J.J. Watt and Matt Ryan were excellent on Sunday. Not so much for Tony Romo and Joe Flacco. That and more from an eventful opening Sunday of the NFL season. 1. Reports of San Francisco's demise are greatly exaggerated By Danny Kelly
The 49ers started the 2014 NFL season amid reports of locker room friction, concerns over a sub-standard preseason and the loss of several key starters to injury or suspension. Jim Harbaugh's team squashed rumors of discord and decline with a blowout of the Cowboys.
San Francisco forced four Dallas turnovers in the first half, much to the delight of the throngs of Niner fans that made the trip to Dallas. Seriously, the crowd looked almost like an even split:
This is a picture of a Dallas Cowboys home game. http://t.co/I5Os6xiu6U pic.twitter.com/FZ3xmgTxap - SB Nation (@SBNation) September 7, 2014
It all got started when 49ers linebacker Dan Skuta forced a fumble from DeMarco Murray on Dallas' first offensive drive. The ball was scooped up by Chris Culliver and returned 35 yards for a touchdown.
From there, the Niners took advantage of increasingly poor decisions by Tony Romo. Romo first threw into triple coverage, simultaneously getting picked off by Eric Reid and hanging Dez Bryant out to dry.
Romo later passed up an open receiver for what looked to be an easy touchdown, only to move and throw awkwardly into multiple defenders for another interception. This time in the end zone. He capped off a miserable first half by chucking a ball deep into double-coverage and getting picked off a third time.
NN user cyph summed up Romo's first half best http://t.co/vzHNsDOvay pic.twitter.com/YItXfVYbEd - Niners Nation (@NinersNation) September 7, 2014
The Niners turned the four turnovers into 21 points, holding a 28-3 halftime lead. Dallas cut into the lead in the second half but never seriously threatened. San Francisco's still-alive defense held strong and the 49ers 2014 season is off to a strong start. 2. J.J. Watt spoiled RG3's return By Eric Sollenberger
As a football writer, it is my solemn duty to make every single Washington game a referendum on whether or not Robert Griffin III can ever get back to his rookie form. As usual, there was a lot more to this game than whether or not Griffin is living up to his hype and in this case his name was J.J. Watt.
Watt lived in the backfield all day -- for some reason Washington thought that it would be fine letting Tyler Polumbus block Watt one-on-one for most of the afternoon. The defensive tackle celebrated his new contact by racking up five hits, one pass deflection, a sack and three tackles for loss. At some point, Washington probably should have double-teamed him. Griffin had a decent statistical afternoon despite a red zone fumble. He threw for 267 yards on 29-of-37 passing, but looked uncomfortable in the pocket for most of the game. The couple of hard shots he took early likely didn't help his comfort level.
He also missed a couple of chances early. Andre Roberts found his way behind the Texans defense, only to be led out of bounds by a Griffin pass that could have gone for six.
Still, it's tough to pin this loss on Griffin. Washington was ultimately undone by sloppy play. While he could have done more to stretch the field early, there are much bigger problems in Washington and they start up front. 3. Falcons offense puts the NFC South on notice: By Danny Kelly
An injury-riddled Atlanta Falcons squad watched the Panthers and Saints battle for NFC South supremacy last year, while they spiraled out of control and toward the bottom of the division standings. Atlanta, rejuvenated and reinforced, came out for Week 1 and made a statement that its 4-12 finish in 2013 was a fluke, coming back from a 20-7 first-half deficit to win an overtime shootout with the Saints, 37-34.
Matt Ryan was masterful against a Saints defense whose pass rush was excellent in 2013, and whose secondary is expected to be one of the league's top units after adding All-Pro safety Jairus Byrd. Ryan completed 31-of-43 passes for a cool 448 yards, three touchdowns and no picks. He connected with nine of his offensive weapons along the way and five receivers topped 50 yards receiving. Rob Ryan and the Saints' defense apparently had no answers.
The return of Julio Jones (seven catches for 116 yards) and the addition of Devin Hester (five catches for 99 yards) appeared to give the Falcons' pass offense new life. The other targets also had more room in one-on-one matchups. Roddy White caught five balls, including an excellent back-shoulder fade in the end zone. Harry Douglas quietly had a solid game, reeling in six passes for 69 yards.
Atlanta's run game also fed off of Ryan's excellence and Steven Jackson ran with ferocity and purpose on his way to 52 yards on 12 attempts. Backup Jacquizz Rodgers added 34 yards on six carries, with his biggest run coming on a 17-yard scamper to the left where where a spin move and a cut inside helped him find pay dirt.
Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Drew Brees and the Saints' great day on offense as well. New Orleans racked up nearly 500 yards for themselves. Sean Payton's squad mixed a strong run game with downfield passing and Brandin Cooks hit the ground running, grabbing seven catches for 77 yards and a touchdown, plus an 18 yard end-around.
It wasn't enough, though, and despite re-capturing the lead back from the Falcons twice, the Saints' defense couldn't survive a back-breaking fumble by Marques Colston in overtime. 4. Colts are horse meat By Ryan Van Bibber
Sadly, I don't think this is the problem for Indianapolis, not entirely.
@PFTCommenter colts miss irsays leadership imo - Matt Conley (@norskmatty) September 8, 2014
I know. I know. It's hard to imagine that the Colts would be anything less than stellar when they have dependable spare parts like Ahmad Bradshaw, but here we are. The funny thing about Bradshaw is he's way better than Trent Richardson, who is somehow still figuring into Indianapolis' game plan.
There were a few times where it looked like we might see one of those Andrew Luck lunch pail comebacks. Nope. The Colts just never seem to find consistency on the field. It's not helped by the front office's inability to build a complete roster.
Denver is not going to be an easy team to beat, but they didn't play their sharpest football on Sunday night. It's early. 5. We don't know anything about the AFC North By Ryan Van Bibber
A bout of bipolarity swept through the four AFC North teams. The Browns scored 24 unanswered points in the second half and almost surprised the Steelers. Pittsburgh took a 27-3 lead into halftime and looked like they were caught taking it easy on their opponent in the second half. They bailed it out in the end and added a field goal for a 30-24 win.
Andy Dalton was effective, finishing 25-for-38 with 301 yards and a touchdown. A.J. Green had more than a third of those yards and the touchdown. The red headed stranger is always good for a few moments of absurdity too.
Joe Flacco was terrible. The pairing with Gary Kubiak at OC was supposed to be perfect. Flacco was all over the place with his career-high 62 passing attempts (calling them 'attempts' at all is a generous way of thinking about it).
The Steelers will get better, but the rest of this division is a roller coaster.
Also, the Steelers have Antonio Brown, America's next ninja warrior, but with REAL NINJA KICKING. Week 1 scores
Seattle 36, Green Bay 16 (Thursday) Atlanta 37, New Orleans 34 Minnesota 34, St. Louis 6 Pittsburgh 30, Cleveland 27 Philadelphia 34, Jacksonville 17 New York Jets 19, Oakland 14 Cincinnati 23, Baltimore 16 Buffalo 23, Chicago 20 Houston 17, Washington 6 Tennessee 26, Kansas City 10 Miami 33, New England 20 Carolina 20, Tampa Bay 14 San Francisco 28, Dallas 17 Denver 31, Indianapolis 24
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