Tommy Lupo & John Sharkey
Staff Writer
It was a long wait for the season to start. The reigning National Football Conference champs Seattle Seahawks had a bitter taste in their mouths from last year’s controversial call in the Super Bowl. The inaugural week started off on a Thursday night showdown between the defending Super Bowl champions, The New England Patriots and the black and yellow warriors of Pittsburgh, the Steelers.
After a slow start by the Patriots, Rob Gronkowski found his stride producing three touchdowns leading to the Patriot victory. Moving on to Super Football Sunday, 13 games took place across the league. The Rams stopped the 215-pound Marshawn Lynch from converting a 4th and short, giving the Rams the overtime victory.
In addition, the Buffalo Bills looked strong and managed to edge out a win against the Indianapolis Colts 27-14. The last big Sunday news was the number one vs the number two pick showdown: The Buccaneers vs the Titans. Marcus Mariota came out firing in his debut, throwing four touchdowns, while (Famous) Jameis Winston threw a pick six on his first NFL pass. The New York Giants stomped into Dallas under the lights and had a ten point lead over the Cowboys going into the fourth quarter. Then Tony Romo drove down two consecutive times in the span of eight minutes to edge out the Giants.
A long week one was filled with both early season promise and a fair share of upsets. To name the biggest, the 49ers obliterated the Vikings 20-9 in a Monday night battle. The Philadelphia Eagles also fell on Monday night to Julio Jones and the Atlanta Falcons. The top performers of week one were Quarterback Tom Brady and Tight End Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots, Wide Receiver Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons, and Running Back Carlos Hyde of the San Francisco 49ers. It is a long season, and every game matters, but look to see many more surprises as the season rolls on.
