Seven months. Seven…long…months. We’ve had to go seven months without football!

No more though! Football is back!

We are just hours away from the 100th season of the NFL being kicked off by the greatest rivalry that this wonderful league has created in the best city the league calls home – Bears…Packers…in Chicago!

Not only does football itself return, but we are back for another year of Confidence Picks! Welcome back! It’s been an interesting off-season to say the least – running backs holding out, thein-game retirement of a potential Hall of Fame quarterback, and the realization of the dangers of cryotherapy.

With all of that going on, we have just been waiting, waiting to have more than just random off-field drama to focus on! Waiting for the games to start!

We’ve been waiting long enough, so let’s get to it!

Week 1 – HERE WE GO!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – NEW ENGLAND over Pittsburgh – Some things never change…but why won’t the Patriots ever change?!?

15 – CLEVELAND over Tennessee – Seeing the Browns this high on the board would seem like a joke in recent history. Not this year though!

14 – LOS ANGELES CHARGERS over Indianapolis - In order for the Colts to have a chance, they’ll need to rely on the golden arm of Andrew L…oh…

13 – NEW ORLEANS over Houston – Days before going up against the Saints offense may not have been the best time to send Jadeveon Clowney away!

12 – SEATTLE over Cincinnati – Andy Dalton will also agree that it was a horrible time for the Texans to trade Clowney!

11 – PHILADELPHIA over Washington – For a team that won the Super Bowl just a year ago, not enough people are talking about the Eagles right now.

10 – CHICAGO over Green Bay – The season kicks off with what I think will be the way it ends, a Bears win! My first BOLD PREDICTION of the year is that THE WINNER OF THE SUPER BOWL WILL BE DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA BEARS.

9 – DALLAS over New York Giants – If the Giants use Saquon to his fullest potential and can catch a break or two they just may be able to…oh, Zeke’s back? Oh…nevermind.

8 – OAKLAND over Denver – The 8 catches for 120 yards and a TD or two that are coming will be the best way for everyone to forget about AB’s helmet and cryofreezing BS of the off-season.

7 – Baltimore over MIAMI – After the Cardinals took a QB with the first pick in the draft, they traded Josh Rosen to Miami…who will probably take a QB with the first pick in the draft next year.

6 – TAMPA BAY over San Francisco – This is a game full of potential, one that the Bucs are lucky enough to be the home team for.

5 – Kansas City over JACKSONVILLE – A big story this season will be the Jags – will they be the 2018 team or the 2017 team? I think they’ll be better than last year, which is why they will at least keep it close against the AFC favorites.

4 – NEW YORK JETS over Buffalo – Don’t sleep on the Jets defense this year!

3 – MINNESOTA over Atlanta – This could very well be the best matchup of the weekend – and a possible playoff preview!

2 – Los Angeles Rams over CAROLINA – The Panthers just have too many questions to run with the Rams. Their only hope is that weather conditions may slow down the Rams offense.

1 – Detroit over ARIZONA – The Kilff Kingsbury Air-Raid offense is something that I will have to see to believe in the NFL.