NFL Viewer's Guide for Week 1: Ranking the Matchups and Predictions

Each week we'll be counting down the weekend games in terms of viewer appeal and later share our predictions — confidence pool style.

As usual, there are several intriguing matchups on the schedule and we've ranked them (in reverse order) based on the expect quality of the game along with Dolphins-related impact, if applicable.

COUNTDOWN OF THE BEST GAMES

15. Jacksonville at Houston, 1 p.m. ET: There really isn't anything compelling about this matchup except, of course, the NFL debut of top overall pick Trevor Lawrence. But the Texans should be bad in 2021 — as in, really bad.

14. Denver at N.Y. Giants, 4:25 p.m. ET: This game is about the expected appearance of Giants running back Saquon Barkley, but it's not an appealing matchup.

13. N.Y. Jets at Carolina, 1 p.m. ET: More than the angle of Sam Darnold going against his former team, it's going to be interesting to get a first look at how the Jets might look under new head coach Robert Saleh.

12. San Francisco at Detroit, 1 p.m. ET: There are two intriguing factors at play here. The first is the 49ers QB situation with Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance, and of course there's the Lions debut of former Dolphins interim head coach Dan Campbell.

11. Minnesota at Cincinnati, 1 p.m. ET: Joe Burrow becomes his comeback season, and he obviously will be somebody of interest for Dolphins fans considering he was in the same draft class as Tua Tagovailoa.

10. Arizona at Tennessee, 1 p.m. ET: This is a game matchup between teams with a lot of star power, including two of the top wide receivers in the league — DeAndre Hopkins and Julio Jones.

9. Chicago at L.A. Rams, 8:20 p.m. ET: We put this matchup this high because it's the Sunday night opener and the Bears bear watching (pun intended) because everyone wants to see how long it takes Matt Nagy

8. Philadelphia at Atlanta, 1 p.m. ET: From a Dolphins standpoint, this will be interesting to watch rookies DeVonta Smith (Eagles) and Kyle Pitts (Falcons), two guys of interest around draft time.

7. Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 1 p.m. ET: This is one of several matchups featuring two 2020 playoff teams. It also will mark the NFL debut of Steelers running back Najee Harris, another player who some had linked to the Dolphins around draft time.

6. Seattle at Indianapolis, 1 p.m. ET: The Carson Wentz era begins in Indianapolis, and how he performs could go a long way toward determining what kind of season the Colts could have in 2021.

5. Baltimore at Las Vegas, Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET: The Ravens probably can't wait until game time the way they keep losing players of significance to serious injuries. At this time, it could be Le'Veon Bell or Latavius Murray at running back for Baltimore, but the Ravens obviously still have Lamar Jackson.

4. Green Bay at New Orleans, 4:25 p.m. ET: The post-Drew Brees era begins for the Saints with Jameis Winston running the New Orleans offense in a game in Jacksonville. And, of course, there's Aaron Rodgers and what is expected to be (might be?) his last rodeo in Green Bay.

3. Miami at New England: There's a lot of intrigue in this matchup and some great connections, with Flores-Belichick, Tua-Mac Jones, the McCourty twins, and all the players going against their former team. Oh, and the teams are expected to do battle for second place behind Buffalo.

2. L.A. Chargers at Washington: There isn't a better QB matchup when it comes to Dolphins angles here, with Justin Herbert going against former Miami starter Ryan Fitzpatrick. These two teams also are expected to be playoff contenders.

1. Cleveland at Kansas City: This clearly is the game of the week and there ain't a close second. In fact, this game pits two of the three teams all 28 SI Fan Nation team publishers/editors predicted as the AFC representatives for the Super Bowl.

GAME PREDICTIONS

In a different way of doing this, here are projected winners, and they are ranked in order of confidence that the projection will be accurate with No. 1 being the most confident. Note that the Dolphins game will not be included in this exercise; the Dolphins prediction will come in a Saturday column.

1. L.A. Rams over Chicago

2. San Francisco over Detroit

3. Tennessee over Arizona

4. Buffalo over Pittsburgh

5. Atlanta over Philadelphia

6. Kansas City over Cleveland

7. Washington over L.A. Chargers

8. Denver over N.Y. Giants

9. Jacksonville over Houston

10. Minnesota over Cincinnati

11. Carolina over N.Y. Jets

12. Green Bay over New Orleans

13. Baltimore over Las Vegas

14. Indianapolis over Seattle