Remember at the end of The Shawshank Redemption when "Red" (Morgan Freeman's character) met Andy Dufresne (played by Tim Robbins) on a beach down in Mexico after they got out of prison? The joyful look in their eyes and the gleeful embrace of freedom they shared? Well, that's e sentially me -- and likely you, too -- embracing football and the start of the NFL's 2020 regular season this week. This year, to put it lightly, has been ... an "experience" to this point on the calendar, but football fans have finally reached a light at the end of this dark, gro s tunnel: Week 1.This offseason in the NFL stayed in lockstep with the rest of the world in 2020 and went absolutely bananas. left the for Tampa Bay, is in Indy, Bill Belichick landed for pennies on the dollar, and Bill O'Brien traded for a bag of marbles and the artist formerly known as . I'm definitely mi sing about 15 other different and crazy storylines, but you get the gist.With the start of the new Grayson Allen Jersey year comes the return of my weekly picks column that I'm sure will be without a single blemish from wire-to-wire, so you better pay close attention. Specifically, we'll be paying the most attention to the spreads each week and determining games through that lens. I'll naturally be giving you my thoughts on how I see the games turning out, but for those keeping score at home, we'll be battling against the spread in 2020. Ready? Let's hit it! Houston at Kansas City8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)Point spread: Kansas City -9I think the only person who is enjoying 2020 is . In all honesty, I'm not sure there has been a person in the history of humanity who has been on such a hot streak: He won the Josh Jackson Jersey first Super Bowl of his career back in February, inked a mega $503 million contract extension with the this offseason, became a part-owner of the Royals, and he got engaged. By my count, Mahomes is up 4-0 on 2020 so far and I don't expect that to slow down when he brings Kansas City out on the field against the to begin their title defense. I think one of the biggest factors to team succe s this year will be continuity, which K.C. has in spades. Not only are they bringing the band back together, but they also added rookie running back -- who Andy Reid compared to Brian Westbrook -- to only make their offense that much more lethal. Houston, meanwhile, has a superstar quarterback in and there is the revenge factor after blowing a 24-0 lead to the Chiefs in the Divisional Round a year ago, but I just don't think it has the horses to keep up in this game.The juices will be flowing for the Chiefs after raising a banner and I don't think this will be particularly close.The pick: Kansas City -9Score prediction: Kansas City 38, Houston 17 Tampa Bay at New Orleans4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)Point spread:New Orleans -3.5As the resident Bostonian on our NFL staff, seeing Tom Brady take the field in a uniform isn't something I'm nece sarily looking forward to. In an ideal world, he would have stayed with the Patriots for the rest of his football days, but it just wasn't in the cards. That said, it will be fascinating to watch how he performs in Bruce Arians' offense and with the loaded talent around him offensively.Tampa Bay is my pick to win the Super Bowl this year so it's not surprising that I have them winning this game to begin 2020. The Superdome isn't going to have the home-field advantage that it normally does without fans in the stands making life difficult for both sides of the ball for the Bucs. That's why I'll gladly take the points here and also wouldn't be afraid to attack this on the moneyline as well. We know both offenses can put up points, but I'm optimistic that Tampa Bay's Justin Holiday Jersey defense -- that was No. 6 in defensive efficiency in 2019 -- will be able to slow and the offense down.The pick: Tampa Bay and the pointsScore prediction: Tampa Bay 27, New Orleans 20Chicago at Detroit1 p.m. ET (FOX)Point spread:Detroit -32019 was a lost year for the after was sidelined after Week 9, but there is considerable sleeper buzz surrounding Detroit as it enters this season. Prior to going down for the year, Stafford was playing himself into MVP discu sions as his 312.4 pa sing yards per game and 8.6 yards per attempt were the second-best in the NFL to that point in the year. His 106 pa ser-rating was also just outside the top five in the league. If he's able to recapture that (Spoiler: I think he does), the Lions are a threat in the NFC North. Chicago, meanwhile, named the Week 1 starter over , who they traded for this offseason. I think that has more to do with the pandemic shortened offseason eliminating the opportunity for Foles to more clearly overtake Trubisky than it John Konchar Jersey does the incumbent simply beating him out. That means we'll likely see more of the same inconsistency from Trubisky to start, which gives Detroit a nice starting off point to 2020.The pick: Detroit -3Score prediction: Detroit 24, Chicago 17Dallas at L.A. 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)Point spread:Dallas -3The are one of five teams in the NFL that are bringing a new head coach into 2020 after firing Jason Garrett and hiring Mike McCarthy this offseason. I expect this new era to get off to a strong start for Dallas when they help the Rams open up their new stadium. is as motivated as ever heading into this season as he's still looking for that longterm contract and he'll likely continue to show out to try and earn it. He has arguably the best collection of pa s-catchers he's seen in his career with receivers , , and first-round rookie . Not only that, but tight end is primed to take a leap and he, of course, has and in the backfield.The Rams, meanwhile, are looking to recover from a very disappointing 2019 season where they were barely over .500. should be better than he was a year ago, but I don't think it'll be enough to outgun Prescott in this game. The 51.5 over/under line suggests that this is primed to be a very high-scoring game. If that proves to be the case, I'd rather roll with Prescott and the Dallas offense to secure the win. The pick: Dallas -3Score prediction: Dallas 28, L.A. Rams 20Las Vegas at Carolina1 p.m. ET (CBS)Point spread:Las Vegas -3The are beginning the Las Vegas era Avery Bradley Jersey as road favorites against the and I like the spot that they find themselves in to open up 2020. While there should be plenty of excitement surrounding Carolina after hiring head coach Matt Rhule and signing quarterback , it's a lot to ask for them to come out gangbusters in their very first game without any preseason action. This club is also very much still in its rebuilding phase and shouldn't win a lot of football games this year with a defense this suspect. That's why