Tom’s Kryptonite 

By : Mike Rifkin

Sunday will be the first time Tom Brady and the Bucs play division rival Saints in New Orleans. Since joining the Bucs Brady is 0-4 in the regular season against the Saints. In fact the Bucs have lost seven consecutive games to the Saints and have not won in New Orleans in the regular season since 2017. Brady and the Bucs did defeat the Saints in the NFC Divisional playoffs in 2020 on their way to a Super Bowl victory. In Four regular season games against New Orleans Brady has a 61.1 completion percentage, averages 259 yards per game, six touchdowns and eight interceptions. Last season the Bucs lost both meetings to the Saints by Nine points. In both meetings Chris Godwin was the Bucs leading receiver, that may not be the case on Sunday. Coach Todd Bowles said about Godwin who left last week’s win with a Hamstring injury “He’s in play by a small margin, but we’ll see Sunday, but if I had a guess I’d say he wouldn’t.” Left Tackle Donovan Smith will also be a tough call to see if he plays on Sunday. If Godwin is out that would mean more snaps for Julio Jones who had three catches for 69 yards in his Bucs debut last week against the Cowboys. In 18 games against the Saints Jones has 102 catches, 1,615 yards and three touchdowns. We also get one of the best individual matchups in Football with Mike Evans taking on Marshon Lattimore. These two go back and forth often in his career Evans 48 catches and five touchdowns against the Saints, while Lattimore has a interception and a fumble recovery against Tampa. 

Jameis Winston who was selected Number One overall by the Bucs in 2015 is now the Quarterback of the Saints. Winston who tore his ACL last season, threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns last week against Atlanta. Winston was not the only major return for the Saints last week. Receiver Michael Thomas came back after essentially after two seasons out with an Ankle injury and had five catches for 57 yards and two touchdowns. Thomas in nine games against Tampa has 74 catches for 899 yards and four touchdowns.Running Back Alvin Kamara 464 yards and 11 touchdowns in 10 games against the Bucs. In 22 career games against the Bucs Edge rusher Cameron Jordan 55 tackles, 17.0 sacks, and two fumble recoveries, if Donovan Smith is out those numbers could be increased. 

So will Sunday be Tom Brady’s first win against the Saints in the regular season or will the Saints continue to be Brady’s kryptonite. The winner goes to 2-0 and will be at the top of the NFC South.

A Giant Statement

By Jeff Knapp

The start of the 2022 NFL season is here and the New York Football Giants, along with new head coach Brian Daboll headed into Tennessee to face the defending AFC South Champions Titans who were 5.5 point favorites.  The Giants also entered the game with new OC Mike Kafka, DC Don Martindale and new QB coach Shea Tierney.

The 1st half didn’t look that good and seemed to be the same old Giants as the Titans started their series off with a 46 yard punt return and ended the 1st half with a 13-0 lead. In the 1st half, The Giants also only had 131 total yards and 1 strip fumble by Daniel Jones which was late in the 2nd quarter. 

The defense allowed 185 total yards and 3 sacks in the 1st half for a total of a loss of 16 yards. 

I’m not sure what coach said to the team at half time, but they turned things around and had a much improved 2nd half. Although they allowed Tannehill way too much time in the pocket throughout the game, the defense seemed to swarm to the ball much faster in the 2nd half. 

I was very happy to see that nobody had a dropped pass, which was a plague for them last year. I’m still waiting on Kenny Galladay to either step it up or be involved in the play call a lot more. He was paid too much to be thrown to only two times.

The game was decided on basically 2 things. The 1st one was the inability of the Titans to finish off the Giants when they had plenty of opportunities, for instance when they tried some trick play on 3rd and 1 with Henry in the back field and although not dropping any balls, but not coming up with the catch when needed in the 3rd and 4th quarter. 

I will never question the toughness of Daniel Jones, but he had a golden opportunity to put the game away early in the 4th quarter but Jones threw one of the worst endzone passes to Barkley that was easily intercepted by Amani Hooker. 

The 2nd thing that turned things around for the Giants was the fact that Barkely put that team on his back and gave them 164 yards rushing and 30 yards receiving with a TD and a 2 point conversion that he should thank the Titans defense for forgetting how to tackle that close to the endzone. 

