The NFL is again. Listed below are 3 huge questions because the season kicks off : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5343x3563+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdd%2Fe6%2Fe364f6f941c08ee126b706655d9c%2Fgettyimages-2198581335-1.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5343x3563+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdd%2Fe6%2Fe364f6f941c08ee126b706655d9c%2Fgettyimages-2198581335-1.jpg" class="img" alt="The NFL season is here and the league has made its season kickoff a weekend-long event, with a season opener hosted by the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles against the Dallas Cowboys Thursday night followed by three more primetime matchups on Friday, Sunday and Monday." fetchpriority="high"/> The NFL season is right here and the league has made its season kickoff a weekend-long occasion, with a season opener hosted by the Tremendous Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles in opposition to the Dallas Cowboys Thursday evening adopted by three extra primetime matchups on Friday, Sunday and Monday. Patrick Smith/Getty Photographs disguise caption

toggle caption

Patrick Smith/Getty Photographs The NFL season is right here, and what a begin: The league has made its season kickoff a weekend-long occasion, with a season opener hosted by the Tremendous Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles in opposition to the Dallas Cowboys Thursday evening adopted by three extra primetime matchups on Friday, Sunday and Monday, every pitting collectively two Tremendous Bowl hopefuls in matchups with loads of narrative intrigue.

This season, the league's ever-expanding quest to win followers and screens worldwide will embody a record-setting seven worldwide video games, together with new host cities Dublin and Berlin, and video games broadcast solely on 4 totally different streaming platforms — together with the returns of Prime Video's Black Friday sport and Netflix's Christmas doubleheader — alongside the same old weekly TV lineups on Fox, CBS, NBC, and ESPN.

And this week, after pop star Taylor Swift's Instagram-breaking engagement announcement to Kansas Metropolis Chiefs superstar tight finish Travis Kelce (the ninth most favored put up on Instagram ever), NFL commissioner Roger Goodell coyly declined to disclaim the potential for a Swift halftime present on the Tremendous Bowl.

"It is a perhaps," Goodell mentioned with a smile on the Right this moment present.

What's not a perhaps: Soccer is again, and with it the storylines and drama of a brand new season about to unfold. Learn on for 3 huge questions looming over the beginning of the 12 months.

Does the commerce heard around the world make the Inexperienced Bay Packers Tremendous Bowl favorites? For followers of the Cowboys, this season is already a nightmare. In genuinely beautiful information final week, the Cowboys traded away their largest star, the 26-year-old defensive finish Micah Parsons, to the Inexperienced Bay Packers after negotiations over a contract extension had fallen aside.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4939x3327+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F50%2Ffa%2F90450a124e789b9ce61d8c459a46%2Fgettyimages-2232776924.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4939x3327+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F50%2Ffa%2F90450a124e789b9ce61d8c459a46%2Fgettyimages-2232776924.jpg" class="img" alt="Former Dallas Cowboy Micah Parsons speaks to the media during a press conference last week after being traded to the Green Bay Packers." loading="lazy"/> Former Dallas Cowboy Micah Parsons speaks to the media throughout a press convention final week after being traded to the Inexperienced Bay Packers. Jayden Mack/Getty Photographs disguise caption

toggle caption

Jayden Mack/Getty Photographs Often, in sports activities, it is a dangerous factor when a crew sends away its finest participant when that participant is within the prime of their taking part in profession. This was not an exception. (And the ache is double for Dallas followers, whose Mavericks inexplicably traded away the generational star Luka Doncic again in February.)

The Packers, in return, despatched Dallas two future first-round draft picks and defensive lineman Kenny Clark. "These draft picks may get us prime, Professional-Bowl-type gamers," crew proprietor Jerry Jones informed reporters afterward.

However there's an apparent downside with that logic. The Packers are a great crew, which means their first-round picks are prone to be towards the tip of the spherical. The chances of drafting a starting-caliber participant (not to mention a Professional Bowler) late within the first spherical are basically a coin toss. To not point out, in fact, that these picks have been already a "Professional-Bowl-type participant" in Micah Parsons, who's been named a Professional Bowler in every of his 4 seasons within the NFL to this point.

For the Packers, the Parsons commerce was Christmas in August. The Packers have been already darkish home Tremendous Bowl contenders. Now, Parsons instantly ranges up the Inexperienced Bay protection, placing the remainder of the NFC on discover. They're now within the combine for NFC betting favorites proper alongside the Eagles and final 12 months's top-seed Detroit Lions (who meet the Packers Sunday for a high-stakes Week 1 matchup).

Which second-year quarterbacks will take a leap ahead … and which can step again? By no means earlier than final 12 months have been so many quarterbacks chosen so early within the NFL Draft. A report six quarterbacks have been chosen within the first 12 picks, from Caleb Williams to the Chicago Bears by way of Bo Nix with the Denver Broncos. All however one (J.J. McCarthy of the Minnesota Vikings, who suffered a season-ending knee harm earlier than final season started) noticed the sphere final season — and all of them confirmed promise, together with final 12 months's Offensive Rookie of the Yr winner Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders.

