Rookie and veteran quarterbacks shine for new teams in Week 1
The National Football League’s opening week was a strong one for debut quarterbacks as rookies and veterans alike earned passing grades with their new teams.
Suspended signal-caller Tom Brady casts a large shadow for New England, but first-time starter Jimmy Garoppolo filled in nicely to guide the Patriots to a 23-21 victory against Arizona on Sunday night.
Garoppolo threw for 264 yards, had one touchdown pass and no interceptions to continue the league-wide trend of new leading passers achieving early success.
Carson Wentz, the second overall pick of the 2016 draft for Philadelphia, made a favorable first impression in a 29-10 home triumph over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Wentz set the tone on the opening drive of the game when he took the Eagles 75 yards down field and capped the march with a perfectly lobbed 19-yard touchdown pass over the shoulder of wide receiver Jordan Matthews. “It was huge,” Wentz said of the play. “Going down and moving the ball and getting that play right away, right off the bat, was huge for my confidence, huge for this team’s confidence.”
Wentz completed 22-of-37 passes for 278 yards and two scores, while avoiding a turnover.
Dallas first-year quarterback Dak Prescott was similarly thrust into the spotlight when starter Tony Romo suffered a preseason back injury.
But he was as composed against the New York Giants, pushing the Cowboys on a potential game-winning drive that ultimately ran out of time as Dallas fell to a 20-19 defeat.
Prescott put together methodical drives and has yet to commit a turnover dating back to his breakout performance during the preseason.
The Minnesota Vikings were left scrambling when starter Teddy Bridgewater sustained a season-ending knee injury last month.
The team acquired Sam Bradford from the Eagles but he is still learning the new offense, so the Vikings turned to 36-year-old Shaun Hill who steered them to a 25-16 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Houston Texans signal-caller Brock Osweiler signed a $72 million deal in the off-season to leave the Super Bowl-winning Denver Broncos.
Osweiler tossed two touchdowns in his team’s 23-14 triumph over the Chicago Bears and expressed the same confidence in the Texans that they showed in him.
“There were no nerves there, I knew what kind of football team I had behind me,” Osweiler said. “I was just excited to get this thing kicked off.” Despite Osweiler’s departure, the Broncos were able to find success with second-year quarterback Trevor Siemian who won his first ever NFL start with a 21-20 nail-biter against Carolina on Thursday.
Raised fist, more kneeling players as anthem protest spreads
Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters raised his fist and several Miami Dolphins players knelt during performances of the US national anthem on Sunday, the latest gestures in the NFL to draw attention to racial inequality.
San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick started a controversy when he began the protests against injustice and police brutality by refusing to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner” during preseason games.
Other members of the Chiefs linked arms during the anthem, as did the Seattle Seahawks at their game in Miami, although the exact meaning of their gestures was not immediately clear.
Sunday’s games fell on the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States and many NFL teams commemorated the tragedy with special ceremonies.
Four Miami Dolphins players – Arian Foster, Jelani Jenkins, Michael Thomas, and Kenny Stills – knelt while the national anthem was played at their season opener against the Seahawks. On the other side of the field, the Seahawks locked arms while standing during the song.
Representatives for the teams could not be immediately reached.
The gesture on Sunday by Peters, 23, who is African-American, recalled the raised fist demonstration by black athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos during their medal ceremony at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.
Seattle wide receiver Doug Baldwin, in a video he posted online announcing his team’s decision to link arms, said, “Progress can and will be made only if we stand together.”
In Thursday’s NFL season opener, Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall had knelt during the anthem.
The protesting players have been seen as allies of the Black Lives Matter movement, which grew in response to a string of high-profile police killings of unarmed black people across the country. About two-thirds of NFL players are black.
The protests also have provoked anger in some fans who see the gesture as disrespecting the US flag, the military and the nation in general.
Kaepernick’s 49ers played their opening game against the LA Rams on Monday evening. Obama has said Kaepernick was exercising a constitutional right and provoking conversation “around some topics that need to be talked about.”
Chiefs 33, Chargers 27 (OT)
Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith scored on two-yard run five minutes into overtime to give the Chiefs a remarkable come-from-behind home victory over San Diego.
Kansas City trailed 21-3 at halftime, but scored three touchdowns and a field goal in the second half. The Chiefs won the overtime coin toss and drove 70 yards on 10 plays before Smith ran right, dropped his head and blasted into the end zone.
Raiders 35, Saints 34
Derek Carr threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Seth Roberts and a two-point conversion pass to Michael Crabtree with 47 seconds left as Oakland defeated New Orleans.
The Saints had a chance to win on the final play, but Wil Lutz’s 61-yard field-goal attempt was wide left.
Carr led the Raiders to 22 fourth-quarter points, upstaging Drew Brees’ 14th 400-yard passing game, which tied Peyton Manning for an NFL record. Carr completed 24 of 38 passes for 319 yards and a touchdown and Brees completed 28 of 42 for 423 and four touchdowns.
Giants 20, Cowboys 19
Eli Manning threw three touchdowns to lead New York past Dallas.
Manning’s final scoring pass – a three-yarder to Victor Cruz midway through the fourth quarter – proved to be the difference in the first of two meetings between the NFC East rivals.
Dallas had won five consecutive games over the Giants, including a nail-biter in the opening game of the 2015 season.
Seahawks 12, Dolphins 10
Russell Wilson connected with Doug Baldwin on a two-yard TD pass with 31 seconds remaining in the game as Seattle rallied to edge Miami.
After the Dolphins scored the go-ahead touchdown with just over four minutes remaining, Wilson engineered a 14-play, 75-yard drive that included two fourth-down conversions.
Lions 39, Colts 35
Matt Prater’s 43-yard field goal with four seconds remaining, and then a safety on the ensuing kickoff, gave Detroit a wild win in Indianapolis.
Prater redeemed himself after missing a crucial extra point after a Detroit TD with 4:04 left. Indianapolis took a 35-34 lead with 37 seconds to go on Andrew Luck’s touchdown pass to Jack Doyle and Adam Vinatieri’s extra point.
But Matthew Stafford completed four passes for 50 yards, and then Prater nailed the game-winning kick. (Reuters)