On Your Mark: Pumping some air into a fresh NFL season

Don’t poke the bear. Simple enough, right?

I guess the NFL doesn’t have that one in their rulebook. At any rate, as a new NFL season begins on Thursday with the New England Patriots of “deflategate” (de)fame hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers at 8:30 p.m. on NBC, it’s hard not to harken back to the last time the Patriots were smeared across the face of the NFL.

That would be in 2007, when former Jets coach Eric Mangini reported the Patriots for recording Jets defensive signals during a Sept. 9 game. The scandal was called “spygate” – we need to be more creative, people. The Patriots took their licks, a $500,000 fine for coach Bill Belichick, a $250,000 team fine and the loss of a first-round pick to be exact, and then went on to win the most single-season games in the history of the NFL.

They would be the second team to ever go undefeated, but a sticky helmet named David Tyree led the New York Giants to a hard-to-forget upset in Super Bowl XLII.

That said, don’t expect 19-0 this season from the defending Super Bowl champs. While a ticked-off Tom Brady is one of the more entertaining spectacles in sports, his supporting cast and divisional opposition will ensure this season is more struggle than pure dominance.

Here’s a reminder of the top two receivers on that 2007 squad, for a little perspective:

▪ Randy Moss: 98 receptions, 1,493 yards, 23 touchdowns (NFL record)

▪ Wes Welker: 112 receptions, 1,175 yards, eight touchdowns

In 2007 the team’s defense was also led by players named Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, Asante Samuel, Mike Vrabel, Vince Wilfork, Ty Warren – need I go on?.

In 2015 they’ll be trying to recover from the losses of all-world corner Darelle Revis and his counterpart Brandon Browner, and the nose tackle position is devoid of the behemoth Wilfork for the first time since 2004.

This year’s team still has seriously talented players, though (think Brady, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski). Add that to their obvious motivation after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell dragged the squad through the mud for an entire offseason before Brady’s suspension was struck down in court by judge Richard Berman, who has become somewhat of a celebrity in New England. It’ll definitely make for some fun watching, if not quite as many blowouts as 2007.

Here are a few more storylines to watch (in no particular order):

Seahawks, Packers seek redemption: With some of the more stinging playoff losses in recent history, you can bet these teams have been stewing the entire offseason. The Packers fell to the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game last season, blowing a 19-7 lead in the fourth quarter, surrendering an onside kick and a two-point conversion en route to a 28-22 overtime loss.

The Seahawks have an easier flub to remember, as one of the more dubious goal-line pass calls in NFL history resulted in an interception in the end zone by New England’s Malcolm Butler with time waning. The mistake cost Seattle a chance for back-to-back Super Bowl titles. They would have been the first team to repeat since the Patriots in 2004 and ‘05.

Encore for ODB: After one of the best rookie seasons in NFL history (91 catches, for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns in 12 games) and all the pageantry that went with it, what can New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. possibly do to follow that performance?

The hair and the whip dancing will be there, regardless, but after the hype – which included being the Madden 2015 cover player and taking over for Troy Polamalu as the Head & Shoulders guru – anything but greatness will likely be a disappointment. And can one great player save a Giants roster that otherwise seems primed for another 8-8 season? Time will tell, but here’s this nugget: The last two times the Giants and Patriots met in the preseason and regular season (2007, 2011), the Giants also beat them in the Super Bowl.

So you’re saying there’s a chance?

Deja Panthers: At this point last year, it seemed all the news surrounding the Carolina Panthers was about their receivers, or lack thereof. Kelvin Benjamin, a rookie out of Florida State, arrived with 73 receptions for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns to solve that dilemma. Now, with Benjamin out for the year after he tore his ACL in a practice against the Lions, they may very well be in worse shape – unless rookie Devin Funchess can be that impact rookie, and Greg Olsen has another career year.

The good news is the rest of the division doesn’t look markedly improved around the back-to-back NFC South champs, but it’s hard to believe quality quarterbacks in Drew Brees (New Orleans) and Matt Ryan (Atlanta) will be kept down for too long.

Week 1 TV schedule

Thursday: Pittsburgh at New England, 8:30 p.m., NBC

Sunday: Carolina at Jacksonville, 1 p.m., Fox; Miami at Washington, 1 p.m., CBS; Baltimore at Denver, 4:25 p.m., CBS; New York Giants at Dallas, 8:20 p.m., NBC

Monday: Philadelphia at Atlanta, 7:10 p.m., ESPN; Minnesota at San Francisco, 10:20 p.m., ESPN

‘The Donald’ at the U.S. Open

While the focus has rightfully been on Serena Williams’ pursuit of her fourth major of the year at the 2015 U.S. Open, another American has leapt into the spotlight with stunning comebacks to reach the slam’s second week.

Along with 13th-seeded John Isner, Donald Young is the other American man through to the Round of 16, and he hasn’t been boring in doing so.

Down two sets and a break to No. 11 seeded Gilles Simon in the first round, he rallied in the heat of Flushing Meadows to win 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. He then came back from a set down in the second round to defeat Alijaz Bedene 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

Prior to this week, Young, the former prodigy who never lived up to expectations after his success as a juniors player, hadn’t come from two sets down to win a match in his career. But he did just that for the second time in five days, falling in the first two sets to No. 22-seeded Viktor Troicki 4-6, 0-6 before coming back to win the next three 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-4.

All that said, both runs by the American men at the U.S. Open will likely come to an end Monday at the hands of Switzerland. Isner faces off with No. 2-seeded Roger Federer and Young Faces No. 5-seeded Stan Wawrinka.

While Federer’s star is clear with his 17 slam titles, Wawrinka’s is currently rising as the hard-swinging right-hander has won two slam titles in the past two years. He took the 2014 Australian Open title, and most recently this year’s French Open. There is one small glimmer of hope for the clear underdog Young, though. In his only other run to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Open (2011), he had to win a fifth-set tiebreak to get there. Can you guess who he beat? That would be Wawrinka.

I said small, didn’t I?

Pelicans playoffs

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are back in the playoffs, a pretty common occurrence of late – they’ve made the postseason for five straight seasons. This year, thanks to their first half title, they’ll be guaranteed at least one home playoff game, and they’ll host a second if necessary.

Myrtle Beach opens up the Mills Cup playoffs at Winston-Salem on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. They will then host Winston-Salem in Game 2 on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. If the teams split, a third game will be played in Myrtle Beach on Friday at 7:05 p.m.

The other half of the playoff bracket consists of the Lynchburg Hillcats vs. the Wilmington Blue Rocks. The winners of each series will face off in a five-game playoff. If the Pelicans were to advance, they would be on the road for the first two games and host the final three (if necessary), according the the team’s website.

Of note

Conway high school, which has started 3-0 for the first time in 7 years and outscored its past two opponents 98-8, will be put to the test this week when they host Class AAA power Hartsville. The Red Foxes have made it to the Class AAA finals two of the past three seasons, beating Union County in 2012 and losing to South Pointe last season. ... Sunday’s paper included our first non-football prep roundup of the 2015 season, did you catch it? every week we’ll compile the action from around the area and deliver it in that style print format. We’ll also be adding a scores list of all the action we’ve either covered or had reported. So coaches, remember, it’s important to call in those scores.

This story was originally published September 6, 2015 at 10:00 PM with the headline "On Your Mark: Pumping some air into a fresh NFL season."