NFL Week 1 Review - Falcons @ Chiefs

My preview:

Falcons -1 @ Chiefs: I find this hard to rectify with all the hype surrounding the Falcons for the Superbowl*. I'm not ready to forgive the Chiefs for last year and I don't think people are presuming that Jamaal Charles will be the same player he was before the injury. Maybe I am not giving them enough credit for the Arrowhead effect because of the 41-0 home drubbing against the Bills last season. I did forgive them their first two losses last season because they lost a superstar early in each.

* I do agree with the strategy of picking a medium-priced teams for the Superbowl. Health at the end of the seasons and luck are such big factors at the end.

Take the Falcons.

Firstly, Jamaal Charles, the easiest runner that I have ever seen, looked as good as ever. Apparently this was obvious in the pre-season - I pay no attention to the pre-season.

Easy win for the Falcons over a depleted Chiefs' defence*. I want to be on Julio Jones side but I do think people realise how much of an affect he has had on the Atlanta offence. I don't think I can get behind the Atlanta offence until I effectively gauge the efficacy of Michael Turner.

* Getting sick of all these nicknames that end in 's' so that I have to put the comma at the end.

The big news for Atlanta is the loss of Brent Grimes for the season. Atlanta had to make key decisions on which defensive stars to keep in the off-season and chose Grimes over LB Curtis Lofton who absconded to the division-rivals Saints. The injury was obviously unfortunate but Atlanta kept pointing out over the off-season that their defensive scheme necessitated three good CB's - hence the over-trumpeting of the signing of Ahsnate Samuel. Whither now there defence as the impressive Peyton Manning comes to town?

The Chiefs have the more favourable .task as they now get to face the Bills in Buffalo. My unanswered questions are as follows:

• What is the Buffalo home effect?]
• Tamba Hali is a great player but will he be seen at full effectiveness on his return?
• How many other key players will be returning for the Chiefs?
• Will Jamaal Charles ever be given the lion's share of the carries?
• Can C.J. Spiller be that good again?