THE MOST BLOODTHIRSTY RIVALRIES WILL GET EXTRA THIRSTY
It’s kind of a neato serendipity: Lots of the
teams that are bound to be among the
league’s best this year just so happen to
really hate one another. The Bears and the
Packers will kick off the season in Chicago
on September 5. The Saints and the Falcons will conduct one
of their biannual brawls on national TV during prime time on
Thanksgiving night. The Rams and the Seahawks seem to playat least one classic game every season, and this time their
traditional dynamic is flipped: Los Angeles is entrenched as
the class of the conference, and Seattle is the team full of
snarling young players trying to take down the defending
champs. What’s more, on November 10, the Jets will put their
one-game winning streak over the Giants on the line—Le’Veon
vs. Saquon!—in their first regular-season meeting since 2015.
May the least bad New York football franchise win.GRUDGE MATCH THE SEASON’S MOST EXPLOSIVE RIVALRIES, AND WHEN THE TEAMS ARE FACING OFFMILD WARM HOT FIRE, FIRE, FIRE !!!!!Cowboys–Eagles
October 20
on NBCJets–Giants
November 10
on FoxSaints–Falcons
November 28
on NBCBears–Packers
September 5
on NBCRams–Seahawks
October 3
on FoxGRONK WILL
UNRETIRE IN
NOVEMBERDespite a shoulder injury
that required surgery in
January, the league’s most
consistently unrated
quarterback had his most
consistent season, topping his career-best
completion percentage by 6 percent. Which is a
lot. Now Newton is armed with a pair of young,
dynamic playmakers, in Christian McCaffrey
(third in the NFL in yards from scrimmage) and
field-stretching wideout DJ Moore. Carolina
plays in arguably the league’s toughest division,
but that’ll only bring out the best in Cam.CAM NEWTON WILL BE
THE NFL’S COMEBACK
PLAYER OF THE YEARColin Kaepernick’s fate changed black celebrities’
relationship with the NFL. Last season, Jay-Z, Cardi
B, and Rihanna each reportedly declined offers to
perform at the Super Bowl halftime show, while
Travis Scott consented only after the league, which
doesn’t pay halftime acts, agreed to donate $500,000 to a social-
justice nonprofit. This season, the league will likely have to strike
similar deals—or settle for artists who’ll still take the free gig. And
since the NFL doesn’t like spending cash it
could pocket, this year’s co-headliners will
be Florida Georgia Line and Pitbull.The Chiefs had the league’s
best offense last year, and it
was powered by two guys
who should’ve never been
on the team. Running back
Kareem Hunt played for half of the season
before the Chiefs got around to dealing with a
video of him kicking a defenseless woman in a
hotel lobby. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill, mean-
while, might have broken his 3-year-old son’s
arm, then bullied the child’s mother into lying
about it. Hunt is gone now, but the football
gods are just getting started with the Chiefs.KARMA WILL FINALLY CATCH
UP WITH KANSAS CITY
HALFTIME SHOW
HIGHS AND LOWS
GOAT: Prince (2007)
A+: Coldplay, Beyoncé,
Bruno Mars (2016)
SOLID: Bruce
Springsteen and the
E Street Band (2009)
MEH: Katy Perry (2015)
UGH: Phil Collins,
Christina Aguilera,
Enrique Iglesias (2000)
NO, NO, NO, NO: Clint
Black, Tanya Tucker,
the Judds (1994)
DUMPSTER FIRE:
Maroon 5 (2019)THE HALFTIME SHOW WILL BE SUPER LAME
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