It...Is…Time. You Ready?

Week 1 Preview:

The Saints won on Thursday night, though by slightly less than the posted line, so congrats to Peter King, WalterFootball.com and Dave Richard from CBSSports.com for picking up their first ATS wins of the season. All the rest of us hard-luck losers can thank the inaccurate right foot of Garrett Hartley for the outcome. The Saints should’ve won by an additional 6-10 points. But that’s the way the ball bounces, bucko.

This is the start of PFN’s fifth year of previewing the weekly NFL picks and we have annually held our own against the experts from CBS Sportsline and USA Today. This year, we’ll also be going up against a few other highly popular “surprise” web sites to push the stakes a little higher here in “For Fun & Amusement Only” Land. If people choose to wager on such a speculative activity, the results over the long run have proven that it doesn’t pay, unless you’re an “Ace Rothstein-wannabe”. Good luck on that one, son. For the record, we do not endorse, encourage or promote legal or illegal gambling. We do promote good, clean fun and amusement (only), competing in the public domain against “experts” who make a lot of money predicting such outcomes. We use the CBSSportsline spread that is usually available each Thursday before game day. About some games this week, we offer a more in depth look into the individual teams. As to others, there’s very little to discuss beyond the obvious. Let’s buckle up those chin straps and hit it.

Week 1 Sunday:

At NY Giants -7 Carolina 41

What better place to start than here? Remember all those great autumn afternoons watching the G-Men play at Yankee Stadium on CBS in the ‘60’s? Or is that before your time? Coach Coughlin’s crew gets the honor of opening the New Meadowlands for real as the Panthers come to the Big City looking to spoil the party. The last time these teams met in late December, the Panthers spanked the Giants 41-9. Ain’t gonna happen this time around. Last year, the G-Men were the champions of September, only to fall apart when the leaves began to turn as they were beset by one injury after another. The Panthers have a great tandem of runners in Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams. Steve Smith also appears to be fully recovered from a broken arm. But QB Matt Moore remains a question mark. He’s by no means a slouch, but he’s still working his way along the learning curve. Clausen is waiting in the wings, but for now (lame duck) Coach Fox will give Moore a fair shot to keep the job. He will not be underestimated on Sunday. The Giants’ D has been shuttling younger guys into the lineup over the past couple of years and may have a hard time competing with the Panthers’ running attack. Where the Giants have a distinct advantage in this game is at quarterback, and Manning’s ability to mix the pass and run with success. Ordinarily, we’d look at the ball control usage/clock time and have to figure that the Panthers would give the G-Men a run for their money but two elements tip things in the Giants favor: first they have to be personally motivated to redeem last December’s humiliation. Second, they’re opening this palatial venue and don’t want to be caught with their pants down.

Projected Final Score: NY Giants 28, Carolina 20

Miami -3 At Buffalo 38.5

This appears to be a mismatch, as everyone knows that the Bills are in yet another reconstruction phase while the Dolphins will be challenging for top spot in the AFC East. But Miami has not won in Buffalo in five years. Now, some of those years the Dolphins fielded really awful teams. This year, the Dolphins are good and built in the image of (the recently shunted-aside) Big Tuna’s successful teams that always featured big, aggressive, punishing hitters on both interior lines.

The Bills hired retread Chan Gailey as their new head coach, replacing local favorite Dick Jauron, who was let go before last season ended. Gailey is an offensive-minded coach, but elected to stand pat at quarterback, which was a bit of a surprise. The Bills drafted Clemson’s exciting running back C.J. Spiller at #9, bypassing Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen in the first round, then selected a nose tackle in the second. They appear to be giving Trent Edwards another bite of the apple with (Harvard’s Own) Ryan Fitzpatrick waiting in the wings. The strength of the Bills is their secondary, where they drafted a real gem last year in safety Jairus Byrd. They brought in some veteran help at linebacker, with Andra Davis. Other than getting to watch the electric CJ Spiller, there isn’t much excitement for the passionate and loyal fans of Western New York and southern Ontario to root for. Their best defensive player, Aaron Schobel, retired. Kawika Mitchell was just placed on IR with a serious foot injury. Aaron Maybin had a disappointing rookie season. All of these losses/changes have the Bills in solid 2-4 win territory this year. But at least for this week, everything is shiny and new, and the players come out with emotion and spirit and present a game ball to their new coach at game’s end.

