WEEK 1 BREAKDOWN

NEW YORK JETS AT BUFFALO

Kickoff: Sunday, 10 a.m.

The line: New York by 3

Quick slant: Drew Bledsoe looks for new life, or life of any kind, in Buffalo.

Plot: After backing up Tom Brady’s improbable rise to Super Bowl hero, Bledsoe has re-emerged in Buffalo, throwing forward passes that don’t wobble and don’t bounce twice before hitting the receivers’ hands and everything. Rookie offensive tackle Mike Williams is so impressed, he told reporters this week that he is “ready to throw myself on the sword for that man.” Let’s see: Bledsoe is 30 and immobile and the Bills allowed 46 sacks last season. Keeping the sword away from Bledsoe--that’s the big task ahead for young Mike.

Monday’s headline: “Pounded Into Turf, Ex-Patriot Feels Right at Home”

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BALTIMORE AT CAROLINA

Kickoff: Sunday, 10 a.m.

The line: Baltimore by 2

Quick slant: Is there a quarterback in the house?

Plot: Since winning the Super Bowl 19 months ago, Raven Coach Brian Billick, erstwhile genius, has delivered an intriguing tutorial on Quarterback De-evolution--spiraling downward, so to speak, from Trent Dilfer to Elvis Grbac to Chris Redman. What does it all mean? A: Jeff Blake, warming up in the bullpen. Meanwhile, in Carolina, new Coach John Fox, still scratching his head over Chris Weinke, decides to open the season with Rodney Peete, 36-year-old journeyman, at quarterback. What does it all mean? A: Millions of pro football fans suddenly realize Rodney Peete is still in the league.

Monday’s headline: “Ravens Win on Four Matt Stover Field Goals, 12-9”

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MINNESOTA AT CHICAGO

Kickoff: Sunday, 10 a.m.

TV: Channel 11

The line: Chicago by 4 1/2

Quick slant: Minnesota, Chicago open on the road.

Plot: There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this league. The Bears, following a bizarrely charmed 13-3 season, highlighted by fluky finishes and game-winning Mike Brown interception returns, have been introduced to the concept of cosmic payback: 16 road games in 2002. While season-long construction continues at Soldier Field, the Bears will play all eight of their designated home games in Champaign, Ill.--about 150 miles outside Chicago. Looking the place over, Randy Moss tells the Vikings he’ll decide if and when he wants to play, will get back to them later.

Monday’s headline: “From Champagne to Champaign, Bears Still Toast Vikings”

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SAN DIEGO AT CINCINNATI

Kickoff: Sunday, 10 a.m.

TV: Channel 2

The line: Cincinnati by 2

Quick slant: Where have you gone, Dan Fouts and Kenny Anderson?

Plot: Before they played last September, the Chargers and Bengals were a combined 4-0. Since then, a combined 7-21. So what happened? Well, for starters, Jon Kitna began playing like Jon Kitna--he finished the season with the league’s lowest rating among starting quarterbacks, 61.1--and Doug Flutie began feeling his age and his height in a hurry. The fallout? Gus Frerotte becomes the Bengals’ fifth starting quarterback in five years while Flutie stands on his tiptoes, trying to peak over the Chargers standing in front of him on the sideline as he keeps a wary eye on Drew Brees.

Monday’s headline: “Chargers Brees, Bengals Place Call to Esiason”

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KANSAS CITY AT CLEVELAND

Kickoff: Sunday, 10 a.m.

The line: Cleveland by 3

Quick slant: No NBA in Tony Gonzalez’s future. No Super Bowl, either.

Plot: Noted talk show host and football pundit Regis Philbin, playing “Who Wants to Suck Up to a Multimillionaire,” told Kansas City tight end Gonzalez on his show that the Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl this season. In an upset, Gonzalez agreed. “The attitude of the team is, we want to go to the Super Bowl,” Gonzalez told Philbin. “Coach [Dick] Vermeil has been there. He has the blueprint.” But until last week, Vermeil didn’t have a tight end. But, finally, Gonzalez ended his holdout and rejoined the Chiefs for a full practice Wednesday, just in time to start their Super Bowl run 0-1.

