5 Things To Watch During First NFL Game
The NFL regular season is finally here. The season kicks-off Thursday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers in New England to face the reigning Super Bowl Champion Patriots.
Whether you are a fantasy owner, a fan of the Patriots or Steelers, or you just love football, Thursday night's game has a number of things to watch for.
Here are the five things all football fans should watch for during the regular season opener.
1. Big Time Fantasy Players
There are a lot of big scoring fantasy players in this game. The big scorers for the Patriots include; Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and Julian Edelman.
The Steelers may just have the best fantasy offense when everyone is healthy and not suspended. Even with injuries and suspensions, look for Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and Markus Wheaton to all have big games.
2. Angry Tom Brady
The "Deflategate" saga has been well documented over the last few months. At this point, the only thing that really matters is Brady will not be suspended this season.
With that said, it's safe to assume everyone is going to see an angry Brady. Whether he feels like the league embarrassed him, or that he has something to prove, opposing defenses never want to see a motivated Brady.
Last season we all saw Brady and the Patriots take off after many people doubted the team following a big loss to the Chiefs. When Brady has any sort of extra motivation, there is no chance of slowing number 12 down.
3. Hearing The Term "Deflategate" Over And Over And Over
It was the biggest story of the post-season, off-season, and you can bet it's going to be the top story during the first game of the season.
It's going to be brought up a countless number of times during the broadcast. Not only will you hear Al Michaels talk about it, but the broadcast will also show a countless number of Patriots fans with signs about deflategate.
If you are completely tired of hearing about deflategate, well that's too bad, it probably won't stop anytime soon.
4. Le'Veon Bell's Replacement
With Bell out for the first two games of the season, the Steelers will look to former Carolina Panthers' running back DeAngelo Williams to take the lead in the back field.
He is still a very serviceable running back, but there is no doubt that the team will miss Bell.
Bell adds unpredictability to an offense which has a great set of wide receivers as well.
Unless Williams can play better than average while Bell is out, defense will likely play heavily against the pass and worry about the run game second.
5. Hearing Al Michaels Voice
Is there any other voice you would love to hear more than Al Michaels announcing a football game? He is arguably the best football play by play man in the business.
He has a voice that everyone knows.
Thursday and Sunday Night Football is far better when Michaels is on the call.
