Cleveland’s Deshaun Watson and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, two of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL, are going head-to-head this Sunday in the Buckeye State. Burrow has had to overcome some injuries in the offseason, so is he healed and ready to lead the Bengals in the season opener between the Ohio teams? Or do Watson and the Browns have the home-field advantage?

Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings are odds-on favorites at home against Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Will Minnesota score big in the NFC North again this year?

The Rams are looking at a tough go of it up in Seattle against the Seahawks. The stadium is notoriously challenging in Washington, and the Seahawks are a top team in their division, having done much better in 2022 than the Rams. Does LA have a chance?

With eight teams in the ATP Top 25, the Pac-12 has done well in the first two weeks of the season. With this year being the last of the Pac-12 as we know it, are the teams giving the Conference of Champions one last hurrah before everyone moves on? Will this season prove that the breakup of one of the most venerable college conferences in history is not such a great idea after all?

What will sports fans do amid the big cable wars/negotiations between carriers and networks? DirecTV has blacked out local SoCal station Channel 5, and Spectrum has blocked ESPN and ABC in a battle with Disney, not to mention the ongoing issues with the Pac-12 network, all of which are where most games are available. Cable packages are currently set up so that viewers are paying for several hundred channels just to watch a small percentage of favorites. Are fans going to signal that they’re tired of the corporate shenanigans and not going to take it anymore by cutting the cord? Will the big carriers get the message and eventually offer consumers the opportunity to pick and choose what networks they want to watch, thereby creating custom viewing packages?

Email Fred, Art, and Mark with questions and comments at sportsfred@aol.com