No sport seems to be more popular than the pigskin.

High school football takes center stage under Friday night lights, Saturday is saturated with the college gridiron and the professionals go to work on Sundays.

The NFL kicks off tonight with a clash between the defending champion New York Giants and the perennially underachieving Dallas Cowboys. It should make for a back-and-forth, high-scoring affair.

High school and college seasons shifted into full gear over the weekend and the amateur version can be just as much fun to watch.

Some NFL guys keep fans on their toes with the ability to score every time they touch the ball, kind of like Grove City’s Chad Williams. The Eagles’ senior had three rushes and one reception on Friday at Carrick. All of them went for touchdowns.

Knoch’s Ben Tackett and Slippery Rock’s Ryan Currie needed more touches, but both tallied four TDs on the way to victory. Mars sophomore Josh Schultheis also put on a show, racking up 164 rushing yards and two touchdowns against Franklin Regional — expected to be among the WPIAL’s best — in a crucial conference win for the Planets.

Karns City, on the other hand, didn’t rely on a one-man wrecking crew. Five different Gremlins wound up in the end zone at St. Marys.

Those performances make football fun.

Pitt and Penn State wouldn’t know.

Both schools suffered disappointing losses to open the year on Saturday against teams from Ohio, and we’re not talking about the Buckeyes or Bearcats.

I don’t think too many believed either program was on its way to a special season, but I didn’t expect first-year head coaches Paul Chryst and Bill O’Brien to stub their toes in Week 1 against Youngstown State and Ohio, respectively.

It can take time to turn around a college program, though, especially with the turmoil Penn State has endured, along with Pitt’s revolving door located in front of the head coach’s office.

The fortunes of an NFL team can change in an instant, however.

Last year, the Giants were outscored in the regular season en route to a shaky 9-7 record. Next thing we know, New York is celebrating its second Super Bowl in five years.

The Cincinnati Bengals and Detroit Lions are often stumbling to a top pick in the draft. Last season, they punched playoff tickets.

A lot can happen in a 16-game sprint and it’s hard to say which team will hoist the Lombardi Trophy in February, but it probably won’t be the best one.

The Green Bay Packers went 15-1. Then they were done.

In fact, the last squad to win the Super Bowl after posting the best regular-season record was the 2003 New England Patriots.

The last three champions — Giants, Packers and Saints — were considered solid teams, but not strong Super Bowl contenders entering the year.

With that trend in mind, here’s my outside-the-box Super Bowl pick: Denver over Chicago.

Both are an injury or two from missing the playoffs. Both have filled enough holes to exceed expectations.

I’ve come to expect the unexpected from football, just one reason the pigskin is so popular.