Tuesday 27 September 2016 05:45, UK
The first week of the NFL season created plenty of entertainment and Neil Reynolds has picked out his six talking points from the opening games.
There may be a mini heatwave coming this week, but I reckon it is time to pack away the flip-flops, pull the curtains and put your feet up for the next five months - the summer is over and the NFL is back!
As expected, Week 1 proved that the NFL is more unpredictable than ever and the action served up every Sunday makes me think this is the most action-packed and dramatic sports league in the world.
Opening weekend served up 11 games that were decided by a single score. Here are just half a dozen of the many things that caught my eye over the weekend.
One young quarterback in particular caught my eye on Sunday night, as the Oakland Raiders recorded a thrilling opening day win away from home against the New Orleans Saints.
Derek Carr survived a back-and-forth points-fest with Drew Brees and, as you want from your signal-caller, the third-year player was at his best with the game on the line. Carr threw a late touchdown strike to Seth Roberts that looked set to send the contest into overtime.
But Raiders coach Jack Del Rio rolled the dice and attempted a two-point conversion, and I can understand why. He chose to win the game in the final minute by attacking a defence that has been the NFL's worst over the previous two years, rather than trying to defend Brees, who had already thrown for more than 400 yards and four touchdowns.
It was a gutsy but smart call and Carr lofted up the game-winning two-point conversion to Michael Crabtree, giving the Raiders just their second win in the last 14 season openers.
It seems as if Brees is going to need 400 yards and four touchdowns every week to be competitive because he gets very little help from his defenders. I feel it will be the same way for a fit-again Andrew Luck, who certainly played his part as the Indianapolis Colts fell to a 39-35 defeat at home to Detroit.
The Colts trailed early before Luck got hot and put his team in front inside the final minute with his fourth touchdown pass of the evening, hitting tight end Jack Doyle for the second time in the game for a 35-34 lead. Luck, who threw for 385 yards, never saw the ball again and went home a loser.
Indianapolis played too soft on Detroit's last-gasp drive for glory and allowed the Lions to move into position for Matt Prater's game-winning field goal from 43 yards. It was a frustrating end for the Colts, compounded by them conceding a safety on their desperation kick-off return, but one I feel they will encounter a few more times between now and the end of the season.
The Minnesota Vikings showed how much of a team game American football is with their comeback 25-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Week 1.
Stand-in quarterback Shaun Hill struggled at times and star running back Adrian Peterson got bogged down with 19 carries for 31 yards as the Titans loaded up to stop the run. But two big defensive plays turned the tide in the Vikings' favour as Eric Kendricks scored on a 77-yard interception return and Danielle Hunter found the end zone on a 24-yard fumble run-back.
It was not pretty and there are things that need to be addressed on Minnesota's offence, but that was the sign of a good team finding a way to win.
Cincinnati's A.J Green told me during the summer that he felt he was the best of an outstanding bunch of wide receivers currently gracing the NFL. You know what they say about talking the talk - if you're going to do that you need to walk the walk.
Green caught 12 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown in the Bengals' 23-22 win over the New York Jets. So he certainly backed up his pre-season statement and that performance was doubly impressive as the Pro Bowler was trailed by the great Darrelle Revis for much of the night.
Green's 54-yard touchdown catch from Andy Dalton, who left Revis trailing in his wake while catching a rainbow of a pass from his quarterback, is one of the prettiest plays you are going to see all season long.
Jameis Winston has a chance to become a true star of the NFL if he can maintain his opening day form that helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-24 away win against the Atlanta Falcons.
I thought Winston showed plenty of promise as a rookie in 2015 and, reassuringly, he said he loved the work and level of preparation needed to succeed in the NFL. He put all that hard work and preparation to good use in Atlanta, shredding the Falcons' secondary to the tune of 281 yards and four touchdowns.
Winston is the real deal and road wins, even against a less-than-impressive Falcons team, are not easy to come by in the NFL, especially when you are a growing team led by a young quarterback. He may have been helped out by some spectacular catches from his receivers and by some poor defensive play from Atlanta, but I thought Jameis looked the part in Week 1.
A dumb play from a veteran wide receiver cost the Dallas Cowboys any final hopes they had of defeating the New York Giants. With just seconds left on the clock, fourth-year receiver Terrance Williams caught a pass from Dak Prescott and turned upfield rather than step out of bounds. Just get out of bounds!
Williams had a chance to get out of bounds somewhere around the New York 40-yard line. Sure, it would still have been a very tough 58-yard kick, but Dan Bailey was nailing field goals for fun and he would at least have had a chance to steal the win by putting his more-than-strong-enough leg to good use.
Instead, Williams lost his cool in the heat of the battle, stayed in bounds and the clock ran out, giving the Giants a narrow 20-19 win. That is an example of the fine margins between winning and losing in the NFL.
Two other thoughts from this game - how cool was it to see Victor Cruz, after 700 days and 26 games out of the NFL, score the game-winner from Eli Manning? And I think there is a lot to like about the rookie quarterback currently subbing for the injured Tony Romo in Dallas. Prescott looked the real deal to me and I look forward to charting his progress in the coming weeks.
