Miami Dolphins - 15 @ Buffalo Bills - 10:

• A few weeks back I predicted the Bills would go 3-13 this season and I was told by most that I was being far too critical and there was no way they would be that bad. When asked my reasoning for such low expectations, I explained my thought process pretty succinctly. The offense is simply not any better than it was last season. This breaks down into 4 parts generally speaking. Part #1 is the biggest part, and generally the reason for any team's success or failure. We have NO quarterback! I don't care which member of the 3 headed monster of Edwards/Fitzpatrick/Brohm is behind the center, they aren't adequate NFL starters. But more on that in a minute. Part #2 is that we lost Terrell Owens and Josh Reed at receiver. Neither did anything amazing for us last year, but what we have remaining is certainly not better. Lee Evans goes back to being double teamed and not having a chance of getting open most of the time, and Roscoe Parrish is forced to step up and be a number 2 wideout after hardly playing offense at all last year. Now our woefully underwhelming QBs have even less options to attempt to get the ball to. Part #3 is the offensive line. While I think that given time, this group will come around and prove themselves slightly less than awful, they've got a ways to go as of yet. Right tackle is still a massive concern and the left is only slightly better. This lack of a solid line gives our lousy QBs little time to pass, etc, etc, you get the point. Finally, Part #4 is the Running Backs. Now, before you say it, yes they clearly are the strength of our offense. I agree with that 100%. We have 3 serviceable backs that can share the load and bring unique skills to the table. The issue is the first 3 parts of this equation. Teams have no reason at all to respect our passing game and can stack the box against the run all day long, thus negating the one weapon we seemingly have. Alright, now that my long winded ramble on why I have such a negative outlook this season is out of the way, let's get to the actual game itself.
  

  
  

• Trent Edwards' stat line reads as follows: 18/34 for 139 yards and a touchdown. Guess how many other quarterbacks in the league had a superior day… The answer would be most all of them. With the exception of Jake Delhomme in Cleveland, Matt Moore in Carolina, and maybe Matt Schaub (whose team still beat the Colts!) in Houston, Edwards' numbers were worse than most anybody else in the league. On top of that, subtract one drive (yes, generally I hate that type of analysis, but it just shows that there really only was one good drive for Buffalo in this game) and Edwards was 11/27 for 48 yards. I don't think I need to say much else about that.
  

  
  

• Those 3 solid running backs that are supposed to anchor our offense? Spiller had 7 carries for 6 yards, Lynch had 3 for 13, and Jackson had 4 for 19. Add that up and you have 14 carries for 38 yards. This will get us nowhere fast.
  

  
  

• Buffalo had 166 yards of total offense. I don't even want to count the number of individual players who accounted for more than that throughout the league.
  

  
  

• It's not ALL terrible. The defense played a solid game today. Mia- mi is at best an average offense, but the Bills still contained them for the most part. Giving up 13 points (I can't hang that safety on them) should be enough to get you a win more often than not, but again, with this abysmal offense, anything short of a shutout seems like it might not be good enough.
  

  
  

• Yet another new coaching staff does not automatically equate to greatness. The single most common rebuttal I got when explaining my forecast for the season was that Chan Gailey and company were going to turn things around. I know it's only one week in and it takes some time, but that's exactly my point! It's only one week, it's going to take a LOT of time. Especially given the talent they have to work with. I saw nothing on the offensive side of the ball that looked any more imaginative than when Dick Jauron was in charge. I will say that the conversion to the 3-4 defense seems to be going more smoothly than I expected.
  

  
  

• Perhaps I'm nit picking because I'm still so annoyed that we wasted a #8 overall pick on him, but Donte Whitner makes me want to scream. On multiple occasions today I watched him tackle a receiver AFTER giving up a first down on the play, and then stand over them and talk trash. This explains why he's better at Twitter than at football. He actually blocked me from his Twitter account for saying that to him last year too.
  

  
  

• Dolphins fans… Congrats, but don't go getting too excited. You beat the Bills, but not by much, and you didn't look very good at all in doing so. With the weapons this team has on offense now, expectations should be much higher for them.
  

  
  

• In case you didn't fully grasp all those things I just said, let me put it to you bluntly. This was a mediocre Dolphins team, at home, in Week 1, which means extra time to prepare. How do you think we're going to fare at Green Bay and then at New England the next two weeks?
  

  
  

Minnesota – 9 @ New Orleans – 14:

• Brett Favre looked less than 100% and in need of a #1 receiver. Visanthe Schiancoe is clearly his primary target and losing Sidney Rice hurts them a lot. He can't stretch the field too well with what they currently have. Adrian Peterson needs to carry the ball a hell of a lot more than 19 times as well, just ask him and he'll tell you.
  

  
  

• The Saints offense looked far less impressive than last season, but the weapons are all still there. Give them a week or two and I think you'll see them back in full swing. The NFC South is most certainly still there's for the taking.
  

