Wednesday Morning QB (NFL Week 1)

Posted by thesportsjunky on September 14, 2011 · 1 Comment 

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The NFL season kicked off last weekend and many questions were answered as everyone got to see their favorite teams. The first week was the first time fans got to see their teams face off in a game that meant something. It almost didn’t happen after a long labour dispute that ended just before the preseason leaving many teams with just a month to get ready for the new season. This had its effects on some teams but there were a few teams that seemed to pick up from last year and continue to play strong. Week 1 was also a display of QBs as a rookie QB impressed while a QB that did not play got a lot of the headlines and another QB continued to make his case for being considered the best QB to ever play in the NFL. Before the NFL season had even started the biggest news was about a QB that had never missed a game until this year. Peyton Manning had started in 227 consecutive games but during the offseason had neck surgery that has taken longer than expected to heal. As the NFL was beginning to gear up on Thursday reports swirled that Manning had gone through another surgery on his neck. With this surgery Manning will be out for 2-3 months and the Indianapolis Colts without their star player. Many expected a less than stellar performance from the Colts as Kerry Collins took over at QB and was still learning the ropes of their offence. What nobody expected was just how terrible the Colts played without their QB as every aspect of their game faltered losing to Houston 34-7. Granted the Texans are a much improved team but to beat the Colts by that big was something nobody thought would happen. The loss of Manning highlighted a team that has way more problems than just not having a good young QB for when Manning finally retires. As the Colts begin to look for a new QB to fix their issues one team seemed to have found their new QB as the Carolina Panthers’ fans got a look at #1 draft pick Cam Newton. Newton did all he could in his first regular season game as he broke Peyton Manning’s record for most passing yards in a first regular season game. Newton went 24/37, and 422 yards as well as getting 2 TDs to 1 INT. With his performance the Panthers seem to have found their first building block in returning to a winning team but still lost the game to the Arizona Cardinals. Another QB impressed as well when Tom Brady torched the Miami Dolphins defence on Monday Night as he threw for 517 yards as he became the 5^th place QB for most passing yards in a game. Brady seems to continue to improve and if he remains this strong all year the Patriots will be a dangerous team. The QBs were at the centre of the attention this week but something else was also worth paying attention to.

The NFL changed a rule in the offseason as they moved the kickoff five yards up in order to reduce player injuries on kickoffs. Many people believed that the rule change was a big step in ruining the game. The kick return has been one of the most exciting plays in football forever as the possibility of a TD has created a hold your breath situation. With moving the kickoff ahead by 5 yards the belief was that kickers, who seem to be getting stronger as the years go on, would keep kicking the ball through the endzone or into the endzone ending the possibility of returning the kick. In week 1 of the season it did not take long for players to prove this wrong. Although balls were regularly sailing into the endzone it was shown in the kickoff game between Green Bay and New Orleans that the change did not stop the return. Rookie wide receiver Randall Cobb caught a kickoff deep in his endzone and returned it 108 yards for a TD tying an NFL record. The trend had started as 4 players returned kicks for TDs in the first week and many more actually took the ball out for returns rather than having touchbacks. The rule change has not changed the return game much except for the distance that many of the returners will travel. As the beginning of the season is in the fall many kickers will still be able to kick the ball through the endzone for touchbacks. The rest of the season will be during cold weather where the kickers will not have an advantage and may not be able to kick the ball as far as they want. The rule change has not seemed to change much as the returns become more thrilling when they are 6 yards deep in the endzone. The rule will remain and will probably prove to be a non-factor for the rest of the season as it will not reduce returns as much as was thought.

Standings

American Football Conference:

AFC East:

1. New England Patriots (1.00)

2. New York Jets (1.00)

3. Buffalo Bills (1.00)

4. Miami Dolphins (.000)

AFC North:

1. Baltimore Ravens (1.00)

2. Cincinnati Bengals (1.00)

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (.000)

4. Cleveland Browns (.000)

AFC South:

1. Houston Texans (1.00)

2. Jacksonville Jaguars (1.00)

3. Tennessee Titans (.000)

4. Indianapolis Colts (.000)

AFC West:

1. San Diego Chargers (1.00)

2. Oakland Raiders (1.00)

3. Kansas City Chiefs (.000)

4. Denver Broncos (.000)

 

National Football Conference

NFC East:

1. Washington Redskins (1.00)

2. Philadelphia Eagles (1.00)

3. New York Giants (.000)

4. Dallas Cowboys (.000)

NFC North:

1. Chicago Bears (1.00)

2. Green Bay Packers (1.00)

3. Detroit Lions (1.00)

4. Minnesota Vikings (.000)

NFC South:

1. New Orleans Saints (.000)

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (.000)

3. Carolina Panthers (.000)

4. Atlanta Falcons (.000)

NFC West:

1. Arizona Cardinals (1.00)

2. San Francisco 49ers (1.00)

3. Seattle Seahawks (.000)

4. St. Louis Rams (.000)

 

POW Awards

 

American Football Conference

Tom Brady, QB (Offensive POW)

66.7 cmp%

517 yds [5^th most in NFL History]

4 TD

1 INT

121.6 rtg

 

Terrell Suggs, LB (Defensive POW)

5 tkl

3.0 sck

0 INT

2 FF

 

Sebastian Janikowski, K (Special Teams POW)

3/3 FG

63 lng [Tied NFL Record]

2/2 XP

11 pts

 

National Football Conference

Aaron Rodgers, QB (Offensive POW)

77.1 cmp%

312 yds

3 TD

0 INT

132.1 rtg

 

Brian Urlacher, LB (Defensive POW)

10 tkl

0.0 sck

1 INT

0 FF

 

Ted Ginn Jr., KR (Special Teams POW)

9 ret

268 yds [Franchise Record]

102 lng

2 TD

 

Key Week 2 Matchups

Cleveland Browns vs. Indianapolis Colts (Sept. 18^th; 1:00 pm)

– Can the Indianapolis Colts recover from their terrible performance in week 1 against the Browns who are also looking to rebound after their loss to the Bengals.

 

San Diego Chargers vs. New England Patriots (Sept. 18^th; 4:15 pm)

– Can Tom Brady repeat his performance against a better defence that in Miami as the Chargers try to fix their Special Teams problems.

 

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Atlanta Falcons (Sept. 18^th; 8:20 pm)

– Michael Vick makes his return to Atlanta for the first time since returning to the NFL and both teams are looking to make a run at the Super Bowl through the NFC.

 

St. Louis Rams vs. New York Giants (Mon. Sept. 19^th; 8:30 pm)

– Monday Night Football goes into week two and will feature a young up and coming QB in Sam Bradford and a team looking to get back to their winning ways in the New York Giants.

Filed under Football · Tagged with Aaron Rodgers, AFC, American Football, Brian Urlacher, Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers, Consecutive start streak, Football, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, New NFL Kickoff Rule, NFC, NFL, NFL Week 1, Peyton Manning, Randall Cobb, Sebastien Janikowski, Ted Ginn Jr, Terrell Suggs, Tom Brady, Wednesday Morning QB