NFL Week 1 Recap

The day finally came... the first Sunday of the year in the NFL! As always, lots of games, some upsets, some good finishes, and we know a lot more than we did going into the day. So here's a quick snapshot of each game.

Eagles 24, Texans 10 - Yes, McNabb is back. 314 yards and 3 TD back. Don'te Stallworth appears to have been a fine pickup, as he got 141 yards and a TD. The leading Texans rusher was Wali Lundy, who had 32 yards on 11 carries... man, you'd think there would have been someone available in the draft for them to take.

Bengals 23, Chiefs 10 - This game was marred by the scary hit on Trent Green, but thankfully it appears that the X-Rays are negative... but all the thoughts have to go out for him after that. Meanwhile, the Bengals scored 17 in the 2nd quarter, and that was all they needed. Palmer was accurate, but they rode Rudi to this one.

Seahawks 9, Lions 6 - I didn't get to see much of this game, so I was surprised when I saw the score. So much for the Mike Martz Effect, at least for this week. The Lions had a talented defense last year (and that was before they added Ernie Sims, who looked excellent) , so it's not a total shock that they held Seattle to 9 points, but for all this jinx talk, not a great start for the Seahawks. By the way, game 1 A.S.H. (After Steve Hutchinson) didn't go so well... 51 yards on 19 carries for Shaun Alexander.

Saints 19, Browns 14 - The Reggie Bush Era begins, and that sound you hear is Texans fans trying to stick their heads into an oven. Bush ran for 61 yards on 14 carres, and caught 8 passes for 58 yards. He even returned a few punts for good measure. He good. Also, welcome back Kellen Winslow. Looks like the soldier can play... to the tune of 8 catches for 63 yards and a TD. Meanwhile, when Charlie Frye has 17 more rushing yards than anyone else, that's usually not a formula for success. The Browns needs Droughns to do a lot better than 27 yards rushing.

Falons 20, Panthers 6 - Apparently Steve Smith is really, really valuable. Jake Delhomme wasn't very good, Deshaun was ineffective for the most part, and Drew Carter led the team in receiving. The Falcons had no such problems. Vick threw 2 TD, Dunn ran for 130 yards, and Michael Jenkins even caught a TD. Not so fast in handing that NFC crown to the Panthers everybody.

Jets 23, Titans 16 - Eric Mangini's coaching debut was more of the more successful ones today, as the Jets, projected basically to suck, beat the Titans. Not that the Titans are necessarily world-beaters themselves. Kerry Collins gave us all a pretty good indication of why every other team in the NFL passed on him this offseason. Vince Young completed all of his passes, which was nice... although one was to the Jets, which wasn't as good. Chad Pennington showed that yes, he is very much back from his injury.

Ravens 27, Bucs 0 - I'm shocked. Not that the Ravens won, because I knew they'd be solid with Air McNair, but that they just thoroughly dominated the Bucs. Chris Simms was terrible (3 INT), and they had absolutely no rushing game to speak of. Cadillac has 22 yards on 8 carries. Is TB this bad or is Baltimore this good? Was it just an abberation?Most shocking result of the day, at least for me.

Rams 18, Broncos 10 - The sound you here is the seat getting a lot hotter for Jake Plummer with Jay Cutler waiting in the wings. 50% passing with 3 INT... um, yeah, that's not very good. They were able to get yards on the ground, but that was basically wiped out by 5 turnovers. Denver's D played well, but they can't be put in those types of bad situations all the time. Scott Linehan wins his debut, as the Rams have just enough talent to be a threat in the NFC West.

Patriots 19, Bills 17 - Second most surprising outcome of the day for me. I came in expecting the Bills to suck, and they gave NE all they wanted and more, succumbing only when JP Losman was dropped for a safety in the 4th quarter of a tie game... THROW THE BALL AWAY. Where have you gone Deion Branch?

Jaguars 24, Cowboys 17 - Nothing real surprising here, except that Bledsoe was as bad as he was. The Jags are a real solid football team, as they showed. They're very good defensively, and they have some good talent at WR. They once again look like a playoff team. For the Boys, no surprise that TO had a big impact. He made a great adjustment on the TD catch, and finished with 80 yards on 6 catches. Meanwhile, if Bledsoe struggles like this again, how long before Bill takes a look at starting Romo? Methinks it could be sooner rather than later.

Bears 26, Packers 0 - We knew the Bears were good and the Packers sucked, but I didn't realize the difference was this big. Packers shut out in Lambeau? Say it ain't so! Brett Favre continues his run at the record books (for most INT, that is), with a couple of 2nd half picks. The one good news of the day for the Pack was that Ahman Green looked very solid coming back. Everything else they'd like to forget.

Cardinals 34, 49ers 27 - I was, and I suspect a lot of Niners fans were, impressed with Alex Smith. Better decisions, he has a better arm than I thought, and he looks like he already has nice repoire with Antonio Bryant. Meanwhile, don't look now, but Frank Gore is a very solid RB. I'm telling you now. For the Cards, was that an excited fan base I saw? What a change from year's past! Oh yeah, another don't look now... but Larry Fitzgerald is already the best WR in the NFL.

Colts 26, Giants 21 - I saw so many Peyton Manning commercials I hardly remember anything about the game! The Manning Bowl lived up to the hype, in an exciting game that went down to the final possession. Peyton didn't end with great numbers, but he was excellent on 3rd downs, keeping the drives alive and the Giants defense on the field. Now if they only had a running game. Meanwhile, the Giants look like a playoff team to me. Good defense, a great RB combo, and I'm a big Eli Manning fan. By the way, anyone else just find Adam Vinatieri in a Colts uniform to just be really strange looking?

Anyway, that's the Sunday of NFL... thoughts? How'd your team do?