NFL Week 1 Takeaways

The AFC East went 4-0 this week, with dominating wins from the Jets over the Browns and the Bills over the Colts. That was a huge surprise to me because I thought the Colts were going to be nearly unstoppable on offense. The Bills shut them down with a near perfect 1^st half of defense.

The heavy weight fight between the Ravens and Broncos was brutal to watch. In a way the defensive coordinators must be happy for both teams, but the offenses looked horrific. Not a single offensive touchdown from either team, from 2 of the top teams in the league. Add insult to injury: Terrell Suggs is out for the season with a torn Achilles. Ouch!

Staying within the AFC West division, the KC Chiefs looked like a top 10 team after smashing the Texans in the first half, but let them get close in the second half. Like I said in my preview, the Broncos are going to have their handful with the Chiefs and even the surprising Chargers. The Chargers beat the lions in a back and forth game. The big loser in this division are the Oakland Raiders, who got absolutely crushed by Cincinnati and star QB David Carr took a shot.

The biggest surprise in the AFC and maybe NFL are the Tennessee Titans, more specifically Marcus Mariota. 4 TDs, and a perfect passer rating. Not only did he look good, he made Jameis Winston and the Bucs look like they made the wrong choice drafting Winston over Mariota. What else is surprising, is that the Titans are in first place in their division, thanks to the Colts getting derailed by the Bills, the Texans losing to the Chiefs, and the Jaguars being the Jags by losing to the Panthers. Playoffs in Nashville?

In the NFC, there were some great divisional match-ups including the Seahawks and Rams. This game means so much to the Rams, though they beat them last year as well, this game will give the Rams the confidence they need to be a playoff contender they believe they are. As for the Seahawks, I don’t think it’s anything to panic about, but giving up 34 points to the Rams has got to be eye-opening. Maybe pay Kam Chancellor because next week they play the Packers in Green Bay. Can you say 0-2?

Speaking of the Packers and divisional match-ups, the Packers beat the Bears in Green Bay – Chicago fashion. By that I mean, Green Bay winning and Jay Cutler throwing a costly interception. You can’t make this stuff up, it happens every time these two play each other.

The Cardinals got a great welcome back performance from Carson Palmer as he threw 3 TDs and defeated the New Orleans Saints with a dominant 4^th quarter. A week 1 win is a nice way for the Cardinals to get a game lead on the Seahawks.

To cap off Opening Sunday, we got the privilege to watch an NFC East showdown in the NY Giants and the highly praised Cowboys. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for the Cowboys in the first half, including some crazy fumbles and interceptions that led to points for the Giants and left Cowboys scratching their heads. The second half was very different. The Giants couldn’t move the ball and the Cowboys were clicking. Even with the lead the Giants were unable to secure the win due to some terrible clock management and defense allowing the Cowboys to drive down the field and score a TD with 7 seconds left. De-ja-vu to Desean Jackson’s punt return a few years ago. The consistency with this team is out of this world. Though the Cowboys got the win, they lost their star wide-out, Dez Bryant with a broken foot. That broken foot didn’t stop him from celebrating his team winning though.

On to Monday Night. We the fans get blessed with 2 MNF games. The first between the Eagles and Falcons and the second featuring the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers. Unfortunately these aren’t the greatest games to show, but they do feature some interesting storylines. Everyone is excited to see the Chip Kelly science experiment, starting with Sam Bradford and how he will rebound from his 2 terrible knee injuries that have put him on the list of potential biggest bust. I think he will be a star, but we will have wait to find out. On the other side of the ball is the Atlanta Falcons, who have a new coach with a defensive background, which is what Atlanta most certainly needed after last year. I could see this game being a shootout between 2 high flying offenses. My advantage would have to go with Philadelphia, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this one come down to the wire. Philadelphia by 8 is my prediction.

The final game of week one stars my hometown Vikings against my once beloved 49ers, due to my love for the former 49er great, Patty Willis. Unfortunately this game starts at 9:20 CST, so half of us aren't evening going to be able to finish the game because we have to wake up for work, but too the die-hards this is nice preview of what our Vikings are going to be about this season. The Vikings should in no way lose this game to a 49ers team that is legitimately in free fall and turmoil. The organization had such a tough off-season, I don’t how they will even compete this season. With that being said, the Vikings need to pound them into the ground early with Adrian Peterson, who side note, will be running like an angry mad men, that wants to show the league he still has it. I can’t wait for all the puzzle pieces to fit for the Vikings tonight. Vikings win easily by 10, 30-20.