Projected Final Score: Buffalo 21, Miami 20

Atlanta -2.5 At Pittsburgh 38

Did you ever envision a day when the Steelers would be home ‘dogs? Big Ben may have had his suspension reduced to four games, but his Neanderthal behavior has cost the Steelers dearly. Coach Tomlin named Dennis Dixon as the Week 1 starter over veteran Charlie Batch, and there’s no doubt that the team and rabid Heinz Field fanatics will rally around Dixon. The loss of an impact player would seem to fall quite nicely into the hands of the Falcons, especially for their rising star QB Matt Ryan. Not so fast, bucko…Troy Polamalu is fully recovered from last season’s knee injury and it’s not as if the Steelers’ defense has a reputation for crumbling under adversity. They will be foaming at the mouth when the bell rings. The Falcons will need to get serious production from Michael Turner to open up the possibilities Ryan can create with Tony Gonzalez, Roddy White and the other weapons at his disposal. It all comes down to which team’s front can knock the other’s harder and further back. The Falcons hope to force Dixon into a lot of mistakes. The Falcons have an answer for Rashard Mendenhall if Dixon solely tries to rely on the run game. On the other side, the Steelers’ D will chase and hound Ryan while limiting Turner. It’s practically un-American to pick against the Steelers at home.

Projected Final Score: Pittsburgh 20, Atlanta 17

At Chicago -6.5 Detroit 43

Will the Jay Cutler-Mike Martz arrangement be a blessing from above or a marriage from hell? Looking back at the track records of both doesn’t exactly portend a beautiful friendship. Both are headstrong and have a way of alienating employers and fan bases alike. But this is last call for Lovie, as his future as head coach is riding heavily on Cutler and Martz. The Bears made a big splash in free agency, signing DE Julius Peppers from Carolina for big bucks. On the other side, the boys in Honolulu Blue have turned a corner and are well on the road to being a competitor in the NFC. Going from 0-16 to the January tournament won’t happen this year, but there should be another incremental step toward that end. Matthew Stafford had a decent first year as he predictably took his lumps but he hung in there. The Lions made a few nice moves on draft day, first with the selection of mighty Ndamukong Suh, then bringing in Cal’s explosive running back Jahvid Best, who slipped down the board due to repeated concussions. In this game, Stafford is going to light up Soldier Field and cut the Bears’ secondary to ribbons. Sure, Cutler is going to get his shots with the deficient Lions secondary, but he’s also going to have Suh breathing down his neck all afternoon long. Scoring points will not be an issue here.

Projected Final Score: Detroit 24, Chicago 23

At New England -4.5 Cincinnati 45

All the media attention during camp was focused on the teaming of Ocho with TO, twitting every move. Maybe shining the spotlight on two world-class attention whores is a clever ruse by Coach Lewis to keep the media from dwelling on the more substantive aspects of his football team. The Bengals have never shied away from “character issue” players (witness this year’s signing of “Pacman” Jones) and in most cases Coach Lewis has been able to motivate players that other teams wouldn’t touch. Mike Zimmer is among the best defensive minds in the game and seems to get every ounce out of his players every week. The success of the Bengals this year is largely dependent on Carson Palmer. Last year, Palmer slumped coming down the stretch and there was a question as to whether his accuracy problems were indicative of problems with his arm. Cedric Benson has also nicely resurrected his career with the Bengals. In addition to his aforementioned wideouts, Palmer also picked up another nice weapon in TE Jermaine Copeland, whom the Bengals drafted on the first round and slot receiver Jordan Shipley from Texas. On defense, the Bengals have a good defense, capable of stopping the run but slightly deficient against the pass. This means Brady should be looking to the air quite a bit.

