Eagles 18-12 over the Falcons: Everyone was excited for the NFL season to start but with two high octane offenses they only kicked field goals till the 3rd quarter. It was their defense that was the story of the game besides RB Jay Ajayi who had 2 rushing TDs. Both starting QBS in Nick Foles and Matt Ryan had interceptions while Ryan also had a fumble. The Eagles even ran the “Philly Special” the play they ran in the SB that Foles caught for a TD pass, it was just used for a first down.
Bengals 34-23 over the Colts: In QB Andrew Luck’s return his defense and running game again let him down. He did have 2 TD passes but he also threw one interception as well. QB Andy Dalton also had 2 TD passes with an interception but the difference was RB Joe Mixon, who had a huge game with 149 all total purpose yards with a rushing TD. While the Bengals’ defense returned a fumble for a TD.
Ravens 47-3 over the Bills: Everything was working for QB Joe Flacco now that he has three WRs which he did not have last year as they all caught TD passes (Willie Snead, Michal Crabtree and John Brown). His three RBs all also scored rushing TDs (Buck Allen, Alex Collins and Kenneth Dixon). We all knew the Bills would be a mess but they were a total mess as they benched QB Nathan Peterman again after he had two interceptions for the rookie Josh Allen. The Ravens defense had a forced fumble, two interceptions and five sacks.
Buccaneers 48-40 over the Saints: In the upset of the week the Buccaneers shredded the Saints defense. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick had over 400 yards with 4 TD passes as he was filling in for the suspended Jameis Winston and he even had a rushing TD. Again the defense let down QB Drew Brees who had over 430 yards with 3 TD passes, as RB Alvin Kamara had 3 total TDs with two being rushing and one being receiving. It was the highest scoring opening game in SB era.
Patriots 27-20 over the Texans: The Patriots and QB Tom Brady didn’t miss a beat despite his one interception as he had three 3 TD passes, as those TDs went to the usual suspects TE Rob Gronkowski, James White and Phillip Dorset. For the Texans in QB DeShaun Watson’s return he looked uneven as he had one interception, one fumble and 1 TD pass. The Patriots kept WR DeAndre Hopkins under 100 yards with no TDs.
Vikings 24-16 over the 49ers: The Vikings stopped QB Jimmy Garoppolo’s winning streak as a starter by picking him off three times with one being returned for a TD, sacked him three times, and caused RB Alfred Morris to fumble twice. On offense in QB Kirk Cousin’s Vikings debut, he had 2 TD passes no interceptions with them going to TE Kyle Rudolph and WR Stefon Diggs.
Dolphins 27-20 over the Titans: In the longest game since the merger both starting QBs were not great as QB Ryan Tannehill did have 2 TD passes but threw two interceptions, while QB Marcus Mariota had two interceptions as well but the difference was no TDs. Mariota even left the game and QB Blaine Gabbert came in and threw another interception. Both teams had a kick return TD.
Jaguars 20-15 over the Giants: The Jaguars defense was too much for the Giants as QB Eli Manning had no TD passes with an interception that was returned for a TD. They held TE Evan Ingram under 20 yards and WR Odell Beckham JR from reaching the end zone leaving Manning with no one to throw to. The lone bright spot was RB Shaquon Barkley having over 100 rushing yards with a rushing TD. While QB Blake Bortles had his usual interception but had 1 TD pass which was the difference.
Steelers tied the Browns 21: Hey the Browns did not lose but they tied in OT. The Browns defense picked off QB Ben Roethlisberger three times, forced him to fumble and RB James Conner to fumble. WR Antonio Brown did get his usual TD from Big Ben but it was Conner who stole the show with 2 rushing TDs with 192 all total purpose yards. While QB Tyrod Taylor in his Browns debut had a passing TD which went to WR Josh Gordon and a rushing TD despite an interception/fumble and his RB Carlos Hyde had a rushing TD. Both teams missed field goals in OT leading to the tie.
Chiefs 38-28 over the Chargers: It was all about WR Tyreek Hill who had 3 TDs, one punt return, and 2 receiving TDs. QB Patrick Mahomes who is now the full time starter had 4 TD passes and over 240 yards passing. While again the Chargers let down QB Phillip Rivers where he has to try to will his team to a win being down 31-6 starting the 4th quarter, as he threw one interception but had 4 TD passes, but it wasn’t enough again.
Panthers 16-8 over the Cowboys: Both teams QBs didn’t play well as they both didn’t have passing TDs as the only difference was QB Cam Newton who had a rushing TD and so did their FB Alex Armah. The Dallas offense was nowhere to be found all game till RB Ezekiel Elliot scored when they were down 16-0 in the 4th quarter, but again it was all on Elliot to score.
Redskins 24-6 over the Cardinals: The Redskins looked like a last place that wasn’t as bad they looked. This is what the Cardinals were supposed to be but all they could muster was a field goal and a rushing TD by David Johnson, but missed the 2-pt conversion as QB Sam Bradford looked bad with one interception, one fumble and had under 160 yards passing. It was Washington’s offense that looked amazing as RB Adrian Peterson had a rushing TD against his former team, and QB Alex Smith in his debut for the team had 2 TD passes.
Broncos 27-24 over the Seahawks: Again QB Russell Wilson had to do everything on his own and to run for his life. Wilson did have 3 TD passes but had two fumbles and two interceptions. One of his passes went to WR Brandon Marshall who was the lead WR with Doug Baldwin out. He was sacked 6 times total with three coming from LB Von Miller, and RB Chris Carson had a fumble too. Again the Seahawks kicker was missing field goals as Sebastian Janikowski missed one of his two which was an issue last year with Blair Walsh. While career backup QB Case Keenum had 3 TD passes but 3 interceptions but he threw to his key receivers in WR Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas as this was the game winning one.
Packers 24-23 over the Bears: The game started out great for LB Khalil Mack and the Bears being up 20-0 over the Packers as they even knocked QB Aaron Rodgers out of the game. Mack had a sack, a forced fumble and he took back an interception for a TD. The Bears defense had two total forced fumbles and four sacks. Again the Bears offense is what really let the Bears down as all they could muster were three field goals and QB Mitchell Trubisky rushing for a TD, but also had two fumbles. Then Rodgers came back and led his team from a 20-0 deficit to put up 24 points with 3 TD passes, game over.
Jets 48-17 over the Lions: Being the youngest rookie to ever start a season QB Sam Darnold threw an interception that led to a TD in his first pass which everyone thought was going to be the Jets blowing the game but Darnold and Jets blew out the Lions. Darnold had 2 TD passes going to WRs Robby Anderson and Quincy Enunwa, and his RB Isaiah Crowell had 2 rushing TD with a 102 yards rushing. We all thought QB Matthew Strafford would will his team to victory but outside of 1 TD pass he had four interceptions and they even put in Matt Cassel who had an interception. One of Stafford’s interceptions was returned for a TD and the Jets added a punt return TD.
Rams 33-13 over the Raiders: Jon Gruden’s return as a coach was a disaster. His team got blown out by the Rams. Rams coach Sean McVay grew up idolizing Gruden since both have been offensive gurus becoming head coaches in their 30s, but McVay out coached him. QB Derek Carr looked horrible with 3 interceptions as QB Jared Goff had 2 TD passes going to RB Todd Gurley and WR Cooper Kupp. CB Marcus Peters took one of Carr’s interceptions back for a TD to seal the game. The only bright spot was RB Marshawn Lynch had a rushing TD for Oakland.