NFL Week 1: The 10 Biggest Surprises Of Sunday

It only took one day to give NFL fans their fair share of shocking surprises.  The New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers treated fans to a star studded show that ended with a nail biting 42-34 Packers victory.

While that was all well and good, Sunday marked the real start of the NFL season with 26 of the 32 teams in action.  From big upsets, to incredibly disappointing performances, the first week had it all. 

Here is a look at the 10 biggest surprises of Sunday's action. 

10) Luke McCown Led Jaguars Beat Titans

When David Garrard was unceremoniously cut this week, most people wrote the entire season off for the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

The Jags had other plans though and while McCown was not flashy, he was a very efficient 17-of-24 for 175 yards in guiding Jacksonville to a 16-14 win over the rival Tennessee Titans.

Jacksonville did a similar move with their quarterback situation four years ago and it culminated in a trip to the postseason.  It's quite doubtful that will occur again this time around, but it was still very refreshing to see that the season may not be a complete lost cause for the Jaguars.

The next four weeks has the Jaguars playing the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints and Cincinnati Bengals.  Based on the results today, it's not impossible to see the Jags going 3-2 over this stretch.

The question is, if McCown can play mistake free football, will Blaine Gabbert see the field anytime soon?

9) The Cincinnati Bengals Win The Battle of Ohio

When talking about teams that could come out of nowhere in 2011, the Cleveland Browns were a popular pick.  With a roster that is supposedly improving and a new coach, many people believed the Browns were on the right track.

The exact opposite has constantly been said of the Bengals.  Having to scrap an entire era of Bengal football, the team saw stalwarts like Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco leave and rookie Andy Dalton and A.J. Green come in. 

Today was supposed to be the first game of a potential winning streak for the Browns as nine of their first 10 games come against teams with losing records in 2010, with the lone winning team being the decimated Indianapolis Colts.

Instead, the Bengals outplayed their in-state rival and beat the Browns 27-17.  Bruce Gradkowski came in for an injured Dalton and both quarterbacks played error free football and both threw for a touchdown.  Cedric Benson, fresh off a brief prison stint, ran for 121 yards including a game clinching 4th quarter touchdown run.

It's now the Bengals who have a chance to go on a run as their schedule is also very manageable to start the season as they play the Denver Broncos next week, and San Francisco 49ers in the third week. 

8) The Return Of Sexy Rexy?

Many fans and analysts alike had a good laugh over the offseason at the quarterback situation in Washington.  While they improved at almost every other position on the field, their quarterbacks included John Beck, who never consistently started in the league, and Rex Grossman, who had been banished from Chicago several years ago.

The laughter only grew louder when Grossman said the 'Skins would win the NFC East. 

Well, for one week, Grossman can laugh louder than anyone.  21-for-34, 305 yards, two touchdowns and a 110.5 rating.  Those are the numbers you would expect from Tom Brady.  However, that's what Grossman did to the Giants en route to a 28-14 victory.

It should be noted that the Giants defense sustained by far the most amount of injuries in the preseason.  However, for a guy most thought of as a complete and utter bust, Grossman not only managed the Redskin offense, but lead his team to an important divisional victory. 

The performance by Grossman and the Redskins as a whole gave Washington fans new found excitement they have not felt in several years.  With a home game against the Arizona Cardinals next week, there is real hope the team can start 2-0.

7) Yes, The Colts Are That Bad Without Manning

For years, the belief has been no single player was more important to their team than Peyton Manning.  After their performance against the Houston Texans, you have to believe that assertion was correct.

The Texans embarrassed their rival 34-7 in a game that wasn't as close as the score.  The Colts were blown away in every facet of the game in the first half in which the Texans put up 34 points through the air, ground and return game.

Out-gained by almost 150 yards, the Colts were beaten up by the Texans who wanted to show the world they truly deserve to be anointed as AFC South favorites.  Despite not having Arian Foster, the Texans still dominated play.

Kerry Collins looked every bit his age, though to be fair, it's hard to ask someone to come out of street clothes and lead a new NFL offense within three weeks.  Nevertheless, Colts fans have to be outright frightened at their future with their franchise quarterback from a surgically repaired neck.

