One man's torn ACL is another man's treasure...

So, after being told by Bubba (who gets a pass because he said this ridiculousness on his birthday) that week one of the NFL was full of "gimme games" and "easy picks," I got to watch the Chargers, Jaguars, Bengals, and Colts lose. There is, as I told him at the time, no such thing as a "gimme game" in the NFL, especially in week one. Picking games, therefore, is harder than it looks. Although I have a lot of thoughts about week one, I'll grace you with only one for the moment.

1. Tom Brady being knocked out for the season after only a few plays - despite the joy it may bring some of my more heartless Patriot-hating friends - is a tragedy as far as the NFL is concerned. Last year's pursuit of perfection was THE storyline of the season and to have the Patriots quest for a repeat effort crushed in the first quarter of the first game deals a blow to what I'm sure Roger Goodell hoped would be an equally engaging year of football. Brady is one of only 2 professional football players who have widespread appeal beyond the sport. The other, of course is Peyton "My brother and I would like to announce that it's on like Donkey Kong" Manning. With half of that duo out, it creates the need for other great storylines to emerge, and I can think of one very specific storyline that would both fill the void left by Brady's absence and is also made more likely by Brady's injury. That's right people, I'm talking about the thirty-eight year old boy wonder himself: Brett Favre.

Think about it. With Brady out, the Patriots are left with Matt Cassel, a backup who has seen precisely six-and-a-half reps with the first team over the last six years, which opens up the division for the AFC East's other inhabitants. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) for the AFC East, those other inhabitants suck. Except, that is, the J-E-T-S Jets! Favre has a solid receiving core, a healthy Thomas Jones, an improved offensive line, and a beefed-up defense courtesy of the draft and free agent signings during the off-season. What was once a long-shot opportunity for the wild card has become a ripe opportunity for divisional supremacy for New York's "other team."

Sure, I remember when Brady came in as an unheralded replacement for the proven Drew Bledsoe and led the Pats to the Super Bowl, never to relinquish the starting job, but that's a once-in-a-lifetime lightning bolt that just isn't likely to happen again.

You heard it here, people: The ghost of Joe Willy Namath will be reawak... (wait a second, he's still alive!? Seriously? Wow.) ... anyway, the Jets are going to win the AFC East and Brett Favre's comeback will go from selfish, messy divorce story to triumphant "we never should have doubted him" story. Consider it fearless prediction number one of the 2008 NFL season.