Ravens-Chiefs preview, NFL award picks, overrated teams; Cubs throw no-no

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🏈 Good morning to everyone, but especially to…

THE KANSAS CITY CHIEFS, THE BALTIMORE RAVENS AND NFL FANS EVERYWHERE

IT'S BAAAAAACK! The NFL season begins in grand style tonight with the two-time reigning Super Bowl champions Chiefs Hosting the Ravens. It's only the second season opener to feature a quarterback battle between the reigning Super Bowl MVP (Patrick Mahomes) and the reigning NFL MVP (Lamar Jackson). The other one? Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning in 2004. Not bad company!

It's a great opportunity for both teams to make an early statement. The Ravens can get some revenge for last year's loss in the AFC Championship Game. The Chiefs can continue to assert their dominance. For me, these three questions stand out for Baltimore:

• Can Jackson get even better in his second year? Todd Monken's offense and in his first year with Derrick Henry as his running back?
• Or will an offensive line full of question marks cause problems for Jackson, who can struggle under pressure?
• What does the defense look like under a new coordinator? Zachary Orr?

On the Kansas City side…

• What fun plans do Mahomes and… Andy Reid have for fast rookie Xavier Worthy and emerging standout Rashee Rice?
• Is a newbie Kingsley Suamataia Ready to protect Mahomes' blind side?
• Different to Trent McDuffiewho plays as a cornerback L'Jarius Sneed gone?

Give me Chiefs 23, Ravens 20.

Football season is here and we know there is a lot at stake this season. That's why we're here to help: CBSSports.com has Complete breakdowns, grades and rankings from all sportsbooks And Take a look at the best deals for new signups.

👍 Honorable Mentions

👎 Not so honorable mentions

🏈 NFL Season Preview: Individual Awards; AFC and NFC projections

We talked about Super Bowl picks – and lots of other things Yesterday's newsletter. Today we'll focus on that individual awards. Our NFL staff did it best bets for individual awardsand I like that far-fetched MVP call from Garrett Podell.

• Podell: “Jordan Love (+1400) – Love threw the second-most touchdown passes in football in 2023 (32), although he didn't really find his groove until the second half of the season. At that point, he posted an nfl-best touchdown-to-interception ratio of 18:1 in Weeks 11-18 en route to leading the way packer back to the postseason. His growth came alongside the nfl's youngest group of pass catchers and the addition of the 26-year-old 2022 NFL rushing champion Josh Jacobs takes lovemaking to an even greater level.

There will certainly be close races up and down the ballot, and I'm excited for Defensive Rookie of the Year after the offense dominated the top of the draft. My choice? Let's go Nate Wiggins (+3500) in Baltimore as a sleeper. You can see all of our tips here.

You can't talk about individuals without talking about quarterbacks. They make the world move. So here are Cody Benjamin’s top 5 Season-opening QB power rankings.

1. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
2. Josh Allen, Bills
3. Lamar Jackson, Ravens
4. Joe Burrow, Bengals
5. CJ Stroud, Texan

Yes, there are only AFC quarterbacks at the top. And in ours AFC Expert Pickour views on Allen's Bills are very similar to those of Allen himself: may be great, may be…not great. Buffalo got votes for the AFC The most overrated and most underrated team.

• Jordan Dajani: “Buffalo lost several starters on the defensive side of the ball and star linebackers this offseason.” Matt Milano He is expected to miss significant time due to injury. The Bills also left their top two wideouts, replacing them with question marks like ” Curtis Samuel and newbie Keon Coleman.”
• Jared Dubin: “Why exactly should I believe the Bills are going to crash when they've won 11-plus games every year since Josh Allen's breakthrough? For me they are still either second or third in the AFC pecking order.”

Here's the NFC side of thingsand here is more news:

⚾ Cubs throw a combined no-hitter behind Shota Imanaga's dominant start

The Boy did it again. Behind seven wonderful innings from Shota Imanaga and one inning each by relievers Nate Pearson And Porter Hodgethe Cubs threw that 18th no-hitter in franchise history in a 12-0 win about the Pirates.

• Only those Dodgers (26) and White Sox (20) have more no-hitters in MLB history. Only those Astros (six) have more than the Cubs' five no-nos in the last 10 years. Somehow, though, it's the Cubs' first no-hitter at Wrigley Field since 1972.
• Imanaga was great, striking out seven and walking two on 95 pitches. It's worth asking whether he would have made it without three Isaac Paredes Errors, including two in the sixth inning.
• It's that 21st combined no-hitter in MLB history and the second from the Cubs. Their last was a combined one in 2021.
• It's the fourth no-hitter in all of MLB this season, joining the Astros'. Ronel BlancoThe Padres' Dylan Stop it and the Giants' Blake Snell.

🏈 New CBS Sports 134, QB Power Rankings

Now that everyone has played, we have one new CBS Sports 134 – where we rank every single FBS team – and during Georgia remains No. 1, it is now unanimous. Here are the top 5.

1. Georgia (previously: 1)
2. Ohio State (2)
3. Texas (4)
4. Alabama (5)
5. Notre Dame (8)

As for them biggest climber, How about the Commodores?!

• Chip Patterson: “No. 45 Vanderbilt (+46): CBS Sports 134 voters rated Vanderbilt way too low and reacted quickly after the Commodores' overtime win over Vanderbilt Virginia Tech. The Diego Pavia The era is at the end of the season for a team that simply had more power from the start before fending off the Hokies when they finally went on offense. Vanderbilt is now in the top 50 and sees the possibility of a new cap, which could be a big step forward Clark Leah and his employees.

Clemson And State of FloridaPredictably, they are moving in the wrong direction, and they are even in our direction Below 25.

We have too updated QB power rankingswhere, just like teams, Georgia (Carson Beck) is No. 1. However, there was a big jump right behind him: Miami'S Cam Ward Is up to No. 2 after entering the season without a rank.

Here's more…

📺 What we're watching on Thursday

🎾 We're watching the US Open. Here's how.
🏀 Storming Liberty7 p.m. on Prime Video
🏀 Mystic at Mercury7 p.m. on Prime Video
🏈 Ravens at Chiefs8:20 p.m. on NBC