Some of the interesting games (but not making my “marquee” designation)  include Kansas City at Philadelphi as the Eagles try to bounce back against another team that can throw the ball around. Miami at San Diego, undefeated Denver at Oakland and Green Bay goes to St. Louis to try and get the offense untracked against a pretty touch defense.

But the games with the biggest intrigue and excitement are the seven that I have listed below should give the avid football fanatic hours worth of enjoyment and make up this edition of Mac’s Marquee Matchups.

Tennessee @ NY Jets – Titan seeking first win after two nail-biting losses, while the Jets try to keep the train rolling along behind a fired up defense and a rookie QB. No doubt Rex Ryan will have the defense fired up and Jet fans will be raucous. For Tennesse, this might likely be the last opportunity to right the ship before it hits an iceberg. (Apologies for the lame Titanic reference!)

They’ll need their defense to throw everything they can and more at the young rookie, because that’s the recipe that works most ofteh. On the other side, if Kerry Collins can take the short passing game and utilize Chris Johnson in same, they could exploit the over aggressive nature of the Jets defense. The TE’s for Tennesse could be critical in this game as well, while the Jets just need to keep the mistakes down and give “Sanchise” enough time to find the open receiver.

Atlanta @ New England - We know the Pats are a Leodis McKelvin fumble away from 0-2, the offense isn’t clicking and the defense doesn’t scare anyone at all. However, they’re at home and Brady might be a bit ticked off about letting the Jets get the upperhand last week. The Dirty Birds are going to be in a dogfight with the Saints in their division, so this will not only be a good measuring stick for the young club, but they need to keep pace (or ahead) of New Orleans in the win/loss column.

San Francisco @ Minnesota – Probably the most interesting contest of the entire weekend. THIS should be the game on MNF, not that Dallas Palace episode II yawner coming up between Carolina and Dallas. 

But I digress.

Can the Niners keep AP in check (and Chester Taylor, too – don’t forget about that guy!) and force Brett Favre to air it out more than they probably want him to do. And, will the 49ers get a solid effort out of the offensive line, Frank Gore and Shaun Hill against a very tough Viking defensive unit. On the fast carpet inside the Dome it should be a wild one for fans all over the country.

My hunch is that RB Chester Taylor and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe will be the biggest X-factors in this game as Brett Favre uses the short to intermediate passing game to his advantage.

New Orleans @ Buffalo – The no huddle offense has probably kept the defensive coordinator for New Orleans up a little later than usual, and he’s probably asked the Saint offense to run it a little bit in practice. If the Saints can combat it effectively they’ll have little trouble in Buffalo. OTOH, the Bills defense is probably in extra sessions trying to figure out how to slow down Drew Brees. Good luck on that, but don’t think the Bills are a push-over slouch that will allow a complete beatdown at their joint. And if McKelvin and Terrence McGee might have something for the Saint passing attack. The offense will need to be extra sharp and should probably target TO – a lot !

Chicago @ Seattle – Are the Bears legit or was that just a case of playing their ” Super Bowl” game against the defending champs? We’ll find out a bit more about them as they head up to the northwest to play a Seattle team that will be without Matt Hasselbeck and Lofa Tutupu. That’s a big advantage, especially for the Chicago offense and Matt Forte. Look for him to get untracked and rack up some good numbers not only running the ball, but catching the rock out of the backfield.

This game will be all about the Bears defense and how well they can shut down Seattle when they have the ball. The ground attack for the Hawks isn’t going to scare anyone, but it might work a little better against Chicago, which will give Seneca a chance to connect on some big plays through the air. Cutler’s going to “get his”, but the Seahawks need to make sure they can do the same.

Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati – Is the Bengal defense for real? Can the surprising offensive line keep Palmer protected for the 3rd week in a row? Can the Steelers rebound from the disappointing loss in Chicago and get that running game going? Divisional matchups usually bring out the best in both teams.

Indianapolis @ Arizona – While the Colts escaped with an exciting win in Miami on Monday night, the Cardinals were back to being their usual selves by racking up the points through the air. With Indy’s defense coming in still recovering from the heat and humidity of Miami, the Cardinals are ready to put them through the heat ringer again.

Lucky it’s a night game and not middle of the day, because most certainly that roof would be open. It might still be even for the night game. At any rate, this will boil down to the Colt defense getting enough pressure on Warner to do two things: 1) Force him to go to his least favorite option on any given route, thus negating the most damaging pass and 2) Forcing him to make a couple of mistakes, such as a stripped football by Mathis or Freeney, or an INT.

Certainly the Colts will have opportunity to see Hightower and Wells, but only as it relates to setting up the pass. If the Cards get ahead, then we’ll probably see much more running than is the norm for Arizona. Meantime, same thing for the Cards defense – get pressure on Manning and make him force the ball to a young, inexperienced wideout who will make a mistake running the route or mishandling the ball. The X-factor for the Colts on offense will be Donald Brown out of the backfield for the screen or dump pass.