Monday’s headline: “Regis Says, ‘Uh, Check That’ ”

*

ATLANTA AT GREEN BAY

Kickoff: Sunday, 10 a.m.

The line: Green Bay by 7

Quick slant: Falcons bump into Brett Favre again. Don’t remind them.

Plot: Since making the 1992 trade that changed the course of NFL history, the Falcons have rented the quarterback position to Chris Miller, Wade Wilson, Bobby Hebert, Billy Joe Tolliver, Jeff George and Chris Chandler--hoping now that Michael Vick, body parts willing, can take out a long-term lease. At the same time, ex-Falcon Favre prepares to start his 158th consecutive game for Green Bay, about two months away from passing Johnny Unitas and Joe Montana in career yardage. The only active pro athlete to start every game with the same team since September 1992, Favre has become the new Cal Ripken Jr.

Monday’s headline: “Falcons Let Another One Get Away”

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INDIANAPOLIS AT JACKSONVILLE

Kickoff: Sunday, 10 a.m.

The line: Indianapolis by 3 1/2

Quick slant: Tony Dungy brings Cover 2 scheme to Colts, replacing old Cover Nobody scheme.

Plot: Dungy knows defense; that was never a complaint in Tampa Bay. Dungy couldn’t win the big one--that’s what got him fired after another first-round playoff loss in January. For the record, Dungy was 2-4 in postseason games with the Buccaneers. For Indianapolis, that represented an upgrade over Jim Mora, who was winless in six playoff games with the Colts and Saints, and got fired after deciding the best way to overcome his inability to win in the postseason was to avoid the postseason altogether.

Monday’s headline: “Colt Fans Fret as Indy Looks Playoff-Bound Again”

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DETROIT AT MIAMI

Kickoff: Sunday, 10 a.m.

The line: Miami by 8

Quick slant: Ricky Williams, savior? Or still the guy who got Mike Ditka fired?

Plot: Dave Wannstedt becomes the latest ex-Bear to stake his coaching career on a big trade for Williams. Ditka sacrificed his entire 1999 draft for the right to draft Williams, and with it, not long afterward, his job with the New Orleans Saints. Now Wannstedt has taken the bait and the Dolphins are talking Super Bowl, conveniently ignoring these facts: a) Williams averaged 3.8 yards a carry in three seasons with the Saints; b) Williams never took the Saints any further than the second round of the playoffs; c) Jay Fiedler continues to quarterback the Dolphins.

Monday’s headline: “Fiedler Completes 21 of 22 Handoffs to Williams”

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PHILADELPHIA AT TENNESSEE

Kickoff: Sunday, 10 a.m.

The line: Tennessee by 1

Quick slant: Philadelphia at Adelphia, where the Titans not too long ago were unbeatable.

Plot: The overloaded Eagle bandwagon creaks into Adelphia Coliseum, where the 1999 AFC champions await. “This should be a heck of a game,” John Madden opines on ESPN.com. “It will be a real hittin’ game. Just the way the Eagles play defense and the Titans play defense, I could see this as a real good defensive game. It has hitting and turnovers written all over it.” And that’s why ABC is paying Madden the big bucks.

Monday’s headline: “Overrated Eagles Hit the Wall”

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ARIZONA AT WASHINGTON

Kickoff: Sunday, 10 a.m.

The line: Washington by 7

Quick slant: Another easy opener for Steve Spurrier, just like he scheduled them at Florida.

Plot: Western Michigan, Ball State, Marshall, the Arizona Cardinals. They all look the same to Spurrier, the new Redskin coach, who always liked his Gators easing into the season with a couple cupcakes early on the schedule. Look for him to flip these Birds, same as he has been doing to the rest of the league since the rest of the league told Spurrier you can’t win with Shane Matthews and Danny Wuerffel. One way or the other, Spurrier or the league, one of them is in for a lesson.

