Blogger's Note: I am sorting through what I want to say not just about Ray Rice but about domestic violence and the NFL in general. It deserves a whole lot more thought than I can put forth at the moment, and it's something I've been troubled by for a long time but far too hesitant until now to put it on this Xs and Os-oriented platform. That will change.
Week 1: The Good Stuff
The Seahawks... All of Them - Welp, if there was any doubt that the Seahawks might lose a step from their Super Bowl hangover this season, that went out the window pretty quickly on Thursday. They may have lost some notable names in the receiving corps and on defense but you wouldn't know it the way they dominated the Packers from start to finish. Even with Aaron Rodgers avoiding Richard Sherman entirely, Seattle had no problem keeping him to under 200 yards. Scarier still was how spectacular the offense looked, especially with a healthy Percy Harvin doing damage in the air and on the ground. I even learned what a pop pass was because of this, what will certainly be in the discussion for Play of the Year. Oh yes, I am scared about the Seahawks this season.Miami Dolphins, Masters of the [Line of Scrimmage] Universe - Many an upset on Sunday came down to the wire a la the Falcons over the Saints and the Bills over the Bears in overtime, but who on Earth--I'm looking at you, Ms. Cleo--saw the Dolphins totally dominating the Patriots? Methinks it's still a little early to call them playoff contenders yet, but they were especially thorough in their dominance at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Knowshon Moreno and Lamar Miller combined for over 200 yards of rushing offense while the defense harassed Tom Brady all afternoon, coming up with four sacks in the second half and two forced fumbles. Cameron Wake gets a gold star for returning legitimate hope to Miami.
The Vikings' Need for Speed - Guess which blogger has two thumbs and happened to start both Adrian Peterson and Cordarelle Patterson on her fantasy team this week? The rest of the NFC North might be in serious trouble if the Vikings can repeat the kind of performance they had Sunday. AP alone is worth 5 - 7 games even with the worst quarterback (Christian Ponder or Tarvaris Jackson, take your pick!), but having a lightning fast dual threat in Patterson just might blow the doors open in Minnesota. He made a name for himself last year as a more-than-capable return man, but OC Norv Turner (of all people) has bigger and better plans for these guys, and suddenly, nobody's talking about whether Matt Cassel will start over Teddy Bridgewater anymore.
- Alright, Bills. You get ONE chance to prove you're not house punch material by trying to slow down the suddenly prolific Bears in this season opener. Will it happen? I surely doubt it, but if Buffalo has a chance, it will be because that moderately good defense can bail out E.J. Manuel just long enough.
Week 1: The Bad Stuff
The Saints' Defensive Collapse - Say it ain't so, Rob Ryan. Drew Brees and rookie WR Brandin Cooks were a sight to behold on the road in Atlanta on Sunday, but in the end it wasn't enough with the team's worst defensive performance since Steve Spagnuolo got the pink slip. The missed tackles, blown assignments and lack of pressure throughout were ugly, but the difference in the game ended up being the last few seconds of the first and second halves. On both occasions, the Saints allowed Matt Ryan to drive 60+ yards in less than a minute to set up the Falcons in field goal range. If the good people of New Orleans were to drive Patrick Robinson out of town with pitchforks though, I wouldn't complain. He certainly wasn't a part of that top 5 defensive unit last year, just sayin'.Oh, Romo - The fun thing about the first week of the season is we still have no idea what is real. With the Saints and Falcons above for example, I'm holding out hope that the Saints' defense had a terribly rusty day more than the Falcons improved by light years since last season. That may be a fool's errand, by the way. Moving on to a later game, 49ers fans are certainly resting easy after all of the preseason turmoil turned out to be nothing in Dallas today. San Francisco forced four turnovers in the first half alone and sacked Romo three times. But on the flipside, all three of Tony Romo's interceptions were off of utterly awful throws, and there were a couple more Hail Marys into double- and triple-coverage that could have ended much worse. I've moseyed over to the camp where I don't think Romo deserves all of the public lashings he gets for Jerry Jones' sins, BUT this loss was very much his fault. Ugly stuff that may make the Niners look better than they actually are.
- These Falcons will surely be better and less snakebit than they were in 2013, but with so many questions in the secondary and offensive line, it's hard to envision them outlasting the high-flying Saints.
Week 1 Feature: Reasons for Every NFL Team To Be Optimistic This Year
To lazily copy what I said this time last 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. With Week 1 in the books, here's my hot take on why every team can be optimistic at this point:Seahawks and Broncos - You may have the first consecutive Super Bowl repeat in 20 years
Bears - Martellus Bennett is emerging as a capable receiving weapon in his own right
Bengals - It turns out you don't need Mike Zimmer to stay scary on defense
Bills - You are a classic example of why the preseason doesn't matter
Browns - Brian Hoyer tried to make you come to your senses this week and did a good job of it
Buccaneers - Josh McCown's not a total bust... yet
Cardinals - Defensive dropoff? What defensive dropoff?!
Chargers - It seems the Chiefs won't be challenging you for second place in the AFC West
Chiefs - At least your pass rush came to work on Sunday
Colts - Apparently, no opponent will ever have a safe lead against Andrew Luck
Cowboys - DeMarco Murray lives to see Week 2 and looks great, all things considered
Dolphins - 15 more weeks of this and the Dolphins will have a bye week instead of vacation plans in January
Eagles - Nick Foles suddenly remembered how to play quarterback at just the right time
Falcons - 2013 is clearly behind you. And also, how did you get Devin Hester to do that?!
49ers - I have no further questions about the 49ers defense, your honor
Giants - Eli Manning has fewer years left on his contract than he did last year
Jaguars - To say there were glimmers of hope in your performance is no longer a patronizing statement
Jets - Sure you played the Raiders, but there was offense. LOTS of offense!
Lions - For all that chatter about Chicago and Green Bay, Detroit's offense is acting li˚e the real deal
Packers - You still have Aaron Rodgers on your team!
Panthers - Not only did you win your first divisional game this year, you won it with Derek Anderson.
Patriots - Tough loss, but sooner or later the rest of the AFC East will shoot itself in the foot for you
Rams - I mean, the Rams could really use that #1 overall pick next year
Raiders - Derek Carr's already well on pace for more TDs this year than his brother had in a nine-year career, which is unfortunately still a low bar
Ravens - Nothing.
Redskins - RG3 has actually looked much worse before
Saints - Even if your defense is terrible, you've got the chops to win some shootouts
Steelers - Antonio Brown knows karate!
Titans - Your defense made fantasy owners with Jamaal Charles cry this week
Texans - J.J. Watt is already worth every penny
Vikings - You dominated on offense, defense and special teams this week. Forget what I said about Leslie Frazier needing more time in Minnesota.
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