NFL Week 1 Picks by Cooper the Analyst and Cup of Joe in the D

      NFL Football is Finally Here!!!!  Week 1 kicks off with the Atlanta Falcons visiting the Philadelphia Eagles. It's time for the Season to start as teams, players and fans have been counting down the days to this date since the last snap of Super Bowl LII. It has been a very eventful off season from all the Free Agent moves, to the NFL Draft and 5 QB's taken in the Top 10, to record deals for some players, to stars sitting out looking for a record deal, to new NFL rules for what is a catch, to the new Helmet rule, to the kickoff rules, to finally the Colin Kaepernick lawsuit against the NFL being allowed to proceed and so on and so on. 
       Multiple players have changed teams most notably QB's. Case Keenum (Minn to Den), Sam Bradford (Minn to Az), Kirk Cousins (Wash to Minn), Tyrod Taylor (Buf to Cle), Alex Smith (KC to Wash) and a huge trade of Khalil Mack (Oak to Chi). Other big time players changing teams were Jimmy Graham to GB, Sammy Watkins to KC, and Allen Robinson to Chi just to name a few.  QB's Patrick Mahomes (KC) and Sam Darnold (NYJ) are starting for their teams and other rookies are waiting in the wings as well. Huge paydays occurred this off season especially in the past few weeks as  Aaron Rodgers QB (GB) became the highest paid QB, Odell Beckham WR (NYG) became the highest paid WR, Aaron Donald DT (LAR) became highest paid defensive lineman and Khalil Mack DE/LB (Chi) became the highest paid Defensive player in the NFL. The biggest holdout continues to be Le'Veon Bell RB (Pitt) who the Steelers plan on placing the franchise tag on him again. Bell, who is looking to become the highest paid RB in the NFL is due to make $14M+ this season.
      New NFL rules continue to be a huge concern to the teams and players but none more then the new Helmet rule which was put in place to stop players from using their helmets on an opposing player. Players can get a 15 yd penalty all the way to an ejection if it is warranted. More lower body injuries will occur as players will go for the legs now that they can't use their helmets. I see a few games being decided with this new rule and even though the NFL is looking to cut down the concussions, it is also now taking the true physicalness out of the game.  The once again redefined "what constitutes a catch" will also undoubtedly lead to allot of discussion and cost a team a game or more as well.  The NFL also changed the rule on kickoffs to eliminate all the dangerous hits and injuries on kickoffs.  And finally, the NFL was dealt a blow when an arbitrator ruled in favor of ex player Colin Kaepernick and his lawsuit against the NFL for Collusion.  A few days after the ruling, Nike came out to the World and announced they have been paying Kaepernick and are putting his photo and brand on their product going forward. This has caused a huge uproar between the NFL and Nike, a major sponsor along with customers who now are urging others to boycott Nike.
      On a side note, I would be remiss if I didn't again point out how meaningless the NFL Preseason is and it is all about making more and more money for the Owners at the cost of the players. Many players sustain major injuries, season ending and career ending injuries in these games.  Two players that come to mind but there are many; Marquise Lee, starting WR for the Jaguars and Jerick McKinnon who went down with season ending injuries. And also Cowboys Owner, Jerry Jones, says cut the Preseason down from 4 games to 2 but add 2 games to the regular season.. Who is He kidding, He isn't looking out for anyone else but himself.. One more game in his stadium for a regular season game fills his pockets even more. A study concluded gambling now will result in 2.4B more in revenue going to the NFL and its Owners every year. It is time for a new CBA and better revenue sharing between the Owners and Players
       The Patriots and Eagles are the consensus picks to be win Super Bowl LIII . Each year every team and their fans are optimistic that this will be their year to win the Super Bowl. There are the contenders, the so so's and the pretenders. Contenders this season will be in the AFC; the Pats, Steelers, Jaguars and Chargers.  In the NFC; Vikings, Eagles, Rams, Saints and Falcons.  The pretenders will be; Bills, Raiders, Redskins, Buccaneers, and Colts.   Cooper was 181-75 in his NFL Picks last season and looks forward to another fun and exciting season.  We will pick the games each week and post the previous weeks records and recap as we go forward.. Enjoy the NFL Season!!!  Cooper says are ready for some Football.....  twitter; @Thecupofjoeinthed   email; cupofjoeinthed@gmail.com    www.cupofjoeinthed.blogspot.com

Cooper NFL Analyst with His Week 1 Picks

                                           

NFL Week 1 CupofJoe Cooper Atlanta at Philadelphia ATL PHILLY Tampa Bay at New Orleans NO NO Buffalo at Baltimore BALT BALT Houston at New England HOU NE Jacksonville at NY Giants JAX NYG San Francisco at Minnesota MINN MINN Pittsburgh at Cleveland PITT PITT Cincinnati at Indianapolis CINCY INDY Tennessee at Miami TENN MIA Kansas City at LA Chargers LAC LAC Dallas at Carolina CAR CAR Seattle at Denver DEN DEN Washington at Arizona AZ WASH Chicago at Green Bay GB GB NY Jets at Detroit DET DET LA Rams at Oakland LAR OAK Bye week:  None