It's that time of year again.
On Thursday, the long, dark NFL offseason is finally over. No more news from training camp. No more rotten preseason action. When the Atlanta Falcons visit the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field, it's going to count.
And football will be back.
It's a long way from that season opener to Super Bowl LIII. Actually, it's 256 regular-season games and 10 postseason contests, if you want to count. That's 15,960 minutes. Or 957,600 seconds.
Much can (and will) change between now and February. Teams will surprise and fall flat.