Baltimore Ravens (0-0) at Denver Broncos (0-0)

Man, what a way to start the season. This is a replay of the AFC Divisional Championship last year, where Joe Flacco famously threw that incredible Hail Mary touchdown to propel the Ravens into the Superbowl – which they won. Peyton and his Broncos get their shot at revenge earlier than expected. Von Miller is missing for Denver, but then Baltimore is missing most of its defence themselves, most notably the retired Ray Lewis and backfield black hole Ed Reed, who’s now a Texan. Flacco’s getting the big bucks now, but Peyton’s been getting paid for years. Like, Heisenberg volumes of cash. There’s a good reason for that too – he’s one of the all-time great quarterbacks. This game won’t be as close as we’d hope, but dammit, ain’t we just glad to have some good ol’ fashioned Yankee football back on telly? Yee-Haw!

Wildcard’s Pick: Denver take what revenge they can on a new-look Baltimore team. Broncos by 14.

New England Patriots (0-0) at Buffalo Bills (0-0)

More like the Buffalo Mercy-Kills, amirightfolks? The Pats may need some time to mould into a cohesive unit, what with their notable departures and all (Tebow excluded). But Bill Belichick is an absolute master at handling role players and blending promising young athletes into his team. Plus the Tom Brady factor exists. Said factor being that they have Tom Brady. Buffalo were set to start an undrafted rookie QB named Jeff Tuel, before EJ Manuel returned early. It probably isn’t fair to write them off based on this impending hiding, but I’m gonna do it anyway.

Wildcard’s Pick: The Patties run riot like all good Boston sports fans are wont to do. New England by 20 plus.

Cincinnati Bengals (0-0) at Chicago Bears (0-0)

The Bear’s defence is something to be wary of, as always. It’ll be curious as to how well they can cover AJ Green, who is arguably the next best thing besides Calvin Johnson at wide receiver. The Red Rifle needs to have a good year for Cincinnati to continue to lift. This’ll be a close one, but I think the Bengals can take this one even if it is in Chicago.

Wildcard’s Pick: Bengals by 3

Miami Dolphins (0-0) at Cleveland Browns (0-0)

Miami’s soft schedule begins with a trip to Cleveland where they should have few troubles, supposing they shut down the running game of Trent Richardson. Brandon Weeden they don’t have to worry about so much. Some have questioned how well the QB/WR combination of Tannehill/Wallace will gel, but not I.

Wildcard’s Pick: Miami by 10, Wallace with 80yds and 2 TDs.

Atlanta Falcons (0-0) at New Orleans Saints (0-0)

I've only picked one home team so far, and this is troubling me. Hence I think that New Orleans can stuff the Falcons and I ain’t talking taxidermy. These two teams are genuine contenders in the NFC. Rex Ryan’s defence in the Big Easy may be hit or miss, but they showed last year that their offence can cover. Even a small improvement on giving up the most yards in the history of the game over a season should mean a winning record. A big improvement and we’re talking playoffs. It all starts here.

Wildcard’s Pick: Saints by 6 in a tight one, Brees with the game winning TD drive.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-0) at New York Jets (0-0)

Geno Smith has been named to start at QB for New York, with Sanchez still nursing an injury. This is a great opportunity for Smith, if he impresses then Sanchez stands to be Wally Pipp-ed. I still think that Marky Mark is the clear better of the two, but if Jets fans get rowdy, and by God you know they like to, then management may oust him for Smith permanently to show New Yorkers that at least they’re building for the future or something. Sports fans don’t take kindly to inertia. Anyway, the main story here is Darrelle Revis making his Tampa debut against his old team. How long until he intercepts poor Geno? One quarter? One drive? One pass?

Wildcard’s Pick: Tampa Bay is just better. Buccs by 10.

Tennessee Titans (0-0) at Pittsburgh Steelers (0-0)

A lot of questionables about this Steelers team. No questions about Tennessee though. They straight suck.

Wildcard’s Pick: Steelers by enough.

Minnesota Vikings (0-0) at Detroit Lions (0-0)

In the blue corner we have Calvin “Megatron” Johnson, the best wide receiver of his generation, who last year broke the record for receiving yards in a season. In the, errm, purple corner, we have Adrian “All Day” Peterson, running back extraordinaire, who missed the rushing yards record by just 9 in 2012. Defences look away now, this won’t be pretty. Let the yardage race begin!

Wildcard’s Pick: Detroit holds ‘em off thanks to a late Stafford/Megatron rally. Lions by 3.

