This is one of the few weeks where the public perception is so easily identifyable and so blatantly wrong. We're all more fired up about Week One than just about any other week of the season, and we all have probably spent more time handicapping this week, both because we've been doing our fantasy football work and because we've had the lines to look at over the long weekend.
We also are all more active in playing preseason games in recent years, and even though we know darn well that the games didn't count, they have contributed to forming our opinions. It also seems that every year after the first week we look back and have to dramatically reassess some of our opinions after a losing week. I think I've had a down week in the first week for each of the last three years. In my case, it's always because I've paid TOO MUCH attention to the preseason and the chatter leading up to the start of the season.
This year I'm going to use that to my advantage. In brief, this is my list of public perceptions (misconceptions?) that I see and which side that leads me to play. A couple make me want to barf, and those are usually the best picks:
1. The Jets have lost Pennington and the Redskins have signed away a bunch of their players. PLAY JETS.
2. Giants tanked the preseason, have infighting, coach's job on the line. Warner & the Rams are back. PLAY GIANTS.
3. Falcons' season over before it starts with Vick out, Dallas playing well under Parcells. PLAY ATLANTA.
4. Bears have nothing, Kordell looks uncomfortable in offense. Niners solid all around, Garcia excelled in limited playing time. PLAY CHICAGO.
5. Raiders completely suck, look old and out of sync. Titans' McNair and George healthy, ready to challenge NE and MIA for Super Bowl. PLAY OAKLAND.
Add to the list if you see others. I'm going to double up if any of these show up on Nolan's pal Goldman's list. I was tempted to put the Bengals in there, but the one aphorism I can't get over is, "Friends don't let friends bet the Bengals."
We also are all more active in playing preseason games in recent years, and even though we know darn well that the games didn't count, they have contributed to forming our opinions. It also seems that every year after the first week we look back and have to dramatically reassess some of our opinions after a losing week. I think I've had a down week in the first week for each of the last three years. In my case, it's always because I've paid TOO MUCH attention to the preseason and the chatter leading up to the start of the season.
This year I'm going to use that to my advantage. In brief, this is my list of public perceptions (misconceptions?) that I see and which side that leads me to play. A couple make me want to barf, and those are usually the best picks:
1. The Jets have lost Pennington and the Redskins have signed away a bunch of their players. PLAY JETS.
2. Giants tanked the preseason, have infighting, coach's job on the line. Warner & the Rams are back. PLAY GIANTS.
3. Falcons' season over before it starts with Vick out, Dallas playing well under Parcells. PLAY ATLANTA.
4. Bears have nothing, Kordell looks uncomfortable in offense. Niners solid all around, Garcia excelled in limited playing time. PLAY CHICAGO.
5. Raiders completely suck, look old and out of sync. Titans' McNair and George healthy, ready to challenge NE and MIA for Super Bowl. PLAY OAKLAND.
Add to the list if you see others. I'm going to double up if any of these show up on Nolan's pal Goldman's list. I was tempted to put the Bengals in there, but the one aphorism I can't get over is, "Friends don't let friends bet the Bengals."
