NFL - Week One Review

The 2015 NFL season got off to a rousing start last Thursday night with Tom Brady (pictured right) and the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots taking care of the Pittsburgh Steelers, 28-21 at Gillette Stadium.
Brady threw four touchdown passes, including three to tight end Rob Gronkowski to lead the way.
Steelers' QB Ben Roethlisberger had 351 yards passing along with a TD pass and one interception while running back DeAngelo Williams ran for 127 yards in the loss.
On Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks lost a bizarre game on the road in overtime by a 34-31 count to the St. Louis Rams, who rallied late to force the extra quarter on a 37-yard TD pass from QB Nick Foles to Lance Kendricks. Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein nailed a 37-yard field goal in OT to help win the game. The Rams defense stuffed running back Marshawn Lynch on fourth-and-one to seal the game.
The Green Bay Packers took care of the Chicago Bears, 31-23 behind three TD

Aaron Rodgers

strikes from QB Aaron Rodgers, including two to wide receiver James Jones.  Matt Forte led the Bears with 141 rushing yards and scored a touchdown in the loss.
The Buffalo Bills throttled the Indianapolis Colts, 27-14 as the defense put the clamps on Colts QB Andrew Luck with two interceptions. A pair of rushing touchdowns and a 51-yard scoring pass from Tyrod Taylor to WR Percy Harvin paced the Bills.
Houston got blasted at home by the Kansas City Chiefs, 27-20 as Chiefs QB Alex Smith connected twice with tight end Travis Kelce for touchdowns. Texans starting QB Brian Hoyer was yanked in the fourth quarter in favor of Ryan Mallett (TD pass) but the rally fell short.

Heftyinfo NFL Player of the Week

Tennessee Titans rookie QB Marcus Mariota, the Heftyinfo NFL Player of the Week, threw four touchdown passes in his debut as they crushed the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 42-14.  On the flip side, Tampa Bay rookie QB Jameis Winston
struggled with two interceptions, including throwing a "pick six" on his first pro pass attempt.
The Denver Broncos rode a "pick six" interception of 51 yards by Aqib Talib to defeat the visiting Baltimore Ravens, 19-13 in a defensive struggle.
The New York Jets smashed the Cleveland Browns, 31-10 as their defense forced five turnovers and Chris Ivory scored two rushing touchdowns to go with two TD passes from QB Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The Miami Dolphins squeaked out a 17-10 win at Washington as Jarvis Landry sealed the game with a 69-yard punt return for a score to beat the Redskins.
Carolina won a yawner at Jacksonville, 20-9 as QB Cam Newton threw a TD pass and Josh Norman returned an interception 30 yards for another score to spoil the home opener for the Jaguars.
Arizona held off the visiting New Orleans Saints en route to a 31-19 win as Carson Palmer threw for three touchdowns along with 307 passing yards. Saints QB Drew Brees threw for 355 yards against the Cardinals defense in the loss.
Cincinnati pounded the Oakland Raiders, 33-13 as Bengals QB Andy Dalton had a pair of TD passes and running back Jeremy Hill scored two rushing touchdowns to pace the rout.

The San Diego Chargers opened their season with a huge comeback win, 33-28 against the Detroit Lions as QB Philip Rivers (pictured left) overcame a rough first half (two INT, including a "pick six") to throw for 404 yards and two touchdowns on 35-of-42 passing accuracy. San Diego ran off 30 consecutive points to turn the game around.
Lions QB Matthew Stafford had a TD pass but was intercepted twice in the loss as they coughed up a 21-3 first half lead.
The Sunday Night Football game saw the Dallas Cowboys score 14 points in the final eight minutes to shock the visiting New York Giants, 27-26 as QB Tony Romo (356 passing yards with three TD and two INT) threw his second TD pass to TE Jason Witten with only seven seconds remaining in the game.
The Monday Night Football games saw the Atlanta Falcons surprise the visiting Philadelphia Eagles, 26-24 as QB Matt Ryan threw two scoring passes while the Falcons defense held the highly regarded Eagles offense to just a field goal while building a 20-3 halftime lead.
Eagles RB DeMarco Murray scored twice to forge a second half comeback, but the Falcons responded and held on for the win.
The night cap game in San Francisco saw the host 49ers dominate the Minnesota Vikings, 20-3 as the 49ers defense limited Vikings running back Adrian Peterson to just 31 rushing yards while 'Niners RB Carlos Hyde ran wild for 168 yards and two touchdowns to lead the way.