NFL Week 1: Breaking Down Sunday's Biggest Matchups to Watch

Football is officially underway with great opening action Thursday night between the Seahawks and Packers. Now the rest of the league seeks to start their season off with a bang.

As you may have heard, football is won or lost based on the outcomes of key matchups throughout the course of a four-quarter game. Some matchups are so pivotal that they can swing the entire outcome of the game toward one team.

These are the types of matchups we’re looking to highlight in this article.

Derek Carr vs. Rex Ryan

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Derek Carr will debut his explosive arm in Week 1 against the Jets, the first Raiders rookie signal-caller to receive that honor.

This Sunday two big question marks face each other at MetLife Stadium. Can Carr start his NFL career off with a boom against Rex Ryan’s questionable secondary or will the inexperienced signal-caller fold under pressure in his debut performance?

Sunday’s matchup is primed to be one of the most intriguing of the week specifically because there are so many question marks on both sides.

For one, we know coach Ryan loves to bring maximum pressure and there’s no doubt he will be tempted to turn up the pressure on the rookie to force quick decision-making. However, that same tactic will expose the biggest question mark on the roster and put extra pressure on those guys to succeed with little help.

So who are those guys?

The Jets’ starting cornerbacks will be Antonio Allen, a 2012 seventh-round pick who moved from safety to cornerback, and Darrin Walls, an undrafted CB from 2011 who was on the practice squad two years ago and has only four career starts.

Allen's role at South Carolina was primarily as a box safety, a position that combines elements of outside linebacker and safety. Although he was outstanding as a playmaker and tackler on and around the line of scrimmage he apparently fell to the seventh round because of questions about his backpedaling ability during his pro day.

Dee Milliner, a first-round pick from a year ago, is expected to miss the game with an ankle injury and Dexter McDougle is out for the year with a torn knee ligament.

Even Allen’s secondary coach from college, Lorenzo Ward, believes playing Allen at cornerback is a bit of a reach, according to Darryl Slater of The Star-Ledger.

Per Slater, Ward had this to say about his former player, “I think he was a kid who had really good hips and he was really fluid, agile kid, but I would have to probably reach to see him play corner.”

This should all bode well for Derek Carr, except that the Jets' front seven is among the best in the NFL.

Rookie QBs going up against Rex Ryan either as a defensive coordinator or head coach average about 166 yards through the air. He is 7-3 against first-year signal-callers. 

While we’re looking at this thing from a historical perspective, Bleacher Report’s AFC West lead writer, Christopher Hansen, pointed out that the Raiders’ recent road-game numbers have been far from stellar.

One thing we should all look forward to with this matchup, especially for Raiders fans, is the missile of an arm and some impressive accuracy that Carr displayed this preseason. This is just the weapon you want when facing a sketchy secondary.

But keep an eye out for Carr when guys are in his face or he's forced to move around in the pocket. Under these conditions the usually confident QB quickly turns into a nightmare waiting to happen.

From reviewing Carr’s college tape, this was the most glaring weakness that stood out to me and one that is certainly cause for concern.

If you scan the landscape of capable starting NFL quarterbacks, there is not a single one out there that isn’t at least adequate at throwing knowing that they’re about to take a hit.

If Ryan’s relentless front seven can get some early hits on Carr, it may be enough to rattle him for the rest of the game. Look for this to be the game plan early and often. This also means Carr should have ample opportunity for big plays down the field if he can show the poise that likely kept him out of the first round of this year’s draft.

Keenan Allen vs. Patrick Peterson

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

This should be one of the more intriguing matchups of the week in terms of unparalleled athletic ability, incredible effort and savvy instincts.

Interestingly enough, the “instincts” portion of this matchup belongs mostly to the younger of the two, Keenan Allen.

Can Allen put up big numbers against the Patrick Peterson?

As he put it, “To be the best, you must face the best.”

Allen caught 71 passes for 1,046 yards, both rookie franchise records, with eight touchdowns.

Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said this about Kennan Allen in a conference call earlier this week,via Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego.

"

He's got good size, good speed, and Philip obviously is getting a good rapport with him. I do like our corners. I think our corners match up extremely well with anybody in the league. It will be a good matchup, and we're going to put a lot of pressure on our corners.

"

But Allen’s true speed may not have been realized during his rookie year where he was coming off of a knee injury that kept him from participating in most of the predraft festivities.

In another article by Gehlken, per U-T San Diego, Allen spoke about how he noticed a significant improvement in his overall speed. “I’m a deep threat now,” he said.

After blowing past cornerback and teammate Shareece Wright in the early part of training camp, Wright expounded on the development of the second-year wideout:

"

It just makes him a more powerful threat when he’s that good at the line and has speed behind it. A lot of times, he will win at the line, but when you’ve got recovery speed, you can make up for that.  Now that he’s faster, it’s not going to be as easy to make up once you lose at the line. He’s going to be open on more of his routes.

"

Peterson is the prototype cornerback who is perhaps the most physically gifted player at the position today. At 6'1" and 219 pounds, he ran a sub 4.4 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine. 

Fresh off his newly signed contract, the leader of this secondary will be looking to prove he's worth every penny. This could very well be the year he puts it all together. 

Gerald McCoy vs. Trai Turner

Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

I’m not quite sure how to say this, but I’ve never seen an offensive guard with the combination of physical ability, effort and balance that rookie Trai Turner showed coming out of LSU.