The returning Patriot veterans still have a bad taste in the mouths over the way last season ended, when they were literally bowled over by the Ravens at home in the first round of the playoffs. Whether that defeat was an anomaly or the signal of a downward trend remains to be seen. They start this year with some holes and a ton of questions. They lost two key starters on defense, Ty Warren and Leigh Bodden, for the season. This means that young role players are now expected to fill those holes. Their best offensive lineman, Logan Mankins stayed away from camp in a contract dispute and may likely never play for the team again. Sure, Tom Brady rebounded nicely last year from knee surgery and Wes Welker has made a marvelous recovery from a knee injury in Week 17. And Randy Moss is back for his (most likely) final year in New England. They appear to have drafted two gems in TE’s Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. And wily ol’ Alge Crumpler is around to school the rooks. On the O-Line, Sebastian Vollmer looks terrific, but without Mankins and Nick Kaczur, this group is going to be in for a long year. The running game is also sub-par, relying on a committee of four backs. Laurence Maroney was supposed to be coming into his own by now as a guy who could carry the freight, but his tip-toe routine into a hole has driven fans and coaches crazy. If he fails to deliver this year, “he gone”. On defense, Jarod Mayo has developed into a force at MLB and Vince Wilfork is a one-man wrecking crew at NT. Tully Banta-Cain led the defense in sacks last year but he’s a step below Mayo and Wilfork on the talent chain. Otherwise, Coach Belichick has put together a patchwork crew of retreads and kids out there. Derrick Burgess showed up late for camp and was ineffective during preseason, so they cut his ass outta town. They have little or no pass rush of which to speak.

Bottom Line For Sunday: First, Tommy Boy is one lucky lad, having barely escaped serious injury in a car wreck in Boston early Thursday morning (and agreeing to a four-year extension later the same day). It’s scary stuff out there on the road. The Bengals simply have too many offensive weapons against which a young and inexperienced defense can compete. Cincinnati will be able to control the clock with their opportunities and it’ll be a long afternoon for the Pats’ defense. Historically, Belichick’s defenses have struggled in the early going only to develop into more cohesive units by mid-season. This is Week 1, so you can figure it out for yourselves.

Projected Final Score: Cincinnati 24, New England 20

At Tampa Bay -3 Cleveland 37

The “Under Construction” sign can be placed on both team’s front doors. For the Bucs, last year was truly Year 1 of the rebuilding phase under Coach Morris. This game will be blacked out in the Tampa area, and perhaps that’s not such a bad thing under the circumstances. The “New” Browns are a team that has gone through fits and starts since returning as an expansion franchise a decade ago. Mike Holmgren signed ex-Panther Jake Delhomme to quarterback the team this year but the Browns will rely heavily on the running game, which features Jerome Harrison and James Davis. Josh Freeman is nursing a broken thumb heading into this one, which may spell disaster for the Bucs. For the Browns, Big Daddy is questionable for the opener, and his loss may allow the Bucs to focus on the run.

Projected Final Score: Cleveland 23, Tampa Bay 20

At Jacksonville -2.5 Denver 39.5

The only reason Coach Del Rio remains on the job is because the owner doesn’t want to have to pay two coaches at the same time. The fact that an NFL head coach would be publicly called out by the owner about his work ethic is shocking. The future of the Jags in North Florida also remains largely in doubt because that area of the country lacks the financial ability to support a major league franchise, and frankly, beyond Maurice Jones-Drew, there’s not much to get excited about. They’ll have a big crowd at Whatever-Its-Name-Is-This-Week Stadium on Sunday because it marks the return of Florida’s Favorite Son, Tim Tebow to the Sunshine State. During preseason, Tim learned quickly that the moves that made him the poster boy of the NCAA didn’t work quite as well in the NFL. He also discovered that the boys in the big leagues hit a whole lot harder than they do in the SEC. But Tebow won’t play unless something bad happens to starter Kyle Orton. The Broncos went through a lot of injuries during preseason, the worst of which happened to sack-meister Elvis Dumervil. They’re banged up at running back and lost their best receiver when the immature Brandon Marshall was shipped off to Miami. McDaniels has also made a number of puzzling personnel moves that have the Mile High Maniacs wondering whether the wonderboy has a few screws loose.

The Jags have no pash rush and little if any talent in the secondary. Orton should find some success with Gaffney and Royal. But if the “good” David Garrard appears on Sunday, he may be able to secure long gains with Mike Thomas, assuming that Champ Bailey shuts down Sims-Walker. The Broncos’ defense is not one that could be presently defined as “stout”, so look for Jones-Drew to have a good afternoon and chew up the clock. The Broncos may have an atmospheric advantage at home, but the Jags do as well in September. It’s called excessive heat and humidity. As the game wears on it ought to play a big role in the outcome. If there’s a sellout, expect the Jags to play really hard as they don’t want to alienate an already tepid fan base.

