Cardinals 20 Seahawks 16
Kevin Kolb started the pre-season as the Cardinals starting quarterback. Then he lost the job to John Skelton. Then just three plus quarters into the first game of the season, Kolb found himself forced into action with his team trailing by three points after Skelton was carted off the field with an injury. Kolb lead his team down the field and found Andre Roberts for a 6 yard touchdown pass that put the Cardinals ahead of the Seahawks to stay, 20-16.
Russell Wilson won the Seahawks starting quarterback job in the pre-season but couldn’t win his first game as an NFL starter. Wilson passed for close to 200 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Sidney Rice, but he also had a costly interception.
The Seahawks had six chances inside the Cardinals ten yard line in the last minute of the game but failed to convert and score the road victory.
Next week, the Cardinals will travel to New England and the Seahawks will travel to Dallas to play the Cowboys.
Alex Smith threw two touchdown passes and didn’t throw an interception playing an almost perfect road game. Smith found Randy Moss in the end zone early in the game and found Vernon Davis for another score in the third quarter.
The Packers struggled all day and managed only two touchdown drives on offense. A 75 yard punt return by Randall Cobb made the score of the game appear closer than it was.
David Akers had three field goals for the 49ers including a 63 yard bomb that tied the NFL record just before half time.
Next week, the Packer will play the Bears on Thursday Night Football and the 49ers will play their home opener against the Lions.
Buccaneers 16 Panthers 10
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the rain, thunder, lightning, and the Carolina Panthers in a wild opening week game that was delayed before halftime due to extreme weather near Raymond James Stadium.
Josh Freeman threw a touchdown pass to Mike Williams and Connor Barth added three field goals as the Buccaneers never trailed the favored Panthers.
Cam Newton never seemed to get into a rhythm being intercepted two times and leading only one touchdown drive. Brandon Lafell scored the touchdown for the Panthers and Justin Medlock had a field goal.
Next week, the Buccaneers travel to New Jersey to play the Jets and the Panthers will play their home opener against the Saints.
Redskins 40 Saints 32
Robert Giffin III had a successful NFL debut going into the Superdome and playing almost flawlessly as the Redskins upset the Saints by eight points. Griffin was 19-26 for 320 passing yards with two touchdown passes and no interceptions. He also rushed for 42 yards.
The Redskins took an early 3-0 lead and never looked back. Griffin threw an 88-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon in the first quarter and early in the second quarter he extended the Redskins lead to 10 points with a touchdown pass to Aldrick Robinson.
Griffin wasn’t the only Redskins rookie to make a strong debut. Alfred Morris rushed for close to 100 yards and scored on a short touchdown run.
The Saints played an awful mistake filled game that only made things easy for the young Redskins. The Saints were 8-0 in the Superdome last year and barley trailed there all season long. That will not be the case this season as the Saints trailed most of the day and lost their home opener. Drew Brees threw two interceptions, Marques Colston had a costly fumble, and the Saints had twelve devastating penalties.
Next week, the Redskins will travel to St. Louis to play the Rams and the Saint will travel to Carolina for an important division game against the Panthers.
Jets 48 Bills 28
The Jets failed to score a touchdown in the pre-season. Apparently, they were saving them all for opening day as the Jets thrashed the Bills at Met Life Stadium.
The Jets scored on three Mark Sanchez touchdown passes, a Jeremy Kerley punt return, and a pick six by Antonio Cromartie. Nick Folk added two field goals and Shonn Greene closed the scoring with a short touchdown run.
Despite spending money to improve the team in the offseason, the Bills were dominated in all phases of the game. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw three interceptions and Fred Jackson left the game early with what could be a serious knee injury.
CJ Spiller had his best day as a pro rushing for 169 yards and scoring a touchdown.
Tim Tebow wasn’t much of a factor in the game rushing only five times for eleven yards.
Next week, the Jets will go on the road to play the Steelers and the Bills will play their home opener against the Chiefs.
Vikings 26 Jaguars 23
Blair Walsh kicked a 55 yard field goal as the fourth quarter expired to help the Vikings force overtime against the Jaguars. Then, Walsh kicked a 38 yard field goal in overtime to complete a stunning come from behind victory for the Vikings.
The Jaguars thought they has sealed the game when Blaine Gabbert threw a 39 yard touchdown pass to Cecil Shorts with only 20-seconds remaining in the fourth quarter that put them ahead by three. It wasn’t meant to be as Christian Ponder drove the Vikings down the field in the last twenty seconds to give Walsh the chance to hit the long field goal and force overtime.
