Flacco on top; McNabb falls
It's hard to say which were the biggest shockers on a day of wild surprises, but Buffalo crushing Kansas City to the tune of 41-7 was right up there.
It's hard to say which were the biggest shockers on a day of wild surprises, but Buffalo crushing Kansas City to the tune of 41-7 was right up there.
Chicago, all but forgotten in the NFC prognostications, dusted off Atlanta, a trendy Super Bowl pick, and by an eye-raising 30-12. Detroit, a dark-horse playoff contender, may finally have shaken off the shadows of the 0-16 record in 2008 with a legitimate statement at Tampa Bay in a battle of NFL wild-card hopefuls.
But nobody could have enjoyed opening weekend more than Baltimore's Joe Flacco. The Ravens have been on the verge of getting to the Super Bowl ever since the Audubon High grad and former Delaware star joined them in 2008. But they've been stymied by Pittsburgh, which had won six of the previous eight meetings.
Flacco went 17 for 29 and threw three touchdown passes without an interception in Sunday's 35-7 statement and, with a powerful assist from running back Ray Rice, has put the Ravens in the driver's seat in the AFC North.
"We got beat into submission," Steelers linebacker James Farrior admitted.
Rub it in, why don't you?
And as a reminder of how much the Ravens and Steelers hate each other, Baltimore took a 27-7 lead early in the third quarter - then scored on a two-point conversion when holder Sam Koch ran the ball in on a fake kick.
Former Birds debut
Kevin Kolb, once the guy who started ahead of Michael Vick in Eagle green, got a win in his debut in the desert, leading Arizona past Carolina on the day when Cam Newton exploded onto the NFL.
But Kolb's and Vick's predecessor, Donovan McNabb, had a rougher time in his debut in purple. McNabb threw for just 39 yards, and Minnesota fell at San Diego.
Former Eagle David Akers kicked four field goals for San Francisco.
A landslide in Arrowhead
Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick - you know, the one from Harvard - had a dynamic day in the Bills' shocking win at Kansas City, throwing four TD passes in the worst opening-day defeat in Chiefs history. It was their worst home loss since a 45-0 defeat to the Steelers 35 years ago in the days of the Steel Curtain and Mean Joe Greene.
"When things started going bad, they just went bad," Chiefs defensive tackle Kelly Gregg said. "Landslide."
Bad day in Cleveland
Former Eagles assistant Pat Shurmur finally got a shot at being a head coach, and his first game as Cleveland's head man seemed highly winnable, against Cincinnati.
Oops. Shurmur's first quarter as a head coach couldn't have gone much worse, as the Browns were called for six penalties, gained 3 yards rushing, and were badly outplayed.
Afterward, Shurmur was red-faced and visibly angry.
"A season full of mistakes in the first quarter," Shurmur said. "No excuses. I don't care if you're a rookie. I don't care if you've been in this thing for 12 years and this is your last game. You can't make mistakes."