Schedule snap judgments (cont.)

Tom Brady and the Patriots got the best of the Colts in 2007, beating them 24-20 in Week 9. Damian Strohmeyer/SI

4. Minnesota at Green Bay, Week 1 -- It'll all be so weird. Kind of like the first time we saw Giuliani without the comb-over. But the Packers will actually play a meaningful game without Brett Favre at quarterback for the first time since mid-September 1992, which, for perspective sake, was six weeks before Clinton was elected. Bill, not Hill.

Finally, in year four of his NFL career, Aaron Rodgers gets his first start. When was the last time we waited that long to see a first-round quarterback get his chance? Maybe never.

5. Indianapolis at San Diego, Week 12 -- Just the way the Chargers can't beat the Patriots, the Colts can't beat the Chargers. San Diego beat Indy late in 2005, ending their perfect season bid at 13-0. The Chargers beat the Colts twice last year, picking off Peyton Manning six times on that rainy Sunday night in San Diego in Week 10, and again, much more painfully, in the AFC Divisional playoff game, the final game ever played at Indy's RCA Dome.

The Mannings don't like San Diego to begin with, starting with that whole Eli mess in the 2004 draft. But now the Chargers are really starting to grate on Peyton's nerves.

6. Dallas at New York Giants, Week 9 -- The Cowboys thumped the Giants twice last year in the regular season, amounting to almost all of their eventual three-game advantage over New York in the NFC East. But when it mattered most, Dallas and Tony Romo choked on that big apple in their throats in the playoffs, coughing up the NFC's No. 1 seed and homefield advantage in the postseason.

That's going to make Romo vs. Manning must-see TV this year, times two. Wade Phillips can talk all he wants about Dallas winning 13 games and the division title. Tom Coughlin's guys shocked the world and copped the biggest prize of all.

7. San Diego at New Orleans, Week 8 -- No matter how much the NFL tried to hype the historic Giants-Dolphins Week 8 game in London last October, it still seemed like an afterthought due to the presence of the sad-sack Dolphins. The rainy, dreary weather and the slip-and-slide of a playing surface at Wembley Stadium didn't help.

But this year's England-based game should stand on its own two feet. The Chargers and Saints have two of the most high-powered offenses in the league, and you can make the case that the game is a possible Super Bowl preview without sounding like a complete idiot. It'll be Saints quarterback Drew Brees versus his old team, with the added bonus of Saints running back Reggie Bush facing off against his hometown Chargers.

8. Detroit at San Francisco, Week 3 -- The Lions and 49ers have had coaches in common before -- think Marty Mornhinweg and Steve Mariucci -- but it's never felt personal before. But there will be a bit of ill will in the air for this year's Mike Martz Bowl. The ex-Lions offensive coordinator is now the 49ers offensive coordinator, and he'd love to hang up a couple of very crooked numbers against Detroit, a team that never really embraced his mad-genius ways.

9. Seattle at Arizona, Week 17 -- Unless the Seahawks make the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season -- which is probably a pretty good bet -- this will be the swan song for Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren, who announced months ago that 2008 will be his final season. Holmgren has cut a rather unique -- somewhat walrus-like -- figure on NFL coaching sidelines since the mid-80s, and I'll miss the sight of him turning all red in the face at whatever miscue was just turned in by his quarterback, be it Brett Favre or Matt Hasselbeck.

10. Miami at Buffalo (or Toronto), Week 14 -- Brilliant move by the NFL. Bills fans were irate at the idea of losing a home game to the good folks of Toronto, until they found out that it was only Buffalo's annual ritualistic flogging of the Dolphins in the wintry chill of Orchard Park, N.Y.

But the league didn't get off that easy, because now Canada is mad and the city of Toronto is threatening to host the game as part of a exhibition doubleheader with the CFL's Argonauts facing off against one of those teams named the Rough Riders. Or Roughriders. (And yes, I do know the CFL's Grey Cup has been played by early December, so hold off on those emails, dear readers. I only jest).

• Can't help but wonder if the NFL Network's season debut in Week 10 -- Broncos at Browns -- will be seen by all the fans who care to see it? If we're still talking about this particular showdown come November -- NFL vs. Big Cable, Part III -- things could get ugly with the nation's football fans.