Week 1 NFL Preview - Monday Night

The opening Monday night has been providing us with two games for a while now. Both games are on ESPN.

Baltimore Ravens v New York Jets
Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski

Balitmore: The Ravens were one team that went through many changes during the off-season. Almost all of those occurred on the offensive side of the ball.

A trade for Anquan Boldin may be just what the doctor ordered for QB Joe Flacco. The late signing of T.J. Houshmanzadeh, viewed by many as being a minor move, will deepen the Ravens at receiver. Boldin, Housh and Derrick Mason. There are a lot of teams that wouldn't mind that trio on the field.

And you have Ray Rice and Todd Heap, coming off arguably his best preseason ever, to add to a potentially explosive offense.

The calling card for the Ravens has always been the defense led by Ray Lewis. This unit does have concerns. No Ed Reed for one. Banged up at the corner is another. Maybe it's a good thing the Jets are not a prolific passing team.

New York: I know many out there think that all the vibrato coming from the Jets is a good thing. I'm in the minority on that. The Jets did advance to the AFC Championship game last season, but they have made a lot of changes.

On offense, they let their leading rusher from last season, Thomas Jones, go via free agency. They did replace him with a future Hall of Famer in LaDainian Tomlinson, but LT has had a couple of season that were way off his usual numbers. The running game will rely on Shonn Greene and I like Greene's aggressive style of running.

I'm not confident in the receiver situation. The J-E-T-S traded for Santonio Holmes, a good move except that Holmes will be sitting the first four games of the season. That leaves the "pressure" on Braylon Edwards. He's had one good season. QB Mark Sanchez does not have many options in the passing game.

But where the Jets can play is on defense. Look at the holdout of Darrelle Revis all you want. Label him the best defensive player in the league. What will make the defense better than in 2009 is the return of Kris Jenkins. The most important position in a 3-4 is nose tackle and Jenkins, in my humble opinion, is a top-5 NT without question. Yes, they added some big names (Jason Taylor, Anotonio Cromartie), but can they perform as their past records indicate?

If this is a ground and pound affair (and it will most likely go that direction), this is an even a matchup as you can have. If the aerial attack plays into this game in any fashion, it will be a Ravens victory. Yes, even though the "island" is occupied.

San Diego Chargers v Kansas City Chiefs
Brad Nessler and Trent Dilfer

Before I go into this one, I'm so glad Nessler and Dilfer are doing this game.

San Diego: Talk about a team in flux. The Chargers have gone from being a Super Bowl contender to only being a "pick by default" to win the AFC West. While LT is gone, Ryan Mathews is there and along with Darren Sproles could provide one of the better ground games in the NFL. They key will be the o-line...and receiver.

Vincent Jackson continues to holdout and that presents problems for QB Philip Rivers. I do give Rivers credit. He will find someone that can fill the void. Remember when no one had heard of Jackson? Rivers are partially responsible for that.

The defense isn't as deep either. Shawne Merriman will most likely not play. Antonio Cromartie is in New York. Jamal Williams is gone. And no one was really brought in to fill those gaps.

I;m really not as worried about the offense as much as I am with the defense. Good thing the Chiefs aren't known as an offensive powerhouse.

Kansas City: I think now we can officially refer to the Chiefs as "New England West" with the staff additions of Charlie Weis and Romeo Crenell.

With Charlie Weis now calling the offense in KC, things might be a bit better. I'm sure QB Matt Cassel is familiar with it. And he got a new toy in Thomas Jones. Jones may make defenses forget about Jamal Charles and that's not a smart move.

The o-line should be a bit improved, but my concern is at receiver. Dwayne Bowe is a legit top 15 receiver provided he stays out of trouble and concentrates on the field. And Chris Chambers did perform last year, too. Is the tight end and other receivers that the Chiefs lack the depth. The void at receiver was to be taken by rookie Dexter McCluster, but he may not go tonight. If he can't, the NFL world will be at a loss as McCluster provides excitement.

I also think new DC Romeo Crenell will add punch to the defense. It's not that bad a unit. You have good players in Mike Vrabel, Derrick Johnson and add the rookie Eric Berry. Things should start to improve at Arrowhead.

It also seems like the Chargers should win this one, but don't be too shocked if Kansas City posts a W. I won't be.