Week 1 NFL Recap
By Kevin Rogers
VegasInsider.com
The Sunday afternoon action for Week 1 is in the books with 12 games going final. Underdogs put together a 4-4-1 ATS record in the 1:00 contests, with the Titans, Jets, and Dolphins all winning outright in the 'dog role. The resounding number from the early games was the eight 'unders,' including four of those matchups finishing at least 10 points below the posted total.
The Patriots beat the Bills, 23-21, but failed to cash as 10-point road favorites. New England held a pair of 10-point leads (10-0, 17-7), as Buffalo rallied back to take a 21-17 advantage in the third quarter. The Pats needed a pair of late field goals to grab the win, the 19th in the last 20 matchups with the Bills. The game finished 'under' the total of 51, while the first-half total of 27 sailed 'over' thanks to a Buffalo touchdown in the final minute. The Bills cashed as 4 ½-point underdogs in the second half by outscoring the Pats, 7-6.
Tennessee held off Pittsburgh, 16-9 to take home tickets as six-point away underdogs. The Steelers took a 2-0 lead out of the chute, but the offense was limited to just 195 yards, while the lone touchdown came in the final two minutes. The Titans grabbed a 7-2 halftime edge with a touchdown run, while three Rob Bironas field goals put the game away. The contest easily went 'under' the total of 42, while Tennessee covered the first half (+3½) and second half (+3).
The Saints took care of the Falcons, 23-17 as 3½-point home favorites. Atlanta was ready to pull away with a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, but New Orleans scored 13 unanswered points to grab a 13-10 halftime edge (Saints -3 in first half). The Saints outscored the Falcons in the second half, 10-7 in the pick-em role, while the first half (27½), second half (27½), and the game (54) total stayed 'under.'
The Jets rallied to edge the Buccaneers, 18-17 as four-point home underdogs. Tampa Bay jumped out to a 14-5 advantage on a Doug Martin touchdown run, but a Geno Smith touchdown pass to Kellen Winslow before the half cut the deficit to 14-12. The Bucs cashed as 1½-point favorites in the first half, while the first half total went 'over' 20. In a low-scoring second half that saw three field goals in the final five minutes, the Jets outscored the Bucs, 6-3 to cash as three-point underdogs.
In the biggest blowout in the early contests, the Chiefs destroyed the Jaguars, 28-2 as four-point road favorites, as the 'under' of 42 ½ hit. Following an early safety by Jacksonville, Kansas City scored three consecutive touchdowns to take a 21-2 lead into the half to cash first half tickets (-2½), while the safety vaulted the first half 'over' of 21. The second half saw a defensive touchdown for the Chiefs, helping Kansas City cash as three-point 'chalk,' 7-0, while the 'under' of 20 in the second half easily came through.
In the lone 'push,' the Bears rallied past the Bengals, 24-21 as three-point home favorites. Cincinnati built a 14-7 lead thanks to a pair of Andy Dalton touchdown passes to A.J. Green, but Chicago kicked a late 58-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 14-10 at halftime. The Bengals cashed as three-point underdogs in the first half, while the first half 'over' of 20½ hit late in the second quarter. Following another Cincinnati touchdown, Chicago found the end zone twice to grab the opening week win, while the Bears cashed second half tickets (-1).
The Dolphins went back and forth with the Browns before holding off Cleveland for a 23-10 victory as 2½-point road underdogs. Miami kicked a pair of field goals before Cleveland took a 7-6 halftime lead on a late touchdown pass (Browns 'pushed' as one-point favorites in first half). The game stayed 'under' the total for the game (40½), first half (20½), and second half (20½), while Miami scored outscored Cleveland in the second half, 17-3.
The Seahawks were one of the big public favorites in Week 1, as Seattle came through as three-point 'chalk' over Carolina, 12-7. The Panthers took a 7-3 halftime edge to cash first half tickets as one-point underdogs. However, Seattle grinded out the win by outscoring Carolina, 9-0 in the second half as three-point favorites, while the first half (22½), second half (22½), and game (44½) total all went 'under.'
Detroit avenged a pair of losses to Minnesota last season with a 34-24 victory as four-point favorites at Ford Field. A pair of Adrian Peterson touchdowns put the Vikings ahead, 14-6 in the first half before the Lions scored a touchdown in the final seconds to cut the deficit to 14-13 at intermission. Minnesota cashed first half tickets as three-point underdogs, while the first half total of 23½ hit on the late Detroit score. The Lions outscored the Vikings, 21-10 in the second half as 3½-point favorites, while the game total of 46½ cashed.
