Rachel Wold
It’s almost time for the NFL’s regular season to begin, which will bring fans some awesome matchups to watch starting this Thursday.
It’s impossible to know exactly what will happen when the whistle blows and teams line up across from one another. However, based on the events of the summer we have enough information at our disposal to make some educated guesses.
With that in mind, it’s time to make some bold predictions based on a few key matchups in Week 1.
Tom Brady passes for 400 yards and the Patriots beat the Steelers by 20 points
The New England Patriots have their star quarterback, Tom Brady, who technically never went anywhere, secure in their starting lineup.
Brady, who has had an agonizing summer fighting for his innocence in “Deflategate,” will be arriving to the season-opener with a chip the size of a two-ton granite block on his shoulder. He is going to take his frustrations out on a suspect Pittsburgh Steelers secondary that allowed an average of 265 yards through the air per game and the fourth-most passing touchdowns all last season.
Brady is going to sock it to Pittsburgh and post at least 400 passing yards and a few touchdowns in Thursday’s season opener. The last time the two teams faced off was in 2013, when the Patriots beat the Steelers 55-31. Brady passed for 432 yards and four touchdowns in that contest.
Just watch. Thursday is Brady’s night to delight and the Patriots will romp all over Pittsburgh and win by at least 20 points.
Doug Martin finds his rookie roots and rushes for at least 100 yards
Doug Martin is back to his old form with the 4th highest elusive rating of any running back this preseason. pic.twitter.com/jL45aFSubW
— PFF (@PFF) September 3, 2015
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will go back to the future when their franchise running back Martin rushes for at least 100 yards against the Tennessee Titans in Week 1. This is something that the former first-round pick has not accomplished since 2012.
However, Martin had a fantastic preseason, averaging 5.9 yards per carry over the course of the three games in which he played. He looked sharp as nails after trimming up and losing a few pounds this offseason, which should have the former dynamo turning heads against the Titans.
Additionally, the Titans allowed an average of 124.3 yards per game to opposing running backs last season. Martin could certainly find some crater-sized gaps and pile up a substantial amount of yardage in Week 1.
No quarterback throws a touchdown when the Rams host the Seahawks
A matchup between the St. Louis Rams and the Seattle Seahawks could wind up being a major slug-fest.
The past preseason was not kind to quarterback Russell Wilson who threw only one touchdown in four games. And, it took until the final game for Wilson to connect with rookie Tyler Lockett for the lone score.
The Seahawks offense that struggled big time to get on the same page in the preseason will be fiercely challenged by the Rams defense that allowed only 18 passing touchdowns in 2014. Wilson could easily post a goose egg when it registering a score through the air in Week 1.
As for Nick Foles and the Rams, they could also go without a passing touchdown in Week 1. The Seahawks defense limited opposing quarterbacks to less than 200 yards average per outing last year and the fewest passing touchdowns. Foles doesn’t exactly have the most exciting crew of receivers to play catch with against the “Legion of Boom.”
Look for both teams to pound the ground in order to put up points against each other.
Amari Cooper tops 100 receiving yards against the Bengals
https://twitter.com/CharlesRobinson/status/638162954878189568
The Oakland Raiders finally have a wide receiver who has the potential to finish the season with 1,000 or more receiving yards. This is stat that the Raiders have not seen in ions.
Why not get the ball rolling with Cooper busting out and topping 100 receiving yards against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1? Cooper looked quite impressive in his three preseason games when he totaled eight catches for 124 yards. Just check him out above totally juking Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson.
In reviewing the Bengals final two games from 2014, its defense let 381 yards and four touchdowns slip away to opposing wideouts. Cooper may just be the first receiver of the season to victimize the Bengals’ secondary for some substantial yardage.
Peyton Manning passes for less yards than Joe Flacco
The Denver Broncos will host the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1, and both teams will be playing under their new coaching staffs.
We have been hearing all summer long that the Broncos’ new scheme under Gary Kubiak will be more balanced, which means less passing by quarterback Peyton Manning and more handoffs to the team’s running backs. With the emergence of C.J. Anderson, who was nothing short of amazing late-last season, Manning’s passing attempts tapered off towards the end of 2014.
Unfortunately, Manning is not the quarterback who is going to pass for over 5,000 yards this season.
As for the Ravens now led by head coach Marc Trestman, we could see quarterback Joe Flacco airing it out more frequently. Let’s just say Week 1 is where we witness Flacco pass for upwards of 300 yards while Manning hovers around 250 passing yards.
