Win 27-24
We head to the AFC with a matchup between two Super Bowl favorites. The Pittsburgh Steelers will head to Buffalo to battle the Bills. Big Ben restructured his contract to come back for one more season. The Steelers drafted Najee Harris with the hopes of becoming a more ground and pound offense. On defense, the Steelers should be a top-5 squad once again. With Buffalo, they are expected to be I the running for a Super Bowl berth. Josh Allen is widely viewed as an MVP candidate after being rewarded with a new monster contract. The Bills defense is also expected to be one of the better ones in the league also. Who can start the season off on the right foot? This is another tough one, but I’m picking the Bills to edge the Steelers. Buffalo Win 31-21
We have two teams hoping to be in the upper echelon of teams at the end of the year. The Seattle Seahawks will take that cross country trip to Indianapolis to face the Colts. With Russell Wilson back at QB, the Seahawks will always have a chance. The issue the past couple of seasons has been their defense. Seattle has added a couple of pieces and they gave Jamal Adams a nice contract extension. The Colts will have a lot of key pieces in place with the hopes of reaching the playoffs. After Philip Rivers retired, the Colts traded for Carson Wentz. They are hoping he can return to his 2017 form when he would’ve been the MVP before getting injured. The Colts are still missing key pieces to start the season, which is why I’m picking the Seahawks to win. Seattle Win 24-23
We have a matchup between two AFC heavyweights to start the season off. The Cleveland Browns will travel to Kansas City to face the defending AFC champion Chiefs. The Browns have revamped their roster for a chance to take down teams like the Chiefs and Bills. They are hoping by adding Jadaveon Clowney, they could pressure the opposing QB. Can the Browns stun the Chiefs to kick off Week 1? Kansas City is looking to win their third consecutive conference championship. Patrick Mahomes is coming off an offseason where he was injured. Mahomes is looking to win another MVP award and Super Bowl in the process. Kansas City has so many weapons on offense and their defense is just as good. Can they take down the Browns and make a statement? I’m picking the Chiefs to win. Kansas City Win 34-24
We head to the AFC East for this opening weekend matchup. We have a battle between two Heisman Trophy winning QBs from Alabama in Tua Tagovailoa and Matt Jones. These two along with Buffalo will be fighting for division supremacy. The Miami Dolphins will head to Foxboro to face the New England Patriots. The Dolphins have improved a lot over the past couple of seasons and this is Tua’s team now. How will the trade rumors for Deshaun Watson hamper the young signal caller? Will the Dolphins defense return to dominant form? New England will roll out a rookie QB in Matt Jones. After the Patriots released Cam Newton, the team now belongs to Jones. The Patriots defense should return to being one of the better ones seeing a lot of their players opted out last season. This is another tough one, but I’m going with the Patriots. New England Win 27-17
We head to the NFC as we have a battle between two Super Bowl hopefuls. The Green Bay Packers take on the New Orleans Saints. This game will take place in Jacksonville because of the damage Hurricane Ida done to New Orleans. The Packers are hoping to have a repeat of a season ago. This time, they are hoping to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. Aaron Rodgers won his third MVP award after having one of his best seasons. This is being billed as his final season in Green Bay and what better way to go out than a Super Bowl. New Orleans is starting the Jameis Winston Era after Drew Brees retired from the league. New Orleans will still have a stout defense, but will be without Michael Thomas. I’m picking the Packers to win this one. Green Bay Win 30-20
We have our first Sunday night game of the season. The Chicago Bears will travel to Los Angeles to face the Rams. The Bears will face a familiar foe in the newly acquired QB, Matthew Stafford. The Bears will begin the season with Andy Dalton at the quarterback position. Chicago still possesses one of the better defenses in the league. How effective will Andy Dalton be with this offense? Can the defense slow down the new look Rams offense? Speaking of the Rams, they are just a couple of seasons removed from a Super Bowl appearance. With the addition of Stafford, Los Angeles thinks they can open up the offense a little more. They traded for Sony Michel to help with the run game after they loss Cam Akers for the season. I’m picking the Rams to leave with the win. Los Angeles Win 31-20
We have our first Monday Night Football game of the season. The Baltimore Ravens will head to Las Vegas to face the Raiders. The Baltimore has been hit with the injury bug throughout training camp. They have lost both of their key running backs to begin with. They brought in LeVeon Bell to the practice squad with the hopes of bringing him up. The Ravens defense will be as strong as ever as they try to compete with the Chiefs, Bills and Steelers. Las Vegas is still trying to find themselves and hopefully compete for a Wild Card spot. Derek Carr is one of the more underrated QBs in the league. The Raiders defense will be tested from the start. In the end, I’m picking the Ravens to leave Vegas with the win. Baltimore Win 35-21
Are you ready for some football? What game are you looking forward the most? What’s your favorite team? What do you think about my picks? Leave a comment below.
