Week 1: Indianapolis at New York Giants. The NFL, and TV networks, were drooling over this one. Big Brother versus Little Brother as the two Mannings square off in an early battle of NFL heavyweights. Which brother will prevail? More to the point, will this be a juggernaut of offense? Here's betting that it will be... Honorable Mention: Atlanta at Carolina. Two teams with high playoff expectations, and of course Mike Vick leading the charge against his divisional foe. Cincinnati at Kansas City. Two more teams with high playoff expectations. One things for sure in this game: we'll get a quick read as to the run-stopping capability (or lack thereof) of Cincy's D facing KC's LJ. Week 2: Kansas City at Denver. This is always an entertaining game when neither team likes each other all that much, and both are harboring playoff expectations. This will be the first collosal clash in a pretty strong NFC West, and if KC manhandles Cincy, and then manhandles Denver, you can expect the bandwagoners to come out of the woodwork for KC... Honorable Mention: Two NFC East interdivison clashes as the G-Men travel to Philly, and the Skins head down to Texas to battle the 'Boys. NFC East games are always fun to watch - there's always an element of Hatfield versus McCoy's when the big boys in the NFCE clash. Week 3: In a totally stacked week, give the nod to Cincinnati at Pittsburgh. The Bengals will come into town ready to deliver justice for what they still believe is a dirty hit against Carson Palmer in the 2005 WC game. Plus, the Bengals still believe they are the better team in the AFC North, and will want to prove it to the Steelers in Pittsburgh. This will likely be a dirty, nasty, brutal football game - just how the Steelers like it! Honorable Mention. 5 games, all worth a look. Carolina at Tampa - two teams with 2005 playoff runs. Jacksonville at Indy - two more teams with playoff runs, and Jax seems to know how to bottle up Peyton...but not quite beat him. Yet. Denver travels to New England in a repeat clash of the 2005 Divisional Round. Look for the Pats to perhaps extract some measure of revenge...just so the refs don't get in the way (again). Atlanta takes on New Orleans on Monday night, so the league gets a first hard look at rookie RB Reggie Bush. Finally, the Giants travel to Seattle in a clash of two more 2005 playoff contenders... Week 4: A quieter week, with the best game probably New England traveling to Cincinnati. Based on pre-season expectations, this ought to be a game between two early leaders in the playoff race. Brady versus Palmer (assuming he's healthy) will be an interesting undertone to this one. Honorable Mention: San Diego travels to Baltimore, as two teams holding playoff hopes tangle. The Bolts strong running game will be severely tested by the Birdies usual stellar D. Will Philip Rivers be looking like the real thing yet? Seattle travels to Chicago in another battle of 2005 playoff contenders. Week 5: Another relatively quiet week, but the highlight could very well be Miami traveling north to New England to take on the Pats. Some observers of football believe Miami is on the cusp of providing the Pats with some stellar in-division competition, and this could prove to be an early read for both teams. Honorable Mention. Washington travels to New York to face their divisional rival. Pittsburgh travels to San Diego in what ought to be another entertaining west coast football game. Week 6: Toss out the records when Oakland and Denver play. The two teams hate one another. Shanahan still hates Oakland and owner Al Davis, and loves nothing more than to kick the stuffing out of Davis's Raiders. It's unlikely that the two will have comparable records by this stage, but who knows? Regardless, its a game always worth watching if you like dirty, nasty, mean-spirited football. Honorable Mention: Cincinnati travels to Tampa Bay to take on the Bucs in South Florida heat. Should be entertaining unless the Bengals have some how fallen apart. If KC ran all over Cincy in week one (and Pittsburgh runs all over them in week 3), then a big-time dose of the Cadillac awaits the Bengals. Kansas City travels to Pittsburgh in what ought to be a monster of a football game featuring two teams that do similar things on offense. Pittsburgh gets to face two great runners in back to back weeks, and if LT softens up the Steelers D, LJ will look to crush it. Finally, Seattle travels to St. Louis in what could be an interesting game, especially if the Rams have improved. Regardless, divisional games are always fierce, and this will not be an exception. Week 7: Probably the best game in a competitive week will be Washington traveling to Indy to battle the Colts. Washington's defense is expected to be among the best in the league in 2006, and of course everyone knows that the Colts O will be among the league's leaders. Although doubtful, some could easily talk about this being an early "Super Bowl" matchup... Honorable Mention: Carolina travels to Cincinnati to play the Bengals. Two 2005 playoff teams hoping to taste success again in 2006 ought to be worthwhile. Pittsburgh travels to Atlanta to battle the Mike Vick experience. The Steelers defense has one hell of a 3-game run here, and will they be able to withstand the legs and arm of the Experience? San Diego goes mid-west in a battle of the game's two marquee running backs: LT vs. LJ. Finally, the Giants battle Dallas for yet another old fashioned foot-brawl. Week 8: The big game here is Indy traveling to Denver. In what most people figured would be the 2005 AFCCG, these two teams get to square off mid-season to see what's what. Expect a fun, competitive game here. Honorable Mention: Seattle travels to KC to take on the LJ show. Dallas flies to Carolina in a battle of two would-be 2006 playoff teams... By this time, the games of the week will be far harder to predict. We'll have seen the surprises - positive and negative. We'll already know who's facing "desperation" games and who's putting it into cruise control. Until the mid-point of the season hits, though, we won't know squat about who's playing better ball than expected, and who's playing worse ball...