by Jared Smola

Get your remotes ready! You’ll want to be channel-hopping on Sunday to catch these marquee individual matchups:

1. Vikings RB Adrian Peterson vs. Colts S Bob Sanders- Talk about an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Peterson runs like an angry LB, looking to run through defenders instead of around them. Sanders plays like a missile speeding at 1,000 mph towards his target. There will be a few bone-jarring hits, but it’ll be interesting to see whether it is Peterson or Sanders dishing them out.

2. Rams LT Orlando Pace vs. Giants DE Justin Tuck- The Rams will want Pace lining up against Tuck, but look for the G-men to keep St. Louis guessing by moving their elite pass-rusher to both end positions. Still, Tuck will be squaring off against Pace from time to time and it’ll be fun to watch. This is a great test for Pace to see if he is completely recovered from his off-season shoulder surgery. He’ll need to keep Tuck off QB Marc Bulger’s back if the Rams are to have any success in the passing game.

3. Broncos WR Brandon Marshall vs. Chargers CB Antonio Cromartie- Two of the most physically-gifted players in the NFL will go one-on-one in this divisional battle. Marshall is making his 2008 debut after being suspended for a game, while Cromartie (questionable) is dealing with a hip injury. I’m hoping for at least one 50-50 jump-ball between these two. Marshall tallied 13 catches for 147 in 2 games against San Diego last year but failed to find the end zone.

4. Patriots HC Bill Belichick vs. Jets HC Eric Mangini- It figures that Belichick’s first game without QB Tom Brady comes against his arch-nemesis Eric Mangini (side note: someone should make a comic book titled “The Hoody vs. The Mangenius”). These two guys always have something up their sleeves for one another, but the best part of their two annual meetings is the awkward post-game man-hug. Priceless.

5. WR Terrell Owens vs. CB Asante Samuel- Owens will go up against his former team under the bright lights of Monday Night Football, but he’ll also be going one-on-one with the Eagles’ prized free-agent acquisition. Philadelphia shelled out $57 million to Samuel for games just like this. Shutting down the Cowboys offense starts with containing T.O. Samuel did an excellent job on WR Torry Holt last week, but Owens is a different animal.

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