NFL Week 1 Recap and Reasons for Every Team to Be Optimistic This Year

For reasons that include and extend beyond the start of the football season, life is good, people.  I'm not sure we could have asked for a better Week 1 with lots of nailbiters, coaching/rookie/QB debuts, playmaking fireworks, rookie mistakes, and a whopping four games with safeties.  Let's get started with the good stuff and the bad stuff:

Week 1: The Good Stuff

Peyton's Calvary - You can chalk up a portion of Peyton Manning's historic 7-TD night to a couple of factors beyond his control.  The new-look Ravens defense had some serious uncharacteristic breakdowns and got easily winded after a late start at Mile High, which is a brutal place for the returning Super Bowl champs to have to play in the first place.  Despite all of that, you just cannot argue with 7 TDs.  The man was simply on fire, acting as the kind of no huddle drill sergeant that makes you run til you lose control of important bodily functions.  Just as important for fantasy owners everywhere, Manning got every ounce out of his entire receiving corps with 2 TDs a piece for Wes Welker and Thomases Demaryius and Julius. 

Worst-to-Middle-of-the-Pack Defenses - I must of course add the standard caveat that we're operating with a sample size of one game a piece, but Packers, Saints and Titans fans have to be pleased with the way their defensive squads, beleaguered in 2012, stepped up on Sunday.  The Titans held the struggling Steelers to 9 points and less than 200 net yards and also notched 5 sacks and 2 turnovers.  The Saints held the prolific Falcons to 17 points and notched 3 sacks and 2 turnovers with hardly any blitzing.  And although the Packers still came out controversially on the losing end, Green Bay has to see a silver lining in holding the 49ers to under 100 yards rushing after allowing over 300 on the ground in January. 

Surprising QB Debuts - As you'll note in my Week 1 picks, I didn't have a lot of faith in a number of games that ended up being much more competitive than anticipated.  In fact, all but two games (Ravens/Broncos and Chiefs/Jaguars) were competitive until the final minutes of the fourth quarter.  We owe this in no small part to three surprisingly resilient first-time starters at QB--Terrelle Pryor, EJ Manuel and Geno Smith--who had great if not perfect showings against the much more heavily favored Colts, Patriots and Buccaneers, respectively.  Cue a Bad News Bears montage, stat!

Nailed It!  My Best Week 1 Prediction: It may not be a prophecy for the ages, but the Lions definitely brought the Vikings back to Earth in stifling fashion this week:

• This game is a bit murky to me since the Vikings and Lions are a bit closer to one another's level than their wildly variant 2012 records would indicate.  On a whim that what goes up must come down, I like the Lions' front four shaking down AP and forcing Christian Ponder into some bad decisions. 

Week 1: The Bad Stuff

Gigantic Turnover Woes - For once, Coach Tom Coughlin's rabid sewer rat look was totally apt for the duration of an awful opener against the Cowboys.  Coughing up a mind-numbing six turnovers on Sunday night, the Giants haven't been this self-destructive since Plaxico Burress put himself on the PUP list back in 2008.  What's more, New York's implosion was a total team effort.  Eli threw three picks, fantasy darling RB David Wilson had two fumbles, and a special teams breakdown turned a fair catch punt return into a red zone possession for the Cowboys.  You know it's bad when the Jets are the Week 1 golden boys in New York.

Not-So-Special Teams - In addition to the Giants above, a number of teams had some truly Division III issues on special teams this week.  You know former special teams coach John Harbaugh must have had nightmares for days after the Ravens' Brynden Trawick took his own teammate--and rare useful receiver--Jacoby Jones out of the game and for the next month during a punt return.  Then we had usually sharp Darius Reynaud giving himself a safety instead of a touchback on the first Titans possession of the game.  Special teams in the NFL are like household plumbing - you don't even think about it when its functioning properly but it's all you can talk about when things get ugly.