In Giants fashion, Darnay Holmes decided that with under 60 seconds remaining in the game was the perfect time to be called for not 1 but 2 defensive holds that nearly cost the Giants the game

Besides all of that, a few other things went through my mind.

What was with the lack of playing time for Kadarius Toney, Daniel Jones needs to feel the pressure a bit better. Although the O-Line gave up those sacks, there were 2 sacks he might had had a puncher’s chance if he just stepped up a little. And finally, how great was it that Daboll went for the 2 point lead instead of playing it safe and going for the extra point?

I might be alone, but I still have plenty of faith in a healthy Sterling Shepard who had a 65 yards TD reception that ties the game at 13 in the 3rd quarter. 

Sadly, Giants rookie receiver Wan’Dale Robinson was only able to get 1 catch for 5 yards after injuring his knee in the 1st half and not being able to return. Let’s hope that not only he’s good for week 2 in the home opener against the Carolina Panthers, but we will get to see Azeez Ojulari and Kayvon Thibodeaux take the field.

Sunday’s opening day win was the Giants 1st season opener since 2016 against the Dallas Cowboys.

Jets at Browns Preview 

By : Ross Mazin 

The New York Jets will look to avoid starting 0-2 as they travel to Cleveland to play the Browns. The Jets are coming off a 24-9 defeat in the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens. The Jets will certainly come out swinging as opposed to the last game, where the offense was awful. There are a lot of stats that got padded when the game was already out of reach. The Browns won their season opener defeating former Quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Panthers 26-24. Rookie Kicker Cade York nailed a 58 yard field goal with eight seconds left. 

The Browns are one of the more interesting teams in the league. They acquired Quarterback Deshaun Watson in the offseason and gave him a massive contract. Watson was suspended 11 games for sexual assault and misconduct. So now the Browns are going to have Jacoby Brissett play quarterback. Brissett was 18-34 for 147 yards and a touchdown against the Panthers. The Jets are going to have to stop one of the best running back duos in the NFL with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Chubb ran for 141 yards against Carolina, while Hunt had 70 total yards and a touchdown. The Browns as a team ran for 217 yards and had averaged 5.6 yards per carry. On Sunday the Jets held the Ravens to 63 yards rushing and average 3.0 yards per carry. 

The Jets are a team that has been in constant flux for the last several decades. Poor management and ownership are just two factors. They keep drafting the next great quarterback; i.e Mark Sanchez, Sam Darnold, to name a few. With Zach Wilson down for another couple weeks it’s imperative that Robert Salah does something here. If not he will be another coach gone sooner than later, the same could be said for Joe Douglas whether you like what he has done or not. It’s almost like the earth reset on its axis and just said that’s how things should be with regards to the Jets. The fans deserve better. 

My prediction for Sundays game is Jets 15- Browns 10.

Fin-Tastic Debut

By : Mike Rifkin

On Sunday the Miami Dolphins defeated their division rival the New England Patriots 20-7 in Mike McDaniel’s Head Coaching debut. For the Dolphins it was their fourth consecutive win over the Patriots. The Dolphins defense was a major factor in the victory forcing three Patriot turnovers, getting three sacks and even scoring a touchdown. In the Second Quarter Safety, Brandon Jones knocked the ball free from Mac Jones and Melvin Ingram scooped the ball and ran two yards for the touchdown. The Dolphins defense held the Patriots to 271 yards of total Offense. Head Coach Mike McDaniel said after the game “I told the team last night that this is still the defense’s team until proven otherwise. That was important to them when they heard that. They wanted to prove me right, and they sure did.” When Miami won seven consecutive games last season the defense was a major factor. The Dolphins offense had some fresh faces as well. Tyreek Hill, who the Dolphins acquired from the Chiefs had eight catches for 94 yards in his debut. Second year receiver Jaylen Waddle had the biggest play of the day. On fourth and seven late in the second quarter Waddle caught a pass from Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and ran 42 yards for the touchdown to put the Dolphins up 17-0 at Halftime. Tagovailoa went 23-33 for 270 yards and Waddle had four catches for 69 yards and they combined for a touchdown. 

