The Week Ahead

Eagles at Redskins: Philadelphia begins a four-week stretch against the last five Super Bowl winners—Washington, San Francisco (which won twice), Chicago and the Giants. In fact, after the Raiders-Eagles game in Week 7, the Eagles will have faced every Super Bowl champion of this decade. "I think our schedule's unfair," says Philly running back Keith Byars. "We shouldn't be penalized for winning our division last year, but that's what our schedule does."

Colts at Rams: This is the Rams' home opener. They're for real. They had an impressive 4-1 preseason before beating the Falcons by 10 on Sunday. And now, former Ram Eric Dickerson (right) is returning to L.A. for the first time since The Trade sent him to Indianapolis two seasons ago. Despite all that, the game hasn't generated much of a stir in L.A. As of Sunday, more than 7,000 tickets remained unsold. Not even Dickerson seems very excited. He has asked for only 15 tickets to the game.

Broncos at Bills: "No hard feelings," says Buffalo general manager Bill Polian. But into the visiting-owner's box at Rich Stadium on Monday night will step the man who helped ruin Polian's salary structure. In March, Denver owner Pat Bowlen bid $7.5 million over five years for Bills defensive end Bruce Smith, and Buffalo had to match the offer to retain Smith's services. Had Bowlen been successful, the matchup of these teams might be quite different. Denver would be starting Smith, who has 44.5 sacks in four years, instead of Andre Townsend, who has 19 in five seasons.