Monday’s headline: “Cardinals Accuse Spurrier of Running Up the Score”

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ST. LOUIS AT DENVER

Kickoff: Sunday, 1:15 p.m.

TV: Channel 11

The line: St. Louis by 3

Quick slant: Missing in action for months, the Greatest Show On Earth is rumored to make an appearance in Colorado.

Plot: Having had seven months to mull how in the world he lost the Super Bowl to New England, St. Louis Coach Mike Martz decided to close practice this week. Behind locked doors, Martz is rumored to have installed many unusual plays, including one that promises to stun everyone who watched the Rams in the Super Bowl. Listen up: The Rams are planning to hand the ball to Marshall Faulk. But keep it to yourself.

Monday’s headline: “Faulk Scores Four in Ram Rout”

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SEATTLE AT OAKLAND

Kickoff: Sunday, 1:15 p.m.

The line: Oakland by 7

Quick slant: One more get-together, for old times’ sake.

Plot: Before realignment dragged the Seahawks into the NFC, this was a fairly contentious AFC West rivalry, even after Rich Gannon landed in Oakland and Mike Holmgren hitched his reputation in Seattle to Matt Hasselbeck. With the Raiders graying and feuding, the Chargers rebuilding and the Chiefs and Broncos wondering about their quarterbacking, Holmgren might have liked his chances in the old neighborhood this season. Instead, he now gets to hold four post-defeat news conferences after games against St. Louis and San Francisco and explain how he plans to hold off Arizona for third place.

Monday’s headline: “Raiders Realign Seahawk Defense”

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NEW ORLEANS AT TAMPA BAY

Kickoff: Sunday, 1:15 p.m.

The line: Tampa Bay by 6

Quick slant: For Buccaneers, it’s the dawn of the Jon Gruden era. Or the Jon Gruden error.

Plot: Is any football coach worth two No. 1 and two No. 2 draft picks? The Buccaneers have banked the next decade or so on the hope of an affirmative answer, since those picks are long gone--Al Davis goes to sleep each night counting them--and Gruden has arrived in Tampa, determined to lead the league in underachieving quarterbacks named Johnson. Who will it be--Brad or Rob, Rob or Brad? The merry-go-round begins here, and the Buccaneers paid through the nose for a ticket to ride.

Monday’s headline: “Late Field Goal Saves Bucs; Gruden Vows Not to Sleep Again”

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DALLAS AT HOUSTON

Kickoff: Sunday, 5:30 p.m.

TV: ESPN

The line: Dallas by 8

Quick slant: This state’s not big enough for the two of them.

Plot: Everyone’s a little too excited about the new-kid Texans. Madden watched rookie David Carr play one half in the Hall of Fame game and was ready to start sculpting his bust for the museum. Sports Illustrated touted the Texan-Cowboy opener on its cover with the screaming headline, “War for Texas.” The Texans have issued 400 media credentials for the game and Carr, who really wouldn’t know, has likened the pregame frenzy in Houston to that of a Super Bowl. Everyone, simmer down now. The Cowboys are favored in a season opener for the first time since 1999, and as you will soon see, there are many good reasons for that.

Monday’s headline: “Hard Knocks Begin Early for Texans”

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PITTSBURGH AT NEW ENGLAND

Kickoff: Monday, 6 p.m.

TV: Channel 7

The line: Pittsburgh by 2 1/2

Quick slant: Patriots won Super Bowl seven months ago. Nobody quite believes it.

Plot: Yes, they are the reigning Super Bowl champions. Yes, they open the season at home, on Monday night, in brand-new, 68,000-seat Gillette Stadium. Yes, they re-signed their promising young quarterback and upgraded themselves at wide receiver and tight end. Yes, the Patriots are 2 1/2-point underdogs to the team they defeated on the road in last season’s AFC championship game. Memories are short in this league--didn’t Kordell Stewart throw three interceptions in that game, and isn’t Stewart back in the Steeler lineup, at least until the three-interception games start piling up again?

Tuesday’s headline: “Patriot Fans Want Respect; Steeler Fans Want Maddox”