NFL Week 1: What We've Learned

Published on 9-Sep-2013 by Stacey Mickles

Football - NFL    NFL Daily Review

Share this article


NFL Week 1: What We've Learned

Tonight will be the end of a very long but satisfying opening weekend for the NFL.

Here are just a few observations we learned from the first weekend of play. 

Eli is no Peyton ... We saw greatness on display with Peyton Manning eating up the Baltimore Ravens secondary, and we also saw why no one puts brother Eli in the same company. Yes, Eli has more Super Bowl rings than his brother, but the reason why most NFL experts don't rank Eli as highly is because of his inconsistent play. He showed it again last night against the Cowboys. The good: four touchdown passes; the bad: three interceptions; the ugly: 0-1. 

USC Fired the Wrong Kiffin ... Although the Cowboys gave up a bunch of yards to the New York Giants, it was Monte Kiffin's defense that was the difference and forced the Giants to cough it up six times. The Cowboys defense as a whole last year only had only 12 turnovers. And Kiffin's defense scored more than his son's offense. Who's laughing now, USC?

Anquan Boldin is missed by the Ravens ... Did you see the 49ers and Packers game? Anquan Boldin killed the Packers secondary. Boldin looked Jerry Rice yesterday. He caught 13 passes for 208 and one touchdown. You think Joe Flacco and the Ravens could have used him last week against the Broncos?

Miracles do happen, even in the NFL ... It's Week 1, the New York Jets are actually 1-0. It wasn't pretty; in fact it was downright ugly. But hey, a win is win, even if it's against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Right now, the Jets are tied for first in their division with the Patriots. That will probably end Thursday night, but at least for one fleeting moment, they're sharing space in the penthouse. But while they're there, they'd better grab all the air fresheners they can find. There gonna need 'em.

The AFC North is turrrrible! ... To use a Charles Barkley phrase. Geez, what happened to the AFC North this weekend? Has an entire division ever lost all their games on opening weekend? The Ravens got thumped 49-24 last Thursday night, the Steelers lost 16-9, the Browns lost 23-10 and the Bengals lost 24-21. The good news, I guess, is everyone is tied for first; the bad news is they are tied for last, too. 

We'll soon see if Eli's biorhythms -- or whatever -- can finally be aligned for him to get a win against big brother. At the same time, we'll discover if the AFC North can recover from its terrible start and whether or not the Jets can do what the Bills almost did and upset the Pats.

See you next week!

Click on a photo to enlarge.