NFL Best And Worst Week One

We are off and running with the first week of the National Football League season and what an opening week it was. Eight games in the opening week of the season finished with a score under five points, including one of those games going to overtime (big comeback by Kansas City in that game against San Diego). We had a couple of offensive shootouts, a surprising rookie debut, gutsy coaching calls in Oakland, only two running backs cracked the one hundred yard mark for the day. New England didn't look like they missed Brady much with how well Jimmy Garoppolo played in the opener against the Cards. So lets get right down to it and look at some of the winners and losers from the first week of football action.

Best:
AJ Green Wide Receiver Cincinnati Bengals
Bengals pulled out a narrow one point opening week victory over the Jets and Green was a huge reason for this. Talk about a day, Green had twelve grabs for 180 yards and a score. The catches and yards were both tops among NFL receivers in the opening week. He did this on 13 targets , Green's one dropped pass was underthrown by Andy Dalton, but he very nearly snatched it from the mouth of the turf to secure a shoestring-style catch at a critical moment in the game. His biggest catch got the Bengals their first TD of the year for the Bengals, that being the 54 yard post pattern where he beat out Darrell Revis to get to the ball and score on the TD. He was beating Revis steadly most of the day for his grabs too and on one catch made it look easy doing it. Green was having that good a day.

Worst:
Kenny Stills, Wide Receiver Miami Dolphins
Miami was in a bit of a nail bitter against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Kenny Stills wasn't much of a factor in the game on Sunday, with just one catch for sixteen yards, but its what he didn't do that looks really bad. It doesn’t get much worse than Stills’ drop. He was all alone downfield and Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill delivered what should have been a touchdown pass. And Stills dropped it. That score would have put the game away. But Stills dropped it and with less then a minute left, the Seahawks scored to take a lead they would not relinquish. Talk about a tough break.

Best:
Carson Wentz, Quarterback Philadelphia Eagles
Talk about pressure. Second overall pick in the NFL Draft, making his first career start. There wasn't much pressure put on the kid since the 1st overall pick in the draft, Jared Geoff isn't very high on the Rams depth chart, so there was kind of less pressure on Wentz. He went out there and performed. Wentz completed nearly 60 percent of his passes and threw for 278 yards en route to a 29–10 win over the Browns. Of course, this all came against a defense that was the fourth-worst in football last year. But a win’s a win. Beautiful touchdown passes are beautiful touchdown passes, one to Zach Ertz and the other to Nelson Agholor. Wentz picked up the win something that rookie starters don't really do often in their first game, but its a win all the same.

Worst:
Terrance Williams, Wide Receiver Dallas Cowboys
Talk about a mental breakdown. Terrance had a decent day, with three catches for 34 yards. Normally a day like this wouldn't really be talked about. With just over a minute to play, Dallas moved into Giants territory, Dak Prescott hit a pass to Williams on the right sideline that should have given the ‘Boys a chance to try a long field goal to win the game. Unfortunately, Williams forgot what time it was and tried for a few extra yards, rather than getting out of bounds and stopping the clock. Dallas couldn't get to the line fast enough and simply ran out of time giving the Giants a 20-19 win. Williams makes the smart play and gets out of bounds, maybe it gives Dallas kicker Dan Bailey a shot at a 62 yard field goal. Would have been a long shot for Bailey but Williams failed to get out of bounds and the Giants got the win.

Best:
DeAngelo Williams, Running Back Pittsburgh Steelers
Talk about making a statement. Some thought that there was going to be questions was if the Steelers could hold out in the run game with bell out due to suspension. Well, for one week at least, that question was answered with a resounding yes. DeAngelo Williams went off in the Pittsburgh 38-16 win over the Redskins on Monday Night. He finished the night with 6 catches for 26 yards but the big story was he was the leading rusher in week one, finishing with 26 carries for 143 yards and a pair of scores. He was running over people and making the Washington defense look like traffic cones. He was ducking around guys, running over them. He's making a statement early on and giving the Steelers a reason to think maybe about when Bell comes back.

Worst:
Adrian Peterson, Running Back Minnesota Vikings
I know its only the first game of the season but come on. For a guy who goes by the nickname of "All Day", Adrian Peterson sure didn't look like it on Sunday against the Titans. Yes the Vikings got the win over the Titans, walking away with a 25-16 victory. Peterson wasn't really much of a factor in this game. Tennessee did a good job of shutting down AP during the day. Despite carrying the ball 19 times, Peterson could only manage 31 yards, and he didn’t catch either of the passes thrown his way. It was, quite honestly, one of the worst outings of Peterson’s career.

Best:
Jack Del Rio, Head Coach Oakland Raiders
You wanna talk about guts, look no further then Jack Del Rio and the Raiders. Oakland was in a shootout most of the day with the Saints in New Orleans. Oakland just kept chipping away and chipping away at what was a 24-10 Saints lead. Then it happened. Oakland scored at the end of the ball game. The next possession turned into a 11-play, 75-yard drive that took more than five minutes off the clock. Carr then hit Seth Roberts for a 10-yard touchdown, and it appeared the Raiders and Saints were headed to overtime, pending the extra-point conversion. ESPN said it would be smarter for the Raiders, based on percentages, to kick the extra point and head to overtime. Thankfully Jack Del Rio is the Raiders coach, and he doesn't pay attention to what ESPN said. Del Rio called for the 2-point conversion, Oakland converted and walked away with the win. It was a gutsy call but it worked. Del Rio looks like a genius.

Worst:
Injuries Striking Week One
Week one, while very exciting around the NFL, turned into an injury fest. Seattle Quarterback Russel Wilson hurt his ankle near the end of the win over Miami, and is questionable for the game Sunday against the Rams. Cam Newton of the Panthers took a beating against the Broncos, getting hit with helmet to helmet contact at least four times in the Panthers opener. It got worse for quarterbacks as the Browns Robert Griffin III hurt his throwing shoulder and looks to be out three to four weeks. That puts his future in doubt as the guy just can't stay healthy. Keenan Allen of the Chargers looks to be hurt badly and will probably miss the remaining 2016 season. It is suspected that the Chargers wideout tore his ACL in a loss to the Chiefs. Injuries suck, especially just one game in.