NFL Week 1

It's that time of year again. The time when 32 teams all have hope that they can become World Champions. It's NFL time! After the anxiousness of the lockout, which seems like an eternity ago, we're back! And, as is tradition for the NFL opening fixture, we start on a Thursday with the reigning Super Bowl champions, Green Bay Packers. They were matched up against 2010 champions New Orleans Saints, who were not given the opportunity to defend their title when they lost at the hands of the first ever team to qualify for the postseason with a losing record, Seattle Seahawks, in an NFC Wild Card playoff game. A high-scoring affair started with Packers asserting their dominance in the opening quarter when they scored 3 touchdowns, compared to Saints single TD. The 2nd and 3rd quarters were both won by Saints 10-7, but that still meant they trailed 35-27 going into the 4th quarter. They traded TDs in the 4th quarter, but this left Saints 8 behind in their final drive. The final play looked to have failed when Sproles couldn't hold on to Brees' pass in the end zone, but Hawk was called for pass interference and Saints lined up the final play of the game on the Green Bay 1-yard line. Brees handed the ball off to rookie Mark Ingram, but it wasn't to be as he was held up just short of the line, meaning Packers won 42-34.
      There were some shock results on Sunday's games, with Colts, Steelers and Falcons all losing to opposition they probably should have beaten. Manning-less Colts were destroyed away to Houston Texans, losing 34-7, with Houston scoring all their points in the first half. This result shows just how much Colts rely on Manning, because Kerry Collins was pretty useless. He threw 197 yards from just over 50% completion rate, and was sacked 3 times. To be fair to Collins, Colts probably wouldn't have won even with Manning because Texans were proverbially on fire, but they would have made it a more respectable scoreline.
Steelers were also massacred away from home at the hands of Baltimore Ravens, as they went down 34-7. The quarterbacks were the key men, with Big Ben Roethlisberger throwing for 280 yards from 22/41 completions, but was intercepted 3 times and was sacked 3 times. Flacco on the other hand, threw for 224 yards from 17/29 completions, and threw 3 TDs. He was only sacked once and didn't get intercepted. Ray Rice was also a key man, as he totaled 107 rushing yards, which included 1 TD, and he also totaled 42 receiving yards and 1 receiving TD.. Ravens scored 2 touchdowns in the first period and were 21-7 up at half time. The 3rd quarter was the killer blow for Pittsburgh. An Ed Dickson TD was followed up with a 2-point conversion, and then a 29-yard Field Goal later on the period all but condemned Pittsburgh to their first loss of the season. Ravens added to their lead with another FG in the 4th quarter, but the game was long over when that happened.
Falcons also suffered a surprise 30-12 loss away to Jay Cutler's Chicago. Falcons were were never really in it, losing the 1st quarter 10-3 and being 16-3 down at half time. They then went on to lose the 3rd quarter 14-3, which meant it was 30-6 going into the 4th. An unconverted pick-six gave Atlanta a bit of hope as there was still 10:35 left on the clock, but it wasn't to be and Bears romped to victory. 
Bengals beat a poor-looking Browns side in the Ohio derby, with a pair of late TDs leading them to a 27-17 victory. Bengals took a 10-0 lead, but Browns came back to lead 14-13 at HT. Only 3 points were scored in the 3rd quarter, with said points coming from a 20 yard FG from Browns kicker Dawson. Then with 4:31 left in 4th quarter, Bengals retook the lead thanks to rookie AJ Green and his 1st career TD. Then another touchdown 2 and 1/2 minutes later secured victory for Cincinnati. 
Tennessee Titans almost claimed victory against Jacksonville, coming back from 13-0 down to lose narrowly 16-14. Jaguars went 10-0 up at HT, then late on in the 3rd quarter scored another FG to go up 13-0. Then just 4 seconds later, Tennessee scored their 1st points with a touchdown. An early field goal in the 4th quarter put Jaguars 16-7 up, and then a TD with 3:40 made the score 16-14. This created a nervous ending to the match, but Jaguars held on to win.
Buffalo Bills stormed to a 41-7 victory over Kansas City Chiefs with an outstanding performance. Fitzpatrick threw 4 TDs for Buffalo, who took a 14-0 lead in the 1st quarter. Another touchdown halfway through the 2nd quarter pretty much secured the game, but a touchdown for Chiefs just before half time brought them back into it a little bit. Two more touchdowns in the 3rd quarter emphasized Bills' victory, and then another at the start of the 4th quarter put the icing on the cake.
Mike Vick powered Eagles to an impressive 31-13 victory over St. Louis with 2 touchdowns and 98 rushing yards. He also threw for 187 yards from 14/32 completions. Rams opened up the scoring 4 minutes in, but 2 touchdowns gave Philadelphia a 14-7 lead going into the 2nd quarter. They then exchanged field goals in the 2nd quarter, and Eagles took a 24-13 lead into the final quarter. Another touchdown in quarter 4 topped it off for Eagles, who could be real contenders for the Super Bowl.