For the Patriots second year Quarterback Mac Jones 21-30 for 213 yards a touchdown and a interception. One of the major questions for the Patriots entering the season was who was going to make plays on the outside. Jakobi Meyers had four catches for 55 yards, Jonnu Smith and Nelson Agholor had three catches each. New Patriot Devante Parker had one catch for nine yards. Running Back Ty Montgomery caught the touchdown from Jones. Head Coach Bill Bellichick said after the game “We got into their territory six, seven times and it was seven points. So we’ve got to do a better job of finishing.” 

Both teams will play against AFC North teams this week as the Dolphins go into Baltimore to play the Ravens and the Patriots go to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers. These two teams will play each other again on New Year’s Day in Foxboro in what could have a lot of playoff implications.

Hot In The Desert

By : Mike Rifkin

The Kansas City Chiefs opened up the 2022 season with a 44-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. The Chiefs offense had 488 yards for the game and averaged 7.4 yards per play. Patrick Mahomes had himself quite the season opener against his former college coach Kliff Kingsbury going 30-39 for 360 yards, five touchdowns with a Rating of 144.2. Mahomes is now 5-0 in season openers and has thrown 18 touchdowns and ZERO interceptions in those games. Mahomes may not have Tyreek Hill anymore but he still has Travis Kelce who had 8 catches for 121 yards and a touchdown. New receivers Juju Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes- Scantling combined for 10 catches and 123 yards. Running Back Clyde Edwards – Helaire had 74 total yards and two receiving touchdowns. The Chiefs defense had three sacks. Now the Chiefs will be on a short week and take on division rival Los Angeles Chargers at home. Last year the teams split the series each winning by six points on the road. 

Dating back to last season the Cardinals have now lost six of their last seven games including the playoffs. Kyler Murray who got a massive extension this offseason went 22-34 for 193 yards and two touchdowns, much of that came after the Chiefs had put the game out of reach. Going into the game the Cardinals had a long list of players missing wether due to injury or in the case of DeAndre Hopkins who is serving a six game suspension for violating the NFL’s PED policy. Marquise Brown who was acquired at the draft from the Ravens had four catches for 43 yards and a touchdown in his Cardinal debut. 

Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said after the game “They beat us in every way, there is no denying it, no hiding from it. We didn’t execute in any phase and they played at a high level.” Here is my thing on the Kingsbury quote he doesn’t deny it or is hiding from it but did he not expect the Chiefs to play at a high level? The Chiefs have won the AFC West five straight seasons and have been in the AFC Championship game the last four seasons. That seems like a team you should be ready for. Now I was very critical of both the extensions for Murray and Kingsbury, and they could have made a statement in the opener but they laid a flat egg. They need to respond quick because they will play another AFC West opponent this week when they go to Vegas and play the Raiders and their old friend Chandler Jones.

BUFFALO BILLS VS L.A. RAMS

By Lawrence Lang

Football Is back for the Buffalo Bills as they begin their quest for the franchise’s first Lombardi trophy(currently, they lost all four chances they had in the early 90s). Many experts expect the Bills to compete if not win the AFC. They open the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Los Angeles Rams, on Thursday Night Football.

The Bills had a great 2021 season. They went 5-1 in the division, only losing to the New England Patriots in week 13 of the regular season 14-1, and they won the division for the second year in a row. When it came time for the playoffs in the Wild Card round, they not only beat the Patriots but they trounced them 47-17 by scoring a touchdown every time they had the ball. Then the following week, with an AFC title game in reach, the Bills just had to kill 13 seconds of the game clock left. Still, with the Kansas City Chiefs having the ball, Patrick Mahomes led the chiefs to a game-tying field goal to send the game into overtime, and with winning the coin toss would march the team down the field and win the game ending the Bills’ season.

Now stats-wise, the Bills had a great 2021 season
• Quarterback
o Josh Allen: 4,407 passing yards ,36 touchdowns, and 15 Interceptions
• Running back
o Devin Singletary : 870 rushing yards , seven touchdowns
o Josh Allen : 763 rushing yards six touchdowns
o Zack Moss: 345 rushing yards four touchdowns
• Receiving
o WR Stefon Diggs : 1,225 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. Got a four-year contract extension worth 96 million in the off season.
o TE Dawson Knox : 587 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Got a four- year contract extension worth 53.6 million on 9/7/22.
o Gabe Davis : 35 receptions 548 yards and six touchdowns. Davis had 200 yards and four touchdowns in the playoff game against the Chiefs. With Emmanuel Sanders retiring and Cole Beasley still on the FA market Davis should have a big year.

