SUNDAY FUNDAY: Patriots fans will have all the feels

Week 1 of the NFL season is going to be a weird one for everybody, but especially in New England with a changing of the guard ... err, quarterback. Plus, we’ve got your NFL picks for the week.

This is a weird day for New England Patriots fans.

First off, Sunday wasn’t even supposed to happen. COVID-19 was going to crush professional sports and we weren’t going to get them back.

But here we are, ready for Week 1 of the NFL season. The Patriots are going to play in an incredibly empty Gillette Stadium that’s actually going to have fewer people in it than the 1990 team that went 1-15. The 2020 Pats should be better than that.

Or will they? It’s probably a good thing Gillette will be empty because I’m not quite sure how fans would react when No. 1 runs out of the tunnel instead of No. 12. Awkward excitement? Half-hearted cheers? Or just absolute insanity because football is football?

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A Sunday where Tom Brady wasn’t quarterback of the New England Patriots was a day most of the national media pined for. This was when the Patriots would be exposed as a fraud that hid behind the best quarterback in NFL history, when their bandwagon fans would show their true colors and when they can finally become a laughingstock.

But is it going to happen? We’ll find out. Cam Newton is still in his prime years and he’s still has MVP potential. Everyone in the organization seems to love his energy and attitude and if that infects the locker room, maybe this thing actually works.

For the first time since 2001, the Patriots enter the NFL season as a question mark. Nothing is for certain, other than they’re definitely playing Week 1 and that’s when – unlike seasons past, when you had to wait for the postseason – is when the drama starts.

Now as the best high school football prognosticator Rhode Island’s ever had (self appointed), I’m going to try my hand at NFL games. This is mainly for entertainment purposes - both mine and the readers - so don’t run off to Twin River with a mortgage payment in hand quite yet.

Lines are taken from ESPN.com and, for the record, I had Kansas City and the over at 52.5 Thursday night so the season couldn’t have started off better. I should quit while I’m ahead, but I don’t know any better.

On to the picks.

MIAMI at NEW ENGLAND (-7, O/U 42)

The unbiased journalist in me says this is a close, low-scoring game. The fanboy in me says Cam Newton’s gonna light up the scoreboard like it’s the Fourth of July.

THE PICK: Patriots 28, Dolphins 20

SEATTLE at ATLANTA (-1, O/U 48.5)

Lots at stake for Russell Wilson here. Playing in his wife’s baby mama’s hometown? Better show up in a big way here.

THE PICK: Seahawks 30, Falcons 20

NEW YORK JETS at BUFFALO (-6.5, O/U 39)

If the Jets can’t beat themselves it’s hard to see how they’re going to win a game this year.

THE PICK: Bills 24, Jets 6

CHICAGO AT DETROIT (-3, O/U 42.0)

Bears fans already miserable hitting Week 1 after seeing Pat Mahomes and DeShaun Watson – two QBs they could have drafted instead of Mitch Trubisky – battle in Thursday’s opener. This game won’t make them feel better.

THE PICK: Lions 20, Bears 17

GREEN BAY at MINNESOTA (-2.5, O/U 45)

The headliners should be Aaron Rodgers vs. Kirk Cousins, but this game’s going to be all about Dalvin Cook vs. Aaron Jones, two of the best backs in the NFL.

THE PICK: Vikings 24, Packers 20

PHILADELPHIA at WASHINGTON (+6, O/U 42)

No fans in the stands for the Football Team, which would be true even if they were allowed in the stands this year. They stink.

THE PICK: Eagles 38, Football Team 0

LAS VEGAS at CAROLINA (+3, O/U 48)

It’s only going to be a matter of time before every defensive coordinator in the NFL wises up and starts running the "cover Christian McCaffrey at all costs" plan against the Panthers.

THE PICK: Raiders 27, Panthers 10

INDIANAPOLIS at JACKSONVILLE (+7.5, O/U 45)

What happens first – Jaguars win a game or Chiefs lose one?

THE PICK: Colts 35, Jaguars 7

CLEVELAND at BALTIMORE (-7, O/U 47.5)

It’s so fitting Odell Beckham plays for the Browns and if you don’t get that joke you were not on Twitter this week.

THE PICK: Ravens 28, Browns 14

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS at CINCINNATI (+3, O/U 41)

Another year of Hard Knocks, another year of me being overly confident in how good that team is going to be.

THE PICK: Chargers 24, Bengals 10

TAMPA BAY at NEW ORLEANS (-3.5, O/U 48)

This might be a tough one for Patriots fans to watch, but now when Tom Brady looks old and slow everyone in an offense that might not fit him at 43, everyone can say ‘Belichick did it again.’

THE PICK: Saints 33, Buccaneers 20

ARIZONA at SAN FRANCISCO (-7, 48)

The 49ers were the surprise team of 2019. The Cardinals are about the be the surprise team of 2020.

THE PICK: Cardinals 24, 49ers 19

DALLAS at LOS ANGELES RAMS (+2, 51.5)

For years the Cowboys have performed woefully in a patently mediocre NFC East. This year there’s no excuses. Super Bowl or bust for the ’Boys this year.

THE PICK: Cowboys 28, Rams 27

erueb@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @EricRueb