Matt Fox
NFL week 1 starts with a bang
September 9th 2008 20:48
Many things took place during the opening weekend of the NFL including surprising injuries and teams, exciting games; dominate performances from teams and individuals. Fans also followed their fantasy football players hoping they would score big even if they didn’t play for their favorite team.
The biggest news from week 1 seems to be the season ending knee injury suffered by Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, in the first quarter. Brady stepped up in the pocket to make a pass when Kansas City Chief’s safety Bernard Pollard fell into Brady’s left knee. Brady went down and was in obvious pain, he managed to limp off the field. Later the team found out that Brady would need surgery thus ending his season. This thrusts unproven backup Matt Cassel into the starting role for the Patriots. Cassel played well in the three quarters that he played. The Patriots went more conservative with their play calling once Brady went down. Cassel ended up completing 13 of 18 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots are hoping that Cassel can do what Brady did when Brady came in for injured Drew Bledsoe. This is what head coach Bill Belichick is hoping and expecting. He expects everyone to continue to do their jobs including Cassel.
Another injury that is going to potentially hurt a team is the injury to Seattle Seahawks wide-out Nate Burleson is out for the season with a torn ACL. Burleson injured the knee by making a cut on the wet grass in Buffalo. This leaves the Seahawks quite thin at the receiver position with only three receivers healthy, none of which has much NFL experience. The Seahawks will have to go scavenging for some help possibly ESPN’s Keyshawn Johnson?
Some teams that surprised us in week 1 were the Buffalo Bills and the Atlanta Falcons. The Bills defense shut down the Seahawks offense. It seemed as though the Seahawks were always punting the ball. They had several three and outs while only converting on third down three times. The Bills offense also stepped up by making great plays and savvy play calling. Bills punter Brian Moorman threw for a touchdown when defensive end Ryan Denney was left all alone on by the sideline. Trent Edwards, Lee Evans and Marshawn Lynch all had solid days. The Falcons came out of the gate running behind Michael “burner” Turner. Turner ran all over the Lions weak run defense. Turner carried the ball 22 times for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns. Turner was Ladainian Tomlison’s back up for the last four years and was waiting to breakthrough that role. Rookie quarterback Matt Ryan did well at managing the game for the Falcon’s. He only threw the ball 13 times but completed 9 of those pass attempts for 163 yards and a touchdown.
There were multiple games that came down to the wire none more exciting than the Carolina Panthers against the San Diego Chargers. With 2 seconds left on the clock the Panthers were down 4 points when Jake Delhomme pumped faked a pass and looked like he was about to eat dirt. Delhomme quickly released a bullet from the 13-yard line to the back of the end zone to tight end Dante Rosario. The Patriots had to make a goal line stand to keep the Chief’s from tying the game and sending the game into overtime.
Fantasy football also got kicked off this weekend and some fantasy owners were very pleased while others were on the waiver wire looking for replacements. With Tom Brady out for the year those Fantasy owners will be looking for a quarterback to do a suitable job. Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan and even Tom Brady’s real life replacement could be viable options. Some surprising players who put up great fantasy players include Michael Turner, Eddie Royal, Matt Forte, Anthony Fasano, Dante Rosario, and Desean Jackson.
The biggest news from week 1 seems to be the season ending knee injury suffered by Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, in the first quarter. Brady stepped up in the pocket to make a pass when Kansas City Chief’s safety Bernard Pollard fell into Brady’s left knee. Brady went down and was in obvious pain, he managed to limp off the field. Later the team found out that Brady would need surgery thus ending his season. This thrusts unproven backup Matt Cassel into the starting role for the Patriots. Cassel played well in the three quarters that he played. The Patriots went more conservative with their play calling once Brady went down. Cassel ended up completing 13 of 18 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots are hoping that Cassel can do what Brady did when Brady came in for injured Drew Bledsoe. This is what head coach Bill Belichick is hoping and expecting. He expects everyone to continue to do their jobs including Cassel.
Another injury that is going to potentially hurt a team is the injury to Seattle Seahawks wide-out Nate Burleson is out for the season with a torn ACL. Burleson injured the knee by making a cut on the wet grass in Buffalo. This leaves the Seahawks quite thin at the receiver position with only three receivers healthy, none of which has much NFL experience. The Seahawks will have to go scavenging for some help possibly ESPN’s Keyshawn Johnson?
Some teams that surprised us in week 1 were the Buffalo Bills and the Atlanta Falcons. The Bills defense shut down the Seahawks offense. It seemed as though the Seahawks were always punting the ball. They had several three and outs while only converting on third down three times. The Bills offense also stepped up by making great plays and savvy play calling. Bills punter Brian Moorman threw for a touchdown when defensive end Ryan Denney was left all alone on by the sideline. Trent Edwards, Lee Evans and Marshawn Lynch all had solid days. The Falcons came out of the gate running behind Michael “burner” Turner. Turner ran all over the Lions weak run defense. Turner carried the ball 22 times for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns. Turner was Ladainian Tomlison’s back up for the last four years and was waiting to breakthrough that role. Rookie quarterback Matt Ryan did well at managing the game for the Falcon’s. He only threw the ball 13 times but completed 9 of those pass attempts for 163 yards and a touchdown.
There were multiple games that came down to the wire none more exciting than the Carolina Panthers against the San Diego Chargers. With 2 seconds left on the clock the Panthers were down 4 points when Jake Delhomme pumped faked a pass and looked like he was about to eat dirt. Delhomme quickly released a bullet from the 13-yard line to the back of the end zone to tight end Dante Rosario. The Patriots had to make a goal line stand to keep the Chief’s from tying the game and sending the game into overtime.
Fantasy football also got kicked off this weekend and some fantasy owners were very pleased while others were on the waiver wire looking for replacements. With Tom Brady out for the year those Fantasy owners will be looking for a quarterback to do a suitable job. Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan and even Tom Brady’s real life replacement could be viable options. Some surprising players who put up great fantasy players include Michael Turner, Eddie Royal, Matt Forte, Anthony Fasano, Dante Rosario, and Desean Jackson.
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