So it's back, perhaps the third entry on a list of most American things ever (after Nascar and Bruce Springsteen), the NFL.
After the High Noon-like ending of Sheriff Peyton Manning walking off into the sunset with his seemingly illusive second Super Bowl ring tucked into his gunbelt, all thirty two teams return once again for that potentially magic run towards their shot at NFL immortality.
In search of our own glory (the accumulator) we take a brief look at eight divisions hoping to unearth most, if not all of the winners. Each division winner will advance to playoffs with the remaining four places being allocated to those runners-up with best records.
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So let's take a look at who seems best placed to lead their divisions and finds some Punts (pun intended).
AFC North
A seemingly talent stocked division headlined by the neck and neck Pittsburgh Steelers (6/4) and the Cincinnati Bengals (15/8). The Baltimore Ravens aren't unconsidered at 4/1, whereas we can comfortably strike the only thing currently being run worse than the Labour Party, the Cleveland Browns (33s).
The no doubt slightly watchable sitcom featuring newly acquired RGIII will be bearable for perhaps a few episodes but the franchise seems like the only thing missing at the moment is someone having the balls to switch off the life-support machine.
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In this division I'll take the Bengals to drag playoff deficient QB Andy Dalton through for another crack at it. With a loaded roster and a selection of offensive weapons a Tarantino protagonist would be proud of, they should be hard to peg back most weeks.
Pick: Cincinnati Bengals 15/8
AFC South
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Things could be a little more watchable this year in the South with Jacksonville (4/1) and Houston (2/1) both expecting a lot more from their rosters.
Osweiler looks like a potentially overvalued stock comparable to Enron, before someone twigged they we're frauds. Is Osweiler a Fraud? That's perhaps a little damning but Houston have laid out an awful lot of capital for last year's Denver backup and he needs to hit the ground running quickly and link up with some decent offensive talent.
The Jaguars and Titans (12/1) look fairly steady under centre if not lacking all-round talent but once again I'm sticking with one of the safest commodities in the game, Colts and their potentially hall-of-fame leader Andrew Luck.
The roster isn't star studded and the O-Line needs constant mollycoddling but like so many Superbowl bound teams I feel Luck can drag them at least to the AFC Championship game and this division on route.
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Pick: Indianapolis Colts 7/4
AFC East
This division is and largely has been simple to decode for the last fifteen years. Take the Patriots (1/2). A bigger dynasty than the Carringtons and less strewn with melodrama.
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Yes, Brady is missing the first four games for messing with ball pressure but even a 2-2 start would be good enough. Plus QB Backup, Jimmy Garoppolo has looked good enough in pre-season.
With Gronk and Co being marshalled from the sidelined by the NFL's version of General Patton, expect the Patriots to take a division from the chaos laden New York based Jets (13/2) and Bills (7/1) aswell as the perennially overhyped (and now overpaid) Miami Dolphins (15/2).
The Juggernaut at New England won't be slowed enough to let anyone else get a sniff.
Pick: New England Patriots 1/2
AFC West
Here's where my thoughts go slightly off mainstream. Denver (15/8) is still the best run franchise in this division but the hole left at QB by Manning seems bigger than the one left by Clarkson at Top Gear.
Their TV Dinner replacement, Brock Osweiler having gained some vital tutelage under the Sheriff last year has hopped a horse out of town and saddled up in Houston for a big payday.
The potential starters under centre are slim pickings at best. Von Miller, last season's Super Bowl MVP has also been overpaid and looks plausibly positioned to perhaps revert to the mean. The Chargers (7/1) and Chiefs (2/1)look solid enough with the Chiefs being well coached and well balanced overall.
My fancy though is for Oakland (7/2) to make the long awaited breakthrough. Never better championed than by the 'Straight Outta Compton' NWA (granted they were based in LA) the Raiders look set for a very impressive season.
With talent at QB in Derek Carr, weapons in the form of Cooper and Crabtree, a well built solid offensive line and defensive talent such as Khalil Mack and the newly acquired Bruce Irvin this roster looks ready to pop. I'm taking them to win the division.
Pick: Oakland Raiders 7/2
