Top eight games for NFL Week 1

Rejoice, football fans. The NFL is here. The 2016 season season will begin the same way the 2015 season ended, with the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos squaring off.

All 32 teams will be in action during NFL Week 1. A full slate of action will give us plenty of great games to follow through the weekend. Obviously, though, some games are more intriguing than others.

With that in mind, what are the top eight games to watch during the first week of the 2016 NFL season?

1. Carolina Panthers at Denver Broncos

What better place to start than with the first game of the season? The fact that this is the first real NFL game anyone will see this season is enough to put it on this list. But in reality, that’s only a fraction of what makes this game so exciting.

The Panthers and Broncos will engage in a game not often seen in NFL history. Going back to the 1970 merger, teams from the previous year’s Super Bowl have only played each other seven times during the following season. Only one of those times did that rematch occur in Week 1.

On top of that, both teams enter the game with some looming questions.

How will Trevor Siemian do in his bid to replace Peyton Manning, or even Brock Osweiler? He’s received some high praise this offseason. Still, the Carolina defense isn’t exactly the ideal way to ease into things.

On the other end, how will Cam Newton and his Panthers teammates adjust to losing Super Bowl 50? Will they be okay without Josh Norman? Can Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess emerge into an elite 1-2 punch?

For two teams that played in the Super Bowl, that’s a lot of questions.

Everything combined makes this the top game of the week.

2. New England Patriots at Arizona Cardinals

While it’s not quite a Super Bowl rematch, a Week 1 game between each conference’s reigning runner-up is pretty darn juicy.

Of course, the stars and potential Hall of Famers that will be on the field supply a ton of intrigue. It doesn’t get much better than a matchup between Tyrann Mathieu and Rob Gronkowski, who figure to see a lot of each other.

But really, the star who will not be on the field adds a lot to this game. For the first time since 2008, a quarterback not named Tom Brady will start a game for the Patriots.

New England is perennially one of the NFL’s best teams. The Pats don’t need to go 4-0 with Jimmy Garoppolo under center in Brady’s absence, but they do need to stay afloat.

A good game from Garoppolo against the Honey Badger, Patrick Peterson, and the rest of Arizona’s stellar defense, and things are looking good for New England.

A bad game (coupled with a loss) wouldn’t necessarily spell doom, but it would lead to a week’s worth of questions in Foxborough.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers at Washington Redskins

The Monday Night Football opener gives us the third and final game between two of 2015’s playoff teams for the week.

The Steelers are never boring. Even in games that aren’t terribly competitive, Pittsburgh supplies plenty of intrigue, thanks in no small part to Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown.

On the other side of the field, Kirk Cousins enters 2016 with a lot to prove. He has to prove he’s worthy of a long term deal. Cousins also has to prove that 2015 wasn’t a fluke and that Washington was wise to part ways with Robert Griffin III.

The opening week assignment is something of a mixed blessing. Keeping up with Pittsburgh’s high powered offense will be a challenge. Still, the Steelers’ defense wasn’t anything to write home about in 2015.

We should certainly expect to see some fireworks in this one.

4. Green Bay Packers at Jacksonville Jaguars

The Packers are one of the NFL’s stalwart franchises with one of the league’s best players in Aaron Rodgers. That’s a level that Blake Bortles and the Jaguars are striving to reach for the first time in nearly a decade. In an effort to reach the elite level, Bortles actually sought out the advice of Rodgers in the offseason.

There’s a healthy buzz around Jacksonville as an on the come franchise ready to compete for a playoff spot. Bortles and receivers Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson are responsible for a lot of that buzz.

Still, this team will go as far as its rebuilt defense takes it.

The Jaguars used their first five draft picks on defensive players. The first two — Jalen Ramsey and Myles Jack — figure to see a lot of playing time. They also acquired free agents Malik Jackson and Tashaun Gipson in the offseason, and we’ll finally see the No. 3 pick from 2015’s draft, Dante Fowler Jr.

Rodgers will certainly test the Jacksonville defense, but the Packers have plenty to watch for, too. Thus far, Eddie Lacy looks good.

