This game had everything. It had offense, it had plenty of back and forth action, and perhaps most importantly, it had story telling. It told the story of a team trying to rediscover its identity in the league pitted up against one of it's giants. It was somewhat of a David and Goliath story, and David prevailed. After going in to the quarter with a 24-13 lead, the Rams fell apart in the final 15 minutes of regulation, falling behind 31-24 before a Nick Foles touchdown pass to Lance Kendricks tied the game with 53 seconds left. This sent the contest into overtime, where a 37 yard field goal from Greg Zuerlein gave the Rams a 34-31 lead. The Seahawks only drive of overtime ended with a turnover on downs, and the Rams got a huge win over the 2-time defending kings of the NFC. Nobody was feeling better than Nick Foles, who gave fans a good impression in his first start as the teams QB. Foles finished 18-27 with 297 yards and a touchdown pass. Hopefully for the City of St. Louis, this is the start of a Rams season that won't give owners any reason at all to move the team back to California.
Honorable Mentions: Eagles at Falcons, Giants at Cowboys
The Bills outlook for the 2015 season is a mixed bag. Some expect them to finally take the next step led by a top-notch defense, while other simply don't think the team has enough offensively to compete for a AFC East title. Week one worked out a lot better for the believers than it did for the skeptics. Although the final score of 24-13 does not seem lopsided, the Bills kicked the hell of out the Indianapolis Colts. The 13 points that Indy did score came after Buffalo had a 24-0 lead in the 3rd quarter. The Bills defense was dominant against what looks to be one of the best offensive attacks in the NFL, and I think that they deserve the title of biggest statement made in Week 1. Tyrod Taylor did his job in his first week as the teams starting QB, going 14-19 with 195 yards passing and a QB Rating of 88.2, along with a touchdown. This Bills team has to potential to be the best that Buffalo has seen in 20+ years, and hopefully for upstate New York, last Sunday is a sign of things to come.
Honorable Mentions: Tennessee Titans, St. Louis Rams
Embarrassing. Pathetic. Awful. Disgusting. Those are 4 adjectives that accurately describe Tampa Bay's performance on Sunday, but there is another word that should sting more than any other for Tampa fans: Typical. After all, a putrid performance like this is fitting for a team with a total of 6 wins in the past 2 seasons. After drafting Jameis Winston at #1 over all this May and tagging him at starting QB, I'm sure there were plenty of Bucs fans who came in to this season with an attitude of ''hey, we might not be laughing stocks''! Well, if getting demolished by the Tennessee Titans(2-14 in 2014) in your home opener and letting an anxious QB in his first start in the NFL ever throw more touchdown passes than incompletions is any indication, 2015 will not be much different for Tampa than 13 and 14 was. In fact, it might be worse. It could write a whole article picking apart the Bucs and how pathetic they have been since firing John Gurdun after the 2008 season(1 winning season in 6 years, 0 playoff appearances) but I think I have summed up my point pretty well for now.
Not Very Honorable Mentions: Cleveland Browns, New York Giants
Biggest Surprise: Marcus Mariota
Many people are expecting big things out of the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner from Oregon. However, I don't think many expected Mariota to perform as well as he did in his NFL debut behind center. Mariota finished the afternoon 13-16 passing with 4 touchdowns. When you throw more touchdown passes than incompletions, you had a special day. Even if it was against the woeful Bucs, Titans fans have to be very encouraged by the glimpse into the future that they saw on Sunday.
That's it for my first NFL Week in review. I hope it was a good read and stay tuned for the rest of the season.
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