RZBR - The Five Most Interesting Week 1 Games of RZ90

by adelfish | 8 months ago | 0 Comments

RZBR - Ranking the Top Five Week 1 Games of RZ90

With a few weeks left until the start of the Madden 25 cycle, it is time to start taking a look at Season 90 and how things could shake out. What better way to kick this off than a look at Week 1? Week 1 is one of the best times of the year - EVERYONE is 0-0, hopes and dreams are sky high, fanbases are optimistic. 

With life getting progressively more busy, who has time anymore to fire up Red Zone Sunday Ticket and watch all 16 opening games?? Not me. So I decided to narrow it down to my five favorite games, my absolute can't miss matchups. Enjoy!

#5) - Green Bay Packers (Pat) @ Philadelphia Eagles (Valentine)

With new CBA rule changes impacting offensive coordinator playcall abilities, watching Pat adjust to this is must see TV. Not to mention, Valentine is in my sneaky "newish" user candidates to have a really solid year, so getting a tough matchup in Pat early on is a good litmus test.

Both of these teams are built to be contenders in the NFC for the entirety of the cycle. The Packers are all in on their youth movement, locking in Jordan Love to a long-term contract. They've surrounded him with young weapons who are all in their early to mid 20's. They face the Eagles, who are one of the most championship ready teams in the league.

Can Valentine take advantage of one of the best rosters in the league? This offense is one of the best on paper in the league, with Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, Devonta Smith, and now the addition of Saquon Barkley. 

#4) - Tennessee Titans (JP) @ Chicago Bears (OGBobbyJohnson)

A controversial choice from a purely user standpoint, as we don't know anything about OGBobbyJohnson (although he says he is "him" on the sticks), but the storyline of JP facing the #1 overall pick is an exciting one. 

The Bears are one of the sexiest teams heading into this cycle, as the offense underwent a complete overhaul this offseason. Caleb Williams arrives as the 1st overall pick, and joins a new receiver room of Keenan Allen, DJ Moore, and 1st round rookie Rome Odunze. The Bears added D'Andre Swift via free agency as well, solidifying this offense as one with extremely high potential.

New coaches are a mixed bag in Red Zone. Things can go very well early on, or they can sputter and lead to frustrations. Facing off against a really good Titans defense, and a championship caliber coach in JP is a great matchup for a new user. 

On the other side, can JP develop Will Levis into a franchise quarterback? I mentioned the defense the Titans have, but their offense is pretty underrated. Good receivers with DeAndre Hopkins and Calvin Ridley, and a very solid offensive line. The pieces are in place here for JP to surprise early this cycle.

#3) - Jacksonville Jaguars (TOFN) @ Miami Dolphins (Tauph)

A matchup of two playoff contenders right away will tell the viewers where these two teams stand. On the Jacksonville side, TOFN takes over a team that has underperformed it's expectations as of late. Franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence received a huge deal, and the skill position players around him remain intact for the most part. Defensively, they added pieces to their front seven, notably Arik Armstead in the middle.

Meanwhile on the other side, the Dolphins made some upgrades on the defensive side of the ball, and brought in Odell Beckham Jr as their third receiver. This team is known for their high flying, explosive offense. Can Coach Tauph be effective with Tua and the two speedsters on the outside? 

Jacksonville's defense is one that can be exposed through the air. If Tauph struggles against this secondary, should their be early season concerns?

#2) - Baltimore Ravens (Kelly) @ Kansas City Chiefs (Gerry)

One of our two "Cycle Kickoff Games" is the Ravens versus the Chiefs, two of the AFC powerhouses, and two of the best quarterbacks in the league.

I think the biggest storyline for this game, and really this team's cycle, is Kelly and the Ravens. Discussed little, is Kelly's disappointing cycle with the Browns last year, despite the amount of talent on the roster. He is inheriting an overall weaker roster (weaker is very subjective, but from a pure overall standpoint) but a far superior quarterback. He is facing off against the best team in the AFC, but a user he should be considered above. A big win here would show that he is for real right away.

Now is Gerry ready to take a big leap? Going from the NFC North to the AFC West is going to be a huge change, as the competition level and expectations with Patrick Mahomes are hard to live up to. Gerry improved dramatically as last cycle went along, and now with his marriage to Mahomes, this could be a fun storyline to watch.

#1) - Houston Texans (Ramesu) @ Indianapolis Colts (Roc)

 

The marquee matchup of the week, in my humble opinion, is the showdown of the former Ram/Fam podcast, the Texans versus the Colts. 

Ramesu and his Texans are going to be one of the sexiest picks this cycle to win early and often, with the addition of superstar second year quarterback C.J. Stroud, and the group of weapons he is surrounded with. The Texans financially committed to Nico Collins for the long term, and drafted Tank Dell last year. They swung for the fences this offseason and brought in star receiver Stefon Diggs to join, giving Stroud a trio of great receivers. 

Roc and the Colts are more of an unknown. Anthony Richardson looks like a superstar quarterback built in a lab, but how long will his development take? Richardson does not have the weapons on the outside like Stroud does, but he has an elite run game with Jonathan Taylor and a fantastic offensive line. I like Roc's ability to develop a great game plan around Richardson. 

This game will be the first in what I expect to be a very competitive cycle-long rivalry.