Projected Final Score: Jacksonville 23, Denver 17

Indianapolis -2 At Houston 47

This should be one of Week 1’s best games. For the last 2-3 years, the Texans have been building into an AFC contender under Coach Kubiak and Matt Schaub. The only force that’s been standing in their way has been Indy and Peyton Manning. Surely, Indy is over their disappointing Super Bowl performance and knows that they have a tiger by the tail coming to Reliant. Their O-Line is in tatters and that ought to provide an inviting target on Manning by Williams, Ryans & Co. As usual, Manning is blessed with a plethora of weapons and with the loss of Dunta Robinson from the Houston secondary, he ought to have a bounty of opportunities. To “bet” against Peyton Manning is generally not a wise idea. But at a certain point, either a team commits to slaying the dragon or gives up trying. For the past few years, all the football world has heard from the Texans is they’ve finally put together a team that can seriously challenge Indy. Now is that time. Put up or shut up, Houston.

Projected Final Score: Houston 27, Indianapolis 24

At Tennessee -6.5 Oakland 40.5

It’s Vince Young’s show in Nashville now and the well-coached Titans look to take a crack at the top of the AFC South after having turned around a brutal first half of ’09 into a future bright with optimism. Coach Fisher is among only a handful of coaches who could reverse a horrible start and keep his team from imploding. Now that Young is the unquestioned leader at quarterback, his best weapon is the Amazin’ Chris Johnson, who’s looking to break the all-time season rushing record this year. The Titans’ primary receivers, Washington and Gage, are banged up heading into this one, so look for Kenny Britt to get a lot of looks (and attention from Asomugha). The Titans defense is good and mobile and features terrific defenders in Cortland Finnegan, Michael Griffin and Kevin’s brother, Jason McCourty.

The good news in Oakland is they won’t have JaMarcus to kick around any longer and it appears as though there may be a new “brain trust” calling the shots. In all fairness, Mr. Davis has forgotten more about football than 10 million minds combined will ever know. But, “time waits for no one” and the game of football has passed Mr. Davis by. His recent decision to prevent the coaching staff from cutting safety Mike Mitchell on cutdown day shows that someone failed to hit the warning button when he wandered near the controls. But whoever’s making football decisions for the Raiders had a solid offseason. They hired Hue Jackson to be the new OC, then obtained Jason Campbell from the ‘Skins for a mid-level draft pick and OLB Kamerion Wimbley from Cleveland. Additionally, they drafted ILB Rolando McClain and DE Richard Seymour now has a full year with the team under his belt. They suffered a blow when Michael Bush broke his thumb, leaving the bulk of the running game in Darren McFadden’s hands. In McFadden’s brief career, he’s gone from can’t miss to borderline bust.

On Sunday, the Raiders’ D will struggle to find an answer to stop Johnson and Young’s pass/run dimension, but the 6 ½ is too strong to chase after. It ought to be closer than that.

Projected Final Score: Tennessee 23, Oakland 17.

Green Bay -3 At Philadelphia 47.5

Thank goodness the suits (in their infinite wisdom) saw fit to set a 4:00 kickoff for what ought to be a real treat. Iggles fans will hopefully afford Kevin Kolb a decent grace period (what’s that in Philly, a quarter?) before screaming for his head. This will be the most critical game in Kolb’s young career. If he plays well, the team will rally ‘round him as the new leader. If he struggles, the Philly crowd may not behave so nice. Give the kid a chance, will ya, Philly? Coach Reid and the Eagles could’ve rolled the dice for another year with McNabb and gone 10-6 and bounced out in the first round. McNabb played through tremendous injuries and gave the Eagles everything he had for 11 seasons. His #5 should be retired at the appropriate time. But after last year’s playoff debacle in Dallas, perhaps Reid had seen enough. To their credit, they decided early on that it was time to turn the page and go with Kolb. They also decided to move on without Brian Westbrook, a great runner who had suffered all sorts of injuries and concussions in the past few years. It’s not as if the cupboard is bare for Kolb, as he has a great wideout threats in DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin and the ever-reliable Brent Celek returns at TE. LeSean McCoy is slated to be the feature back. On defense, our old friends Ellis Hobbs and Asante Samuel anchor the secondary and the veteran defense welcomed the return of MLB Stewart Bradley, who missed all of last season.