With one of the worst running games in football, and a defense that is built around their offense supplying a lead, the Colts could go from Super Bowl contender to competing for the first pick in the NFL draft. 

6) Kick Returns Are Not Dead

There has been a lot of talk about the controversial new rule the league instated that has teams kickoff from the 35 yard line instead of the 30. 

The new rule has thus far caused a tremendous uptick in touchbacks and has led many to fear that the art of the kickoff return is soon to be a lost art form.  However, while there are indeed fewer returns, the demise of the game changing return is not dead yet.

Minnesota Viking receiver Percy Harvin opened up his teams' season by returning a kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown. 

Ted Ginn, Jr. also showed off his talents late in the fourth quarter, returning a kick off 102 yards to seal a victory for the San Francisco 49ers.

Combine this with the 108 yard return by Green Bay rookie Randall Cobb and you had three kickoff returns for TDs. 

There is still a concern for how many drives are going to start from the 20 yard line.  However, for the Devin Hester's and Josh Cribbs's of the world, the ability to return a kickoff to the end zone still looks like it will be alive and well no matter where the ball is kicked off from. 

5) Dallas Cowboys Make The Wrong Kind Of History

Prior to the game between the Cowboys and the New York Jets, if you could have said that Tony Romo would have thrown the ball for 342 yards and two touchdowns against the vaunted Jets pass defense, you would have believed the Cowboys would win with ease.

In fact, for much of the game, the Cowboy were in complete control.  Romo looked like an All-Pro, Dez Bryant proved to the world why everyone thinks so highly of him, and the new Roby Ryan defense flexed it's muscles. 

With a little less than 12 minutes to go, the Cowboys were up 24-10 and on the Jets 3-yard line when Tony Romo fumbled the ball on the 1 trying to dive for a touchdown that would have put Dallas up by 21.

Instead, the Jets took the ball over and scored to go down seven.  Later, the Cowboys had a punt blocked returned for a touchdown to tie the game.

Then with just a minute left, Tony Romo invoked his weekly mental error card and threw a horrible pass towards Dez Bryant that was intercepted by Darrelle Revis.  Three plays later, a 50 yard field goal by Nick Folk put the Jets up 27-24.

The night ended with Romo failing to bring his Cowboys into field goal range and even had to field a snap he had not called for. 

In the end, the Cowboys made history as prior to tonight's game, they were 241-0-1 in games they led by more than 14 points in the fourth quarter. 

For a team that had aspirations of competing for the NFC East, this was not the way you wanted to start a season.

*An honorable mention is the fact Mark Sanchez complete 26 passes for 335 yards and two touchdowns. 

4) Atlanta Falcons Still Suffering From A Playoff Hangover?

A trendy pick to represent the NFC at Super Bowl XLVI has been the Atlanta Falcons, who despite their blow out loss to the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs last year, were the No. 1 seed and won 13 games.

With the addition of new rookie wideout Julio Jones, there were those who felt it could put the Falcons over the top.

Perhaps someone needs to remind the Falcons team that they were supposed to be Super Bowl contenders.

Despite being favored by just about anyone in their game against the Chicago Bears, the Falcons laid an egg, getting dominated en route to a 30-12 loss.

Though quarterback Matt Ryan threw for 319 yards, he threw an interception and fumbled a ball that was returned for a touchdown.  In addition, his offensive line let him down as he was sacked five times and was hit an additional 14 times.

Julio Jones and Pro-Bowl receiver Roddy White were held largely in check, and even Michael Turner was not immune to letting the team down as he fumbled a run in the first quarter.  The defense also did the team no favors, giving up almost 400 yards of offense. 

On the flip side, the Bears dominating performance was a surprise in its own right.  Aside from a tremendous defensive effort by Kroy Biermann tipping, intercepting and returning a ball 50 yards for a score, Jay Cutler looked tremendous.  Matt Forte looked good and Brian Urlacher looked like he was 25, picking off a pass and returning a fumble for a touchdown. 

3) Super Bowl Super Bills?

Perhaps we need to set those expectations a tad bit lower for a team that hasn't tasted the playoffs since Bill Clinton was President.

