Brady back in action for Patriots

Brady's Patriots fell at the final hurdle last season

Quarterback Tom Brady will return to action for Super Bowl favourites New England as they begin the 2008 campaign at home to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Brady's last game was February's shock defeat to the New York Giants in the title game - he missed all four pre-season games with a foot injury.

"I'm excited to start the year," said Brady, who led New England to a record 18 successive wins last year.

"I've been getting progressively better over the past couple of weeks.

606: COMMENT The Patriots are still an extremely strong unit, although they are not my pick to win the Super Bowl BBC Sport's Tim Love

Brady has featured on New England's mandatory injury report for the last 56 weeks - dating back to the 2005 season-opener - mainly because of shoulder trouble but has rarely missed any serious action.

The Patriots lost all four of their pre-season games but form in exhibition games has little significance.

The Indianapolis Colts have struggled through August, their first-choice players failing to score a single touchdown in five friendly games.

But they welcome star passer Peyton Manning back from left-knee surgery for their regular-season opener against Chicago.

"I'm sure he'd rather have gone through training camp but we've done it before so I don't worry about it with a veteran guy," said coach Tony Dungy.

Division rivals, Dallas and Philadelphia, are among the front-runners in the National Football Conference.

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Also in the NFC East, the Giants began the season on Thursday with a 16-7 victory over Washington.

New York's other team, the Jets, start their season in Miami with veteran Brett Favre newly installed at quarterback after rescinding his retirement and securing a trade from Green Bay.

606: COMMENT The Jets have been splashing the cash after another difficult season, bolstering both offensive and defensive lines, which should allow Favre more time to find his feet BBC Sport's Martin Gough

Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter is undaunted at the prospect of facing a player who has appeared in a record 253 successive games.

"A quarterback is a quarterback. As long as he's got a number on him and he's legal to hit, we'll be after him," said Porter.

Meanwhile, officials at the Louisiana Superdome still expect to stage Sunday's game between the Saints and Tampa Bay after the worst of Hurricane Gustav passed New Orleans on Monday.

"We're in good shape," said Doug Thornton, vice president of the company that manages the Superdome.

"We've got some exterior signs ripped and things like that, downed fences and light poles blown over, but nothing major, nothing structural."

The Saints are also set to face the San Diego Chargers in the NFL's second excursion to London's Wembley Stadium on 26 October.