Steve Brownlee

Jeez, just when baseball season was starting to get good again.

Here we are with another NFL season and as I take an inventory of Michigan and Wisconsin pro sports teams, almost everything is coming up roses. That’s ALMOST everything.

First off, you’ve had fun all season if you’re a Milwaukee baseball fan watching your Brewers — who had fairly low expectations after Craig Counsell bolted south down the lakeshore to the Chicago Cubs — first jump out ahead then open the biggest division lead in the majors.

Even the Detroit Tigers, mired a bit under .500 for much of the summer, have vaulted themselves back into the wild-card race, well, kind of, by plowing through the last-place White Sox and California — oops, Los Angeles — Angels.

Then there’s the Detroit Red Wings, who only missed the NHL playoffs last spring due to a tiebreaker, and the Milwaukee Bucks, who as long as they have Giannis Antetokounmpo — sorry, I have to brag I can spell his name without looking it up now — are championship contenders.

If it was only for the lowly Detroit Pistons, then EVERY team in our two fair states would be in that rose garden. Aaah, maybe there’s hope for the Pistons if they put up a lineup of nothing but top-five draft picks by about 2030.

But now it’s time to turn to football. Some colleges have already played two weeks, while the NFL still finds time to play three preseason games, or four in the case of the Chicago Bears, the only four-win team this preseason.

And while the Green Bay Packers have missed nary a beat in the transition from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love, the Detroit Lions tripled their playoff win total of my lifetime in a span of seven days in January. For those who want an exact count, that’s going from one win to three since their last NFL title in 1957.

All of this buildup is my way of softening my worries about both our pro football teams for this first week of the season as each faces pretty stiff competition in their openers, no matter continent they’re playing on.

Without further ado, let’s look at a full slate of games:

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Tonight, 8:20 p.m.

Baltimore at Kansas City — This is a rematch of the AFC championship game, except that the Ravens were the home team in January.

That would certainly bode well for the Chiefs, now that they’re at home, and without paying much attention to the preseason, I’m thinking KC coach Andy Reid will remind his troops about what happened in Week 1 last year when the Lions went into KC and won when the home team didn’t have Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce. Chiefs, 31-26.

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Friday, 8:15 p.m.

Green Bay vs. Philadelphia — One nice thing about playing a game abroad in the Western Hemisphere is that the time zone difference is either minor or nonexistent. In this case, the world clock on the my phone tells me that Sao Paulo, Brazil, is actually one hour ahead of us, which seemed odd until I looked at a hemisphere map and saw that almost all of South America is slightly east of North America.

The things I learn in this job!

But what sucks, especially for you Green Bay fans but even for us regular fans of the whole NFL and especially the NFC North Division, is that this game will NOT be on any broadcast TV from what I’m reading.

A Google search of “Will the Packer game in Brazil be televised?” comes back with “The game will stream exclusively on Peacock” with a few words about the teams and their quarterbacks.

Somewhere else it says you can watch on Amazon Prime Video in 2024, which I don’t think helps much for us cable TV subscribers. Exactly what am I paying $150 or $175 a month for my internet and cable then?

There’s always radio, I suppose, with 94.9 FM (WUPZ) and 97.1 FM (WGLQ) carrying it, along with stations in Houghton and Iron Mountain if you live closer to those areas.

And I see a rebroadcast of the game will be on the NFL Network — at 3:30 a.m. Saturday, then again at 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. that day.

Anyway, I’m deathly afraid to pick the Eagles against anybody any good right away after the debacle that their second half of last season turned into. If you remember, the Eagles went from 10-1 at Thanksgiving to being able to say they lost to every team they played after that. Their only win down the stretch was against the lousy New York Giants, who they also lost to two weeks later to end the regular season.

And then there was a 32-9 loss to barely-above-.500 Tampa Bay to open the playoffs that mercifully ended that season.

So give me the Packers, 33-21.

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Sunday, 1 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Atlanta — Now onto normal games. For the Steelers, I don’t like the idea of bringing their two retread quarterbacks into a loud dome for their first real game. And while the Pittsburgh defense may be stout, I don’t know if it will be able to limit Atlanta to few enough points with Kirk Cousins at QB and a fleet of talented receivers. Falcons, 20-13.

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Arizona at Buffalo — If this wasn’t a 10 a.m. Arizona time game for the Cardinals, they would be an intriguing pick. But even with Buffalo’s roster somewhat gutted, I can’t pick against ’em. Bills, 24-19.

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Tennessee at Chicago — I understand Titans QB Will Levis is supposed to get better help from a new offensive coordinator — or something like that. But until the league gets a read on Chi-town QB Caleb Williams, he can get off to a fast start. Bears, 27-23.

