I get an awful lot of mileage out of NFL.com polls, because they give me useful things to blog about. Today's poll: Which of these Week 1 matchups for the 2006 season will be the most exciting? Out of about 76,000 voters (at the moment), we find:

• 39% Colts at Giants
• 25% Dolphins at Steelers
• 15% Bengals at Chiefs
• 11% Bears at Packers
• 9% Vikings at Redskins

Obviously, I voted for Dolphins vs Steelers. It's a rematch of sorts; the Steelers started their 14-2 season in 2004/5 by going 1-1, then beating the Dolphins to start the streak. Plus, it'll be a chance to see Daunte Culpepper (hopefully) run the Dolphins offense for the first time in real-time.

I can see why Colts vs Giants got a lot of votes -- the whole Manning Bowl thing. But remember: everyone is waiting to see if Eli can outduel Peyton. It's actually a matter of pure team strength. The Colts are still a complete team (except at RB, since they lost Edgerrin James). Even with Dominic Rhodes or James Mungro, they can keep on keeping on. The Giants, however, have a tougher time of it; though they have a talented team, Eli still hasn't quite settled down and throws get away from him. Peyton does not have that problem. I'm sure Tom Coughlin knows this, and despite the media's desire for a shootout, Coughlin is the kind of coach who can ignore the hype and stick to his gameplan: give the ball to Tiki Barber and let the top-flight RB run over the defense, then throw it to Jeremy Shockey when he has to.

Bengals vs Chiefs is on there probably just to see if Carson Palmer can come back from his injury suffered in the playoffs. But overall the Bengals and Chiefs are the same team on offense. The Chiefs, though, don't have a defense. Still. So the Bengals will probably win this one.

Bears vs Packers: why is this even on here? Because it might be the start of Brett Favre's final season? Even with Favre, the Packers have a rebuilding year ahead of them. The Bears are trying to rebound after being beaten in the playoffs by the Panthers, and hopefully Rex Grossman won't be injured on opening day. He's actually quite a good quarterback, but he likes to throw the long ball a little too much. However, even with Kyle Orton managing the offense, the Bears can still take down the Packers.

Vikings vs Redskins: a chance to see if Daniel Snyder's "Yankee"-ifying the team really works vs a chance to see if Brad Johnson and Chester Taylor and Minnesota's crop of not-really-no-name-but-no-one-really-awesome wideouts can lead this team to the playoffs. I'm sure there'll be a lot of news stories about how this could be Brad Johnson's swan song year, trying to get to the Superbowl one more time before retiring. But I've read some of Johnson's comments, and he seems like the kind of guy who won't prolong his career if he can't get the job done. As he proved last year, he still can.

There are 11 more week-one matchups. Got one that you think will be better than these five? That's what comments are for.

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