Week 1 of the NFL regular season is over. There were many
exciting games full of twists, turns and shocks; all of which you expect in the
national football league. We take a look at the 4 biggest games from week 1
whilst rounding up the other results.
Dallas Cowboys 24-17
New York Giants
The Cowboys walked in to MetLife stadium and pulled off a
win in front of the biggest attendance for a Giants game in the arena based in
New Jersey. With Dallas’ 24-17 win over
the defending Super Bowl champions they made a statement and the
performance proved they had been stewing over their loss to New York in the
last game of the 2011 regular season which saw the Cowboys miss out on the
playoffs.
DeMarco Murray rushed for 131 yards for Dallas as the
Cowboys were effective all over the field whereas the Giants were lacklustre
and there were no standout performers for them.
Even Eli Manning was sacked 3 times on the night as he found it
difficult linking up to the likes of Victor Cruz.
With the score at 17-10 and less than 6 minutes remaining
the Cowboys lined up 1&30, Romo called an audible at the line of scrimmage
and threw to Miles Austin on the left side-line who leaped to beat two G-men
defenders and move in to the end zone.
It was 24-10 and Romo had found a range of targets in his
offense including Kevin Olgetree who caught his first two TD’s in his NFL
career for over 100 receiving yards. New York scored late on when Eli found his
Tight End Martellus Bennett but there was no 4th quarter Manning
magic for the Giants this time.
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo probably had his best game for
the Cowboys in his entire career as he didn’t let an early interception rattle
him. Romo went on to throw for 307 yards for 3 touchdowns whilst completing
22/29 attempts.
With the Giants losing it was the first time the defending
Super Bowl champions had lost the traditional early week 1 matchup in 9 years
which saw the two teams play before the rest of the league. More importantly
for Dallas it showed that they have improved and gave off the impression that
they are now the team to beat in the NFC East.
New England Patriots
31-13 Tennessee Titans
The defending AFC champions won easily as Tom Brady threw 2
touchdown passes for 236 yards on a solid day for the Patriots all round. Brady
completed 23/31 as he linked up with all his impressive offensive weapons
including new addition Brandon Lloyd who showed he will fit in well in New
England.
The Titans went 3-0 up with an early field goal but the lead
didn’t last long as Brady threw a touchdown on a close 2&11 with a smart
pass to Aaron Hernandez to put the Pats 7-3 up. It was Brady’s 301st
career touchdown pass which saw him move up to 5th in NFL history
for this particular record and pass Dan Marino.
Tennessee managed to sack Brady once and in the process gave
him a bloody and possible broken nose but it wasn’t to keep him out of the
game. Following that turnover on downs Jake Locker looked to get the Titans on
the scoreboard again but on 3rd&13 the pocket collapsed leading
to rookie Chandler Jones forcing a fumble and his team-mate as well as fellow
first rounder Dont’a Hightower picking up the pieces and scoring the touchdown.
Despite the rookie QB Locker looking good for the Titans
they failed to score again and with Brady now in full flight he threw his 2nd
touchdown pass of the day to Rob Gronkowski who pulled off a very impressive
catch at the back of the end zone.
The Patriots were 21-3 up at halftime but the Titans started
the second half quickly with a touchdown in the first 5 minutes of the 3rd
when Locker combined with Nate Washington to cut the gap to 11.
Any hope of a comeback was short lived as Patriots running
back Stevan Ridley continued to tear up the Titans run defense as he managed to
rack up 125 yards and a touchdown which was probably the highlight of the day
for this Patriots team.
Following Ridley’s TD the Titans next possession saw Jake
Locker suffer a left shoulder injury but he will be ready for Tennessee’s next
game against the Chargers. Matt Hasselbeck came in and the two teams shared a
couple of field goals meaning that the game ended with the Patriots winning
31-13.
It was the ninth straight season in which the New England
Patriots won their opening game and with the win Tom Brady reached 125 career
wins in the fewest starts (160) among quarterbacks in NFL history. It was a solid
performance which saw the Pats get back to business and show everyone else that
they mean it as well.
San Francisco 49ers
30-22 Green Bay Packers
In a battle between two NFL heavyweights who both have high
hopes for the 2012 season this match had high expectations and both teams
delivered with an exciting game at Lambeau Field which went down to the wire.