Matt Stafford threw for 305 yards to lead Detroit to victory over Tampa Bay, and also threw 3 touchdowns. Buccaneers were winning after the first quarter, but then collapsed and Lions took over. A pair of 2nd quarter touchdowns gave Detroit a healthy lead, but the quarter ended with a Tampa Bay field goal 4 seconds from the end. Another touchdown gave Lions a 27-13 lead, and they held on for the rest of the game, until Bucs scored a TD with 1:40 left. This didn't really affect the game, as they still needed another to tie the game. Lions held out to give a final result of 27-20
What a debut Cam Newton had. He set the record for the most yards on a QB's debut game, throwing 422 yards and also threw 2 touchdowns. But it still wasn't enough as Carolina fell to Arizona 28-21. They traded TDs for most of the game, but Panthers couldn't get one in the final quarter and Cards got an extra one to make up for their bagel in the 2nd. But it was all about Cam Newton. He was outstanding. Maybe not MVP this year, but very soon, based on this performance.
San Diego Chargers were on the back foot for a lot of their game against Minnesota Vikings, but that didn't matter as they still ran out eventual winners, 24-17. Down 17-7 at half time, Philip Rivers took over and Chargers scored 17 2nd half points to claim victory. He threw an impressive 335 yards, which completely outclassed Donovan McNabb, who gave the ball to Adrian Peterson to rush 16 times. McNabb threw for just 39 yards, but also rushed for 32 form just 3 carries.
Seattle Seahawks fell to a spirited 49ers side, who claimed a 33-17 victory over last season NFC West champions. After a scoreless 1st quarter, San Francisco ran riot in the second quarter to take 16-0 half time lead. The 3rd quarter was won by Seattle 7-0, which set up an exciting 4th quarter. Seattle opened the scoring right away, with a 39 yard FG sailing through the upright. David Akers then matched that with an 18 yard attempt of his own, with 5:54 left. Seattle then scored their 2nd TD of the game to cut the deficit to just 2 points at 19-17. But a 102 yard kickoff return by Ginn gave the 49ers a 2 possession advantage, and then the same player carried a punt return to end zone 1 minute later to all but give San Francisco victory.
Washington Redskins claimed a surprise 28-14 victory over New York Giants, in which Rex Grossman showed why he's a suitable replacement for McNabb. He threw 305 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 2nd half destruction of New York. The teams traded touchdowns twice in the first half to go into the break level at 14, but then Washington took over. Kerrigan scored a 9-yard pick-six which was duly converted, and then late on in the 4th, a 4-yard pass secured victory for the Redskins
In the late game, New York Jets secured victory over Dallas with a late comeback to stun the Cowboys. Cowboys looked like going into half time 10-7 up courtesy of a Bryant TD and a Bailey field goal, but a late TD in the 2nd by the Jets meant they were still in it. Another Cowboys TD put them 17-7 ahead, but a field goal pegged them back to 17-10. An early 4th quarter TD stretched Cowboys advantage to 14, but then Jets took over. A touchdown cut Dallas' lead to 1 possession, then a blocked Cowboys punt was picked up by Trufant who then ran in another TD to level things up. They then took the lead for the first time in the game with a late field goal and held on for a 27-24 win.
Tom Brady was unstoppable against Miami. He threw for 517 yards, and threw 4 touchdowns. he did throw his first interception since October last season, but I'm sure Pats fans will forgive him for that. It was a topsy-turvy game, but Pats made their plays count more to win 38-24. Dolphins just couldn't work the ball properly, despite scoring 3 TDs. The pivotal play came when Dolphins were stopped just 1 yard from the end zone, and Tom Brady took over. With the score 31-17, a Miami TD would have made for a nervy end. Instead, the opposite happened. Brady threw the ball to Welker on their own 30-yard line, who then sprinted almost unopposed to the Miami line for a 99-yard play.
In the final game of Week 1, Oakland Raiders beat Denver Broncos 23-20. Raiders were trailing 3-0 after quarter 1, but scored 16 points in the next to take a 16-3 lead into HT. Broncos then scored 10 points to Raiders' 0 in the 3rd, but an early 4th quarter TD for Oakland made it a 2-possession game. A Broncos TD set up a nervy ending, but Oakland held on.
Predicitons
My List of Week 2 winners:
Saints
Falcons
Packers
Texans
Patriots
Giants
Bills
Lions
Browns
Buccaneers
Jets
Steelers
Ravens
Cardinals
49ers
Bengals
Thanks for reading. I promise Week 2 will be out sooner