NFL 2010: Week 1 Recaps!

Part one of the recaps....boy, these take long.

Colts 24 at Texans 34
The Texans were able to beat the Colts for only the second time in 17 tries. Matt Schaub, last year's leader in passing was limited to only 107 yards in the air, with 33 of those going to last year's leader in receiving Andre Johnson. The Texans played a little bit of role reversal and relied exclusively on the run, particularly on the shoulders of second year RB Arian Foster. Foster had a monster day, rushing for 231 yards and 3 TDs. Even with this amount of offense, the Texans defense could not quite contain Peyton Manning as he threw for over 400 yards and 3 TDs. The Texans exorcised their most significant demon as they beat their division rival at home.

Vikings 9 at Saints 14
In a rematch of last year's NFC Championship game, high expectations were set for both teams leading off the NFL Kickoff weekend. Even the return of Favre (as well as all the coverage baggage) could not outshine the storyline of the city of New Orleans and what a Super Bowl win meant to it. Drew Brees and the Saints marched down the field on the first drive with a TD pass to Devery Henderson. However, that was one of only three TDS all night. In what was expected to be a shootout, a low-scoring, defensive battle took place instead, where it appeared both teams played more conservatively, given the closeness of the game. Favre looked his age as because he held his comeback decision so late, appeared out of touch with his team. Brees played well enough, but it seems he played not to lose versus playing to win. Regardless, the Saints got the win.

Browns 14 at Buccaneers 17
Jake Delhomme's now the starter in Cleveland. He was able to throw for 227 yards and a 41 yard TD strike to WR Mohamed Massaquoi, but could not escape the INT bug that plagued him in Carolina, throwing for two picks. RB Peyton Hillis will score the other TD for Cleveland on a 10 yard TD run. Tampa Bay QB Josh Freeman will throw for two TDS of his own, one to rookie WR Mike Williams, and the game winner on a 33 yarder to WR Micheal Spurlock.

Dolphins 15 at Bills 10
Chan Gailey's debut as head coach of Buffalo is spoiled in the loss to Dolphins. Trent Edwards throws his lone TD pass to Roscoe Parrish in the fourth quarter as the Bills' offense sputters to 166 total yards. Rookie C.J. Spiller was insignificant as the Dolphins defense limited the rushing attack to only 50 yards. The Brandon Marshall era started rather quietly for Miami, as he only got 53 yards receiving. Ronnie Brown will score on a 1 yard TD run, the lone TD for the Dolphins.

Bengals 24 at Patriots 38
Late last week, QB Tom Brady signed a contract extension for $72 million for four years, with $48 guaranteed. On Sunday, he proved why he is worth it, as he throws for 3 TDs, two of which went to Wes Welker, the diminutive WR who just came back from a torn ACL last year. He clearly showed no indication that he lost a step or taking it easy. The Patriots defense would hold the Bengals to only 3 points in the first half, and then on the second half kickoff, WR Brandon Tate would take it back to the house for a 97 yard TD return. QB Carson Palmer would connect with WR Chad Ochocinco for a 28 yard TD pass, one of two for the day for Palmer. Unfortunately, it was too little too late as the Bengals would chip into the lead, but never really tested the Patriots defense.

Broncos 17 at Jaguars 24
QB David Garrard had a solid game, throwing for 170 yards and 3 TDs for the Jags. He had help with 98 rushing yards by RB Maurice Jones-Drew and the offense played mistake-free the entire game. The Broncos played solidly as well for the most part. QB Kyle Orton had 295 yards passing with 1 TD and 1 INT. RB Knowshon Moreno had 1 TD run and even rookie QB Tim Tebow made an appearance.

Lions 14 at Bears 19
In another divisional game, the Bears narrowly beat the Lions, with what was the most controversial play/ending of the week. More on that in a bit. QB Jay Cutler for the Bears would have some pretty good stats, throwing for over 370 yards a TD pass, but the offense was plagued with turnovers, including three fumbles lost. The Lions didn't fare any better with two fumbles of their own. What is more detrimental is another injury to their QB Mark Stafford, who left at the end of the first half. Shaun Hill took over and was able to lead the Lions to what would have been a score and lead late in the 4th quarter. The controversial play came on a WR Calvin Johnson TD catch in the end zone with about 30 seconds left. As Johnson came down with the ball, he fell into the endzone, dropped the left hand, but then appeared to have let the ball in his right hand hit the ground, resulting with it popping out. At first I thought that it was a TD, but according the rules, it was not. All the backlash after the game was primarily on not whether the referees made a mistake, as the enforced the rules correctly, but that it was a bad rule to begin with.

Raiders 13 at Titans 38
Titans RB Chris Johnson's goal of breaking the rushing record (2,100+ total yards in a season)started off on the right foot (pun intended) as he rushed for 142 yards and 2 TDs. Last year's rushing leader was helped by QB Vince Young who was effective with 2 TD passes. The Jason Campbell era didn't start as well as the Raiders had hoped. He was rather mediocre with 180 yards passing, 1 TD and 1 INT. Watching some of the highlights, his play sure looked rather the same as he did here in Washington. Nevertheless, he is still an upgrade from JaMarcus Russell.

49ers 6 at Seahawks 31
In what was the most surprising of outcomes to me, the Seahawks under new coach Pete Carroll, rolled right over the 49ers, a team many expected to win the division and contend for the NFC title. Niners QB Alex Smith threw 2 INTS and could not muster any TD drives. His counterpart for the Seahawks, Matt Hasselbeck, had a solid game, throwing for 2 TDs and rushing for another. If they're not careful, the Niners could easily fall quickly in their division. Smith had a poor game, and they could not establish a rushing attack, even with RB Frank Gore. The Seahawks, on the other hand, have lower expectations with the new regime, but could surprise many this year.

Panthers 18 at Giants 31
The New York Giants christened their new stadium with a sloppy win, but a win nevertheless. QB Eli Manning threw for 3 TDs, but also 3 INTs. All 3 TDs went to WR Hakeem Nicks, who caught four balls. RB Ahmad Bradshaw rushes for 76 yards and 1 TD. Panthers QB Matt Moore had 3 INTs of his own and 1 fumble loss. He connected with WR Steve Smith on 19 yard TD pass to end the first half. The Panthers had kept it close for the first half, but could not put up points in the second, less a safety on a blocked punt late in the fourth.