Nevertheless, the Bills performance in Kansas City turned some heads as they destroyed the defending AFC West champion Chiefs 41-7.  It was the worst opening day loss in the history of the Kansas City franchise.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has proved doubters wrong with each start, threw for 207 yards and four touchdowns while the Bills ran for an additional 163 yards.  They were assisted by their defense that created three turnovers and sacked Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel two times.

For a team that won just four games in 2010, it was pretty much a dream beginning for the Bills, who for the first time in years, has a lot of excitement as they prepare for the Oakland Raiders next week.

What was a dream for Buffalo was an absolute nightmare for the Chiefs.  Kansas City started their year off on the right foot last season when they defeated the San Diego Chargers on a monsoonal opening night game against the San Diego Chargers.  That win set the stage for a season in which they went 10-6 and won the division.

One has to wonder what this atrocious outing will do to the team.  They gained only 213 yards against one of the worst defenses in 2010, and looked lost for much of the game.  It was a far cry for a team that was one of the more efficient in all of football last year. 

2) Ravens Serve a Baltimore Beatdown To The Steelers

Few will argue that the best rivalry in the NFL right now is between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.  It's almost a guarantee when these two teams match up that you'll witness an epic battle of two teams that absolutely hate each other.

You can just hear the NFL films narrator talking about how these teams fight for every single yard.  You can almost smell the sweat and the grass and blood that spills when these two teams go at it.  More times than not, when these two teams played, the winning margin is by less than a touchdown.

However, the Ravens beat down their hated rivals 35-7 in a game that saw Baltimore force seven turnovers against the Steelers.  The game had its own fair share of controversy as well, as the Ravens, up 27-7, chose to go for a two point conversion.

It wasn't just any two point try either.  The Ravens didn't line up for an attempt, instead they looked like they were about to kick an extra point, which teams will do 99.9 percent of the time when scoring a touchdown in this situation.

Instead, punter Sam Koch took the snap, and ran it in to put the Ravens up 29-7.

There will be those that argue Baltimore was trying to go up by four scores, but let's be real here...the Ravens were doing their best to humiliate their rival.

Whether it's Chuck Knox, Bill Cowher, or Mike Tomlin, we are not used to seeing the Pittsburgh Steelers get man handled.  It's even more shocking to see it against a rival that they have controlled in recent years.

The question moving forward is if this week was an aberration, or if we are seeing a changing of the guard in the AFC North?

1) Cam Newton Shocks Us All With His Performance

For months now, analysts have been very critical of the Carolina Panthers selecting Cam Newton with the first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.  Despite his incredible success at Auburn, he looked like a very raw quarterback that was going to need to take time to develop into a real NFL passer.

There were few, if any expectations for Newton as he stepped onto the field in Phoenix today.  Many rookies making their debut will be told to just manage a game and not make any mistakes.  It's certainly not unheard of to see a new rookie throw for less than 200 yards, especially in his NFL debut.

In fact, nine quarterbacks threw for less than 200 yards on Sunday.  Cameron Newton was not one of them.

Head coach Ron Rivera may have entered the game looking to have Newton manage the offense, however it was clear the rookie wanted to lead it.  Newton looked like a veteran on Sunday, completing 24-of-37 passes for an astounding 422 yards and two touchdowns.  He added 18 yards and a touchdown on the ground as well.

It was a shockingly awesome performance from a quarterback some felt shouldn't even be starting in the NFL.

In what was a true example of a moral victory, the Panthers lost the game 28-21 to Arizona, but head back to Carolina with a lot more excitement and optimism for the 2011 season. 

It's obvious that Newton will have his fair share of struggles.  Almost any rookie quarterback does.  But the Panthers have to be feeling much better about their investment in Newton after witnessing him torch the Arizona defense up and down the field.

It will be interesting to see what happens next week as his Panthers take on the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers in Charlotte.  On the one hand, they're the champs.  On the other, they gave up 419 yards passing to Drew Brees.

If Newton can have a good game against the Packers, then get ready to see a lot of people hitch a ride on the Cam Newton bandwagon.