2011 Season Opener - Saints @ Packers

Rodgers celebrating 2010 Superbowl win

Tonight the 2011 NFL season gets underway, with the 2010 Superbowl Champion Green Bay Packers, taking on the 2009 Superbowl winners, the New Orleans Saints at the historic Lambeau Field.  What a fantastic occasion this promises to be, as not only are these teams the last 2 Superbowl winners, they are both fully expected to go a long way towards winning it all again this year.  Would you be at all surprised if this was the matchup for the NFC Championship in late January??  Because I wouldn't.

Will Mark Ingram get the start?

The Saints have strengthened their team during the offseason, and will undoubtedly be as effective as ever on offence.  Led by QB Drew Brees, the Saints passing game is considered one of the best in the league.  What I'm very interested to see tonight though is how the run game will be managed.  They still have RB Piere Thomas from last year, but with Reggie Bush now in Miami, they drafted Mark Ingram (from Alabama) and bought in the explosive Darren Sproles from the Chargers.  Will Thomas be the starter??  Will Ingram be the starter??  Will they split carries??  How will Sproles be used??  These are all questions that will be answered tonight.  My guess is that Thomas and Ingram will split carries, and they will use Sproles on kick returns and sometimes on 3rd down.

I'm also looking forward to seeing how the Saints new D Line will look.  1st Round draft pick DE Cameron Jordan will team up with Aubrayo Franklin, Shaun Rodgers and Sedrick Ellis.  This D line will need to get some pressure onto Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, otherwise he will be able to pick them apart.  This defence was the best in the league at creating turnovers in 2009 when they won the Superbowl.  They will need to get back to this standard if they are to stop the champions tonight.

RB Ryan Grant is back from injury

The Packers go into tonight's game, knowing that the Superbowl Champions haven't lost the opening game of the following season, since the Broncos did it against the Dolphins in 1999.  Although they didn't bring anybody in over the offseason through free agency, they have all their players back from the IR list from last year.  There were a total of 15 players on that list, and were missing during their run to the Superbowl.  These include RB Ryan Grant, TE Jermichael Finley and T Mark Tauscher.  With all these players returning to a Superbowl winning roster, the whole NFL knows that the Packers are the team to beat.

QB Aaron Rodgers and this pass offence is also considered as one of the best in the league.  The secondary for both teams will be in for an aerial bombardment tonight.  The Packers also have an interesting situation in the backfield.  When starting RB Ryan Grant got hurt last year, in stepped James Starks.  Starks was fantastic in the playoffs, so it will be interesting to see who starts as the Packers RB to.

I see this game being a fantastic advert for the NFL brand, with lots of points being scored by both teams.  They key to the game in my opinion though is the run game for both sides.  Both sides will score, but I believe that the team that can control the clock with the run game, will get this opening day win.

Who do you think will win the game tonight?? Let me know by leaving a comment, email - nflgbview@googlemail.com or contact me on Twitter - nflgbview.