Ah yes, the arrival of football season. That means autumn winds, bone-jarring hits, goal-line stands and other such things that signify gridiron glory.
It also means we're going to be in for a few stinkers here and there. For all the talk about the NFL being a pretty balanced league in terms of competition, there do tend to be an awful lot of blowouts every season that seem to prove the exact opposite.
This is not really a problem, mind you. 'Tis the simple reality of things. We're going to be reminded of that much in Week 1, and there are three games in particular that I think are going to do the trick.
Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs (-5.5), Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS
Because the Chiefs have a run-first offense and a general team philosophy based around controlling the clock and grinding out victories, they might not seem like a good candidate to pull out a blowout.
But against the Bills, the Chiefs are an outstanding candidate to pull out a blowout. Their ability to run the football plays into what is Buffalo's biggest weakness: stopping the run.
Yes, the Bills made some upgrades to their front seven over the offseason, most notably rookie defensive tackle Marcell Dareus. But we don't yet know if the upgrades are going to work, and the Chiefs will no doubt look to put them to the test.
On the other side of the ball, the Chiefs have also made some defensive upgrades, and they should be more than a match for Buffalo's less-than-spectacular offense. As a result, this one's not going to be close.
Minnesota Vikings at San Diego Chargers (-9.0), Sunday at 4:15 p.m. ET, FOX
The one thing you'll notice above is the betting line. That's a huge spread, and such things do tend to curse the teams that bear them.
But this is not going to happen when the Chargers host the Vikings on Sunday. The Chargers have one of the most loaded offenses in the entire NFL, and they are definitely going to put it to good use against a Vikings defense that has its issues.
Of course, the Chargers will have to stop Adrian Peterson on defense, which is no easy task. But if Donovan McNabb can't get it done through the air, stopping Peterson will be that much easier. And because McNabb is going up against a tough secondary, I think that's a reasonable outcome.
New England Patriots (-7.0) at Miami Dolphins, Monday at 7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
Depending on who you ask, the Patriots are the best team in the NFL and the clear favorite to go all the way this year. The Dolphins, on the other hand, seem to be the very epitome of mediocrity.
So when they face off against the Pats on Monday night, things are probably not going to end well. In fact, this has the look and feel of a game that is going to be one-sided from the start, with the Pats of course being on the good side.
To give you an idea, the Pats outscored the Dolphins 79-21 in two games last year. Since then, the Pats have gotten better and the Dolphins have arguably gotten worse. So expect more of the same.
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