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Beginnings matter. 2016 NFL season Just ask Gared, the ranger from the pilot of "Game of Thrones." Gared actually helped kick off the series that went on to become the -- and -- by appearing in the first-ever scene. His time, however, did not last long. Before the very first opening credits even began rolling acro s the screen, his head had already been separated from his neck by a White Walker, who then to sed that head acro s the snow toward Gared's (may he rest in peace) Night's Watch buddy. This is the part where I'd normally insert a GIF of the scene I'm referring to, but this particular one involves a sword, a chopped off head, and a White Walker, so we'll go GIF free this time around. Gared's death was unfortunate, but served as the first of many reminders that the war in the south -- the one waged over an iron chair -- hardly mattered at all when an Mason Crosby Jersey army of White Walkers lurked to the north. Gared's death mattered, even if he didn't. Ask Walter White -- the high school teacher who was diagnosed with cancer in the first episode of "Breaking Bad," which set him down a path that involved far too many drugs. Or ask Jack Bauer, who received an innocuous work call in the middle of the night in the series premiere of "24," which ended up keeping him busy for 24 consecutive hours, during which he definitely didn't sleep Jon Runyan Jersey or use the restroom. You could also ask the 2015 . They opened up the season by beating the , 19-13. connected on all four of his field goals, including two from beyond 55 yards, and returned an interception 51 yards to the house. The Peyton Manning-led offense did not score a single point. Still, the Broncos won riding on the back of their defense, which limited the Ravens to fewer than 175 yards of total offense. At the time, most of us -- me -- figured that the game would be an aberration. Sure, the defense would continue to function as a top unit, but eventually, Manning and the offense would begin putting up record numbers. Manning's 256 yards and three touchdowns in over the four days later, and 's " " on-camera statement after that game seemed to back up that belief. But Manning never turned into Manning. It never happened. He got benched for . The Broncos ended up winning the , but they won the Super Bowl riding and lucking out in 11 of 14 one-score games (including the playoffs). That first win ended up being the exact recipe of the Broncos' Super Bowl season. Beginning's matter -- especially in the , where every team is only guaranteed 16 games and seven lo ses is often enough to disqualify teams from the postseason. Teams can't afford to chalk up a Week 1 lo s as a warmup game, not because the first game of the season is more important than any other week, but because the first game is equally Royce Newman Jersey important. There is no warmup in the NFL. There is no easing into the season. teams that win their season openers are more than twice as likely to book a playoff spot than those who lose their first game of the season. That's a statistic that dates back to 1978, when the NFL's schedule switched to 16 games, and it doesn't include the 1982 shortened season. The exact numbers, via Of the 554 teams that won their openers, 288 of them made the playoffs (173 won their divisions). Of the 555 teams that lost their openers, 134 of them made the playoffs (77 won their divisions). Week 1 matters. Just ask the Broncos and, of course, Gared. His watch ended, but the stats are only just beginning.1. The best records on opening day It's opening weekend! So here are the teams with the best winning percentages on opening weekend, : :. 673Broncos: .655 : .593 : .576 : .571 : .571 The Tony Romo-le s Cowboys face the (lo s), the Broncos scraped by the on Thursday night, the Bears travel to Houston to take on the Texans (50-50), the Packers play the ( ), and the Chargers play the Chiefs (lo s, but as the AFC West champs while the Chiefs will finish last). You can view our , but please direct all Brinson-related complaints to his 2. 's tough task did us all a favor by ending and accepting his four-game suspension, but he also doomed the , at least for their game against the on Sunday night. Jimmy Garoppolo might end up being the Patriots' next version of -- , the Patriots still project to start 3-1 without Brady -- but he probably won't begin his tenure with a win. His first game? Against the Cardinals in Arizona. This would've been a fascinating matchup between the AFC and NFC runner-ups, but due to a scandal about mildly deflated footballs, which totally affected the outcome of a 45-7 game, which occurred 18 months ago, the game becomes a whole lot le s interesting. For Garoppolo to win his first-ever NFL start, he'll need to defeat a team that ranked third in defensive DVOA, fifth in yards allowed, seventh in points surrendered, second in takeaways, and added this offseason to fix the one area it struggled in -- sacks (tied for 20th). He'll be forced to keep pace with an offense that ranked fourth in DVOA, first in yards gained, and second in points scored. He'll also need to do something that Tipa Galeai Jersey hasn't been done since 1969.Jimmy Garoppolo: 1st career start Sunday. Prev 7 QB whose 1st start was vs Cardinals in an opener all lost. Last to win? Roger Staubach 1969 ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) the Cardinals have won six straight home season-openers.3. Brady's suspension impacts a historic list Unle s they meet in the Super Bowl -- they won't because the ' defense is garbage -- Tom Brady and won't compete directly against each other during the Henry Black Jersey season. They will, however, continue to go head-to-head on a pretty important list. Both Brees and Brady have thrown for 428 touchdowns -- tied for the third-most in NFL history. They're both old, but plan on playing for a while longer. Brady, 39, once expre sed belief that and Brees, 37, just signed an extension with the Saints, telling ESPN's Mike Triplett that he wants to play It could happen. After all, both live , lifestyles. Give the advantage to Brees, though. He's not only the younger quarterback, but he will also get a four-game head start this year -- again, all because of a scandal about mildly deflated footballs, which totally affected the outcome of a 45-7 game, which occurred 18 months ago.4. still sucks The butt fumble is funny because it involved a butt forcing a quarterback to fumble, which was then recovered and returned for a touchdown. That's easy enough for anyone to see. It's the funniest play of Mark Sanchez's career. It's also the most fitting play of Mark Sanchez's career, because Mark Sanchez sucks. He turns the ball over at the highest rate among all active quarterbacks. backup QB Mark Sanchez has averaged a turnover every 42.5 snaps in career, worst among active QBs (min. 1,000 snaps) Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) The Cowboys will not be in safe hands if goes down before returns.5.