There will always be differing opinions on what makes for must see TV but now that the 2013 NFL schedule is ours for the anticipating here are the 17 games in the league's 17 week regular season that I can't wait to see.
1) Baltimore at Denver Week 1 What a perfect way to open the season because where do you begin to start in the hyping of this rematch from last year's instant classic in the AFC divisional round Redemption for Rahim Moore after the Blown Coverage Seen 'Round the World Faxgate and the return of Elvis Dumervil to Denver Champ Bailey vs. Torrey Smith Redux Peyton Manning trying to wipe out the stench of his two pick one fumble showing in the Broncos' 38 35 double overtime loss to Baltimore which snapped Denver's 11 game winning streak and deflated the entire Rocky Mountain region Joe Flacco returning to the scene of the improbable springboard victory that truly launched the Ravens' unexpected Super Bowl run Can anyone in Baltimore colors slow down Trindon Holliday this time around
Other than that this matchup leaves me cold. No wonder they buried it on Week 1 in primetime on the long awaited first Thursday night of the season.
2) Green Bay at San Francisco Week 1 Is Colin Kaepernick done running through the Packers' Swiss cheese defense yet Because when we last left these two NFC powers it was the CK Show and we're not talking about one of my favorite comedians. Kaepernick and the 49ers' read option offense exposed Green Bay's defense in turn your head ugly fashion with San Francisco gashing the Packers for 323 yards rushing 181 of which belonged to the quarterback. Kaepernick added 263 yards passing and all told was involved in 444 of San Francisco's franchise playoff record 579 yards of offense as well as four of his team's six touchdowns.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy made preparing his team better for the read option offense job one this offseason and this is our chance to find out if Green Bay closed the gap. It was a yawning gap that January night in Candlestick when San Francisco moved on to the NFC title game with a 45 31 win. But the rematch should have us all revved up.
3) Denver at Indianapolis Week 7 When Brett Favre returned to Green Bay for the first time as a Viking in 2009 and Donovan McNabb made the short trip from Washington to Philadelphia in 2010 there was still quite a bit of lingering tension in the air between them and their longtime former employees. Somehow I don't think that's going to be quite the same case for Peyton Manning's celebrated return to Indianapolis. Maybe because everybody involved has moved on so successfully. Maybe because Colts fans still love Manning and Manning still loves Indianapolis.
It's like that rare divorce where the onetime partners are still friends and see each other socially.
Manning versus Andrew Luck for the first time in the house that Peyton built will make the get together that much more interesting. You just know No. 18 isn't going to want to be upstaged by the whippersnapper who replaced him. Not in that stadium against the guys with the horseshoes on their helmets. But it won't be bitter no matter what. Both teams made the playoffs last season then went one and done in January and should be contenders again in 2013.
4) Seattle at San Francisco Week 14 I know Baltimore won the Super Bowl because it was in all the papers but toward the end of the season and for most of the playoffs nobody in the league wanted to play either the Seahawks or the 49ers with both teams looking like beasts from the NFC West. San Francisco won the division by a half game over Seattle last season but only because the Rams couldn't kick a field goal and found a way to tie away a certain victory over the 49ers. This should be a tremendous rivalry in the years ahead with two tenacious defenses bruising running games and talented outside the box thinking quarterbacks. And let's not forget the Jim Harbaugh Pete Carroll factor. What's your deal indeed
5) Denver at New England Week 12 No apologies forthcoming here for playing the ever handy this could be the last time we see Peyton Manning and Tom Brady square off'' card. You know why Because this could be the last time we see Manning and Brady square off. That's why. Any year now we're going to be right about that one. Mark my words. I promise you they won't both play until they're 55 with an annual showdown at midseason. It could fall in December some year.
But seriously Manning Brady has been as good a quarterback rivalry as the NFL has ever seen even if it has been pretty one sided in the direction of No. 12. And when you add in the Wes Welker factor this season as the juiciest of he said/they said sub plots and the likelihood that both teams will again be among the AFC elite there's plenty reason to tune in. But I'll bet you didn't need me to tell you that did you
6) San Francisco at Washington Week 12 If you want to watch the cutting edge future of the NFL's quarterback play how could you get more new innovative than Colin Kaepernick versus Robert Griffin III in the pairing of the league's two most exciting running threat passers We can only hope that Griffin has recovered from his late season/playoff game knee injury and is back to a slightly more prudent version of his play making self by the time this matchup rolls around because Kaepernick against Kirk Cousins wouldn't move the needle quite so much.
And they're not just new wavish fads remember. These read option offenses really work. The 49ers and Redskins both won division titles in 2012 and that hadn't happened at the same time since 1987 a cool 25 years earlier. Let's see where the story picks up this season.
7) New England at Baltimore Week 16 These two AFC heavyweights just keep taking turns slugging each other once or twice a year. The Pats beat the Ravens in the 2011 AFC title game and Baltimore returned the favor last season adding in a last second Week 3 regular season win at home against New England for good measure. There's no Ray Lewis Ed Reed or Anquan Boldin for the Patriots to worry about this time around but Baltimore doesn't have to account for that pesky Wes Welker either so that counts for something.
Alas there will still be plenty of star power on stage and if there's two better coaches than Bill Belichick and John Harbaugh working in the AFC today I don't know who'd they'd be. Baltimore and New England have gotten very familiar with each other in the past five years and that kind of thing really can breed contempt sometimes.
8) Atlanta at San Francisco Week 16 Besides this game representing a hotly anticipated rematch of January's NFC Championship Game won in historic comeback fashion by the 49ers 28 24 now the showdown is also San Francisco's last regular season game in the interesting lifespan of Candlestick Park (and maybe its last game period if the Harbaugh men don't earn a home playoff date).
Sure it's a marshy dump an eyesore and one of the most creature comfort less stadiums in NFL history. But that's the point right It's got reams of history and Candlestick deserves a fond but clear eyed farewell after serving as the rumpled and slightly embarrassing home of the once regal 49ers from 1971 on. It's had its time and then some and I'm sure the team's new digs in Santa Clara will be immaculate in that enhanced revenue stream generating way.
But let's appreciate Candlestick's multi purpose longevity it's place in our collective memory on a playoff Sunday afternoon and take a long last look at the way things used to be before our stadiums became club seating palaces. I hope I even get assigned to the game and find myself muttering the whole way down as I navigate through the crowded stands and to the field after the game. That should take care of any overwhelming wave of nostalgia.
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