Ravens at Patriots
Florio's take: Though we've seen plenty of teams lay eggs after their bye week, the Patriots will be as focused and prepared as ever in their first game after the trade that sent Randy Moss back to Minnesota. And the Patriots will want to give a little something back to the Ravens, who went to Gillette Stadium in the 2009 playoffs and took a lawnmower to the Pats' collective grass ass. Get ready for Aaron Hernandez to emerge as an offensive rookie of the year candidate as a major play in the Pats' new beardless passing game.
Florio's pick: Patriots 28, Ravens 19.
Rosenthal's take: If nothing else, trading Randy Moss gives Patriots coach Bill Belichick good fodder for his "no one believes in you" pregame talks. Against Miami, Belichick pointed out how no in-house Patriots Football Weekly writers picked the Patriots to win. The same may happen this week with the Ravens hoping for a repeat of their playoff beatdown from a year ago. When the Patriots' offense shows how capable it is without Randy Moss, Belichick may ship the disbelieving writers to Minnesota, too.
Rosenthal's pick: Patriots 28, Ravens 27.