Keep in mind week one is usually the most competitive......

[HacheMan]

Keep in mind week one is usually the most competitive. It's a brand new year for eveyone, and even the lousiest teams from the previous year have high hopes and usually put up a fight in their "new beginning", or new season of hope. It usually takes about 3 weeks before the worst teams step forward with large L's on their foreheads.

 

[Gridster]

This is true, although I'd extend it to week 6. I don't think there's much difference in talent among the 32 teams. Just organization, coaching and chemistry, and some prejudice among officials. You're going to see a lot of upsets in the first third of the season, lots of 7-10 point dogs winning outright, before they lose confident in the staff and their fellow players later in the season.

 

[FairWarning]

Remember the Panthers won at Minn. as a 12 point dog? They didn't win a game the rest of the season.

 

[HacheMan]

Exactly Fairwarning.......Like I mentioned before, All teams come into the new season expecting success, or "turning it around" if they were lousy the year before. This is solid proof that emotion plays huge in handicapping games such as this, revenge factors, etc.