Starting Over

The NFL season begins Thursday when the New York Jets play at Washington, the team that plucked four key players off New York’s roster in the off-season. Nearly four months later, on Dec. 27, San Francisco’s Terrell Owens faces Seattle, the team he galled last season when he caught a touchdown pass, pulled a pen from his sock and autographed the ball for someone in the stands.

In between, this season is all about the three Rs: Revenge, Redemption and Rubbing it in.

From Emmitt to Vinny, Jake to Kurt, Kordell to Mooch, players and coaches -- even ridiculed officials -- all over the league are ready to prove they still have what it takes, to leave their critics pummeled, pouting and punk’d.

So pull out your Sharpies and circle these games:

WEEK 1 -- New England at Buffalo: Mr. Bledsoe, this is Mr. Belichick. Mr. Belichick, this is Mr. Bledsoe. Oh, you’ve met?

Drew Bledsoe is nearing Doug Flutie status in Buffalo, but the Bill quarterback was thoroughly embarrassed last season by his former team. Patriot Coach Bill Belichick absolutely outfoxed him at Foxboro, drawing up a slew of confusing defensive looks, one of which featured no down linemen. Bledsoe’s stats the last time he played the Patriots: 22 of 51 for 328 yards ... and four interceptions.

WEEK 2 -- Dallas at New York Giants: Bill Parcells kicks off his My, You Look Familiar Tour against the team he coached to two Super Bowl titles. Later, he plays at the Jets (Sept. 28), Tampa Bay (Oct. 26) and New England (Nov. 16). He coached the Jets and Patriots, and jilted the Buccaneers after agreeing to an offer. Rotten eggs incoming!

WEEK 3 -- Oakland at Denver: If the Broncos are determined to prove their mastermind, Mike Shanahan, was worth his enormous contract extension, and their new quarterback, Jake Plummer, isn’t your everyday Griese kid stuff, then this is the game to do it. The Raiders beat them in Denver last year, ending a losing streak in Denver that started in 1995.

WEEK 4 -- Green Bay at Chicago: This will be the debut of the new Soldier Field, or “2003: A Space Oddity.” With its mix of old and new, it has been described variously as interesting modern art, a Martian ship that crash-landed on the lakeshore and a futuristic toilet. A toilet, Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey noted, is better than a urinal -- which is what the old stadium smelled like. The place hasn’t even opened, and already it’s in need of redemption.

WEEK 5 -- Arizona at Dallas: Cardinal running back Emmitt Smith returns to play the team that helped make him the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, then cut him loose. Smith told Sports Illustrated he felt like “a diamond surrounded by trash” last season. The Cowboys are out to prove Smith is a non-recyclable. This grudge game barely beats out the one happening in San Francisco the same day, where former 49er coach Steve Mariucci brings the Detroit Lions for a visit.

WEEK 6 -- Atlanta at St. Louis: The Rams make their “Monday Night Football” debut, and Kurt Warner gets a chance to show the nation he has awakened from the nightmare of last season, when he suffered a broken pinkie on his throwing hand, another broken bone in the same hand upon his return, and a broken record for his personal all-time-low passer rating: 67.4, compared with 101.4 the season before.

WEEK 7 -- Kansas City at Oakland: It’s the only Monday night game of the season for Kansas City, and it’s a good chance for the nation to see whether Chief Coach Dick Vermeil can work his third-year magic. Vermeil, remember, got the Eagles to the Super Bowl in his third season, then won it all with St. Louis in his third season. The Chiefs haven’t been to the playoffs since 1997 and last won a postseason game in 1993.

WEEK 8 -- Denver at Baltimore: This game was supposed to be a Monday night laugher last season, pitting undefeated Denver against the winless Ravens, who had mustered seven points in two games. Well, it was a laugher, only it was Baltimore busting a gut. The Ravens scored 31 by halftime and won, 34-23. Some memorable moments the Broncos might like to forget: their defense’s five penalties in six plays to set up a Baltimore touchdown, and a record 108-yard touchdown return by Chris McAlister on the Broncos’ botched field-goal try.

WEEK 9 -- Green Bay at Minnesota: The Metrodome has been one of the hardest places for Brett Favre to play, but maybe that ear-splitting noise will drown out all the trash Viking defensive tackle Chris Hovan is talking. Hovan and the Packer quarterback are locked in one of the league’s most colorful feuds. “Five or six years from now he’ll go, ‘God, what an idiot I was,’ ” Favre said this summer. Responded Hovan: “Yeah, I’m an idiot. I don’t need Brett Favre to tell me that.”

WEEK 10 -- New York Jets at Oakland: After last season’s loss at Oakland, the Jets accused the Raiders of holding. No matter which side you’re on, you can’t deny that the Raiders have held the Jets back, eliminating them from the playoffs in consecutive seasons. Last season, the soda machine in the interview room even rejected Chad Pennington’s dollar bill. Oh, the indignity.

WEEK 11 -- New York Jets at Indianapolis: If there’s anyone deserving of redemption it’s Colt quarterback Peyton Manning, who has yet to win a playoff game. Indianapolis players were incensed last season when ESPN analyst Sean Salisbury called the Colts “soft.” But who were they to argue after the Jets crushed them, 41-0, in the postseason?

WEEK 12 -- Pittsburgh at Cleveland: Tommy Maddox, last season’s comeback player of the year, had a comeback for the ages in a playoff game against Cleveland. He threw three second-half touchdown passes as the Steelers overcame a 17-point deficit to win, 36-33 -- the consummate Heinz catch-up. He can expect a warm welcome from the Dawg Pound.

WEEK 13 -- Green Bay at Detroit: This Thanksgiving Day game pits fiercely competitive friends Mariucci and Favre, who worked closely in Green Bay for several years when Mariucci was quarterback coach. On those game days when the tundra was frozen, Mariucci used to conduct quarterback meetings in the sauna (the visiting locker room at Lambeau didn’t have one).

WEEK 14 -- Houston at Jacksonville: Without question, one of the lowest points of Tom Coughlin’s coaching career in Jacksonville came when his Jaguars lost at home to expansion Houston, 21-19. After the game, a Jacksonville fan spit on him. Anyone trying to spit on new Coach Jack Del Rio had better be sitting in the upper deck with an escape route at the ready.

WEEK 15 -- Buffalo at Tennessee: This is the first regular-season return of the Bills since the Music City Miracle, the spectacular -- and controversial -- 75-yard kickoff return that helped Tennessee reach the Super Bowl after the 1999 season.

WEEK 16 -- Atlanta at Tampa Bay: The Buccaneers limited Michael Vick to 16 yards rushing last season and absolutely thrashed him in Tampa. At one point, with two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Vick’s passer rating was a bottom-scraping 19.5. “The talk all week was, ‘How do you stop Michael Vick? How do you stop Michael Vick?’ ” Tampa Bay Coach Jon Gruden said at the time. “I didn’t hear anybody in America say, ‘How do you go up against this defense?’ ”

Memo to Gruden: Everyone’s saying it now.

WEEK 17 -- Pittsburgh at Baltimore: At a recent charity event where he was the keynote speaker, Raven Coach Brian Billick told the crowd he was so excited about this game because it’s the one that will clinch the AFC North for Baltimore. The Steelers got word of that and they’re not happy about it.

Hey, Brian, ever heard of the three Rs?