NFL football was officially back on August 2 when the Chicago Bears took on the Baltimore Ravens in Canton. However, unless you are a big fan of preseason football, the real NFL season kicks off Thursday night. The season starts with an NFC playoff rematch and leads into a weekend full of great games. There will be divisional rivalries and rookie debuts on your TVs all weekend. The only problem is there is so much action in such a short span of time. That means you will be hard-pressed to watch it all (even with NFL RedZone). Here is every must-see game of NFL Week 1, broken down by timeslot.
Thursday 8:20 pm EST: Atlanta Falcons @ Philadelphia Eagles.
Two Super Bowl contenders kick off the season.
Come quitting time on Thursday, everyone will be antsy for football to begin and it is harder to get a better matchup to kick off the season. The reigning Super Bowl champs, the Philadelphia Eagles will have their hands full when another Super Bowl favorite comes into town. Matt Ryan and his star-studded corps of receivers will be looking to avenge last winter’s early exit from the playoffs. They will need more production against a stellar Eagles defense than they did last year.
After much speculation, Nick Foles has been named the Week 1 starting QB for the Eagles. Despite being the Super Bowl MVP, Foles has been abysmal in the preseason and the result of this game largely depends on which version of Foles shows up. Foles will likely also be without the services of top receiver, Alshon Jeffery, who is recovering from a torn rotator cuff. Despite the injuries, the Eagles are filled with playmakers on both sides of the ball. Lincoln Financial Field will be rocking when these two team square off. However, even if Foles returns to playoff form, the Falcons high-powered offense will prove difficult for the veteran Eagles defense to stop.
Prediction: Falcons 27, Eagles 16.
Sunday 1:00 pm EST: San Francisco 49ers @ Minnesota Vikings.
Jimmy Garoppolo’s first chance to lead 49ers.
A 6-10 team from last season visiting a 13-3 team seems like a strange pick for a must-see game, but this is Jimmy Garoppolo’s first chance to lead the 49ers as their Week 1 starter. The highest paid player in the NFL will be thrown to the wolves this week when he faces the top-ranked defense from last year. There is no doubt that Garoppolo and the 49ers are riding a hot streak, they were 5-0 after Garoppolo took over the starting job, but it will be interesting to see how they handle playing a meaningful game against a high-quality opponent.
The Vikings will also be fun to watch because Kirk Cousins is set to make his debut in purple and Dalvin Cook is back from injury. The Vikings have improved upon a roster that went 13-3 so expectations will be high in The Twin Cities. An opening home loss to an unproven 49ers team would be hard for them to swallow. Nevertheless, Cousins and company should be able to get the job done.
Prediction: Vikings 24, 49ers 17.
Sunday 4:05 pm EST: Kansas City Chiefs @ Los Angeles Chargers.
Playoff implications in Week 1.
A pivotal AFC West showdown is a tough way for these two rivals to start their seasons. Although, it will make for a highly entertaining matchup when Sunday afternoon rolls around in LA. The Chiefs and the Chargers are both favorites to win the AFC West but they have different situations at quarterback. Sunday officially marks the start of the Patrick Mahomes era in Kansas City, while Chargers fans are left wondering how many more seasons Philip Rivers has left in the tank.
Watching Patrick Mahomes throw long bombs to Tyreek Hill is going to be a lot of fun, but the Chiefs have a lot of question marks on the defensive side of the ball. The Chargers were a great team last year but lost a lot of close games. They need a strong start against a division rival if they want to have a chance to win the division. Philip Rivers and Keenan Allen will provide a spark on offense. On defense, two of the best pass rushers in the league, Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, will make life difficult for Mahomes in his season debut.
Prediction: Chargers 31, Chiefs 24.
Sunday 8:20 EST: Chicago Bears @ Green Bay Packers.
The new-look Bears storm Lambeau.
The first Sunday night game of the year pits two NFC North rivals against one another at Lambeau Field. The Packers have dominated the series as of late, going 14-2 against the Bears since 2011. Packers fans will be excited to have their star, Aaron Rodgers, back on the field. The bad news is he will be unable to hook up with his favorite target, Jordy Nelson, who was released this past offseason. All eyes this year will be on the connection between Rodgers and newly signed TE, Jimmy Graham. However, nothing will come easy for the Packers offense because they now have to prepare for a Bears defense led by All-Pro linebacker Khalil Mack.
On the other side of the ball, the Packers will be tasked with shutting down a revamped Bears offense. The leader of that unit is second-year QB Mitchell Trubisky. The Bears have signed some key playmakers in the off-season and there will be high expectations for Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel to make an immediate impact. Trubisky is coming off an up-and-down rookie season. The story this year will be whether he can make some strides with real weapons to work with. The Mack trade shows that the Bears think that they can compete in the North this year. But not even Khalil Mack will be enough to ruin Aaron Rodgers’ return in Green Bay.
Prediction: Packers 20, Bears 13.
Monday 7:10 EST: New York Jets @ Detroit Lions.
Sam Darnold’s NFL Debut.
We get a special treat this week with two stellar Monday night games to choose from. Watching Aaron Donald and the Rams play intrastate rival Oakland is going to be a lot of fun. Although, the NFL debut of Sam Darnold makes the Jets at Lions the must-watch game of Monday night. The USC standout, Darnold, will have his work cut out for him from the start because the Jets were one of the worst teams of 2017. The Jets abysmal offensive line should show improvement this season. They will need to perform well if Darnold is going to have enough time in the pocket to make plays.
Lions fan should see an improvement on the defensive side of the ball with Matt Patricia now in charge of their team. Look for second-year linebacker Jarrad Davis to have a monster game and make life difficult for Darnold and company. Matthew Stafford should have no issue picking apart the Jets defense on the way to a Week 1 victory.
Prediction: Lions 31, Jets 17