Best & Worst Of NFL Week One

Football is finally back. When the regular season gets going, it a good way to see what were really getting from our football teams. I know it's only the first week and a whole lot can change over the final sixteen weeks of the season. If this first week was any indication, its going to be a fun year. We had a shootout in New Orleans, Chicago blowing a big lead, the Jets dominating in Detroit and it was a rough week for brand new NFL head coaches. All of that and more went down in the first week of the year. Here's a look at some of the winners and losers from week one.

Best:
Aaron Rodgers, Quarterback Green Bay Packers
Not only was it rough to watch the Bears take a 20-3 lead on the Pack, but Aaron Rodgers got carted off early on with what looked like a knee injury. But Rodgers managed to get himself off the floor, help get the Packers off the floor and walk away with an improbable 24-23 win at home. When Rodgers went down, Khalil Mack started going bonkers against DeShone Kizer. Rodgers comes back into the game and goes off the rails. He went 20 of 30 for 286 yards and three touchdowns. All of that came IN THE SECOND HALF ALONE. Those numbers just from the 2nd half were better then 19 other starting QB's had in an entire game. Let that sink in for a second. And erasing a 20 point deficit was tied for the largest deficit overcome in Rodgers career, and he did it all on one leg. His performance on Sunday showed you, me and the rest of the football world why the Packers made him the highest paid Quarterback in the game.

Worst:
Nathan Peterman, Quarterback Buffalo Bills
After the year that the Bills had last season, this is not how you wanted to try and build off of it. Then they named Nathan Peterman the week one starter, which was a sign of bad things to come. He threw five picks in his first game against the Rams last year in the first half alone. This year wasn't much better. Buffalo was routed by the Baltimore Ravens 47-3 and Peterman didn't finish the game. He went 5 of 18 for for 24 yards and two picks. Bufflo suffered the worst season opening loss in franchise history and gained just two yards of total offense in the first quarter. The Bills were a mess in the opener and unless Josh Allen is a miracle worker, I don't see things getting any better for Buffalo.

Best:
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Quarterback Tampa Bay Buccaneers
FitzMagic manages to show up against the Saints on Sunday. If somebody had said that Fitzpatrick would outplay Drew Brees I would have said you were crazy. But that's what happened in the Bucs 48-40 win in New Orleans on Sunday. In a game in which he was nearly perfect, Fitzpatrick wen 21 of 28 for 417 yards and four touchdowns, all without throwing a pick. Only guys to throw for more yards this week were Philip Rivers and Drew Brees. Fitzpatrick was on top of his game, including a beautiful TD pass to DeSean Jackson to kick the scoring off. Sure it was just one game, but just imagine if he plays like this again over the next two games. If he does that, Tampa is going to be in a tough spot once Jameis Winston comes back from suspension.

Worst:
Sam Bradford, Quarterback Arizona Cardinals
Sam Bradford is going to be good in Arizona. Right? Didn't look like that way in week one. Bradford has two top playmakers to play with in Larry Fitzgerald and David Johnson, he had trouble getting them the ball. Combined, the two had 12 catches for 106 yards. Oh yeah, the rest of the club had eight catches for 47 yards. And that was on 15 targets. Washington rolled to a 24-6 win over the Cards (and by the way congrats to Adrian Peterson on his 100th career touchdown). Bradford was bad, and it wouldn't surprise many if Josh Allen gets playing time and even starts in the very near future.

Best:
Joe Mixon, Running Back Cincinnati Bengals
In a game in which the two starting quarterbacks seem to cancel each other out, somebody needed to step up. In the Bengals 34-23 win over the Colts, Andy Dalton and Andrew Luck (who looked OK in his first start in a year and a half) kind of negated each other. Somebody had to step up, and someone did in the form of Joe Mixon. Mixon rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown on just 17 carries and added another 54 yards on five receptions. With some of the weapons that the Bengals have in the likes of AJ Green and John Ross, you throw in a guy like Mixon, they got something to build off of. If they can keep this pace up, the Bengals could be a big surprise coming out of the North.


Worst:
Jon Gruden, Coach Oakland Raiders
Jon Gruden is back on the NFL sideline and it hasn't started very good. Hell it kind of went sour before the Raiders even took the field. It started with Kahlil Mack doing well Mackian things against the Packers Sunday night. Then the Raiders took the field in their opener on Monday night against the Rams. Didn't end well as the Rams walked away with a 33-13 win. Again it's only one game, but things haven't gotten off to that great a start for Gruden and the Raiders.

Best:
Tyreek Hill, Wide Receiver Kansas City Chiefs
Have yourself a day young fella. in the Chiefs 38-28 win over the Chargers, Hill was all over the place. It started with a fantastic 91 yard punt return, continued when he hauled in a 58 yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes and concluded with a goal line score late in the half. In total, Hill finished with 268 all-purpose yards and those three touchdowns. it was one of those performances that coaches, and fantasy football owners, dream about. Hill was feeling it on Sunday.

Worst:
Matt Patricia, Head Coach Detroit Lions
It's funny but for some reason, a disciple of Bill Belichick never seems to fair very well as a head coach on their own. He got beat up pretty good in his coaching debut as the Lions got whooped 48-17 by the Jets on Monday Night. I don't know what it is but coaches who leave under the all seeing eye of Belichick can't seem to get it done on their own. Not only did the Lions get whooped by the Jets, but there's even reports floating around that Lions players are already unhappy with the culture that Patricia has started to create in the Motor City. if that's already starting in week one, it's going to be a long year in Detroit

Best:
James Conner, Running Back Pittsburgh Steelers
If there was any fault in the game of James Conner in the season opener against the Browns, it was the fumble late in the game that allowed Cleveland an open window. Cleveland was able to come away with a 21-21 tie against the Steelers. Conner still had himself a great day, finishing with 34 carries and 192 rushing yards, the most in the NFL in week one. He also had a pair of touchdown runs in this game as well. He had vision all over the field, and made more then a few defenders look really silly. That's how you know you got a good runner on your hands. It's not quite the same as having Bell in the lineup, but Conner did pretty well for himself.

Worst:
Le'Von Bell, Running Back Pittsburgh Steelers
The biggest thing he's missed out on so far is a huge payday, as sitting out the opener cost Bell $855,000. His replacement, James Connor, did pretty well for himself, see above. But Bell comes out a loser here, and so do the Steelers, because maybe having Bell in the lineup could have cut down on the six turnovers that the Steelers had in the ballgame. There's no telling how much longer Bell is going to be out, but the more he sits out, the more he's hurting himself. Looks like the steelers might be OK without him.