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New England at Cincinnati — Even if all the rest of the Bengals receivers don’t show up in support of “hold-in” Ja’Marr Chase, I’d still pick the home team. Since that won’t likely happen, make it Bengals, 34-20.

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Houston at Indianapolis — How can I support the Colts after they cut Northern Michigan University grad and Yooper native Jake Witt from the regular squad? Nah, I try to be a bit more objective than that, and I’ll drink the Kool-Aid Houston served us last year. Texans, 28-20.

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Jacksonville at Miami — Normally, I like to favor the Dolphins when they’re playing at home in September. You know, all that heat and humidity when it’s still technically summer. But considering they’re playing another Florida team, I’ll just let that advantage go this week.

Instead, I just like all the weapons that Miami head coach Mike McDaniel and QB Tua Tagovailoa (I did have to look up that spelling) have at their disposal. Dolphins, 35-27.

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Carolina at New Orleans — Apparently, the Panthers have improved themselves enough to only be called one of the dregs of the league, a vast improvement from being the worst in the league by a country mile. Facing another dreg, I like the Super Dome advantage here. Saints, 24-22.

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Minnesota at New York Giants — The Giants are supposed to be better on offense with QB Daniel Jones finally healthy again. But how long will that last without stud running back Saquon Barkley now gone to Philly?

The Vikings might get off to a faster start without being tempted to play rookie J.J. McCarthy out of the Michigan Wolverines as he is injured and done for the season. It might set back his progress and Minnesota’s in the long run, but having a tested QB — even if he’s ex-Jet Sam Darnold — probably bodes well for early in the season. Vikings, 32-24.

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Sunday, 4 p.m.

Las Vegas at Los Angeles Chargers — This whole matchup I still have a hard time getting used to. “Las Vegas”? “Los Angeles Chargers”? Who are these people?

OK, give me the team coached by Jim Harbaugh and quarterbacked by Justin Herbert, even if the latter’s foot health is a bit in question. Chargers, 30-24.

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Denver at Seattle — I figure I have to go out on a limb on one of these games, and this looks like as good a matchup as any. I expect the Seahawks are the favorites here, but with Sean Payton getting another year to get his system in and rookie QB Bo Nix looking good, give me the Broncos, 23-20.

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Dallas at Cleveland — Despite being at home, I can see picking the Browns as an upset special.

Nah — I keep hearing the QB Deshaun Watson is improving because he’s healthy. But I haven’t heard anything about him improving because he’s actually becoming a better player. As disappointing as Dallas is in the playoffs, they shine in the regular season. Cowboys, 27-23.

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Washington at Tampa Bay — OK, here’s the Florida game in September I was thinking of earlier, with a Mid-Atlantic (I think that Washington’s region) team coming south in the stifling heat.

I found a website titled “10 Bold Predictions for 2024 Buccaneers Season.” I was hoping it would be somewhat balanced with a bold prediction that Tampa could win the NFC South with a losing record like what happened when the Bucs won it with an 8-9 mark in 2022, not the first time the entire division has been below .500.

Instead, it was the usual promotional fluff, capped off by their funniest bold prediction — “Bucs will make the NFC championship game.” Yah, right.

Still, with Baker Mayfield at the helm, I think a gritty Tampa bunch can upend the Commanders trying to get their feet under them with rookie QB Jayden Daniels. Buccaneers, 20-16.

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Sunday, 8:20 p.m.

Los Angeles Rams at Detroit — Thought I’d forgotten this one, didn’t ya? The Lions reap the spoils of success, now getting a bunch of prime-time games just like the Packers have been used to for years.

I don’t think it bodes well that Detroit beat the Rams at Ford Field in the playoffs last winter, even if it was a 24-23 squeaker. Too easy to get complacent and all the stuff like that.

Despite that, with the Rams losing Aaron Donald on defense to retirement and Detroit coach Dan Campbell getting the troops fired up, I’ll pick ’em again in another squeaker. Lions, 29-28.

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Monday, 8:15 p.m.

New York Jets at San Francisco — I’m tempted to say I get nauseous every time I hear ESPN and Fox Sports TV pundits like Mike Greenberg explain how their beloved Jets are going to pull out this win.

I can only be tempted to say that, though, because if I ever actually started getting nauseous by those comments, I’d pick another one of the 200 or so cable TV channels I can watch sitting or laying down on my couch.

My bold prediction here is that I think Aaron Rodgers will get to at least the fifth snap this season — no guarantees after that. Give me the 49ers, 31-23.

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Last season: Regular season — 174-98, 64 percent. Playoffs — 9-4, 69 percent.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 552. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.