NFL Week 1: The 2025 Season Gets Underway

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So, the weather is changing, leaves are gonna fall, and football season is back. The 2025 NFL season gets underway with many of the usual questions, just different subjects. The games begin Thursday, so let’s talk about a few.

Cowboys @ Eagles

Philadelphia begins its title defense Thursday night against Micah Parsons-less Dallas in a game that means plenty early in the NFC East. In what many would consider a shocker, the Cowboys, or more specifically, Jerry Jones, decided to trade Parsons for next to nothing. Once again, winning comes second to the ego of an owner/GM who just doesn’t get it. An owner who just told us the team could be better after the trade. HUH????? WTF?????

Dallas comes into this season with the same expectations they do every year. They expect to have a good year, and then reality sets in. Now with Parsons gone, this is NOT a better team, and they will find that out fast Thursday night in Philly from an Eagles team that comes back built to defend their title.

It will be interesting to see how the Eagles attack the Cowboys from both sides of the ball. Will they attack with the run game, knowing an All-World Parsons is no longer an issue? Will they find holes in the passing game provided by that loss? Can the vaunted Eagles defense put enough pressure on Dak Prescott to throw him off and make this a rout?

I think that is what will happen, and when opening week is all said and done, the Cowboys will remind us of Groundhog Day: same shit, different day.

I could be wrong, though.

Eagles 31 Cowboys 17

Chiefs @ Chargers

On Friday night, it will be a clash between two of the favorites in the AFC West. You know the story when it comes to the Chiefs already. It’s Super Bowl or bust. Easy peasy for a team that has made the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl a postseason ritual. Until KC, Patrick Mahomes, and Andy Reid are stopped, do not bet against them. Ah, but some are saying that if there was any recent year to feel that way, it is this year. Some are saying the Chiefs will be a year slower, older, and maybe not as hungry.

When have we ever seen Mahomes NOT hungry? Travis Kelce is engaged to Taylor Swift, so maybe he feels like winning another ring. Just be careful counting out these guys…..till they give us a reason.

The Chargers have head coach Jim Harbaugh and QB Justin Herbert, who is looking for that breakout year. They, too, have an improved team looking to dethrone KC. But for me, I just don’t see KC allowing themselves to get off to a bad start and see them coming out on top in this one.

KC 38 SD 30

Steelers @ Jets

The Sunday tilt features the debut of Aaron Rodgers in Steelers Black and Gold. The questions have been asked, and now it’s time for Rodgers and the Steelers to answer them. The calls for the head of head coach Mike Tomlin continue and won’t stop. Maybe after this year, he fools us all and steps away via the Andy Reid route? It is going to be interesting to see if Pittsburgh can keep the streak of non-losing seasons under Tomlin alive.

Speaking of “same shit, different day,” we have the lowly NY Jets. A team that has lost for so long, it seems normal when they do. Well. Aaron Glenn has taken over the reins, and he has quickly changed the culture of the team. Players are saying that he brings the group together, is changing their mentality, and the fans are hoping to see the results.

The defense should be better, considering the feared defensive monster he built in Detroit. But will that translate to wins early, more often? Highly unlikely, so the Steelers should not have many issues when all is said and done here. Plus, I think Rodgers is so full of himself at times that he wants to show out against Gang Green.

Steelers 24 Jets 13

Lions @ Packers

After all the injuries and then losing both coordinators, we get to find out just how good the Detroit Lions really are. This is going to be their test to see if they are really the cream of the crop in the NFC. If they can stay healthy, will this be the team that represents the NFC in the Super Bowl? Only time and this season will tell. The offense should not be the problem with Matthew Stafford behind center and the two-headed running monster of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. So long as injuries are held to a minimum, expect the Lions to be right there come championship talk.

As for Green Bay, it comes down to Jordan Love and where he is in the maturation process of his career. He has the tools, and we have seen that. But now, he has to take that to another level and make himself and those around him better. The Packers were already a playoff team two weeks ago. With the addition of Parsons, they are now title contenders.

Packers 27 Lions 24

Ravens @ Bills

Two teams with almost identical stories. Two teams with All-World QBs who just can’t win the big game. Two of the best offenses in the NFL…… until it counts. Somehow, someway, these two teams manage to come up short every year. Now, let us take into account that one guy is the main reason why.

Josh Allen is just a flat-out baller at QB, and if the is any guy you think is ready to take the mantle, it’s him and the Bills. How much more does he have to do to get his team over the hump? I mean, he has played toe-to-toe with Mahomes and, at times, outplayed him. As hard as it seems, Allen is going to have to have that moment. That moment he has been in every time he has lost to KC, and finally finds a way out of it. If he cannot, we will be back asking the same question next year.

What can I type differently when it comes to one of the most dynamic QBs we have seen this generation? Lamar Jackson has become what most of us may have thought he could not. He has become a complete quarterback, a lethal weapon in the pocket as well as the run game. With Derrick Henry in his backfield, it is only a matter of Jackson solving the same puzzle Allen has to solve. How to beat Mahomes? How to finally get over that hump to a championship?

Bills 41 Ravens 38