The Pack are mighty once again, primed for a big season and a long January run, as Coach Lombardi looks down from the heavens approvingly. When Packers’ fans howled over Aaron Rodgers’ selection in the first round as the heir apparent to Favre, did anyone in their wildest dreams ever figure he’d be this good? Rodgers has tremendous weapons with which to work in TE Jermichael Finley and wideouts Donald Driver and Grant Jennings. Ryan Grant rebounded quite well last year and posted very good numbers. The Pack have a really nice blend on offense and will score a lot of points.

In this game, Rodgers is going to blow through the Iggles’ D with a torch. The Packers’ are going to exploit the many weaknesses in Philly’s O-Line and make things miserable for Kolb. It ought to be a lot of fun to watch.

Projected Final Score: Green Bay 31, Philadelphia 23

San Francisco -3 At Seattle 37

Pete Carroll returns to the NFL on Sunday as the new head man for the Seahawks. Maybe it’ll work out this time for Pete, who seems a nice enough guy, but knew when to escape the ‘SC gig just as the NCAA investigators started sniffing around his program and lighted upon a steaming pile of dung a mile high. Look, the NCAA’s holier-than-thou approach is hypocritical, but when scholar-athletes start showing up for practices in Lamborghinis and monster Humvees, then maybe guys like Carroll and the ousted AD ought to have formulated a better strategy than plausible deniability. The money was rolling in and everybody looked the other way.

Instead of competing against kids from the Pac-10 this, Carroll has to look across the sideline to see Coach Singletary, with smoke pouring out of his ears. He also has to plan an offense to control/contain Patrick Willis. Good luck with that, Pete. Matt Hasselback is a good quarterback, but he’s always one sack away from a trip to the IR. The time is now for the ‘Niners, as Coach Singletary enters his third year at the helm and the team emulates his intense persona. Management has wisely locked up Willis to a long-term extension as he is rapidly developing into a generational middle linebacker. After several years of hemming-and-hawing with Alex Smith, the team has committed to him as their starting quarterback. If Frank Gore can stay healthy, he’ll effectively pound the rock all day. To help things along, they also drafted two offensive linemen on the first round (Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati) whom the team hopes will anchor the line for years to come. After a very public humiliation, Vernon Davis has bought into Coach Singletary’s program whole-heartedly and Michael Crabtree looks like he’s going to catch a lot of passes and pick up a ton of yards. Outside of Willis, the ‘Niners have a good defense, featuring veterans MLB Takeo Spikes, NT Aubrayo Franklin and DE Justin Smith. CB Nate Clements is getting a little long in the tooth but they drafted USC’s safety Taylor Mays (who envisions himself as the next Ronnie Lott).

To the extent that Mays gets out there on Sunday, he will have a huge chip on his shoulder after he didn’t get drafted by Carroll. The ‘Niners offense doesn’t need to do anything spectacular on Sunday, as a ball control approach against a young and bewildered defense will do just fine. The ‘Hawks will be without Russell Okung for this game and his absence up front made the ‘Niners’ D smile a little bit brighter.

Projected Final Score: San Francisco 23, Seattle 13

Arizona -4 At St. Louis 39

The Cards are coming off their most sustained period of success since the glory days of the late ‘40’s at Comiskey Park. But the retirement of Kurt Warner, trade of Anquan Boldin (Ravens) and the free agency losses of Karlos Dansby (Miami) and Antrel Rolle (Giants) will make this year a time of transition for Coach Whisenhunt’s team. They’ve added perennial All-Pro Alan Faneca to the offensive line as well as perennial All-Big Mouth Joey Porter to fill Dansby’s spot, but the real question was whether Hollywood playboy Matt Leinart would be ready to fulfill all of those lofty expectations made by the media a few years ago. Warner was supposed to keep the seat warm for Leinart for a year or two but instead stole the job en route to a brilliant “twilight of a career”. Leinart never even made it out of camp before getting displaced by Derek Anderson at the top of the depth chart. Eventually Leinart found himself behind Skelton and Hall and was cut. The Cards are probably going to learn that Anderson is just a journeyman, but may have uncovered a gem in BYU’s Max Hall. Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells are going to get a lot of touches this year as Anderson learns to find a comfort level with Fitzgerald and Breaston. The Cards retained Darnell Dockett and Adrian Wilson as the core veterans on defense, so it’s not as if the D has been laid totally waste bare.

