It’s the first Five for Friday of the Season! You know what that means? It means we have our first Sunday of NFL Football. We made it guys. I for one have been in a much better mood the last few days. Grumpy Jeff is gone and Happy Jeff has arrived. Sad Jeff will show up if the Chiefs lose. Alright let’s dive into this week’s games.

Bake Show vs Joe “it’s time to win” Burrow: Bucs @ Bengals 11 AM

In theory this should be a shoot out so it will probably be a defensive battle. Baker plays with a chip on his shoulder but he just got paid so there is speculation that chip might be smaller. But either way he should be able to move the ball against a typically bad Bengals D. The Bengals did attempt to address their defensive woes in the offseason. We will see how that plays out for them. The Bucs also added to their defense but lost Mike Evans who we saw last night can still play. What will this offense look like without him? We are about to find out. The Bengals typically start slow which is something they can’t do in a stacked AFC. Joe Burrow is tired of losing and said it is time to win. Why it wasn’t time to win the last few years, I don’t know. Anyway, the Bengals seem determined not to suck as do the Bucs and everyone else in the league. This should be a fun one. I don’t really trust either head coach but I’m choosing to believe the Bengals hype so I’ll go with the home team in this one.

Bengals 31 Bucs 27

Superman vs Super D: Bills at Texans 11 AM

Josh Allen heads to Houston but Houston, we do not have a problem. Josh at the Texans has not gone well for ole Super man who seems to be not so super down in Texas. It seems like every quarterback, this Texans D has been his kryptonite. But Josh is so much better than everyone he should be able to overcome it right? On the other side, the Texans are hoping CJ Stroud doesn’t completely suck it up like he did in the playoffs. Their offensive line still leaves something to be desired but I think their offensive weapons are pretty good. Furthermore, I don’t have a ton of faith in the Bills defense. I think the Texans run the ball a lot and control the clock and let their defense wreck Josh Allen’s plans to win week 1.

Texans 20 Bills 13

AFC Worst Battle: Dolphins @ Raiders 2:25 PM

Why am I writing about the Dolphins and Raiders? Why not? Everyone is on the same level this week. So this may be the only time to write about either of them being in a meaningful game. Both teams are going to have some growing pains. Many people think the Dolphins are trying to quietly lose. On the other side, the Raiders are also trying to get back on the winning track. They drafted Mendoza with the first pick. But they are starting the year off with rolling Kirk Cousins out there. Unfortunately for the Raiders and many fantasy football owners, Brock Bowers is out. So the Raiders will be down a key weapon. On the other side, besides Achane, I’m not sure if the Dolphins have any weapons. I think the Raiders have the better overall team which may be the only time this year that I say that. The Raiders are 3 point favorites at home which is basically saying these teams are even. I don’t know why, but I got a gut feeling the Dolphins are going to surprise people a little bit. Give me the fins in an upset.

Dolphins 24 Raiders 17

Cowboys ride North: Dallas @ New Jersey Giants 6:20 PM

The Cowboys get a primetime game in week 1. Shocker. They head to New Jersey to play a New York team. We are all thankful it isn’t the Jets. The New York Giants have a new look with John Harbaugh as their new head coach. They should be a better and more functional team. They are somewhat healthy for now, but I’m sure at least one of if not all 3 of the Dart, Skattebo, Nabers trio will visit the blue tent at some point during the game. They have some young offensive talent but as a Chiefs fan, I am nervous about Matt Nagy calling plays. The defense should be alright but they face an explosive Dallas offense. Dallas like the Bengals tried to fix their defense in the offseason. This will be a good first test. The D doesn’t need to be awesome it just needs to be middle of the pack. I like Dart and some of the Giants players but I just don’t trust Nagy. I don’t think the Giants will be able to keep up and the Cowboys start off the season with a W.

Cowboys 30 Giants 20

The silent couch game (Part 1): Broncos @ Chiefs 6:15 PM

We are supposed to go to a senior parent meeting at my son’s school on Monday night. Who plans a parent meeting in the Denver area during their first game of the season? I sent an email asking that question but got no answer. I’m going to have to get the details from the meeting from somewhere else because there is no way Danielle and I are going to that. This is the least fun Chiefs game of the year. It’s really a lose, lose. Your team wins but your spouse is unhappy. How do you choose between those two? Easily, that’s how. Your spouse will be in a bad mood until Wednesday or Thursday but win stays on your team’s record until at least January. We will as always sit on opposite ends of the couch and quietly cheer for our teams. In good news the second one of these is in week 8 so at least we get them over quickly.

On to the game. It is the return of Patrick Mahomes who tore his ACL just 9 months ago. He’s been a man on a mission to get to this point. Nothing was going to stop him from playing in this game. The Broncos have a much better team and I believe will prove they are the best in the west throughout the season. If this was in Denver I’d definitely pick them. It doesn’t help anything that we will be missing our starting left tackle, Josh Simmons who always seems to be missing. Last year, he literally disappeared for a few weeks. We also don’t know what this Chiefs defense is going to look like especially in week 1. All signs point towards the Broncos. But my gut says at Arrowhead on Monday night with Pat making his return, they find a way to get the W. Butker misses an extra point earlier but hits a long field goal as time expires to win this one.

Chiefs 26-Broncos 24

Other game predictions:

Lions over Saints

Jets over Titans

Ravens over Colts

Panthers over Bears

Jags over Browns

Packers over Vikings

Eagles over Commanders

Chargers over Cardinals

Enjoy the first weekend of the NFL everyone!