NFL Week 1 Rewind

NFL Week 1 Rewind
By Brian Edwards

Where do we start after watching Sunday’s drama unfold in Week 1 of the 2009 NFL season? Let’s talk about the goats, gamers and gambling that ended with a crucial two-point conversion with the spread cover on the line.

Green Bay rallied to beat the Bears 21-15 in a defensive struggle. Trailing 15-13 at midfield with 1:11 remaining, Aaron Rodgers found Greg Jennings speeding past Chicago cornerback Nathan Vasher for a 50-yard touchdown pass. Jennings made a diving catch at the goal line on the conversion attempt to put the Packers ahead by six.

After the conversion was reviewed by replay officials and eventually confirmed, bettors backing Green Bay were thrilled. Many books closed the Packers at five but most gamblers were holding tickets at 3 ½ or four unless they waited until the weekend to put down their action.

Whatever the case, the Bears had another chance with more than a minute remaining and their new franchise quarterback at the controls with a chance to redeem himself for a three-interception night. But on the same day the Broncos pulled out a miracle win at Cincinnati, it was not to be for Jay Cutler, the former Denver QB who orchestrated his exit after the new coach flirted with acquiring Matt Cassel.

On the first play of a potential game-winning drive, Cutler threw his fourth interception to put the icing on a miserable debut that had to remind Chicago fans more of Rex Grossman, Cade McNown, Will Furrer and Moses Moreno than Sid Luckman.

With Cutler’s fourth pick taking place near midnight on the East coast, I couldn’t help but think about how the Broncos were most likely back at their facility just in time to watch the festivities at Lambeau Field. They had to be smiling.

Denver never trailed in the first 59 minutes but gave up a one-year touchdown run to Cedric Benson with 38 seconds left. With the Bengals taking a 7-6 lead, things looked bleak in Josh McDaniels’ debut as head coach. After Eddie Royal’s kick return mustered just the 13 yard line, Kyle Orton threw an incompletion to leave 28 ticks on the clock.

The next play will go down in NFL lore forever. Orton tried to hit Brandon Marshall down the left sideline but Cincy CB Leon Hall deflected the pass. On the carom, the ball bounced forward and into the hands of a streaking Brandon Stokley who had nothing but green grass in front of him (How about the brilliant heads-up play by Stokley to run parallel to the end zone to chew up valuable seconds!).

The 87-yard touchdown pass ripped the hearts out of fans at Paul Brown Stadium. Unless you had the Bengals in a teaser, on the money line or in a season-total bet, the freaky ending didn’t mean much since the Broncos were going to cash tickets as 4 ½-point underdogs anyway.

Minnesota hooked up its backers in a four-point road ‘chalk’ spot at Cleveland. Adrian Peterson stole the show with 180 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Brett Favre completed 14-of-21 passes for 110 yards and one touchdown, a six-yard strike to rookie WR Percy Harvin. Most importantly, Favre didn’t commit a turnover as the Vikings won by a 34-20 count.

Looking ahead at what’s next for both Minnesota (at Detroit and vs. San Francisco) and Green Bay (vs. Cincinnati and at St. Louis), we see the Packers’ trip to the Metrodome for Monday Night Football on Oct. 5 possibly being a showdown between unbeaten teams. And, oh yeah, it’ll pit Favre, Green Bay’s franchise icon, against the Packers and their new QB who looks like he could be a perennial Pro-Bowler in the making.

While the Vikings and Favre were putting it to former Jets’ coach Eric Mangini in Cleveland, New York was moving forward in Houston with new coach Rex Ryan and rookie QB Mark Sanchez. All went well for the J-E-T-S, as they stroked the Texans 24-7 as live 4 ½-point underdogs. They hooked up money-line backers with a plus-180 payout (risk $100 to win $180).

Sanchez connected on 18-of-31 passes for 272 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Thomas Jones ran for 107 yards on 20 carries for a pair of touchdowns.

Philadelphia was the most dominant team in Week 1, destroying Carolina 38-10 as a 2 ½-point road favorite. However, Donovan McNabb sustained a broken rib when he took a late hit on a touchdown run. His status for next week’s home game against New Orleans looks very doubtful (as of Monday morning).

