Our Long National Nightmare is Over! Football Has Returned!

He's baaaack (Google Images)

After weeks of Deflategate hearings, talks of settlements, rumors of Tom Brady and his wife divorcing and a ruling that commissioner Roger Goodell overstepped his bounds, fans across the country were no doubt glad that September 10th had finally arrived. Now we can finally analyze an actually NFL game, a game that will count towards the standings and help determine who plays in Super Bowl L. (That's 50 for those of us who didn't learn Roman Numerals in school).

 The regular season kicked off with the Pittsburgh Steelers visiting none other than Brady and the New England Patriots. The matchup, which turned out to be a 28-21 Patriots victory, proved to be an exciting way to welcome football back into our lives for the next few months.

Before kickoff, the Pats unveiled their latest Super Bowl victory banner and the crowd was treated to team owner Robert Kraft and former players Troy Brown, Willie McGinest and Ty Law carrying out the team's four Lombardi Trophies. The crowd also chanted "Where is Roger?" late in the fourth quarter, a clear jab at Goodell who was absent from the game because he wanted the focus to be on the game and not the league's appeal of Judge Robert Berman's Deflategate ruling.

But because it was a game against the Patriots, in Foxborough, the game was not without it's controversy.

The Steelers reported that during the game, their headsets picked up communications from Pats coach Bill Belichick and his staff on the opposite sideline, making it impossible for Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin to communicate with his staff.  Tomlin told reporters after the game that issues like this are "always the case" at Gillette Stadium. However, NFL spokesperson Michael Signora stated that the interference was "entirely attributable to an electrical issue made worse by the inclement weather. It involved no manipulation by any individual. The Patriots had nothing to do with it."

This incident clearly didn't help New England put Deflategate behind them, which was obviously the plan from the first snap. But Brady and Rob Gronkowski did an excellent job of distracting from their quarterback's recent legal issues.

Gronk was the target for three of Brady's four touchdown passes, helping Tommy Boy set a franchise record with 19 consecutive completions in his 23rd game with at least four touchdown passes. This put Brady third on the all-time list, tying him with former quarterback and current denim salesman Brett Favre. Gronkowski also recovered a Steelers fumble at the Pittsburgh 1 yard line, which set up his third score.



Gronk reminded us Thursday why he's one of the best
tight ends in the league (Google Images)

The Steelers did try to keep the Patriots honest though (impossible as that can be at times), falling to New England by only a touchdown.

Roethlisberger went 26/38 for a total of 351 yards. Not horrible numbers considering the Steelers offense playing without running back Le'veon Bell and wideout Martavis Bryant. Both players were suspended for violating the league's substance abuse policy, Bell will sit out for two contests while Bryant was benched for four.

Running back DeAngelo Williams and receivers Antonio Brown and Heath Miller did yeoman's work filling in for these two star Steelers. Williams rushed for 127 yards on 21 carries. Brown and Miller combined for 17 receptions for 217 total yards While only Brown broke into the end zone, these three players put up some pretty stout numbers subbing for two of the best in the league.

But wait! There's more! This was just the first game in a week of football that saw some upsets, some underdogs rising to the occasion, and some flat out boneheaded plays that proved costly (cough... Big Blue... cough). In a demoralizing, one-point loss to the Cowboys Sunday night, the Giants led the majority of the way. Then came the two-minute warning.

With a three point lead, Eli Manning and the Giants offense took the field with every intention of running out the clock and handing their division rivals their first loss of the year. But with 90 seconds left in the game, Dallas with no more time outs and the Giants at the Cowboys 2, Eli Manning throws a bomb behind the end zone rather than taking a sack to keep the clock running. This left Tony Romo with over a minute to come back and score. We might make jokes about how often he gets intercepted, but there's no doubt Romo is also one of the most clutch play callers in the league. Handing him the ball with 1:30 left and a three point lead was the dumbest thing New York could have done. Because that was all the 'Boys needed to beat Big Blue 27-26.

Makes you wonder if the ink has dried yet on Manning's new four-year extension or if John Mara and the Giants can get their $84 million back.

New York's other team had a very nice afternoon. The Jets beat up on Cleveland Browns 31-10. The day started bad for the Browns, with QB Josh McCown getting knocked out early with a concussion after running the ball for a touchdown. With :140 left in the first quarter, McCown ran it himself after not finding any open receivers. He leapt into the end zone and took a couple wicked hits that spun him in mid-air and landed him on his knees. To add insult to injury (literally), McCown lost the ball and the Jets' Antonio Cromartie recovered it for a touchback.