But can he sustain it? How will Jordy Nelson recover from a serious injury? How improved will Randall Cobb, Davante Adams, and company be with the top guy back?

Most importantly, is the defense ready to be championship caliber again? Against Bortles and those receivers, Clay Mathews and his crew will be tested early.

5. Cincinnati Bengals at New York Jets

Are you a fan of good individual matchups? If so, this is the game for you.

One would be hard pressed to find a much better wide receiver vs. defensive back matchup than A.J. Green vs. Darrelle Revis. Those two should be locked up for a heavy portion of Sunday’s game.

Even better than the individual battle, perhaps, is the team contest. The Bengals and Jets enter 2016 as two of the NFL’s best, most complete squads. Last year’s Pro Bowl rosters featured 13 players (eight Bengals, five Jets) from one of these two teams.

But despite the overall strengths of Cincinnati and New York, each team has weaknesses that the other team is built to exploit. Both defenses struggled against top tier receivers in 2015. With Green on the Bengals and the Brandon Marshall/Eric Decker duo on the Bengals, we’ll see our share of top receiving talent.

So, while it’s a game we could well see in January, Sunday’s clash will also serve as a learning experience for both teams.

6. Minnesota Vikings at Tennessee Titans

Even before the terrible injury to Teddy Bridgewater, this game had a lot of intrigue. The Vikings are a team with Super Bowl aspirations. The Titans are an up and coming team with a franchise quarterback in Marcus Mariota looking to take the next step forward in his second year.

But of course, Bridgewater’s injury adds a whole different wrinkle to this one. Minnesota is reportedly planning on starting Shaun Hill against Tennessee, but how long will that plan last?

The Vikings parted ways with a first rounder to get Sam Bradford. Generally, teams don’t give up first round picks for a guy who’s just going to hold a clipboard on Sunday.

From the Titans’ perspective, Mariota is the guy to watch here. How much of a step forward did the quarterback make? Bridgewater’s injury does nothing to hurt the Minnesota defense, which again figures to be one of the best units in the game. This game will serve as a fantastic barometer for the second year signal caller.

7. Miami Dolphins at Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks have been one of the NFL’s best teams since 2012. There’s really no reason to expect that this season will be any different. The progression of the Dolphins is really what we should all be looking for.

Miami has been the AFC’s version of the Los Angeles Rams for the better part of a decade. Since they last made the playoffs with an 11-5 mark in 2008, the Dolphins have finished no better than 8-8 and no worse than 6-10. That’s a level of mediocrity that they’re hoping to change with new coach Adam Gase.

If any coach is going to turn Ryan Tannehill into a franchise quarterback, it’s Gase. While in Denver, Gase found a way to get the most out of a Tim Tebow-led offense one year. Then he turned around and guided Peyton Manning the next. Styles don’t contrast any more than that, but Gase made it work.

Now, if Tannehill is going to be a franchise quarterback, these are the games he has to show up for. Seattle’s defense is one of the best in the game, and CenturyLink Field is one of the NFL’s toughest environments. Tannehill doesn’t need to lead Miami to a win, but he does need to compete. If we’re talking about a 31-3 Seahawks’ win on Monday morning, the problems with the Dolphins probably go a lot deeper than 0-1.

8. New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys

These two teams rarely play boring games. Going back to 2011, eight of the 10 games between the Giants and Cowboys have been decided by seven points or fewer. So, chances are that the outcome will be in doubt until the final minutes.

The NFC East is also annually one of the most competitive divisions in the NFL. So, intradivision games are almost always worth keeping an eye on.

This particular game also fun because it will mark the NFL debut of preseason MVP Dak Prescott.

Of course, now the games count. Sunday will be the first real test for Prescott as the team’s quarterback of the future.

On the other side is Odell Beckham Jr., who never disappoints. Week 1 also figures to give Victor Cruz his first regular season action in two years. If he’s back and strong, New York goes from a difficult assignment for opposing defenses to an absolute nightmare.

For two teams that missed the playoffs in 2015, there’s a lot to like about this one.