Here we go again.  It’s Go time!  The pretend games are over.  This week it counts.  We’ve got 17 weeks to sort them out and determine who came to play.  There’s nothing like week 1.  It’s like waking up starving, then shaving, showering, waiting for your spouse/significant other to get ready, and finally making it to the Shoney’s all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet.

Once again, this year, you can count on FantasySharks.com to help you find the French toast and steer clear of the fruit salad.  In other words, we’ll go over the games and give you some insight into which games show the most promise for pure football viewing entertainment.  Let’s take a look at who might get dipped in egg this weekend…

Top Shelf

Oakland at Tennessee                                Sun. September 7 @ 8:30pm ET on ESPN

Summary:  Rematch of last year’s AFC Championship game.  This one will determine what kind of season each of these teams will have (not really, but it’ll be a good game).

Hot Tip:  Jerry Porter and Drew Bennett will both play a much bigger part in their team’s passing game this year.  Porter will get more press but the game is played on the field…

In this AFC Championship game rematch, both teams will look very similar to last year’s team.  Both teams think they can win the Super Bowl and don’t want to wait another year.  These teams know each other very well by this point so look for the team that prepared the best during the off-season to prevail.

Also on Tap

Tampa Bay at Philadelphia                        Mon. September 8 @ 9:00pm ET on ABC

Summary:  Rematch of last year’s NFC Championship game.  Many are saying these two teams will meet there again this year.

Hot Tip: This is Donovan McNabb’s first regular season game since returning from last year’s injury.  He’s definitely not a sleeper but he’s definitely fun to watch.

Two more teams that have gotten to know each other well over the past couple of years.  Both teams put a big emphasis on defense.  The Eagles lost Hugh Douglas, Blaine Bishop, Shawn Barber and Levon Kirkland in the off-season.  How the defense responds to these changes will go a long way toward determining Philly’s success this year.  No matter what, the first MNF of the year in a brand new stadium is always fun to watch.

New England at Buffalo                              Sun. September 7 @ 1:00pm ET on CBS

Summary:  A great way to start off the season.

Hot Tip: Travis Henry will get the honor of being the first RB to test the new New England 3-4 defense.

Both of these teams deserved to be in the playoffs last year.  Neither one was.  There’s never a need for additional motivation when these two teams meet, but with Lawyer Milloy joining Drew Bledsoe in Buffalo this past week, there’s plenty of drama.  However, the Patriots will be happy to hear people talking about their passing D instead of their rushing D for once.