Welcome to Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season and also what I hope will become my weekly (straight up) picks column here at CBSSports.com.
I say hopefully because the "weekly" part of it hasn't yet happened. This is just the first of what I suspect — and what my editors suspect — will be many columns publishing each NFL week.
It drives me crazy when people say "first annual" instead of inaugural. I'm sorry but you don't know if the local muni will let you hold your golf tournament there next year after David and Elliott just turned the 14th green into a dirt track with the golf carts.
I digress. If this looks chalky in Week 1, it's because I am valuing continuity above most everything after an offseason with no exhibitions and an abridged training camp. Here's to going 16-0, and maybe I'll be back next week.
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Houston at Kansas City
Thursday, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC
As amazing as the two richest quarterbacks in the league are, I am going to have a hard time taking my eyes off the line play. Mitchell Schwartz vs. J.J. Watt is always a treat, and I look forward to what Frank Clark and Laremy Tunsil have in store Thursday night. Don't think Houston has the horses to keep up on the scoreboard, though.
The pick: Chiefs
Seattle at Atlanta
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, Fox
I truly believe the Falcons, led by Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff, have turned things around after the dismal 2019 start. I actually have Atlanta back in the playoffs this year as part of a three-team NFC South group. And while I have Seattle winning the most competitive division in football, Carroll's Seahawks are 1-5 when starting the season on the road.
The pick: Falcons
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Cleveland at Baltimore
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS
The Browns may be improved. Baker Mayfield may be a better Year 3 QB than a Year 2 QB. Kevin Stefanski may have been the best guy for the job. So far, Andrew Berry is making all the right moves. But no one has to buy the Browns right now until they prove their worth, especially against Lamar Jackson.
The pick: Ravens
New York Jets at Bills
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS
The problem with the Jets is that they aren't bad enough to tank and not good enough to compete. With a franchise quarterback on a rookie deal, it's about the worse place to be. Buffalo may win this division by two games.
The pick: Bills
Las Vegas at Carolina
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS
Have a feeling this could be the ugliest game on the Week 1 calendar. More than half of Carolina's roster has been flipped and the young Panthers could field one of the worst defenses in the NFL. Little about the Raiders impresses me.
The pick: Raiders
Chicago at Detroit
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, Fox
The Lions are a trendy pick to make it to the postseason this year and I understand why. A solid, young offensive line. A stout front-seven (that they may have overspent for). And a quarterback who keeps getting better each season. The Chicago Bears will start Mitchell Trubisky at quarterback.
The pick: Lions
Indianapolis at Jacksonville
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS
Go ahead and count me as a non-Philip Rivers believer this year. I thought his play fell off a cliff last year and the excuses became too much to explain away. I'm skeptical of the Colts entering this season, but the Jags are going to have to really flub up this tank job to not land Trevor Lawrence next spring.
The pick: Colts
NFL Week 1 picks: All the rest
Packers over Vikings
Patriots over Dolphins
Eagles over Washington Football Team
Bengals over Chargers
Saints over Buccaneers
Cardinals over 49ers
Rams over Cowboys
Steelers over Giants
Titans over Broncos