RG:( - What is it with the NFC East anyway?  These four teams suffered 12 turnovers in Week 1.  Poor Robert Griffin, that Sunday night performance was hardly the return his fans were hoping for.  In addition to bobbling a hand off for a turnover, RG3 had some uncharacteristic passing errors that made me wonder if he's a little too bought into the hype he earned for a near-flawless rookie season.  This guy seems humble and hard working enough to turn it around before it's too late, but the end of that first half was hard to watch in particular. After getting sacked and pressure on nearly every snap, Griffin's slumped shoulders let the crowd know he was ready to go home, uncharacteristic indeed. 

Shanked It!  My Worst Week 1 Prediction: Per those surprising QB debuts I mentioned in the Good Stuff, shame on me for underestimating the Bills and Jets and/or overestimating the Patriots and Buccaneers this week, along with the rest of you:

• Having Geno Smith start against the Bucs' Super Friends secondary makes this an automatic win for Tampa in spite of Josh Freeman.  And it's going to be just as ugly as Miley Cyrus twerking on an oil-soaked baby seal.
• Speaking of ugly routs, the Patriots couldn't have asked for a more ideal ramp up after a turbulent offseason than with the Buffalo "QB Depth" Bills and EJ "It's just a flesh wound" Manuel.  Poor Bills. I know I'm just kicking sand in the face here, but this game might as well be on C-SPAN.

Week 1 Feature: Reasons for Every Team to Be Optimistic This Year

The beauty of Week 1 is that every team and fan can delude themselves into high hopes for the season.  At best, you had a solid win or surprising upset.  At worst, you're a game away from 0.500 and have another 15 weeks to prove yourself worthy.  After an especially competitive opening week in the NFL, here's my rapid fire take on why every team can be optimistic at this point:

Bears - Your offensive line is finally pro-worthy

Bengals - You have a poor man's Megatron to keep your offense competitive

Bills, Jets, Raiders - You rolled the dice on a young hybrid QB and came up much more respectable than anticipated

Broncos - Your QB already locked up the 2013 MVP in Week 1

Browns, Steelers - Somehow you are still tied for first place in the AFC North with no offensive line or running game to speak of

Buccaneers - You will finally get to dump your deadweight QB in 16 more weeks

Cardinals - Your Larry Fitzgerald actually makes Carson Freaking Palmer look viable

Chargers - You made Philip Rivers look vintage in Mike McCoy's new system
 
Chiefs - Even though it was the Jaguars, you put on an all around clinic of efficient passing, steady rushing, and stingy and opportunistic defense.  Beware, AFC.

Colts, Seahawks - You did just enough to keep the skeptics at bay regarding sophomore slumps

Cowboys - Your healthy Dallas D under Monty Kiffin's leadership looks like the real deal

Dolphins - You won a game by two possessions despite 20 total yards rushing

Eagles - You delivered on the hype of Chip Kelly's new system in the NFL

Falcons - Your move to replace Michael Turner with Steven Jackson is already paying dividends

49ers - Your scrambling QB is good enough in the pocket to stay healthy all season

Giants - Had you kept the game to 5 turnovers instead of 6, somehow you still could have won

Jaguars - Clearly the fact that you started Blaine Gabbert this week shows your commitment to getting Johnny Manziel #1 overall next year

Lions - You've already made Reggie Bush look as good as he ever will

Packers - Yet again, you can blame the refs for any future shortcomings in the NFC playoff seeding

Panthers - Your defense held the high-octane Seahawks to a mere 12 points.  Now about that offense...

Patriots - You gave Bill Belichick a reason to put the fear of God in a team in transition while still eking out the W

Rams - You have a tight end worthy of a Gronk- or Graham-style season for the ages

Ravens - You may not be able to hang with Peyton Manning, but Flacco can definitely hang with Andy Dalton, Ben Roethlisberger and Brandon Weeden

Redskins - Defensively, you found impressive ways to adjust to a Gonzo Eagles offensive scheme in the second half

Saints, Titans - Your defense easily cleared the bar for very low expectations

Texans - You showed the kind of resiliency in your fourth quarter comeback that was lacking last year
 
Vikings - Despite all the attention on defense, your MVP is still worth at least 50% of your PPG