Heading into this week the Bills team has a tough task ahead of them going against the defending champions. The Rams road to glory began in the WC round with beating the Arizona Cardinals, then beat in what was Tom Brady’s last game and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, next task was to beat the San Francisco 49ers in the conference championship and they did in superior fashion, and finally beat the Cincinnati Bengals in SuperBowl 56 23-20.

When you have players such as
• WR Cooper Kupp 1,947 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns
• WR Van Jefferson 802 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
• QB Matt Stafford who had 4,886 passing yards 41 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
Defense wise
• Aaron Donald who had 12.5 sacks last season
• Cornerback Jalen Ramsey with 4 interceptions
• Safety Taylor Rapp four interceptions
• Linebacker Leonard Floyd Nine and half sacks

There are two ways Thursday night game can go. First either a high scoring game for both teams or Second it will be a defensive battle between the both of them since both are loaded on defense.

Three key players for the Bills

  1. Josh Allen: Allen is out to prove this year that he can be a MVP candidate and that he can get past the Divisional playoff loss to the Chiefs and what better way to start that by beating the champion Rams? The Key for Allen is if there is no play to pass or where he can run just throw the ball away when he tries to make a play happen. When it can’t, that’s what gets him in trouble.
  2. Stefon Diggs: with getting paid by the Bills Diggs can also throw his name in the MVP race Diggs is their number one WR so expect the ball to get to him a lot during this game
  3. Von Miller: Miller had nine and half sacks last season if he can break through the Rams O-Line he might be able to get one or two sacks on Stafford.

This is a great way to kick off the NFL season with what could be a possible SB 57 match-up. Both teams will look hungry to start the season 1-0. LA will raise the banner to celebrate their SB win from February, and with Buffalo, in town, they will spoil the celebration and take care of business. This will be a game you don’t want to miss as a predictor for a score Bills 35 Rams 32.

Baltimore Ravens at New York Jets

By Ross Mazin

I have been waiting all year for Jets football, and this weekend’s matchup won’t disappoint. The Jets were busy at this year’s draft, adding pieces to build around Zach Wilson. The top brass was actually brilliant for once and didn’t screw around.


We have the old guard in Joe Flacco against the new guard in Lamar Jackson( albeit without a new contract). The Ravens are looking to contend this season, and it begins Sunday. I expect both quarterbacks to perform very well, and at the end of the game, I see Flacco coming out with the better game. We will undoubtedly see a plethora of high-energy plays from both teams.

There was so much doubt as to who would start Sunday afternoon, giving the injury and surgery to Zach Wilson. I am thrilled that Saleh went with Joe Flacco for Sunday’s match-up. I expect Zach Wilson to be ready by week five.


As for the Ravens, it is a wait-and-see as they traded Hollywood Brown to the Cardinals leaving them with really only one receiving playmaker in Mark Andrews.


I believe Sunday’s matchup will be a good one for fans of both teams. The Jets will come out strong. Flacco needs to be accurate and help put points on the board. The Jets need to control the clock as the ravens’ defense is no slouch. It should be a high-energy game.

My prediction is Jets 25- Ravens 12

The Detroit Lions vs. The Philadelphia Eagles

By Mark Halpern

Well, football is a mere day away, and the Detroit Lions are getting ready for their first game of the season against the Philadelphia Eagles. Last year’s version of the Detroit Lions after the major trade for Jared Goff, I won’t say it was a bust, but it wasn’t what Lions fans had in mind. When Lions fans learned of the trade of Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Goff, Lions fans thought they were getting a top-tier quarterback who would help build and lead this team with hopes of making it back to the playoffs in the next decade.


The Lions are pretty much the same team they were last year with a few new additions. Aiden Hutchinson, the first pick in the draft, was the first big building block the Lions had gotten in the last couple of years out of the draft. The Lions were always trying to build around Stafford and really never gave him a team that the Lions could go anywhere. There were a few good years of Stafford and “Megatron” Calvin Johnson, but really since Barry Sanders was no longer a Lion, my opinion of them is they still have not found their roar. This season can be slightly different for them on both sides of the ball. Jared Goff will get the chance to lead this offense, and he’s got a healthy team this year. Last year the Detroit Lions were riddled with injuries on both sides of the ball. This year the Lions have a healthy offensive line, a healthy DeAndre Swift and Jamal Williams, a healthy Amroah St.Brown, and a healthy DJ Chark, and they made a good pickup in Josh Reynolds, who will give Goff that extra Target he needs. Of course, we’re not going to forget about the young tight end TJ Hockenson who has had a stellar first two years in the NFL. This year I foresee TJ Hockenson having a pro bowl and All pro year.


