NFL Week One: Winners and Losers

It’s back from another season, finally. Week one saw some shockers and some standout performances. Here are my winners and losers:

Winners:

1. Kansas City Chiefs: Quarterback Alex Smith threw for 368 yards and four touchdowns. Key defensive stops late helped the Chiefs stunned the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots 42-27.
2. Dallas Cowboys: Quarterback Dak Prescott threw for a touchdown. Kicker Dan Bailey had four field goals as the Cowboys defeated the New York Giants 19-3. Not the best performance from the Cowboys, but it was enough to win.
3. Green Bay Packers: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 311 yards and a touchdown. The defense was the story as the Packers defeated the Seattle Seahawks 17-9.
4. Jacksonville Jaguars: The defense had ten sacks as the Jaguars surprised the Houston Texans 29-7.
5. Oakland Raiders: Quarterback Derek Carr threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns. Kicker Giorgio Tavecchio had four field goals as the Raiders defeated the Tennessee Texans 26-16.
6. Detroit Lions quarterback Matt Stafford: Stafford threw for four touchdowns as the Lions came back to defeat the Arizona Cardinals 35-23.
7. Minnesota Vikings: Quarterback Sam Bradford threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns as the Vikings dominated the New Orleans Saints 29-19.

Losers:

1. New England Patriots: They were only 5 for 15 on third downs and the defense gave up 537 total yards in their loss to Kansas City.
2. New York Giants: They only had 35 rushing yards and 223 total yards in their loss to Dallas.
3. Seattle Seahawks: They just couldn’t get the offense going in their loss to Green Bay.
4. Houston Texans: Sacks and turnovers were the Texans’ undoing in their loss to Jacksonville.
5. Tennessee Titians: Settling for field goals cost the Titians in their loss to Oakland.
6. Cincinnati Bengals: Quarterback Andy Dalton threw four interceptions (including one in the red zone) and was sacked five times in their shutout loss to the Baltimore Ravens 20-0.
7. Indianapolis Colts: They were 0 for 10 on third downs and just plain lack of execution cost the Colts in their blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams 46-9. Safe to say, head coach Chuck Pagano is on the hot seat.

Storylines Going Into Week Two:

Tennessee meets Jacksonville. Philly goes to Kansas City. New England visits New Orleans. Minnesota travels to Pittsburgh. Dallas plays Denver. New York hosts Detroit. In a rematch of the NFC Championship, Green Bay battles Atlanta.