The NFL is finally back. After a month of training camp, preseason games and endless speculation about the upcoming season, we finally got to sit down Sunday afternoon, drink a brew (or two!) and watch almost 12 straight hours of football. And we learned a lot while we were doing it. Here are the 10 things we know about the upcoming NFL season now that Week 1 is officially in the bag…

1. Brett Favre is old. Real old.

Was it just me—or was that New Orleans Saints/Minnesota Vikings NFL opening game on Thursday night one of the more boring matchups of the weekend? It was partly due to the fact that Favre—now 40!—looked his age out on the field. We hate it say it, but we can’t see this season ending well for him.

2. Michael Vick can still play football.

Did you see that Philadelphia Eagles/Green Bay Packers game? I’ll admit: I’m an NY Giants fan and even I was rooting for the guy. It’s crazy to think that this guy lost the peak years of his career sitting behind bars. Kudos to him for making the “I feel like if I had been out there for four quarters, maybe we would have had a chance to win the game” comment, too. As a fan of the G-Men, a QB controversy in Philly is exactly what I like to see!

3. One of the best running backs in the NFL got drafted in the tenth round of your fantasy draft—if he got drafted at all.

That loud banging sound you heard at around 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon? That was the sound of three million guys collectively banging their heads on the table after hearing that Houston Texans running back Arian Foster had rushed for more than 200 yards and scored three touchdowns against the Indianapolis Colts Sunday afternoon. The same Arian Foster that was probably available in one of the last rounds of your fantasy football league—or the same guy who’s sitting in the free agent folder in your league right now. After all the scouting, all the preparation, all the money you dropped on the fantasy football books, HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? (Okay, so Foster wasn’t exactly a sleeper—he was actually touted as one of the steals of most fantasy drafts. But we’re willing to bet the guy was stranded on more than a few benches this weekend.)

4. That theory about the loser of the Super Bowl suffering a hangover the next season? Yeah, that might just be real.

No matter how many points the Texans scored against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, I kept looking up at the screen thinking, “Yeah, but the Colts will come back. They always come back.’ And then, well, they didn’t come back. Every year, the loser of the previous year’s Super Bowl has a letdown season. It almost never fails. But the Colts? Could they really be susceptible to it, too? Only time will tell—but Peyton Manning and the guys certainly didn’t get off on the right foot yesterday.

5. The Dallas Cowboys aren’t as good as you think they are.

They’ve got the big-name quarterback with the big-name girlfriends (Tony Romo), the outspoken, rebellious rookie wide receiver (Dez Bryant), the loud-mouth owner (Jerry Jones) and the label “America’s Team”—but do the Cowboys really think they’re going to get to the Super Bowl simply on their reputation alone? They looked like it last night, when they took an L to the Washington Redskins. And if they keep playing like that, you can expect nothing but heartbreak at the end of another disappointing season.

6. Randy Moss is a cancer. A very, very bad type of cancer…

Does Randy Moss like to be the bad guy? He must. How else can you explain Moss going to a press conference after a big New England Patriots win in the first game of the season and basically bitching about his contract for 15 minutes? He seems to be getting a “That’s just Randy being Randy” pass at this point. But if the Pats aren’t careful, that guy is prone to ruining season. (Of course, I’ve got him on my fantasy team—so let’s hope I’m wrong!)

7. Tom Brady has the worst haircut in the history of the NFL.

Seriously. What is going on here? If you don’t think money and success changes people, take a look at Brady when he first came into the NFL—versus Brady today. Is this guy serious?

8. Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll proves that karma doesn’t really exist.

I’m playing in an NFL suicide pool for the first time this year. Well, I was playing in an NFL suicide pool. The rules: You pick one team to win every week, regardless of the point spread. You can only use a team once during the season. Survive until the end and you win a large pile of cash. I picked the 49ers to beat the Seahawks. I lost. Is there no justice in the world? After Pete Carroll left the University of Southern California at the end of last season amidst a crisis (USC was banned from bowl play for two years and shorted a ton of scholarships recently for NCAA violations committed on Carroll’s watch as head coach at the school), he comes into the NFL and…wins his first game?! Yeah, the world isn’t a fair place.

9. The Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals and St. Louis Rams are four teams you don’t want to watch this season.

Unfortunately for us unlucky football fans, the Browns played the Bucs yesterday and the Cardinals took on the Rams. Bad games? Yes. But at least they played one another, so we could just ignore them altogether. Every team starts 0-0 and has a chance at the beginning of the season. But you won’t find us rooting for any of these bottom-dwellers. Sorry.

10. It’s really gonna suck if we don’t have a Week One to watch next September.

Labor talks continue as the NFL tries to avoid a lockout next season. But it doesn’t look good. If things spiral downward and there’s no NFL next season, what in the world are we going to do? What do people who don’t watch football do on Sundays in the fall? Go for walks? Ride bikes? Pick pumpkins? Yeah, let’s get a deal in place, guys. We’d even promise to watch the Cleveland Browns if that helps things any. Just don’t leave us. Please!

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