11Alive Sports serves up 15 gloriously fun facts to digest, in advance of NFL Week 1.
We're talking about premium knowledge that will surely help your weekend cause if/when ... a) attempting to win barstool debates among strangers, or b) unwittingly pushing your spouse or family to the absolute breaking point of delirium, if they don't also eat, breathe and live for football.
The Falcons and Eagles will get everything rolling with Thursday's clash from Philadelphia, a rematch of last January's playoff thriller.
And per usual, the NFL Kickoff Game (warning: shameless plug alert) ... can be seen exclusively on 11Alive in Atlanta.
15 FUN FACTS TO PONDER FOR WEEK 1
1. University of Georgia legend Todd Gurley has a so-so matchup on paper, taking on a Raiders defense which ranked 12th against the run last year.
However, Oakland no longer has Khalil Mack wreaking havoc in opposing backfields ... and Gurley owns scalding-hot averages of 198 total yards and 1.4 touchdowns in his last five games.
One more thing: Of Gurley's last seven outings played on natural grass, he's a perfect 7 for 7 in collecting 100 total yards and/or one touchdown.
2. It's hard to make a case against Deshaun Watson having a monster opening weekend, even though he's coming off major knee surgery.
Of his last five starts from the way-too-brief rookie campaign, Watson incredibly averaged 332 total yards and 3.8 touchdowns per contest.
At that time, he was the top-ranked asset in fantasyland ... by a mile.
Watson's first breakout start occurred against the Patriots. For this high-scoring defeat, the Texans dynamo racked up 341 total yards (301 passing) and two scores.
3. There are three certainties in life: Death, taxes ... and Julio Jones lighting up the Philly secondary.
Charting the Alabama product's last four outings against the Eagles, Jones holds exorbitant averages of nine catches, 100 yards and 0.8 touchdowns.
4. The last time we checked on Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, he was busy passing for 505 yards and three scores in the Super Bowl.
Along those lines ... the last time Old Tommy encountered the Texans, Brady outpaced Deshaun Watson with 378 yards passing and—count 'em—five touchdowns.
5. It's an odd opening week for the NFL's rushing elite. Le'Veon Bell has been sitting at home all summer, David Johnson has incurred big injuries in his last two games and the Cowboys' Ezekiel Elliott draws the league's No. 3 rush defense from last year (Panthers).
The last nugget might deter a less brazen analyst, but we're not budging from the Zeke bandwagon.
Here's why:
a) Elliott has amassed 100 total yards and/or one touchdown in 25 of 26 career games.
b) The Cowboys will likely be a work-in-progress at wide receiver and tight end all season, obliging the club to force-feed the running game whenever possible.
c) Elliott appears to be in phenomenal shape this summer, likely in preparation of logging 300-plus carries.
d) Dallas plans to feature Elliott more in the passing game ... meaning that 40-45 receptions should become the new baseline of expectations.
6. Steelers wunderkind Antonio Brown has absurdly averaged 116 catches, 1,570 yards and 10.4 touchdowns since 2013—a five-year run of mind-boggling stats that simply have no peer in NFL history.
It's also another reason to hail Brown as a top-3 wideout for this week.
Brown has a long track record of shredding the Browns defense, which includes the 11 catches/11 targets/182 yards masterpiece in last year's season opener.
Citing his previous eight encounters with Cleveland, Brown also boasts supreme averages of 8.6 catches, 123 yards and 0.6 TDs.
7. For what it's worth ... Falcons tailback Devonta Freeman (three-year average of 1,452 total yards, 12 TDs) has never eclipsed 85 total yards against a team from Pennsylvania.
It's particularly relevant this year, since Atlanta has Philadelphia (Week 1) and Pittsburgh (Week 5) on the schedule.
8. Underrate Drew Brees as a fantasy asset, at your own peril. Charting his last five season openers at home, the future Hall of Famer boasts per-game averages of 337 yards passing and 2.2 touchdowns.
Brees also draws the NFL's 31st-ranked pass defense from last year.
9. DeAndre Hopkins has posted double-digit targets and/or one touchdown in 16 consecutive outings.
Digging deeper, Hopkins was only one of five wideouts from last year (along with Antonio Brown, Demaryius Thomas, Keenan Allen, Michael Thomas) to collect eight-plus targets in 13 or more games.
One last thing to celebrate: During DeShaun Watson's six-game run as the starting quarterback last season, Hopkins coolly averaged 6.3 catches, 92 yards and one touchdown per outing.
10. On Monday night, Jets rookie Sam Darnold will become the youngest quarterback in NFL history to start in Week 1, eclipsing the previous record of the Patriots' Drew Bledsoe in 2003.
You know who else logged his first NFL start at the tender age of 21? Detroit's Matthew Stafford, who didn't record multiple touchdowns in a game until his sixth start in 2009.
Speaking of Stafford ... charting his last seven season openers, the University of Georgia product owns scintillating averages of 319 yards passing and 2.6 touchdowns.
11. In the 51-year history of the Dolphins facing the Oilers/Titans, spanning 37 head-to-head meetings, Miami has never been shut out against the HOU/TENN franchise.
11b. The Seahawks and Broncos square off Sunday in the Mile High City, eliciting memories of Seattle's Super Bowl blowout victory from four years ago.
Which leads to this:
In NFL history, the previous year's Super Bowl combatants have met only twice for Week 1 of the following regular season:
1970: Kansas City @ Minnesota (launching the NFL-AFL merger)
2016: Carolina @ Denver (Panthers missed out on getting revenge with a late missed field goal)
12. Saints wideout Michael Thomas—the only receiver to attract eight-plus targets in 14 or more games last season—has been wonderfully consistent versus the Bucs, the league's 31st-ranked pass defense in 2017.
Thomas averaged 15.2 PPR points against Tampa Bay ... minus the luxury of finding the end zone.
Bottom line: The Ohio State product's due for a touchdown this Sunday.
13. Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles, who draws the NFL's 30th-ranked pass defense from last year, represents a stealth sleeper in fantasy leagues.
For the month of December last season, Bortles notched 300 yards passing and/or multiple touchdowns four times.
14. The Dolphins defense was atrocious against opposing tight ends last season, posting bottom-4 rankings for targets, receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns allowed.
Yikes!
On the flip side, Titans tight end Delanie Walker had a pedestrian effort against the Dolphins last year, collecting only three catches, five targets and 25 yards.
And but not least ...
15. Bills vs. Ravens offers the second-largest point spread for Week 1 (source: Westgate Sportsbook), with Baltimore favored by 7 1/2 points at home.
Which brings us to this:
a) Of their seven head-to-head encounters, the Bills and Ravens have produced a final spread of six or fewer points five times.
b) The Ravens didn't make the playoffs last year ... even though all nine of Baltimore's victories had a differential of seven or more points.
c) The Bills reached the postseason last season ... despite posting an average defeat margin of 18.9 points (seven losses).