The Lions defense is a young group. There are a couple of veterans who will help in the linebacking position and in the secondary. It will give a chance for the young Rookies and sophomores to learn and get better at their positions. Detroit isn’t that team that’s going to go out and sign eight free agents to contend the same year. The Lions have always been about building from the ground up, and they did that when Barry Sanders was Playing. They never really built the team around Calvin Johnson or Stafford, and that’s why the Lions have been a joke.
Unfortunately for the Detroit Lions, they play in the NFC North, and the spot for last is going to be a battle between the Lions and the Bears this year. As for the Detroit Lions, their best hope is finishing third in a division where the Green Bay Packers have owned it for the last decade, and Minnesota can win some games, but Minnesota isn’t going to win games as long as Kirk’s cousins are on that team.


Tomorrow’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, if you’re going to judge it by two teams on paper because we haven’t seen the entire teams play, then the eagles are the better team. The Detroit Lions have the advantage of being at home and the fact that those fans show up if the team is O&16 or 1 and 16. So I expect Lions fans to make it very noisy and challenging for the visiting eagles from Philadelphia. I think this will be more of a defensive game on both teams, as I’m not convinced about both offenses yet. My prediction for this game is Detroit 24 Philadelphia 17. Enjoy the game.

The Dallas Cowboys vs. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers

By Ross Mazin

Oh boy; is this going to be a fun matchup. I honestly didn’t think I’d be excited for Sunday night football especially with the Cowboys playing. Normally I couldn’t care less about the Cowboys because I am a NY JETS die hard fan.


I firmly believe that the Dallas Offense will manhandle the Bucs defense. For the first time in a long time the Cowboys are healthy. I expect big stat nights from Dak Prescott, Zeke Elliott and Cee Dee Lamb as they are now the new triplets. We will also get to see Pollard mixed in the same schemes as Elliott and rookie Jalen Tolbert will be thrown into this game right from the first offensive play. The Dallas offensive line is missing their star LT Tyron Smith so we will have a rookie playing the edge and Cowboy quarterbacks have not faired well in these matchups. Dak is going to busy in the pocket and is constantly keeping his head on a swivel as his blind side Will be busy.


The Dallas defense is a top seven defense in football. Dan Quinn has done an amazing job with this young rugged defense. The D-line (with Demarcus”tank”Lawrence as the exception) is a little choppy but things will fall into place. The linebackers led by Micha Parsons and Leighton Vander Esch will have their hands full controlling the flow of the game by keeping the Bucs to three and outs (easier said than done.) The Dallas secondary is top three in the league with there nickname “The No Fly Zone” Meaning don’t throw it our way cause we are everywhere.


Tom Brady will be under center for another year as the Bucs field general. Brady has begun to regress in his 40’s (not that you have really noticed) but he is starting to become a shell of what he once was. Age is finally catching up with him and he maybe has one more year left at the most.


The Tampa Bay buccaneers defense is not a top-notch defense as it once was in my opinion. The Dallas offense will give them a lot of trouble especially with running Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard out there in the same schemes. However the Tampa Bay offense is finally without that major headache Antonio Brown and maybe Brady can focus a little more. Chris Godwin is currently a game time decision for this game with his hamstring. Mike Evans is a little banged up but he is going to be good to go and then of course you have Leonard Fournette. Leonard Fournette is that old style runner of smash mouth straight up the middle right into the linebackers. Vanderesch and Parsons will have their fill of him by the end of the first quarter. With the possibility of being down Chris Godwin that’s going to be able to let trayvon Diggs play Mike Evans Anthony Brown will cover whoever will be filling in for Godwin or Godwin himself. However one big change on the Tampa Bay buccaneers is that Tom Brady does not have his favorite BFF in Rob Gronkowski. Rob Gronkowski was so reliable that even at his age last year which was 38 he accounted for almost 35% of Brady’s targets. So we will see who will step up into that position as the season plays on but Brady will definitely be feeling the loss. I also don’t count out Tom Brady calling Rob Gronkowski and trying to bring them back together for one more time.