  
  

Cleveland – 14 @ Tampa Bay – 17:

• Jake Delhomme is in a new city, but not much else changed. After putting the Browns out in front, he threw a costly interception that was almost immediately turned into points for the Bucs. I'm already dreading the annual Futility Bowl between Cleveland and Buffalo later this season.
  

  
  

• Tampa didn't exactly look like world beaters either and mostly benefited from opening up against the lowly Browns at home. Josh Freeman is still developing and if he can continue to play steadily for Tampa, they have a chance to steal a few games this year.
  

  
  

Cincinnati – 24 @ New England – 38:

• Carson Palmer's numbers look really impressive, but that's due to the fact that they were well behind early on and aired it out all through the 2^nd half. A lot more was expected out of the Bengals coming into this season, and they're going to have to shore up their defense quickly if they want to be amongst the teams at the top of a very competitive AFC North.
  

  
  

• The Patriots stepped on the gas from the start and didn't look back. I expected this team to struggle to be around the 9-10 win mark this season, but that is not what they showed today. Their offensive potency reminded me of the season before Tom Brady went down, and quite frankly, that disgusts me a little bit. Let's hope it was just extra time to game plan heading into the start of the season.
  

  
  

Indianapolis – 24 @ Houston – 34:

• Is there any better matchup for fantasy purposes than the twice a year Colts/Texans showdown? Personally, I have 9 roster spots across 3 teams tied up with players from these two teams, and I can't wait until they play again in Week 8.
  

  
  

• Did I mention I have both Peyton Manning (40-57, 433 yards, 3 TDs) and Arian Foster (231 yards and 3 TDs) on the same fantasy team? They combined for 81 points and if I hadn't left Austin Collie on my bench, that would have been another 31!
  

  
  

• Seriously, if by some ridiculous chance nobody has Arian Foster in your league, you better hope you have the #1 position for the waiver wire come tomorrow morning. How else can you explain Matt Schaub having a terrible day (9/17, 107 yards, a TD and an INT), Andre Johnson being practically invisible (3 catches for 31 yards), and the Texans still beating the Colts with relative ease? Houston just put that division on notice and I firmly believe their playoff drought finally ends this year.
  

  
  

Denver – 17 @ Jacksonville – 24:

• Jacksonville actually sold out a game and all it took was hometown hero Tim Tebow coming to town to do it. I hope those folks really enjoyed seeing his 2 carries for 2 yards!
  

  
  

• Jacksonville used a solid all around performance from their offense and what looked to be an improved defense from a year ago to knock off a Denver team that looks to be searching for an identity. Too bad they'll be right back to a half empty, half tarped off stadium for the rest of the season soon enough.
  

  
  

Atlanta – 9 @ Pittsburgh – 15:

• Thankfully I didn't see much of this one as it appeared to be bowling shoe ugly. Pittsburgh's usually stout defense shut down Michael Turner, and while it gave up a fair amount of yards to Matt Ryan and Roddy White, it didn't let them into the endzone.
  

  
  

• The Steelers on the other hand couldn't muster much offense themselves with Dennis Dixon filling in for the suspended Ben Roethlisberger. It wasn't until Rashard Mendenhall broke off a 50 yard touchdown in overtime that the Steelers looked like they had anything going on with the ball in their possession. They are going to struggle through the first 4 weeks, but luckily for me, I can't stand them, so that's a good thing.
  

  
  

Oakland – 13 @ Tennessee – 38:

• JaMarcus Russell may be 300+ pounds and sipping on some syrup elsewhere now, but the Raiders are still the Raiders. Jason Campbell didn't appear to be the answer in game #1 as the Raiders were bowled over by the Titans.
  

  
  

• Chris Johnson on the other hand, is also still Chris Johnson. He picked up where he left off last season with a 142 yard, 2 TD day. Coupled with Vince Young still looking like a passable NFL QB, it was enough for the Titans to roll to the easy win. I would suggest things might be more difficult moving forward when they face the Steelers next week.
  

  
  

Carolina – 18 @ New York Giants – 31:

• The Panthers shut the door on the old Giants Stadium last season by hanging a 41-9 loss on Eli and company, but they failed to duplicate their effort in opening the new building in the Meadowlands.
  

  
  

• Eli Manning coupled his 3 interception day with 3 TD passes, all to Hakeem Nicks to help propel his Giants past a Panthers team that enters the Matt Moore era.
  

  
  

• Speaking of Moore, he didn't do much to show everybody why the Panthers handed the reigns over to him and ushered Jake Delhomme off to Cleveland, as he had 3 interceptions of his own on the day. As somebody who lives in North Carolina and hears more about the Panthers than he'd ever care to, I have to think John Fox's seat is somewhere between magma and nuclear this season.
  

