10 NFL 2015 Match-Ups With Personal Matters On The Line

10. Mariota Battles Winston: Tennessee Titans @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

When: Sunday September 13, 2015 (9:25pm GMT)

This season kicks off with one heck of an enticing battle between the top two overall draft picks in the form of Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston and Titans Hawaii-native QB Marcus Mariota. One of these rookie quarterbacks, who’ve both joined 2-14 teams, will start their career 1-0.

Not only will this be an interesting view to see which quarterback gets their first career victory, but both Bucs and Titans are two franchises desperate for a sign of light at the end of the tunnel. It hasn’t been pretty reading for these teams in recent years, especially Titans fans. Have they had anything to shout about this past decade? At least the Bucs, owned by the Glazer family, won the Super Bowl in 2002, although it has gone rapidly downhill from there. Winston and Mariota both signify fresh starts, a shared sense of optimism, and hopefully, a prolonged spell of some kind of success on the field for both clubs.

This game will be ugly, we are talking about the two worst teams in the NFL after all. You almost feel like the NFL preordained this scheduling knowing full well everyone will be eager to see Mariota vs. Winston in week one. Remember, the last time these two studs played against one another was during the inaugural college playoffs. Mariota and his Oregon Ducks got the victory over Winston’s Florida State Seminoles, which handed Winston his only defeat in his stellar 4-year college career. Bad blood already exists.