If there was one thing we learned during preseason, it’s that Sam Bradford has all the tools to be a big-time star in the NFL. He has poise, accuracy and arm strength. He came to Foxboro in late August and put on a show in the first half. Now the only thing the Rams must do is to keep him healthy. The Rams lost their best receiver, Donnie Avery in the Patriots’ game to a really ugly knee injury and he was placed on IR. Having a legitimate quarterback for the first time since Bulger was young and healthy ought to produce a more productive Steven Jackson, who’s been beaten down like a plowhorse in the past few years because the Rams had no other legitimate options. On defense, it’s time for Chris Long to step up and be the force he was projected to be when drafted #2 overall a couple of years ago. James Laurinaitis had a great rookie year in ’09, and is playing like every part the beast he was at Ohio State. Outside of safety Oshiomogho Atogwe, the secondary features a lot of…uh…uh…unknowns.

It may be the case that the Rams come out and play way over their heads in Bradford’s debut. In many ways, this game reminds me of Jim Plunkett’s debut with the Patriots against Oakland on September 19, 1971. It was their first game in Foxboro at (now-demolished) Schaefer Stadium and they bested the then-mighty Raiders of John Madden 20-6. Everyone on the Patriots’ that day played like All-Pros. The euphoria didn’t last, as they proceeded to lose five of their next six games.

Trips down memory lane are nice, but let’s get real for Sunday. The only area where the Rams have an advantage at the moment is Steven Jackson. If he is able to have some success on the ground, then maybe—just maybe Bradford can find a target or two. The Cards are still a good-to-very-good team and they’re not about to roll over n’ play dead for anyone.

Projected Final Score: Arizona 27, St. Louis 20

Dallas -4 At Washington 40.5

Sunday night kicks off with the renewal of two hated rivals. “Them Cowboys” have pretty much had their way with the ‘Skins in recent years, but it’s (yet another) new era in the DC as Mike Shanahan has taken control of the ship and they traded for Donovan McNabb to be the new quarterback. Hmmmm…the last time McNabb stepped on the field against Dallas, Anthony Spencer and DeMarcus Ware made him regret ever having set foot on it. And that was with a better team. What makes anyone believe that things would be different this time? Shanahan, one of the game’s greatest innovators, inherited a “Haynesworth Problem” that he has yet to fix. His first order of business should’ve been clearing out all players who would not enthusiastically buy into the program. They dickered around with Haynesworth during the summer and camp and lost the guy. Shanahan should’ve known in March that Haynesworth wanted no part of the proposed 3-4 makeover and moved him then, before engaging in a nasty pissing contest that was detrimental to the team. How much media focus was given to this story? It completely overshadowed McNabb’s arrival and the new ethic that Shanahan tried to instill. Mike, I can personally testify about the stubbornness of The Irish Male, OK? There’s a time to prove a point, but not at the expense of hurting the program. The drama continues…

Every year, the Cowboys are highly hyped to the heavens but seemingly fizzle when the rubber meets the road in January under Coach Son of Bum. Perhaps this year will be different (not in terms of hype but in final result). The Super Bowl will be in Dallas in February and the Cowboys have the talent and determination to be there as participants. Unfortunately, this will also lead to the overexposure of the radioactive owner, who with his Madame Tussaud’s plastic surgery and ill-fitting new teeth has fractured more than one tv/HD screen along the way. It’s “instant click” time whenever Jones shows up on the tv…When Tony Romo keeps both eyes on the football, he’s a very good quarterback who’s blessed to have a veritable arsenal at his disposal. With TE Jason Witten, wideouts Miles Austin, Roy Williams and rookie Dez Bryant, RB’s Marion Barber and Felix Jones, is there any offense (outside of the Saints) that is this stacked? The problem is that the O-Line has the consistency of Swiss cheese. Mobile linebackers like Orakpo and Andre Carter have certainly made note. On defense, the Cowboys have mobile, hard hitting linebackers and an OK backfield. But the ‘Skins made major infrastructure repairs to the O-Line and guys like Ware are going to find that the pickin’s aren’t as easy as they used to be against the Redskins. On Sunday night, the football world will watch “Them Cowboys” take their first step on what could be a magical year. But it’s not going to be as easy as they may think. McNabb may not be blessed with a lot of weapons, but he does have a lot of smarts.

Projected Final Score: Dallas 20, Washington 16