The 2024-2025 NFL season is coming up very soon and the first week has plenty of noteworthy games, but these five stick out as the marquee matchups.
Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs:
The NFL season starts off with a bang on Thursday with a highly anticipated rematch of last year’s AFC championship game. KC got the better of Baltimore last year with a final score of 17-10. Both teams improved heavily in the draft this year, putting their first-round picks to good use. The Chiefs picked speedy wide-receiver Xavier Worthy who broke the combine record for the fastest 40-yard dash of all time. On the other hand, the Ravens selected cornerback Nate Wiggins who was only 0.07 seconds behind Worthy. It will be interesting to watch these two rookies match up against each other, but the difference in this game will be Patrick Mahomes. Coming off of his third Super Bowl at the young age of 28, he is on a trajectory that no one has ever been on. Lamar Jackson on the Ravens also has an impressive resume thus far, but Mahomes is in a league of his own.
Prediction: Chiefs 24-21 Ravens
Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles:
This is the best game of the week on paper, with two young NFC powerhouses who look to build off of their success last season. While the Eagles fell from grace a bit after making the Super Bowl two years ago, they still had an impressive record of 11-6. Even though the heart and soul of this team, Jason Kelce, retired, this is one of the most complete rosters in the NFL. The Packers started off last season 2-5 but still snuck into the playoffs with a record of 9-8. The development of quarterback Jordan Love was instrumental to their success. Another storyline about this game is that it will be played at Arena Corinthians in São Paolo, Brazil. Ironically, the soccer club that plays there does not permit any fans or players to use the color green. They will make an exception for this game, fortunately, because both teams feature green on their jerseys. Back to the football aspect, the youth and talent of the Packers makes it hard to pick against them.
Prediction: Packers 31-21 Eagles
Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts:
This is one of the more underrated matchups and is one of the only games between division rivals in week one. Both of these AFC South teams drafted their franchise quarterback in last year’s draft; CJ Stroud to the Texans and Anthony Richardson to the Colts. Stroud won Offensive Rookie of the Year and led the Texans to the playoffs. Richardson, on the other hand, played only four games last year due to injury but was still very impressive putting up 700 and 7 total yards and touchdowns respectively. These two young teams made great additions this offseason and will be competing with each other for the AFC South for years to come. In the end, Stroud has more experience, so the Texans have the advantage.
Prediction: Texans 27- 17 Colts
Las Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions:
Everybody loves a good revenge game, and while this is not the first bitter reunion between Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions, this matchup will not disappoint. The Lions knocked their former quarterback out of the playoffs last year in a barn burner separated by one point. Both of these teams have high-octane offenses so expect a high-scoring game. The Rams are looking to compete for a Super Bowl before Stafford gets too old while the Lions are attempting to start their dynasty built around coach Dan Campbell. Since the Lions won the last one, the Rams will get the upset victory this week.
Rams 37- 35 Lions
New York Jets at San Francisco 49ers:
Week one ends with a cross conference game between two teams with high expectations. The 49ers were one play away from being Super Bowl champions and retained most of their players from last season, it is Super Bowl or bust for them this year. On the other hand, the Jets were riddled with injuries and performed well below expectations. Now that Aaron Rodgers will finally be healthy the Jets seem like a contender to dethrone the Chiefs. Whether they live up to expectations or not, the 49ers are too much for them, especially because this is Aaron Rodgers’s first game in over a year.
49ers 27-13 Jets
