Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season is going to pop. The league's schedule makers delivered five games between teams that made the playoffs last season, which the Elias Sports Bureau tells us is tied for the most in an opening week in NFL history. So what we're about to experience is basically the best weekend of our lives.
Steelers-Bills. Seahawks-Colts. Browns-Chiefs. Packers-Saints. Bears-Rams. They're all coming at you. Our NFL experts have predicted winners for each game and gone inside the matchups. Our fantasy experts have told you whom to put in your lineup. There is, after all, a lot of information to process.
All told, 15 teams are projected to use a different starting quarterback from their 2020 season opener, tied for the second-most year-over-year quarterback change in the NFL's Super Bowl era, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. And five games will feature matchups between quarterbacks making their first Week 1 start for their respective teams, the first time that has happened in NFL history, according to Elias data.
Amid the noise, what follows is the first installment of a weekly predictions column designed to round out your preparation for the weekend, culminating with a bold call. Let's get to it.