Thursday open thread: Who do you have tonight Broncos or Panthers?

There is football tonight. Not exhibition football. Not a college matchup between two schools you’ve never heard of (or worse, one you have and one you haven’t). We have real life, meaningful NFL football tonight and it’s going to be a great one.

The defending champion Denver Broncos will face the team they beat just seven months ago: the Carolina Panthers. Here’s some brief info on the game:

When: Thursday, Sept. 8 - 8:30 p.m. ET

Where: Sports Authority Field at Mile High — Denver, CO

TV: NBC

Odds: Panthers by 3

Today’s Question of the Day is simply:

Who wins tonight? Broncos or Panthers?

My answer: I’ve got the slight underdog in the Broncos. I think a lot of people are counting Denver out because of the loss of Peyton Manning. Manning was not at his best last year, in fact, he was terrible. Granted, Denver also lost key defensive players in Danny Trevathan and Malik Jackson, but they still have a dangerous secondary and Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware wreaking havoc in the backfield. This is still a very good defense, and that will carry them far again in 2016.

Your turn.