With Week one in the books, it’s time to look back on the opening slate of games:
Takeaways from NFL Week One
The Bengals Won a Huge Game on the Road
A Week one victory doesn’t make or break a team’s season, but Cincinnati has had issues with winning big games on the road over the years. They hammered an up-and-coming Raiders team that looked for a fast start with some young, talented offensive weapons. Andy Dalton passed for 269 yards and two touchdowns in leading the Bengals to a 33-13 victory.
The Seahawks Could be in Big Trouble
It’s never wise to jump to early conclusions, but with safety Kam Chancellor still holding out, the defending NFC Champions defense did not quite look the same, as Seattle fell 34-31 in overtime to the St. Louis Rams. Pete Carroll once again made a questionable decision when he chose to attempt an onside kick to start the extra session. With Arizona once again looking solid, St. Louis looking much improved and five of their next seven games against Green Bay, Detroit, Cincinnati, Carolina and Dallas, Seattle may have a long road back to a third straight Super Bowl appearance.
The AFC East had a Banner Week
The Jets and Dolphins did what they were supposed to do by defeating the Browns and Redskins, respectively. More surprisingly, the Bills statement win at home over the Colts and the Patriots opening night victory over the Steelers amid an off-season of controversy showed the AFC East could be the best division in football. Could we possibly see both wild card teams in the AFC being produced from this division?
The Texans Need a Quarterback
Brian Hoyer’s debut as a Houston Texan was one to forget. Acquired from Cleveland, his first pass in a Houston uniform was intercepted by Marcus Peters of the Kansas City Chiefs. Despite what looked like fairly decent numbers(18-34, 236 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT), Hoyer was pulled with the Texans trailing 27-6. Ryan Mallett stepped in and led two fourth quarter drives to make the final score look more respectable at 27-20. The old adage of “if you have two quarterbacks, you really have none” never applied more than here.
The Eagles and Falcons Played an Opening Weekend Classic
Atlanta jumped out to a 20-3 first half lead on the strength of two Matt Ryan touchdown passes to receiver Julio Jones. The Eagles came storming back on the strength of a DeMarco Murray rushing and receiving touchdown each to cut the Falcons lead to 20-17. After Matt Bryant opened the fourth quarter with a 44 yard field goal, the Eagles took their first lead of the game on a Ryan Mathews one yard touchdown run. Bryant kicked a 47 yard field goal to put the Falcons out in front 26-24. The Eagles failed to score on the ensuing possession, but were given one last chance after stopping the Falcons, but Sam Bradford was intercepted by Malcolm Butler to preserve new coach Dan Quinn’s first win in his first game as Atlanta head coach capping a memorable opening night in the Georgia Dome.
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