Michael Vick is still suspended through next week, so Kevin Kolb would get the starting nod if McNabb can’t go. Look for the Eagles to try and re-sign A.J. Feeley, who they recently released.

The other story out of Charlotte was four interceptions and one lost fumble by QB Jake Delhomme, who had six turnovers in Carolina’s loss to Arizona in the playoffs. That’s 11 turnovers in two games and Delhomme, the consummate pro, knows that can’t happen anymore.

The Panthers will look to bounce back when they go to Atlanta in Week 2. The Falcons took care of their business in their opener, beating Miami 19-7 in a game that was nowhere near as close as the final score indicated. The biggest question for Atlanta was its defense, which went through a huge overhaul over the offseason, but that unit looked dominant against the 'Fins.

The acquisition of veteran LB Mike Peterson, a former Jag who played under Mike Smith in Jacksonville, looks like another stroke of genius from GM Thomas Dimitroff. Peterson was everywhere against the Dolphins, producing seven tackles, one interception and a forced fumble.

Another brilliant Dimitroff move was trading for tight end Tony Gonzalez, who had five receptions for 73 yards and one TD in his Atlanta debut. Gonzalez appears to already have a nice chemistry with QB Matt Ryan, who showed no signs of a sophomore slump. Ryan hit on 22-of-36 passes for 229 yards with two TDs and no interceptions.

New Orleans looked like a machine in a 45-27 win over Detroit as a 14-point home favorite. Drew Brees threw six touchdown passes, including a pair to TE Jeremy Shockey, in a game that was a back-and-forth affair for our purposes. The 72 combined points sailed ‘over’ the 50-point total that was the highest on the board.

Tony Romo looked like a new man as Dallas rolled to a 34-21 win at Tampa Bay as a five-point road favorite. Romo threw for 353 yards and three TDs without a turnover, spreading the ball around to six receivers on just 16 completions compared to 27 attempts. Romo’s comfort level without concerning himself with a ball-hungry Terrell Owens was palpable. T.O.’s absence clearly looked like addition by subtraction in the Cowboys’ opener.

Arizona lost outright at home to San Francisco during the late-afternoon set of games. The 49ers captured the 20-16 win as 6 ½-point road underdogs thanks to Shaun Hill’s fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Frank Gore.

One of the most painful gambling losses of Week 1 came for Giants’ backers as 6 ½-point ‘chalk.’ The G-Men controlled the game from start to finish but gave up a late TD pass from Jason Campbell to Chris Cooley. That gave Washington the backdoor cover in the 23-17 loss.

Seattle spanked St. Louis by a 28-0 score, easily covering the number as a 7 ½-point home favorite. Also, Baltimore beat a Cassel-less KC squad 38-24 to cover, while Jacksonville took the money in a 14-12 loss at Indianapolis.

**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**

--The favorites went 8-5 ATS in Sunday’s Week 1 games. The ‘under’ went 7-6.

--For bettors who backed the Bears in the second half with the line at ‘pick,’ they were in a plus eight position since Chicago trailed 10-2 at intermission. When Cutler threw his fourth interception to Green Bay’s Al Harris, there was plenty of green grass in front of Harris. But gamblers cashed second-half tickets on the Bears thanks to Cutler’s tackle to save a TD. The Packers then took a knee for the 21-15 final.

--If I’m grading Sanchez and Rex Ryan in their Jets’ debuts, I’ve got to give them both an “A.” They out-yarded the Texans 462-183.

--Lions’ rookie QB Matthew Stafford completed 16-of-37 passes for 207 yards with no TDs and three interceptions.

--Arizona WR Anquan Boldin’s numbers: two receptions for 19 yards. I can sense his frustration level from thousands of miles away in Florida.

--During several editions of the Power Hours on VI Radio over the summer, I said that a half-dozen or so NFL teams are going to be kicking themselves after QBs either get hurt or are ineffective this year. I said they’d kick themselves for not having the onions to sign Michael Vick. Now Vick’s story is still to be told and if he screws up off the field again, I’ll look stupid. But if you’re John Fox today, don’t you wish you had Vick on your roster? And if you’re Andy Reid, aren’t you relieved to know you have Vick on yours?

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