Cohen's Corner NFL Picks: Week 1

Ahhhh, a new season! A new start full of the dreams and promises of a better tomorrow. A new year with a clean slate. 32 untold stories that are about to be reveled in the next 22 weeks. It doesn't get any better than this.

Yes, the unoffical holiday that is opening day is now upon us. No other opener in professional sports is more cherrished than the start of the NFL season. Men, women and children of all ages go back into a traditional routine. For some that might mean getting up at 10 am, and flipping on the pre game shows on ESPN, switching the channel to FOX or CBS at 12 noon, as the barbacue flames up for hotdogs and hamburgers. For others it is the smell of bacon and eggs in the morning, with the radio or TV blasting in the kitchen as another fall sunday is about to resume. Nothing is better, nothing is more stimulating than the start of another NFL season.

Week One Picks:

JETS @ DOLPHINS: Ok so in case you were hiding under a rock, or a cave, or maybe you were stranded on an island, the Jets have Brett Favre!!! The Jets had to get rid of Chad Pennington, the guy gave the Jets eight years of mediocore play at the quaterback positon. Yes, Chad had a nice season in 2002, winning the division and beating the Colts 41-0 in the wild card round, but that was a looooooooooooooooong time ago folks. Chad's arm was basically shot from a series of injury's and it was time to move on.

So what a better idea than to get Favre, who left the Packers in an ugly divorce back in July. If Favre and a group of top free agents (Alan Faneca, Bubba Franks, Calvin Pace, Kris Jenkins, Damion Woody) the Jets should more than double their win total from last season and get into the thick of the playoff race.

As for the Dolphins, don't take them too lightly. With Pennington now in the fold as their new quaterback, the Fish should be a pesky bunch this season. Keep in mind Coach Tony Sparano is a puppet of Dolphin GM Bill Parcells, so expect the Dolphins to be better. Don't let people tell you that the Fish will only improve their win total from one win in 2007 to four or five in 2008. The Dolphins have depth on defense, Jason Fergeson, Vonnie Holiday, and Joey Porter to create havoc. Also, Ricky Williams, yes the same guy who left football to smoke pot and study hollistic medicene, looked good in the preseason and always kills the Jets.

This will be close: JETS 24, DOLPHINS 21.

COWBOYS @ BROWNS: Ok this is supposed to be a primetime matchup, heck the game is at 4:15 on FOX. The Browns are not as good as last year. Derek Anderson is recovering from a concussion. As we know from concssions in the NFL and the Mets Ryan Church, this could be a very tricky injury. Plus lets face it, Anderson and the Browns really overachieved last year.

The Cowboys are expected to be the GREATEST TEAM EVER, according to all the pundits, but don't buy it. Anytime you put together a zoo full of wild animals like Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, Tank Johnson and Adam Pacman Jones,(Did I forget to mention Jessica Simpson? Oops!) you are setting yourself up for a huge downer of a year. Both teams will be disapoint this year!! Pick: BROWNS 31, COWBOYS 28.

BEARS @ COLTS: There needs to be concern for the Colts going into the season. Peyton Manning is recovering from knee surgery that he had late in the offseason and did not participate in any training camp or preseason games. So he should definiately be a little raw, right out of the gate this week. Also the Colts are hoping that Dwight Freeney and Bob Sanders are fully recovered from their injuries.

These pains will be major concern when they play better competition, because this week is a bye week for the Colts - they get to play Kyle Orton and the Bears!! Alright! It's hard to remember that the other team the Colts played in the Super Bowl a couple of years ago was ... the Bears! PICK COLTS 27, BEARS 3.

Vikings @ Packers: This was supposed to be a really interesting game. Either Brett Favre would have his number retired, or he could have been playing for the Vikings. Remember he wanted to go there first, before ending up with the Jets. Anyway we do have Adrian Peterson in this game. He is the only player on this Viking team that has no quaterback. Yet, inspite of this obvious wart people think the Vikings are a Super Bowl contender.

If memory serves me right, Barry Sanders was the best running back I ever saw, but the Lions had no quaterback to complement Sanders and get the Lions to the playoffs. I feel the same about the Vikings.

As for the Packers, this is Aaron Rodgers chance to show that the Packers didn't make a mistake in trusting him with Brett Favre's car. Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson will be preying he doesn't total the car beyond repair before getting out of the garage, otherwise they will be looking for a new job come January 2009. PICK: VIKINGS 17, PACKERS 10.