This is going to be a great game filled with a lot of action. In the end I truly believe that Mark “Old Ops Guy” Halpern’s Cowboys will be victorious and not leave points off the board like they did last year that cost them that Tampa Bay Dallas game one year ago. As Terrell Owens says “better get your popcorn ready.” Because it’s going to be an exciting game.

My prediction Dallas 34- Bucs 24

High Powered Offenses

By : Mike Rifkin

One of the marquee games on Sunday will take place in Arizona when the Chiefs play the Cardinals. There are a lot of similarities between these teams. Both teams come off playoff seasons and expect a lot of fireworks because in 2021 these were two of the top ten scoring offenses in the NFL. Another similarity is both teams will be without an All Pro Wide Receiver as this will be the first game the Chiefs play without Tyreek Hill, who they traded to the Dolphins during the offseason and for the Cardinals it will be the first of a six game suspension for Deandre Hopkins. 

For the Chiefs last season they went to their fourth consecutive AFC Championship Game where they lost to the Bengals in overtime. Patrick Mahomes last year 66.3 completion percentage, 4,839 yards, 37 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. With the departure of Hill the Chiefs still have Tight End Travis Kelce, who had 1,125 yards and nine touchdowns. Kansas City did bring in three new receivers in Juju Smith-Schuster from the Steelers, Marquez Valdes – Scantling from the Packers and used a second round pick on Skyy Moore out of Western Michigan. A guy who is going to have to step up is Running Back Clyde Edwards – Helaire who in 10 games last season had 517 rushing yards, 129 receiving yards and six touchdowns. They just need him to be healthy, but for insurance they brought in Ronald Jones from the Bucs and drafted Isaih Pacheco from Rutgers in the seventh round. The Chiefs were 27th last year in total defense only the Seahawks, Lions, Vikings, Texans and Jets were worse. The Chiefs let Safety Tyrann Mathieu walk in free agency and brought in Justin Reid from the Texans to replace him. The Chiefs also went defense heavy in the draft taking Cornerback Trent McDuffie from Washington and Edge Rusher George Karalaftis from Purdue in the First Round. Karalaftis should help a Chiefs pass rush that only registered 31 sacks only the Lions, Eagles and Falcons had less.  This is the beginning of a tough stretch to open the season for the Chiefs, prior to their week eight bye they play division rivals Chargers and Raiders once each, Bucs, Colts, Bills and 49ers.

The Cardinals started last season 7-0 and to end the season they lost four of their last five games and got torched by the eventual Super Bowl Champion Rams on Wild Card Weekend. Prior to last season the Cardinals had not made the playoffs since 2015. That playoff appearance earned Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury and Quarterback Kyler Murray extensions. Murray started last year looking like the MVP frontrunner, he got hurt and never really was the same especially when Deandre Hopkins got hurt. Murray finished the season with 69.2 completion percentage, 3,787 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Plus he added 423 rushing yards and five touchdowns. James Conner had 752 rushing yards, career high 15 touchdowns plus 375 receiving yards and three touchdowns. It will be interesting to see how Conner looks with Chase Edmonds leaving for Miami. As mentioned earlier Hopkins suspended the first six games, Christain Kirk who led the Cardinals in receiving left for Jacksonville, the Cardinals did add Kyler Murray’s former college teammate Marquise Brown from the Ravens. Brown last year had 91 catches for 1,008 yards and six touchdowns. AJ Green is back with the Cardinals as is Zach Ertz, who the Cardinals traded for from the Eagles last season. The Cardinals defense had a +12 turnover differential which was fourth in the NFL took a massive hit when Edge Rusher Chandler Jones signed with the Raiders. Jones last season had 10.5 sacks (five in one game) and six forced fumbles. They are going to need last year’s first round pick Zaven Collins to step up. Future Hall Of Famer JJ Watt who was limited to seven games and one sack should draw double teams to help Collins out. 

One underlying story is Kliff Kingsbury was Patrick Mahomes coach at Texas Tech so he should know what makes Mahomes tick. But expect a lot of big offense in the desert with two teams who have aspirations of getting back into the playoffs meet to open up the NFL season.