McCown's misfortune meant that "Johnny Football" was able to make a triumphant return to the gridiron. Manzel worked the Browns offense down the field in his first series of the regular season and completed a pass to Travis Benjamin to put Cleland up 7-0.



This helmet-to-helmet shot sent Josh McCown (13) spinning in mid-air
at the Jets' goal line (Google Images)

Much has been made about how Ryan Fitzpatrick would perform in place of Geno Smith and, aside from throwing a pick early in the second quarter (that was stripped seconds by New York's Brandon Marshall), Fitz was connecting with receivers and moved his offense down the field very well. It also helped that in the second half, Manzel began to fumble the ball and throw to a few guys who weren't wearing those atrocious orange and brown uniforms. While it seemed weeks ago that the Jets' season might have ended before it started, "Gang Green" might just be able to win some games after all with the underrated Fitzpatrick at the helm.

Manzel has had very little starting time since he arrive in the NFL one year ago. But two college players who will have to carry their teams this year are Jameis Winston (2013 Heisman winner) and Marcus Mariota (2014 Heisman winner). The respective first and second picks of this year's draft, Winston and Mariota met this past Sunday in Tampa Bay as Winston's Buccaneers took on Mariota's Tennessee Titans.

Mariota looked great in his first outing, not missing a step in his trip from Oregon to Tennessee. He completed 13 of his 16 passes and scored four touchdowns en route to a 42-14 massacre of the Bucs. A franchise that has been struggling to sell tickets the last few years, Winston was to be the savior of the team. However, his first NFL pass was an interception that was returned for a touchdown. The only other player to do that was Favre in his first year with the Atlanta Falcons. So while Winston is in good company in that category, he has a ways to before he is the championship contender he was as a Seminole. He went 16 for 33 and scored two touchdowns, but he was also picked off twice and sacked four times. Looks like it's going to be another bumpy ride in Tampa Bay, a team that hasn't won at home in over 600 days.

These were some of the bigger games from this first wonderful week of football. Here's how the rest of the league did.

- The Saints went marching out of Arizona disheartened after a 31-19 loss.

- Peyton Manning skated by after a so-so performance at home against the Ravens. They go into this Thursday's game against the Chiefs at Arrowhead on the heels of a 19-13 win over the Ravens.

- Speaking of the Chiefs, Kansas City took advantage of Houston's quarterback trouble, running all over Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett. They might still be looking for a touchdown from a wide receiver, but Kansas City remains undefeated after their 27-20 win over J.J. Watt and the Texans.

- The Falcons clipped the Eagles wings in Atlanta, winning 26-24.



Travis Kelce had two touchdowns in the Chiefs victory in Houston
(Google Images)

- The San Francisco 49ers struck gold against the Vikings, beating Adrian Peterson in his return to the NFL scene 20-3.

- Aaron Rogers and the Packers beat their rivals the Chicago Bears, mostly because Jay Cutler is not Aarons Rogers. He's barely an NFL quarterback period. Head coach John Fox lost in his regular season debut with Daaa Bears, falling to Green Bay 31-23.

- Nick Foles and the Rams beat the Seahawks, raising questions if Seattle can make it back to the Super Bowl for the third straight year.

- The Panthers beat the Jaguars 20-9, meaning Blake Bortles breakthrough season under center for the Jags is off to a rough start.

- Kirk Cousins led the Redskins offense very well and the team relied heavily on running back Alfred Morris after star receiver Desean Jackson left the game early. But it wasn't enough to beat Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins as Miami won by a score, 17-10.

- In a stunner, the Buffalo Bills beat Andrew Luck and the Colts 27-14. In his first season with the team, Rex Ryan proved that the Bills still know how to circle the wagons.

- Philip Rivers and the Chargers shocked the Lions 33-28.

- After re-signing AJ Greene, the Bengals thumped the Raiders 33-13. It's obvious why the Oakland Coliseum is known as "The Black Hole," they bring in players like Justin Tuck and Amari Cooper and their talent gets sucked away into the emptiness of the Raiders' home field.

This Thursday night, Peyton Manning and the Broncos will visit Alex Smith and the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in what should be an incredible matchup to kick off Week 2 of the NFL season. Kansas City won their four preseason games and beat the Texans Sunday, but they haven't beaten Denver in four years. See if they can finally topple Manning Thursday at 8:25 pm on CBS.