Oakland Raiders (0-0) at Indianapolis Colts (0-0)

Oakland is going to struggle against teams with great pass rushers. The way they’re looking through preseason, it’s gonna be sack-city here. Terrelle Pryor is very mobile, but there’s a difference between running for gains and just plain running away. Luckily the Colts don’t have an Aldon Smith or a DaMarcus Ware, but they do have an Andrew Luck. Cue a whole new season of Luck puns.

Wildcard’s Pick: Luck is on the side of the Colts, who win by double figures.

Seattle Seahawks (0-0) at Carolina Panthers (0-0)

Marshawn Lynch in beast mode. That’s all you need. Even Luke Kuechly will have trouble stopping that freight train of a man. I don’t think Seattle is as good as everyone is saying, and I think Carolina will push them a long way, but Seattle knows how to win the close ones.

Wildcard’s Pick: Seahawks by 3.

Kansas City Chiefs (0-0) at Jacksonville Jaguars (0-0)

Y’know, you can’t watch every game, what with most of them being played at the same time and all. This is one to miss.

Wildcard’s Pick: KC wins in it with a soccer score.

Arizona Cardinals (0-0) at St Louis Rams (0-0)

A lot of teams are trying to fill some big shoes this season. Clown sized shoes. Steven Jackson’s departure from St Louis is one of those. He’s their all-time rush yards leader, but he’ll be rushing for Atlanta this year. The transition was already in place, though. Jackson took Daryl Richardson under his wing, despite the young RB eating in to his own carries. The Rams have always been a rushing team, but now Sam Bradford is the unquestioned leader of this offense. Arizona welcome Carson Palmer at QB, and the more he throws to Larry Fitzgerald, the better. A tough one to pick, this.

Wildcard’s Pick: Home field advantage is the clincher. Rams by 3.

Green Bay Packers (0-0) at San Francisco 49ers (0-0)

Mmmm… football. This is the mouthwatering match of the week. San Francisco are early favourites to win it all this year, while this Green Bay squad already know all about that – they won it in 2011. Rodgers vs Kap. There’s enough energy, excitement and above all talent there to draw any self-respecting NFL fan in without even mentioning Aldon Smith, Patrick Willis, or Clay Matthews; Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson or Michael Crabtree. After coming so close last year, the 49ers have brought in stock talent like Nnamdi Asomugha and Anquan Boldin to actually improve this roster! These ain’t your father’s 49ers, folks. But they’d run ‘em close.

Wildcard’s Pick: 49ers by 7.

New York Giants (0-0) at Dallas Cowboys (0-0)

The Cowboys are a team in transition as is so often the case at this time. New York, meanwhile, seem more or less consistent, and I think that will be their downfall. In the NFC East, both Dallas and Washington have clearly been addressing their team’s needs, moving forward and improving, and bringing through great young talents like, in Dallas’ case, Dez Bryant, DeMarco Murray and Sean Lee. Eventually, the ‘Boys will have a big season. They have too much talent to keep disappointing themselves and their fans. They started 2012 with a win against the Giants and I think we’ll see the same here. Romo and co will be well up for this one. Not saying this is the year, but if it isn’t, Coach Garrett will be looking for a new career line before week 17.

Wildcard’s Pick: Cowboys by 3.

Philadelphia Eagles (0-0) at Washington Redskins (0-0)

Two televised games on a Tuesday! Gee, suddenly I don’t think I’ll be able to work today. I think I’ve come down with a strong case of Arrgeethree Fever (See what I did there?). Robert Griffin III has pronounced himself fit to play, and so play he shall against Mike Vick’s Eagles, now coached by Chip Kelly. Kelly will be great for Phillly, but they’ve fallen so drastically the past two years, it’s hard to see them finishing anywhere but last in the NFC East. Washington is the favourite for the division, and should take this one comfortably. Interesting to see how much cotton wool RG3 is rolled out in, especially if Washington put up early points. If you’ve got Alfred Morris as a fantasy running back, you’ll probably enjoy this one.

Wildcard’s Pick: Washington by 10.

Houston Texans (0-0) at San Diego Chargers (0-0)

Arian Foster is carrying an injury, so he may be slightly limited, but the Texans shouldn’t need him to take care of San Diego anyway. This is my lock in for the week. I’ll probably be made to eat my words for this, but I cannot see San Diego nipping this one. Houston is too smart, too clinical to let it slip against an inferior team. Their problem will be taking care of the big dogs later on this season.

Wildcard’s Pick: Texans by more than enough.

The Wildcard is a staff writer for The Niche Cache. His book ‘Offers They Couldn’t Refuse: The Mafia and Matchfixing in Professional Sports’ is an international best seller and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He currently resides at 502 Pinnafore Lane, Terror Lake, WI (postcode 9022) under the assumed identity of Bob Thompson after death threats from the mob led him to seek solace under the witness protection program.