What We Learned From Week 1

Added on Sep 10, 2012 by Scott in

NFL

The first Sunday of the 2012 NFL season is in the books. It wasn’t the most crisp, dramatic day of football, but it’s only one week, so logic dictates things will improve as the season progresses. And while it’s difficult to get a real sense of which teams are headed in the right direction after just one game, there was telling evidence worth investigating that could expose a few seasonal patterns.

Andy Reid is still Andy Reid – 56 pass attempts, 23 called runs. Reid’s continuing fascination with force-feeding pass plays down Michael Vick’s throat is going to cost him (and Vick) his job if he’s not careful. Vick is clearly out of his comfort zone and next week’s opponent, Baltimore, certainly won’t make life any easier. Helpful hint: LeSean McCoy is your best offensive player, Andy. Run the offense through him if you want to stick around for 2013.

Adrian Peterson kept his promise – It’s still a tad early to declare AP 100% healthy, but his two touchdowns and 4.9 yards per carry average versus Jacksonville will go a long way to proving his doubters wrong. If he can put together another two or three more impressive outings, the Superman moniker will be fitting.

RG III shows no fear – Andrew Luck looked nervous against the Bears. Same can’t be said for Griffin, who picked apart a suspect Saints defense like a five-year veteran. He accounted for 362 total yards and two touchdowns, and most importantly zero turnovers. Maybe all those draft picks were worth it after all.

Tim Tebow is a gimmick – As if we didn’t know this already, but the Jets are better off when Tebow isn’t running in and out of the huddle. The Bills defense was horrendous yesterday, but Mark Sanchez deserves to command the offense until proven otherwise.

Aaron Rodgers is mortal – Ignore the final stats. Alex Smith outplayed Rodgers on Sunday. Green Bay’s refusal and inability to run the ball is going to be their undoing in 2012, especially of their defense continues to get shredded on a weekly basis.

Cam can’t do it all – Again, Newton’s final numbers will make it seem like he played a good game. In reality, he was hurried way too much and received no help from the ground game, which netted a pathetic 10 yards. Either the Bucs defense is vastly improved or the Panthers are in big trouble.