IT BEGINS: The NFL season officially starts tonight, with the New York Giants taking on the Washington Redskins from the Meadowlands in an intriguing NFC East matchup. The Giants will be no doubt looking to make a statement to their many, many doubters (this is probably the most widely discounted defending Super Bowl champion since the 2002 Patriots), while the Redskins will be debuting the brand new West Coast scheme introduced by head coach Jim Zorn. The Redskins are a mystery -- no one seems to know just how good they can be, except that most people expect them to look better than they did in preseason. And those questions present some interesting challenges for the Giants. (projo.com)

CLASH OF EVENTS: Unlike most prime-time NFL games, tonight's matchup should not give East Coast fans the red-eye effect tomorrow morning. Kickoff is set for sometime around 7 o'clock, so that it doesn't conflict with John McCain's acceptance speech at tonight's Republican convention. But the McCain camp is still concerned about the possibility of a dramatic, possibly overtime game interfering with his grand moment. (Washington Post)

COUNT HIM IN: Bill Belichick told it straight to the members of the Kansas City media: Expect Tom Brady to play in Sunday's opener at Gillette Stadium. Perhaps that ends whatever true suspense there really was about whether we'd see Matt Cassel under center. But then, what would we all talk about -- the Chiefs? (projo.com)

FRIENDLY ADVICE: But Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star has the following words for Belichick: Go ahead and rest Brady on Sunday; you won't need him. "These Chiefs, Carl Peterson's 20th rendition, are the ultimate slump-busters. They're a more reliable booty call than the girls found in Eliot Spitzer's rolodex. In fact, we're thinking of dropping the K in KC Chiefs and going with a B, the Booty Call Chiefs."

NEWS TO HIM: Brady's father is disputing yesterday's report, discussed at length on WEEI's Dennis and Callahan Show, that the Patriots' star quarterback has a cracked bone in his foot. "He did tell us that he had stress on the bone, and that's why he wore a [protective] boot for a day -- one day," Tom Brady Sr. told The Boston Globe. "He has never told us that he had any broken bones or fractured bones in his foot. All I knew is that he had stress on a bone, and there is a difference there." Indeed.

THINK ABOUT THE POSSIBILITIES: Jim Donaldson wonders what Bill Belichick's news conferences would be like if Belichick were more like Patriots coaches of the past. Dan Shaughnessy wonders what things would be like in this region if the Patriots had held on to beat the Giants back in February.

READY AND WILLING: New running back LaMont Jordan is confident that he can fill the third-down role that is being left vacant by the suspended Kevin Faulk. (projo.com)

MODEST EXPECTATIONS: Chiefs coach Herman Edwards will bring a team with 11 rookies on the roster into Gillette Stadium to face the defending AFC champions this weekend. When asked in a Q&A on the team's web site how much thought his staff has put into game planning for the Patriots, Edwards said, "We haven't really focused on the Patriots." "To be quite honest, we're going to work every day just trying to get better as a football team. It's going to take care of itself, and I just think when you have a young team like this, that's what your mindset has to be."

GOOD TO GO: Edwards also gave further confirmation that rookie left tackle Branden Albert, one of two first-round draft picks for Kansas City, will be ready to face his first test this weekend after missing most of the preseason. (Kansas City Star)

DAVID VERSUS GOLIATH: ESPN.com has the Patriots at number one and the Chiefs at number 31 (ahead of only the Falcons) in its Week One power rankings. "The Chiefs are all about the youth movement," writes The Leader's Bill Williamson. "The present might be bleak but the future is bright."

EVERYONE'S A CRITIC: And the bleak present for K.C. is probably one reason that Steve Buckley predicts the hand-wringing over the Patriots' lackluster preseason will probably change by Monday to complaints that Belichick is running up the score again.

ONE I HADN'T HEARD BEFORE: Tom Curran predicts that it will be Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the Lombardi Trophy this winter. Why? Partly because they have Dan Klecko. (NBC Sports)

PESSIMISM ON BRANCH: Frank Hughes of the Tacoma News Tribune's Seahawks Insider blog believes that, based on the comments of wide receiver Deion Branch and his coach, Mike Holmgren, Branch is nowhere close to returning to game action. Tom Brady's one-time favorite target tore his ACL in January's NFC Divisional Playoff at Green Bay and had surgery the following month.

I AM NOT A CROOK: Tatum Bell is denying yesterday's most sadly hilarious story (Detroit News) -- that he swiped running back Rudi Johnson's duffel bags on his way out the door in Detroit, then returned them empty after being caught stealing them on surveillance video. Bell says he was only taking bags that he thought belonged to another player who failed to make the Lions' roster, and that he had been asked to return to the player: "It's crazy," Bell said. "I wouldn't just steal somebody's stuff on purpose. I'm no thief, and I'm not stupid. I know they got cameras at the facility. I mean, I parked right in the front. It wasn't like I was sneaking out of there or nothing."

Johnson's response: "I didn't believe nothin' he said. ... He knows how I feel. He knows where I stand with it. It is what it is."

WE'RE COMING BACK AT YOU: Kicking to Devin Hester didn't work out so well for the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl a couple years ago, but Tony Dungy plans to do it again when the Colts host the Bears on Sunday. (Chicago Sun Times)

NICE TO HAVE KNOWN YOU: 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan says that either Alex Smith will reclaim the starting quarterback job from J.T. O'Sullivan or he's gone at the end of the season, because there's no chance the team will pay him $9.5 million to be backup. (San Francisco Chronicle)

ALREADY GONE: That could describe Kyle Boller, whose star-crossed career in Baltimore has taken perhaps its last hit with the news that he will miss the entire season with a shoulder injury. Baltimore Sun columnist Mike Preston says that Boller is probably the biggest disappointment in the history of the franchise.

IGNORING DOCTOR'S ORDERS: First Shawne Merriman, now Ed Reed. Baltimore's veteran free safety is planning to play against Cincinnati on Sunday, despite advice that he rest because of a nerve injury in his neck and shoulder. (Baltimore Sun)

READY FOR ACTION: The Saints' big offseason acquisition, tight end Jeremy Shockey, is not listed on the team's injury report for Sunday's game against the Bucs. (Rotoworld)

A REALLY BIG PARTNERSHIP: The NFL Network is hoping that an as-yet-uncompleted deal with ESPN might solve its problems reaching audience. The possibilities include folding the NFL Network into the ESPN family, and giving it the ESPN Classic slot on the dial. (New York Times)