Reason to celebrate - NFL season starts Thursday

College football kicked off last Thursday and it was great. Not only did the SEC top the ACC in the first game of the season, but the night ended with a sucker punch and a suspended Duck. You can't make this stuff up.

Saturday may or may not have gone the way you would have liked. I would have preferred a Georgia win and a two yard touchdown following a stellar punt return rather than a penalty followed by a turnover, a Cowboy touchdown and a loss. C'est la vie.

The big boys start this week though and I am looking forward to it. Pittsburgh opens the season on Thursday and on Sunday my new hometown Falcons meet Miami followed by my old hometown Patriots against Buffalo on Monday. Throw in high school football on Friday and watching Georgia vs. South Carolina on Saturday and I am going to be OD'ing on some pigskin.

A post touchdown celebration. Photo/Stan Prophitt.

The Falcons look good. Yes, they went 2-2 in the pre-season, but that doesn't really mean much. The Lions went 4-0 last year in the pre-season and then laid a goose egg the rest of the way. I like the Falcons offense, especially the addition of Tony Gonzalez. He may be aging quickly, but I think he's got one or two more good years in him, mainly because he is a Hall of Fame player. I doubt he will go from All-Pro to nothing in one offseason. (Please football gods, do not let that be a jinx). Matt Ryan is a very good quarterback and his running backs (Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood) give him enough of a threat to keep most defenses expecting the run more often than the pass.

The defense might be suspect and that might be a euphemism, but they aren't terrible. In fact, they could be a unit that gels together quite nicely as the season goes on. They may also catch a bit of a break early on with the teams they face. That is, until they get to New England.

Barring another devastating injury to Tom Brady (please football gods don't let this be a jinx, I beg thee), the Pats are expected to be a high-flying offense with a bit of a suspect defense. That is O.K., if you're going to score on 80 percent of your drives (Please, football gods, I am on bended knee). Brady has receivers all over the place and what we are told is a resurgent Laurence Maroney with some good backs backing him up. The offense will be potent and the defense, classified last year as old, is definitely not old anymore as Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrable and Richard Seymour have all left the building.

So we'll see. I hope this week gives me wins for Pittsburgh with Heath Miller and Troy Polamalu figuring heavily (that's right, they're on my fantasy team - so, again, football gods, little help), the local teams on Friday (because happy coaches are more talkative), Georgia on Saturday (0-2 for Joe means hello Logan), Falcons on Sunday and Pats on Monday.