Adrian Peterson had two touchdowns for the Vikings in his return from knee surgery and Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for almost 100 yards in his return from a long hold out for the Jaguars.
Next week, the Vikings will play on the road against the Colts and the Jaguars will try to bounce back in their home opener against the Texans.
Falcons 40 Chiefs 24
The Atlanta Falcons proved to be too much for the Kansas City Chiefs pulling away in the second half to score a 16-point victory on the road in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Falcons and Chiefs went back and fourth in the first half and the Falcons took only a 3 point lead into half time. The second half was a different story as the Falcons outscored the Chiefs 20-7 in the final thirty minutes of play.
Matt Ryan had three touchdown passes and ran for another in a crisp opening game for the Falcons star quarterback. Julio Jones caught two touchdown passes and Tony Gonzalez also scored in his first game as an opponent in Arrowhead.
Matt Cassel had a strong second quarter throwing a touchdown pass and running for another.
Next week, the Falcons will play their home opener on Monday night against the Broncos and the Chiefs will travel to Buffalo to play the Bills.
The New England Patriots went on the road and took care of business against the Tennessee Titans scoring early and often in an easy opening victory.
Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkownski both caught Tom Brady touchdown passes and rookie Dont’a Hightower returned a fumble for a touchdown in his first game as a pro.
The Titans just didn’t have the horses to keep up with the Patriots converting only five of fourteen third down attempts and turned the ball over two times.
Jake Locker did throw a touchdown pass to Nate Washington in the third quarter.
Next week, the Patriots will play their home opener against the Cardinals and the Titans will go on the road to play the Chargers.
Michael Vick threw four interceptions including a D’Qwell Jackson pick six that gave the Browns a 16-10 lead with 13:59 left in the fourth quarter. Like he has so many times before, Vick rallied his team and threw a four yard touchdown pass to Clay Harbor with only 1:18 left in the game to lift the Eagles to a 1 point victory.
Vick finished the day with two touchdown passes including one to Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy rushed for over 100 yards as the Eagles escaped a disaster in Cleveland.
Brandon Weeden was shaky in his NFL debut throwing four interceptions and failing to finish three drives that ended with Phil Dawson field goals. Trent Richardson was also shaky in his pro debut rushing for only 39 yards and catching only 1 pass.
Next week, the Browns will head to Cincinnati for a division game against the Bengals and the Eagles will play their home opener against the Ravens.
Lions 27 Rams 23
Matthew Stafford struggled through one of his worst days as a pro before picking himself off the matt and throwing a 5 yard touchdown pass to Kevin Smith with only seconds remaining to give the Lions a dramatic opening day victory.
The Rams had two different fourth quarter leads but could not hold on and score the upset victory. Sam Bradford threw a fourth quarter touchdown pass to give the Rams a 20-13 lead with about ten minutes remaining and then lead the team down the field for what appeared to be a game winning field goal by Greg Zuerlein inside the two minute warning.
The Lions got two touchdowns from Kevin Smith and Calvin Johnson had his usual 100+ yard performance.
Next week, the Lions will travel to San Francisco to play the 49ers on Sunday night football and the Rams will play their home opener against the Redskins.
Bears 41 Colts 21
The Chicago Bears spoiled Andrew Luck’s debut intercepting him three times while Jay Cutler had two touchdown passes including one to his new weapon Brandon Marshall.
The Colts got out to an early 7-0 lead when a first quarter Cutler pass was intercepted by Jerrell Freeman and returned four yards for a touchdown. The Bears scored 24 of the last 31 points of the first half and took a commanding 24-14 lead into halftime.
Michael Bush scored two short touchdowns and Matt Forte also rushed for a touchdown for the Bears.
Luck threw his first career touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter to Donnie Avery and recorded his first 300 yard passing day finishing with 309 yards.
Next week the Bears will play the Packers on Thursday night football and the Colts will play their home opener against the Vikings.
Texans 30 Dolphins 10
The Houston Texans spoiled the debut of Ryan Tannehill with a dominate twenty point victory at home over the Miami Dolphins.
Tannehill struggled all day throwing three interceptions and throwing for only 219 yards.
The Texans got two rushing touchdowns from Arian Foster and Matt Schaub connected with Andre Johnson eight times for 119 yards and a touchdown.
The Dolphins scored their only touchdown on a long punt return by Marcus Thigpen in the third quarter.
Next week the Texans will travel to Jacksonville to play the Jaguars and the Dolphins will play their home opener against the Raiders.
