KEVIN CADLE HAS been the face of Sky Sports’ NFL coverage for two decades and is set to get even busier with the broadcaster securing the rights to Thursday Night Football, the late Sunday Night Football game and Monday Night Football this season.
This week though, he faces his stiffest challenge to date when he goes head-to-head with The42 to pick five of this week’s NFL games (unfortunately the call dropped so we missed out on the final pick).
Here’s who they went for:
Pittsburgh Steelers v New England Patriots
Kevin Cadle: I just think New England. Being at home, all the stuff they’ve been through this offseason and Pittsburgh without one of the league’s best running backs and the number two receiver is out. The defence for the Steelers is still trying to find its feet at this time so yeah, the Patriots for me because there’s just more stability there at this time.
The42: I’m going to be really boring and go for the home team too. Since the NFL brought in this ‘Kickoff Game’ in 2002 the home team has won something like 10 out of 12 of them with the Giants the only hosts to lose (and they did it twice for good measure). The Patriots have questions on defence but the Steelers have too little on offence to threaten them in this one.
KC: What a way for John Fox to start his Bears career by hosting their number one divisional rival in the opening game. There are questions over the offensive line in Chicago and of course Green Bay go into this game without the injured Jordy Nelson. However, I think the Packers should win this one as they’re much more equipped to deal with adversity than the Bears.
42: This is another relatively easy pick as, despite the loss of Nelson, Green Bay still have Aaron Rodgers and any team with #12 at quarterback has a chance to win. I do think it’ll be a closer game than most expect — divisional games can be funny like that — but I still believe the Packers will have too much in hand.
Baltimore Ravens @ Denver Broncos
KC: There’s a change of emphasis in Denver and the last four years we’ve very much seen Peyton [Manning] throw left, Peyton throw right when the offence has had the ball. This year they’ve got CJ Anderson to give the ball to and I think the running backs will earn their money this season, especially behind a young offensive line. I think Baltimore are going to be a very good team this season but I’ll go for the Broncos in this game.
42: As anyone who read our AFC season preview will know, I don’t hold out much hope for Devner this season even if I love the moves they’ve made on defence. The Ravens look strong everywhere except their secondary and, if Manning is not going to throw the ball as much as usual, they should pick up the road win.
KC: The Giants must be the most injured team in the NFL this pre-season and we’ll just have to see how the season will unfold for them especially if guys keep going down. The secondary is going to be a big problem for them and they’ve no real pass rush either. The Cowboys have some promising rookies and we’ll just have to see what happens with the running back position but I still think Dallas win this game whoever is running the ball.
42: The Giants are not going to have a good season and it’s almost the perfect start for Dallas to see who will end up as the lead running back to replace DeMarco Murray. This one could be a bit of a struggle but I still see the Cowboys as having more weapons on both sides of the football and that’ll be enough to win by 8+ points.
Philadelphia Eagles @ Atlanta Falcons
KC: Chip Kelly’s offence does work in the NFL, he’s nothing to prove. He’s got rid of most of the guys he inherited from Andy Reid and is building his own team. If Sam Bradford can hold up — and there are questions over whether he can play 16 games — but if he does, the Eagles are in a great position in the NFC and I see them winning this game.
42: This is the toughest game of the weekend to pick for me because as much as I think the Eagles are going to the postseason this year, I also believe Atlanta are and, with Dan Quinn now the head coach, they should be able to match Philadelphia on defence. With home advantage, I going to go for the Falcons, but only just.
Sky Sports will show more than 100 NFL matches this season exclusively live starting with Patriots v Steelers, Thursday 10 September.
Pick Six: Sky Sports' Kevin Cadle v The42 - NFL week 1
KEVIN CADLE HAS been the face of Sky Sports’ NFL coverage for two decades and is set to get even busier with the broadcaster securing the rights to Thursday Night Football, the late Sunday Night Football game and Monday Night Football this season.
This week though, he faces his stiffest challenge to date when he goes head-to-head with The42 to pick five of this week’s NFL games (unfortunately the call dropped so we missed out on the final pick).
Here’s who they went for:
Pittsburgh Steelers v New England Patriots
Kevin Cadle: I just think New England. Being at home, all the stuff they’ve been through this offseason and Pittsburgh without one of the league’s best running backs and the number two receiver is out. The defence for the Steelers is still trying to find its feet at this time so yeah, the Patriots for me because there’s just more stability there at this time.
The42: I’m going to be really boring and go for the home team too. Since the NFL brought in this ‘Kickoff Game’ in 2002 the home team has won something like 10 out of 12 of them with the Giants the only hosts to lose (and they did it twice for good measure). The Patriots have questions on defence but the Steelers have too little on offence to threaten them in this one.
Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears
[image alt="" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2015/09/bears-packers-football-7-630x420.jpg" width="630" height="420" title="" class="aligncenter" /end]
KC: What a way for John Fox to start his Bears career by hosting their number one divisional rival in the opening game. There are questions over the offensive line in Chicago and of course Green Bay go into this game without the injured Jordy Nelson. However, I think the Packers should win this one as they’re much more equipped to deal with adversity than the Bears.
42: This is another relatively easy pick as, despite the loss of Nelson, Green Bay still have Aaron Rodgers and any team with #12 at quarterback has a chance to win. I do think it’ll be a closer game than most expect — divisional games can be funny like that — but I still believe the Packers will have too much in hand.
Baltimore Ravens @ Denver Broncos
KC: There’s a change of emphasis in Denver and the last four years we’ve very much seen Peyton [Manning] throw left, Peyton throw right when the offence has had the ball. This year they’ve got CJ Anderson to give the ball to and I think the running backs will earn their money this season, especially behind a young offensive line. I think Baltimore are going to be a very good team this season but I’ll go for the Broncos in this game.
42: As anyone who read our AFC season preview will know, I don’t hold out much hope for Devner this season even if I love the moves they’ve made on defence. The Ravens look strong everywhere except their secondary and, if Manning is not going to throw the ball as much as usual, they should pick up the road win.
New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys
[image src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2015/09/nfl-honors-football-630x400.jpg" width="630" height="400" credit-source="Kathy%20Willens%2FAP%2FPress%20Association%20Images" class="aligncenter" /end]
KC: The Giants must be the most injured team in the NFL this pre-season and we’ll just have to see how the season will unfold for them especially if guys keep going down. The secondary is going to be a big problem for them and they’ve no real pass rush either. The Cowboys have some promising rookies and we’ll just have to see what happens with the running back position but I still think Dallas win this game whoever is running the ball.
42: The Giants are not going to have a good season and it’s almost the perfect start for Dallas to see who will end up as the lead running back to replace DeMarco Murray. This one could be a bit of a struggle but I still see the Cowboys as having more weapons on both sides of the football and that’ll be enough to win by 8+ points.
Philadelphia Eagles @ Atlanta Falcons
KC: Chip Kelly’s offence does work in the NFL, he’s nothing to prove. He’s got rid of most of the guys he inherited from Andy Reid and is building his own team. If Sam Bradford can hold up — and there are questions over whether he can play 16 games — but if he does, the Eagles are in a great position in the NFC and I see them winning this game.
42: This is the toughest game of the weekend to pick for me because as much as I think the Eagles are going to the postseason this year, I also believe Atlanta are and, with Dan Quinn now the head coach, they should be able to match Philadelphia on defence. With home advantage, I going to go for the Falcons, but only just.
Sky Sports will show more than 100 NFL matches this season exclusively live starting with Patriots v Steelers, Thursday 10 September.
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