The first quarter was quiet on the scoreboard and quite
nervy which was to be expected with the Niners holding a 3-0 lead going in to
the 2nd and when the game started to heat up.
The 49ers scored the first touchdown of the game when Alex
Smith found Randy Moss open in the end zone to score on his return to the NFL
and prove that he is still the Moss of old. Green Bay went down the other end
of the field and scored a touchdown of their own when Rodgers threw to
Jermichael Finley on a 1st&goal to make it 10-7.
With less than 5 minutes left in the first half the Niners
increased their lead to 6 before the highlight of the game when their kicker,
David Akers, tied an NFL record with an incredible 63 yard field-goal for his 3rd
of the game and to put San Francisco 16-7 up going in to half-time.
Lambeau was very quiet when Alex Smith hooked up with tight
end Vernon Davis to make it 23-7 early in the third. With the Packers down by
16 and the offense not clicking it was down to Randall Cobb to provide a spark
for his team in the form of a 75 yard punt return for a touchdown. The 2 point
conversion cut the 49ers lead to 8 but on Green Bay’s next possession Rodgers
threw an interception to linebacker NaVorro Bowman and hand possession back to
San Francisco who shortly after scored a touchdown when Frank Gore rushed in to
the endzone.
At 30-15 the Packers still wouldn’t give up, Rodgers found
Jones on a 2&1 in the redzone to cut the gap to 8 again. On their next
possession Green Bay moved the chains but eventually the 49ers defense
smothered Rodgers and managed to make one last stand to stop the late rally
meaning that San Francisco came out of Lambeau with the win in an action packed
game.
Pittsburgh Steelers
19-31 Denver Broncos
In one of the most anticipated games from the opening season
matchups Peyton Manning returned to the NFL in style following his injury last
season to give his new team the win against one of his more familiar opponents.
Manning has seen many defences in his time but coming up
against the Steelers in his comeback game was always going to be a challenge.
He rose to the occasion though and completed 19/26 attempts for 253 yards and
for 2 touchdowns as Pittsburgh started the 2012 NFL season how they finished
last year, with a loss in Denver.
After a scoreless opening quarter it was the Steelers who
took a 3-0 lead with a field goal early in the second. The Broncos marched back
down the field with running back Knowshon Moreno capping off the 80 yard drive
with a 7 yard touchdown run. With Big Ben connected with Heath Miller just
before halftime it was Pittsburgh who went in to the break leading 10-7 in a
tightly contested first half.
The second half was pretty high scoring and saw
Manning show everyone glimpses of his brilliant old self as he connected with
Demaryius Thomas on a 71 touchdown pass for the 400th of Manning’s
career. The touchdown followed another early half field goal by the Steelers
meaning that the Broncos went in to the 4th leading by one, 14-13.
Field goal after field goal would end up haunting the
Steelers as after they took the lead early in the 4th to go up 16-14
the Broncos went on to take control of the game and finish off Pittsburgh. It
started when Denver retook the lead following an 80 yard drive which ended with
Manning hitting Jacob Tamme from a yard out.
Matt Prater then added a field goal shortly after the
touchdown to add to the Broncos’ lead. Roethlisberger tried his best to get the
Steelers back in the game but ended up throwing an interception to Tracy Porter
who returned it for a touchdown to confirm the win for Denver with the score
finishing 31-19. The Manning era has begun at the Mile High Stadium.
Interconference
games
Indianapolis Colts 21-44 Chicago Bears
Philadelphia Eagles 17-16 Cleveland Browns
Atlanta Falcons 40-24 Kansas City Chiefs
Jacksonville Jaguars 23-26 Minnesota Vikings
Intraconference
games
AFC:
Miami Dolphins 10-30 Houston Texans
Buffalo Bills 28-48 New York Jets
Cincinnati Bengals 13-44 Baltimore Ravens
San Diego Chargers 22-14 Oakland Raiders
NFC:
St. Louis Rams 23-27 Detroit Lions
Washington Redskins 40-32 New Orleans Saints
Seattle Seahawks 16-20 Arizona Cardinals
Carolina Panthers 10-16 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
No comments:
Post a Comment