WOODBURY — After watching thrilling games from the opening weeks of the NFL, it’s hard to believe that there will be games that can live up to the hype that we’ve already seen. But not everyone who knows about the NFL knows which games are the ones to watch.

Nonnewaug High School students and staff share which games excite them the most for the upcoming season.

“Although all the games are great, the one that excites me the most is the Bills at Chiefs [on Oct. 16],” says Nonnewaug wellness teacher Dave Green. “Last time they played the game was extremely competitive and both these teams have shown so far that they are ready to contend.” 

The Chiefs beat the Bills in an electrifying overtime game in the postseason when fans saw the high-powered offenses going head to head, scoring a combined 34 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. 

Enter the 2022 season.

These teams had Week 1 thrillers to start off the season, dominating on the offensive side of the ball and they continued that momentum to Week 2 victories. Both teams are proven contenders, and fast forward to Week 6, and most NFL fans will tune into this monster match up.

“I’m excited for Chiefs at Buccaneers rematch,” says Nonnewaug senior John Paul Cuccia. “It’ll be the future of the league [Patrick Mahomes] and the GOAT [Tom Brady], and with the teams themselves having a ton of overall talent and them playing in the super bowl a few years ago, this match up really excites me.”

The Bucs surprised many a few years back when they beat the Chiefs comfortably in the Super Bowl, we also saw Mahomes have one of his worst games of his career. Both teams now still have a lot of the same players, and will be a great game in Week 4. 

The Chiefs and Buccaneers will come into this game with their first loss of the season happening and will try and fight back to get a huge win to get a more comfortable lead in their divisions. This game will have talent, an icon and passionate fans rooting for a big win in their rematch.

Chase Heidorn, a junior at Nonnewaug, is really looking forward to a divisional game.

“The winner of the NFC East is always close year to year, it’s been a different winner for many years so the Eagles at Cowboys will excite me the most, especially when both these teams have a rivalry between them,” Heidorn said, referring to the Oct. 16 and Dec. 24 matchups.

The NFC East has always been a competitive division, having a different division winner for 17 straight seasons, the longest streak in NFL history. 

The Cowboys and Eagles are the clear contenders for the division, and with both going head to head in a Week 16 matchup, the stars will be out to try and get a late season win and gather momentum for the playoffs.