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NFL Week 1 Picks: Spotlight game will be a rout

Baltimore travels to Denver, and this one won't be as close as their overtime thriller from the playoffs last year.

By Neal Coolong
Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

We're tweaking the format of the picks this year a little bit. We'll focus on one game, and provide insight on those teams. We'll have our own separate Steelers pregame section as we've done in the past, but this article will focus on the whole league. - nc

Baltimore at Denver

A re-match of the divisional playoff overtime playoff game last year, two different teams will face each other. The defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens have beefed up their defensive line and removed (or had taken away) a huge chunk of their offensive production from last year.

That defensive line is going to be the difference for the Ravens this season, starting tonight.

Denver just simply won't have the protection to keep quarterback Peyton Manning safe. Not that their deep attack is a huge concern anyway, but the lack of ability to test that new-look secondary of the Ravens, they're going to rely heavily upon Manning's ability to get the ball to Wes Welker in the short field.

They're going to have to move up and down the field incrementally, and even for Manning, that will be a tough task against a Ravens defense that has improved quite a bit up front - if even for a questionable secondary.

Still, the return of Lardarius Webb will yield a positive end result, and the Ravens won't be challenged often in this game.

Ravens 24, Broncos 14

New England 38, Buffalo 10

Cincinnati 31, Chicago 17

Cleveland 20, Miami 17

Detroit 27, Minnesota 13

Indianapolis 24, Oakland 10

New Orleans 31, Atlanta 27

Tampa Bay 21, New York Jets 6

Steelers 16, Titans 6

Seattle 23, Carolina 17

Kansas City 27, Jacksonville 13

St. Louis 16, Arizona 9

Green Bay 31, San Francisco 24

Dallas 26, Giants 23

Washington 24, Philadelphia 17

Houston 31, San Diego 10

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