  
  

Detroit – 14 @ Chicago – 19:

• When is a touchdown not a touchdown? That's the question that stands out after watching the end of this game. Calvin Johnson now realizes that in order to be credited with touchdowns from now on, he needs to catch the ball, land on the ground, stand up, run to the locker room, and change into his street clothes… all without letting go of the football. Seriously, if that wasn't a completed catch, I'm not sure I know what is anymore. The Lions got hosed and no "interpretation" of the rule is going to change my mind about that.
  

  
  

• Jay Cutler likes to chuck the ball around a lot, that hasn't really changed. He did manage to limit himself to just one interception to go with his 372 yards and 2 touchdowns in this one though. Matt Forte may have found his niche as a receiver out of the backfield as well, as he put up big numbers predominately as a pass catcher.
  

  
  

• The Lions would seem likely to improve their record again this year, though it now very much depends on the severity of Matt Stafford's reinjured shoulder. The Bears on the other hand, don't seem at all likely to improve from last season to me. In fact, I think they might even be down a bit. Either way, they are definitely not going to be looking at the postseason.
  

  
  

Arizona – 17 @ St. Louis – 13:

• To all those people who drafted Larry Fitzgerald in the 1^st or 2^nd round of their fantasy drafts… You did realize the guy that kept him from getting double teamed is now in Baltimore, and the future Hall of Fame QB who threw the ball to him is getting ready for Dancing with the Stars right? He did grab a late touchdown today, but I expect his numbers to be well down this year with Derek Anderson distributing the ball. Though if Steve Breaston continues to put up numbers like he did today, perhaps that will ease the pressure of Anquan Boldin heading east.
  

  
  

• I mentioned to a few people over the last week that I had this strong feeling that St. Louis was going to be a fair bit better than most people expected. I really think this team has the ability to win 5-6 games this year and that Sam Bradford is going to be a damn good quarterback once he has some weapons to throw to. He struggled a bit today, but still looked good for starting his first career NFL game. The severe lack of receivers he has to choose from is going to cost him some development this year though.
  

  
  

Green Bay – 27 @ Philadelphia – 20:

• Those that own Aaron Rodgers in fantasy leagues have to be holding their collective heads after Week 1. Rodgers was projected as a Top 3 QB, and in some cases # 1 or 2, by virtually every outlet I saw. 188 yards, 2 TDs and 2 INTs is probably not the output expected by most of those that took him in Round 1 or 2. The Packers will need better if they expect to win the NFC North, as many have predicted them to do.
  

  
  

• Injuries marred this game as several players including Ryan Grant of Green Bay and Kevin Kolb of Philadelphia both left early on. It'll be interesting to see how quickly both come back, as they are both a large part of the offense for each team.
  

  
  

• Michael Vick got put on full display as a quarterback rather than a novelty once Kolb went down. He didn't do too badly either for that matter. Going 16/24 for 175 yards and a TD through the air, coupled with 103 yards on the ground, Vick has some wondering just what will happen when Kolb returns from his concussion. Vick certainly displayed far more accuracy than I can ever recall him having when he was a full time QB in Atlanta.
  

  
  

San Francisco – 6 @ Seattle – 31:

• Well… either a lot of folks greatly over estimated how good the 49ers would be this year, or a whole lot of folks greatly underestimated how good Seattle was going to be.
  

  
  

• Matt Hasselbeck looked more like the guy who lead his team to Super Bowl XL than the injury prone QB we've seen the last few seasons. His numbers weren't staggering, but he certainly did a solid job.
  

  
  

• Mike Singletary was wearing a large cross pendant on a chain that was in full display all game long. I couldn't help but wonder how long it would take the NFL to tell him that this was some sort of violation of the dress code policy. If it were the NBA, David Stern would already be calling for a check.
  

  
  

• Pete Carroll starts off his NFL coaching career at 1-0… wait, what's that you say? He's done this before? He's actually now 34-31 as an NFL head coach after stints with the Jets in 1994 and the Patriots from 97-99.
  

  
  

Dallas - 7 @ Washington - 13:

• Can we just toss a coin in the NFC East already? All four of these teams are pretty much the same. It would save us from hearing about them endlessly for the next 16 weeks, since ESPN is infatuated with this division.
  

  
  

• Hmm, turns out the Cowboys aren't so wonderful after all? I think the offensive line has a lot of work to do before this team lives up to its hype. I also think that if they don't, Wade Phillips can join me to collect his unemployment check.
  

  
  

• Donovan McNabb didn't do much to prove why the Eagles should have kept him. Sub 50% completion percentage and only 171 yards. It's a good thing for him the Cowboys made so many mistakes, or he'd be under heavy fire this week.
  

General Notes from around the NFL:

• Home Teams are 11-3 so far during Week 1, while last year they went just 8-8.
  

  
  

• Does anybody test kickers for steroids? 6 different kickers hit from 50+ yards with 3 more connecting from 49.
  

  
  

• Can you guess which team is dead last in Yards as well as Time of Possession amongst those that have played in Week 1 already? That's right, YOUR Buffalo Bills!