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NFL match-ups worth waiting for
Chris Meister
Roar Guru
29th April, 2014
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Peyton Manning might go down as the best quarterback in history. (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney)
Chris Meister
Roar Guru
29th April, 2014
3

The NFL schedule for the 2014 regular season was released last week, giving us NFL fans something tangible to look forward to. And there are already some match-ups that have fans salivating a long way out from the season.

Green Bay @ Seattle (Week 1)
A tasty opening night fixture pits the defending Super Bowl champions against the NFC North champions.

We all remember the infamous ‘Fail Mary‘ game the last time the Packers visited Seattle in September 2012. A game as wacky as that would be one hell of a way to start the season in front of a national audience on a Thursday night.

The Packers will give themselves a chance of causing what would be an upset. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers will be over the broken collarbone that plagued his 2013 season, while the Seahawks will be looking to celebrate that Super Bowl victory in style with their home fans, the fabled 12th man.

Indianapolis @ Denver (Week 1)
Any time Peyton Manning goes up against his old team is going to be one of the most eagerly awaited games of the season. Luckily for us, we only have to wait until Sunday night football in Week 1.

The Colts took care of business against their former quarterback in Indy early last season, but the Broncos in Denver are a different story, only losing once at home in 2013. We will also get an early look at what life might be like for Denver without star wideout Eric Decker.

Washington @ Philadelphia (Week 3)
DeSean Jackson signing with the Redskins following his release by the Philadelphia Eagles for “football reasons” according to Eagles coach Chip Kelly makes this a juicy match-up. Not that it wasn’t anyway, with these two teams heated divisional rivals.

The Eagles set the tone for the season of both teams a year ago by handing the Skins a whipping in Week 1.

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Chicago @ Green Bay (Week 10)
A rematch of the Week 17 virtual playoff game from 2013. The Packers came from behind in the final quarter to beat the Bears 33-28 and snatch the NFC North title from their greatest rival on their home field.

The Bears will be desperate to repay the Packers the favour. Add to this the off-season movement through free agency of Julius Peppers from the Bears to the Packers and we have a divisional match-up to savour.

San Francisco versus Seattle (Weeks 13 and 15)
The two teams that squared off in the NFC Championship game in January hate each other. Being in the same division they get to play twice, and the NFL have done us all a favour by scheduling these games within two weeks of each other in the last five weeks of the regular season.

The first of these games is on Thanksgiving. By that stage of the season both will be in top shape, barring injury, and getting themselves set for another playoff run. The weather conditions at that time of year between the two cities will also ensure that these games are played very differently.

Seeing Michael Crabtree and Richard Sherman within touching distance of each other will be just one of the fascinating subplots in these games.

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