Turner made himself eligible for the NFL draft last May at the young age of 21. His lack of exposure and unusual youth must have contributed to him slipping into the latter portion of the third round—but trust me, he was a draft steal if there ever was one.

But also, remember this for some perspective: Turner has just been legally cleared to purchase alcohol and gamble as of June of this year. That should show how young and potentially raw he really is.

At 6’3” and 320 pounds, Turner moves like a linebacker and has the power to anchor down or move a pile. One of the elements that really sets him apart from the rest, who might happen to have his same level of physical ability, is a degree of hustle and effort that seems to be undervalued in an offensive lineman’s game these days.

Despite this disadvantage of overt youth, Turner managed to earn the starting guard position for the Panthers after solid preseason and training camp play.

Even with his impressive play so early, which is incredibly rare, few if any guards have proven capable of blocking what many consider to be the most disruptive 4-3 defensive tackle in the game.

"

Lovie Smith: Gerald McCoy is 'best at his position' http://t.co/1r8NOrpXVm

— TB Buccaneers News (@TBuccaneersNews) September 6, 2014"

Of course we’re talking about Gerald McCoy, and for Turner, what a debut matchup this is going to be.

As big a fan as I am of this kid, McCoy is the type of talent who only comes around once every decade or so.

Adding to Turner’s tough task is the fact that Monday was the right guard’s first practice since injuring his left groin in the second exhibition against Kansas City on Aug. 17.

According to head coach Ron Rivera, via the Charlotte Observer, the big concern with Turner is his conditioning after the groin injury.

"

Trai’s coming off the groin. We also know it’s going to be hot, and he hasn’t had a chance to truly condition like a lot of the other guys. So if we do anything, he’ll have to be spelled on occasion. It’s going to tax him. It’s going to tax anybody. So we’ll just make sure he’s ready to roll.

"

In 2013 McCoy was the highest ranked defensive tackle in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus (paid site), and it wasn’t even close.  His accumulative grade of 48.8 was 16 points greater than Ndamukong Suh, who finished second overall.

To make matters even more dire for the kid in his first NFL start, quarterback Cam Newton is banged up with a fractured rib and a bad ankle. The Bucs defensive line should smell blood in the water and turn up the assault. 

Oh, yeah—don’t buy the hype that Newton is really a game-time decision. He is playing unless they literally take his helmet away.

So the stage is set—can the 21-year-old rookie take on the most dangerous defensive tackle in football?

Either way, this should be a fantastic matchup to keep an eye on and one that could really show us whether or not a young prodigy at guard is emerging.

Andrew Luck vs. Peyton Manning

AJ Mast/Associated Press

This is one of the more anticipated matchups of the week. For the second time ever Andrew Luck will face the man he will forever be compared to, Peyton Manning.

Even though 90 other guys will be playing on the field that day, everyone will be focused on Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck—for good reason. Manning is playing against the team he started his career with who ultimately sent him packing.

Since being cast aside for the future, Manning managed to orchestrate the greatest offensive season in the history of the NFL—not bad for an over-the-hill has been.

Luck’s 22 wins are the second most for any quarterback after two years, his completions (682) and passing yards (8,196) top the list. The consensus surrounding this phenomenon is that he is a once-in-a-decade type player who has proven his worth through windows of greatness amid a limited supporting cast.

This year is supposedly different. Luck has never been so armed with weapons—especially if Trent Richardson can get things going.  

Last time the Colts faced their former QB, Robert Mathis crushed Manning, forcing a fumble and causing the crowd to erupt. The strip sack changed the game, and Indianapolis notched a huge win on prime-time television against the eventual Super Bowl runner-up. 

Now Mathis is suspended for the first four games for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy. This should give Manning a little more time to find the open man from the pocket, which could be the advantage that makes the difference in the game.

But what about Wes Welker not being able to play?

No sweat.

The Broncos are so loaded on offense that losing Eric Decker and Knowshon Moreno to free agency, and Welker to a four-game suspension, should not slow them down much.

Peyton Manning, who threw 55 touchdown passes last season, still has his favorite receiver, Demaryius Thomas, and his top red-zone target, Julius Thomas. He also has some shiny new toys to play with in free-agent wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and rookie Cody Latimer.

Luck has some new toys as well. Hakeem Nicks use to play for Peyton’s brother in New York but will now look to show he’s far from washed up. The Colts also drafted the physically gifted Donte Moncrief in the third round.

One of the most interesting elements in this battle of the old and the new is the combined intellectual power that these two possess.

Keep in mind, the last time those two played, Manning was making a return to the house he helped build. He would eventually walk out of that stadium defeated and humbled in front of his former family.

In that first battle Luck completed 21-of-38 passes for 228 yards, three touchdowns and no picks (for a 99.5 passer rating), while adding 29 yards and a score on the ground. Manning completed 29-of-49 passes for 386 yards and three scores with a pick (for a 96.1 passer rating), but on this night he was sacked four times, knocked down nine times and pressured on several others.  

Though both men are holding the cards close to their chest, don’t believe a word they say when they try to discount the added importance of this matchup.

This is a game both players are extremely motivated to win—especially Peyton Manning, who has yet to experience victory against the man who pushed him out of Indianapolis.  After all, this might be the last time these two ever go head-to-head. Let’s make it a good one.

Ryan Riddle is a former NFL player writing for Bleacher Report

Follow him on Twitter