The 7 most exciting things from the NFL to watch in Week 1

The Buffalo quarterback competition actually turned out to be a lot more interesting than any of us in our right minds thought it would be. However, Taylor surprised just about everyone except Rex Ryan and put together a really solid preseason to earn himself the Week 1 start.

Greg Roman has experience running an offense with a mobile quarterback from his days with the Niners and Colin Kaepernick, and it will be intriguing to see if they incorporate some of the pistol read option stuff they used in San Francisco. Taylor showed that he's more than just a mobile quarterback, though, and made some nice throws from the pocket. Buffalo's invested heavily in offensive weapons, trading for LeSean McCoy while signing Percy Harvin and Charles Clay to join Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods.

The Bills already had one of the top defenses in the NFL last year and should remain among the league's elite this season, but if they can put together an explosive and dynamic offense? Watch out. They'll host Andrew Luck and the Colts, and this will be one of my top games to watch today.

Who will step up for the Packers?

The Packers were a few screw-ups from going to the Super Bowl last year, and they return much of their core in 2015. They're the favorites in the NFC to many this year.

Disaster struck in the preseason when Jordy Nelson suffered a non-contact ACL injury, meaning the Pack must play out this year without their top deep threat and touchdown maker. That opens up a huge opportunity for Davante Adams, Jeff Janis or perhaps James Jones, and we could see any of those three have enormous years because of that. Aaron Rodgers is still going to ball out and he's still going to pass it a ton, so the receiver that emerges in Green Bay will not only affect the Packer offense, but will have major fantasy football implications. Should be fun to see.

How will the Seahawks cope without Kam Chancellor?

The Seahawks find themselves in a tough divisional matchup against the Rams, who always seem to give them trouble. Will their defense crumble without Chancellor's intimidating presence, or will they excel with a familiar "next man up" attitude? The intermediate zone will be the area that Seattle misses Chancellor the most — he's a master at blowing up crossing routes and reading quarterback's eyes on passes into short zones — so Nick Foles should be looking into these areas, perhaps to Tavon Austin, and Seattle will have to adjust.

The Broncos look poised to return to AFC dominance in 2015 with a (supposedly) healthy Peyton Manning and a very strong defensive group, but much of Denver's success likely depends on Peyton's arm. We all saw his numbers drop dramatically during the second half of the season in 2014 as Manning struggled to push the ball downfield. The Broncos coped with that dropoff, but they are simply not as dangerous without a highly functioning Manning leading the offense. Can Manning bounce back? Is there zip on his throws? This will be a very important thing to watch today, and could have enormous implications for the rest of the season.

The Chiefs finished the 2014 season 9-7, just outside the playoff race. They have the defense and all-world running back Jamaal Charles, but what they've missed of late is a dynamic weapon at wide receiver. It made a ton of sense that they'd go pick up a player like Jeremy Maclin. I wrote about Maclin's addition to this Chiefs offense (and the major impact it could have) back in June, and his preseason performance only strengthened my belief that he'll be a force multiplier for Kansas City's offense this year.

The NFL's top two picks from this year's draft go head-to-head in Week 1, and despite the fact it's between the two worst teams from 2014, it should be one of the must-watch games of the day. Jameis Winston will lead the Buccaneers and should heavily target Vincent Jackson and Austin Seferian-Jenkins. He'll also get a nice boost if Mike Evans can go after sitting much of the week with a hamstring injury. On the other side, Marcus Mariota will be throwing passes to Kendall Wright, Dorial Green-Beckham and Delanie Walker.

The Cowboys' run game

The Cowboys offensive line is largely considered the class of the NFL, and they'll get their first test this week against the Giants. Can the fearsome five of Tyron Smith, Ronald Leary, Travis Frederick, Zach Martin and Doug Free continue to clear lanes for a trio of "new" running backs now that bell cow DeMarco Murray has moved on to other pastures? Murray, who racked up 1,845 yards and an absurd 81.25 percent of all the Cowboys' rush yards in 2014, is now gone, replaced by Joseph Randle, Darren McFadden, and Christine Michael in what's looked to be a running-back-by-committee. It will be very interesting — both from a real-life and fantasy football perspective — to see who, if anyone, emerges as the leader of that group.