Now, for these six gamers — who make up practically 20% of the league's starters — a important Yr 2 is on deck. However ahead progress is not a assure lately, because the affected person growth of quarterbacks appears to have turn into a factor of the previous within the NFL.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7111x4710+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2F39%2Fa65666f3425499f3b5aa515b0d03%2Fgettyimages-2230882817.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7111x4710+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2F39%2Fa65666f3425499f3b5aa515b0d03%2Fgettyimages-2230882817.jpg" class="img" alt="Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels celebrates after rushing for a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals during a preseason game last month. Daniels, last year's Offensive Rookie of the Year winner, hopes to build on his success this year." loading="lazy"/> Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels celebrates after speeding for a landing in opposition to the Cincinnati Bengals throughout a preseason sport final month. Daniels, final 12 months's Offensive Rookie of the Yr winner, hopes to construct on his success this 12 months. Greg Fiume/Getty Photographs disguise caption

toggle caption

Greg Fiume/Getty Photographs One exception is Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell, who has repeatedly proven he can carry out one of the best in quarterbacks who've floundered with different groups, like Sam Darnold and Josh Dobbs. That bodes nicely for McCarthy, as does the Vikings' top-tier receiving expertise — together with the celebrity Justin Jefferson — who can assist compensate for newbie errors.

For leaps ahead, look to Nix, who proved he has a stable basis to construct on with a low sack charge and nice arm power, and Drake Maye, whose Patriots labored to enhance the items round him on offense in the course of the offseason. In the meantime, any record of regression candidates has to incorporate Daniels, who was glorious final season however whose Washington Commanders may have a tricky time repeating that 12-5 report in opposition to a harder schedule this season. The Atlanta Falcons' Michael Penix undoubtedly has a giant arm, however his accuracy points stay a query mark.

Perhaps the largest wild card is Williams, who got here right into a chaotic state of affairs in Chicago final 12 months and misplaced his offensive coordinator, then his head coach, earlier than the tip of November. Then the Bears made the splashiest teaching rent of the offseason by bringing in Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. That is loads of change for Williams, who has to start out once more from the bottom up in Yr 2. "It is totally different — an entire new playbook, totally different terminology, totally different reads, totally different footwork, various things like that," he informed reporters in July. "With the ability to deal with all of it is what we receives a commission to do."

Williams and McCarthy will every get their season premiere within the vivid lights when their groups meet on Monday Night time Soccer. Circle that one.

Is that this the 12 months one other AFC contender lastly breaks the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs' grip on the convention? The Buffalo Payments and Baltimore Ravens are powerhouses with MVP-winning quarterbacks on the helm. Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and the Cincinnati Bengals are due for a rebound season after lacking the playoffs final 12 months. The Denver Broncos have made leaps with Nix on the helm. The Los Angeles Chargers are in 12 months two of the Jim Harbaugh turnaround plan. The Pittsburgh Steelers, with 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers beneath middle, are a wild card contender. The Houston Texans must be improved, as ought to the Las Vegas Raiders, amidst an overhaul that has introduced coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Geno Smith to city.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5100x3400+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa8%2Fbc%2F05c055134b8fa4734a7a48ca0cbf%2Fgettyimages-2229014803.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5100x3400+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa8%2Fbc%2F05c055134b8fa4734a7a48ca0cbf%2Fgettyimages-2229014803.jpg" class="img" alt="Las Vegas Raiders Head coach Pete Carroll speaks to quarterback Geno Smith during a preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks in August." loading="lazy"/> Las Vegas Raiders Head coach Pete Carroll speaks to quarterback Geno Smith throughout a preseason sport in opposition to the Seattle Seahawks in August. Steph Chambers/Getty Photographs disguise caption

toggle caption

Steph Chambers/Getty Photographs However one crew has stopped all of them in 5 of the final six seasons: the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs. When you're not from Kansas Metropolis, you have most likely acquired main Chiefs fatigue. However the reality is that, since Patrick Mahomes took over because the Chiefs' beginning quarterback, the Chiefs have not fared any worse within the playoffs than an AFC Championship Recreation loss … in time beyond regulation.

Final 12 months was the right alternative to knock the Chiefs off their throne. They have been far worse than their 15-2 report and in the end acquired their due in an embarrassing Tremendous Bowl loss. However the Payments and Ravens missed their likelihood, and now, the Chiefs may in some way be higher this season — a minimum of their offense may be — if reviews out of coaching camp in regards to the efficiency of their offensive line and extensive receivers are to be believed.

The Payments and the Ravens are favorites to topple the reigning AFC champs, and we'll see very quickly which could have the higher hand, because the Ravens journey to Buffalo to open the season on Sunday Night time Soccer.