The Colts were on their way to an easy victory over the Raiders, but Indianapolis held off Oakland, 21-17 as 11-point favorites. Indianapolis jumped out to a 14-0 advantage on two Andrew Luck touchdown passes, but Oakland got on the scoreboard with a touchdown run to get within 14-7 at the half. Oakland rallied for a 17-14 lead in the fourth quarter, but Luck bailed out the Colts with a touchdown scamper for the 21-17 triumph. The Raiders cashed second half tickets as four-point 'dogs, while the game total remained 'under' 45.
St. Louis overcame an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to stun Arizona, 27-24, but failed to cash as four-point home favorites. The Cardinals and Rams were knotted up at 10-10 at halftime, but Arizona outscored St. Louis in the third quarter, 14-3. The Rams owned the fourth quarter with a 13-0 output to 'push' the second half side (-3), while the game hit the 'over' of 42½.
In a rematch of an NFC Divisional Playoff showdown, the 49ers outlasted the Packers, 34-28 to barely cash as five-point home favorites. Both teams exchanged touchdowns for three quarters, as San Francisco and Green Bay entered the fourth quarter knotted up at 21-21. The Niners finished off the Packers, 13-7 in the final 15 minutes to take the money in the second half as three-point ‘chalk.’ The game was never in doubt finishing ‘over’ the total of 47.
NFL Post-Mortem
By Richard Witt
Playbook.com
The smoke’s cleared, after the NFL’s Week One was finalized in the wee small hours Tuesday morning, with surprises aplenty shocking the broad population.
Some of what we could derive from what transpired:
THE OL’ GRAY STEELERS AIN’T WHAT THEY USED TO BE: For years, it was easy to place faith in the Steeler brain trust that the grand S. S. Pittsburgh Nation would steam on, but – especially with the season-ending injury to C Maurkice Pouncey – that assumption’s almost-certainly no longer operative. Anyone who recalls a worse offensive display than the Steelers put up Sunday against Tennessee, check back. With Tim Wallace now a Dolphin, the downfield passing game’s minimized, and without Pouncey, the offensive line shielding Big Ben Roethlisberger is a shadow of its previous self. The six-time champs find themselves a touchdown ‘dog in Cincinnati Monday night – on merit.
THE EAGLES ARE A MUST-WATCH, SO LONG AS CHIP KELLY’S HURRY-UP OFFENSE MAINTAINS FRESHNESS/TEMPO EDGE: Not at all aided by the layers of rust encumbering Robert Griffin III, the favored Redskins endured one of their worst first halves in history (yeah, the Bear 73-0 beating of December, 1940 lingers on), and not many other total embarrassments of the ‘Skins of this magnitude deserve to be mentioned in the same breath. Performing competently at Kelly’s preferred breakneck pace, Michael Vick and the Philly skill-burners put on the most-impressive one-sided half of the weekend. Griffin and friends rallied against a more relaxed Philly D in the second half, but the outcome was scarcely in doubt. Now, the Chargers have to go to Philly off a brutal come-from-ahead home loss to the Texans to deal with this monster, on short rest. Feel free to draw your short-term conclusions.
ON THE ROAD, THE BUCS DON’T DESERVE TO BE FAVORED OVER ANYBODY BASED OUTSIDE THE STATE OF FLORIDA: Many were quietly bullish about the Bucs’ chances this season, given the expected progression along the established learning curve. Now, Tampa HC Greg Schiano hasn’t been in the big chair long enough to justify the long knives coming after his hide – yet – but QB Josh Freeman isn’t going to be fooling us anymore, barring a huge reversal. Completing below 50% of his passes against the Jets, Freeman frequently looked total discombobulated and out of sorts. Recently stripped of his team captaincy, Freeman is clearly operating on double-secret probation, and his loss to Jet rookie QB Geno Smith didn’t aid his cause. You could just hear pens and pencils diminishing established Tampa power ratings late-afternoon, Sunday. as the Buc penalty count mounted.
KEY PERSONNEL IN CAROLINA CAN’T YET AFFORD TO BREATHE EASY: Even with last season’s snappy 4-0 straight-up finish, HC Ron Rivera had to know he needed to kick it up a notch in this critical third year of his tenure overseeing Cam Newton and the Panthers. The defense played great, yes, but note that the Seahawks didn’t crack thirty points in any pure road game all of last season – including in the playoffs. Rivera acknowledge after Sunday’s close loss that he’s going to have to be aggressive on offense. With Newton’s maturation, he has the talent at hand to let it out a notch, and with a relatively-modest schedule to deal with through October, he’ll may never have a better chance to make a solid impression in a season’s first half than in this one. The situation’s clearly one to watch . . .