10 Biggest Winners and Losers from the NFL's Week 1

The Dallas Cowboys blow another season opener on Sunday Night, Cam Newton throws for 422 yards and the Bengals, Bills and Redskins win handily?

That's just the beginning of the madness we witnessed on the first Sunday of the 2011 NFL season.

How about the Bears, Texans and Ravens making some major statements sending the Falcons, Colts and Steelers back to the drawing board. 

We've still got two games tonight, but let's take a look at the biggest winners and losers from Sunday's action. (In no particular order.) 

Winner: Buffalo Bills

Who would have thought the Buffalo Bills would go into Arrowhead—the place where the Kansas City Chiefs went 7-1 last season and dominate en route to 41-7 victory?

Not me.

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw four touchdown passes (two to Scott Chandler. Who?) and the unheralded Fred Jackson added 112 yards on 20 carries in the blowout.

Meanwhile, was Matt Cassell's head in the game?

I didn't think so.

He was errant on the majority of his throws and only got the ball to Dwayne Bowe twice for 17 yards. Something wasn't right, and I don't think it had anything to do with his rib injury.

Kansas City's supposedly stout secondary was exploited by Fitzpatrick and the Bills receiving corp that consists of two undrafted free agents, seventh-round pick Steve Johnson and Roscoe Parrish.

Huge road win for Buffalo as they head back to Western New York for their home opener against the Raiders next week. 

Loser: Kansas City Chiefs

For as big of a win as it was for the Bills, it was that disappointing for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Jamaal Charles never got going, Matt Cassell was inefficient and where was fantasy stud Dwayne Bowe? 

On paper, this was about as easy of a home opener as Kansas City could have dreamed of, and they flat out laid an egg. 

Which team made the playoffs last year and which had the No. 3 overall pick in April's draft? 

Winner: Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears get the Green Bay Packers twice this year but certainly were to be challenged in their home opener against the Atlanta Falcons.

The defending NFC South champs were a trendy Super Bowl pick this year, but the Bears looked like the true contender on Sunday.

Jay Cutler threw for 312 yards with two touchdowns, and the versatile Matt Forte scored on a 56-yard screen and added 68 yards on the ground.

The real story, however, was the Bears' ferocious defense.

Matt Ryan did eclipses the 300-yard mark through the air, and Michael Turner ran for exactly 100 yards, but Julius Peppers and Brian Urlacher were up to their usual tricks.

No. 54 had an interception and returned a fumbled forced by Peppers to the end zone.

Chicago had control of the game in the first half and never looked back.

In a matchup of defending NFC division champions, Chicago made a major statement to the rest of the conference.  

Loser: Donovan McNabb

McNabb had seven completions on Sunday. 

Seven. 

For 39 yards. 

A nightmarish debut to say the least, and what makes it worse is the fact that Minnesota had a 10-point lead at halftime, and San Diego took their first lead with 5:01 remaining. 

His first throw was intercepted, and he never got into any kind of rhythm with his receivers. 

The rest of his team gave a hell of an effort, but McNabb's uninspired play was the main reason the Vikings couldn't pull off his upset victory on the road. 

Just wait until the media gets after him. 

Winner: Ted Ginn Jr.

Man, can Ted Ginn Jr. run.

His kickoff and punt return touchdowns within a minute of each other jogged our memory as to why he was so highly-touted coming into the NFL.

The 49ers and Seahawks were having a very "NFC West-like" game, one without many offensive fireworks, until Ginn Jr. gave the home fans their money's worth.

He may never emerge as a top-fight receiver, but what a huge confidence builder this is for him as a playmaker. 

San Francisco gets a divisional win when Alex Smith wasn't great, and they didn't have to rely on a huge afternoon from Frank Gore. 

Good for you Mr. Ginn. 

Loser: New York Giants

Let's be real. The Redskins were huge winners on Sunday, the Giants...not so much. 

But I'll focus on New York's dismal performance. 

Eli Manning was out of sync with his receivers for a good portion of the game and didn't create any big plays downfield.

The Giants offense in general was very lackluster only converting on 1-of-10 third downs.

That's not going to cut it against any team.

How about the "Thunder and Lightning" running duo of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs? The two combined for 73 yards.

The defense did all it could to "out-stink" the offense, allowing Rex Grossman to throw for over 300 yards and finish the game with a 110.5 quarterback rating.

With all the injuries and some turnover on the offensive side of the ball, I wasn't expecting the Giants to dominate this year but didn't think they'd lose like this to the Redskins.  

Winner: Michael Vick and the Dream Team

With all the hoopla surrounding them, the Eagles had to go into St. Louis and take care of business against an upstart Rams team that's ready to make the next step into the playoffs. 

Mike Vick and Co. did what they needed to do, and more in their 31-13 win on Sunday. 

Philadelphia's quarterback didn't single-handedly get you the fantasy win, but he was extremely elusive in the pocket and got his playmakers the football. 

LeSean McCoy averaged eight yards a carry, and DeSean Jackson had six catches for 102 yards.

The defense was stout against Sam Bradford, keeping him under 200 yards through the air, and St. Louis only went 2-of-12 on third downs.

A "dream" start for Philly.

(sorry, had to) 

Loser: Indianapolis Colts

OK, I know that no one was giving the Colts a shot in this one without Peyton Manning.

But, man, was Indianapolis horrible. 

As Andre Johnson pointed out in his postgame interview, the Texans were facing the Colts first-team defense, and they ripped it to shreds. 

Matt Schaub didn't have a spectacular did, but frankly, he didn't need to as Houston once again successfully ran the ball for the entire contest. 

Kerry Collins was lost for the majority of the game, and once the Texans got going, they never looked back. 

The Colts could be in for a long season.

Winner: New York Jets

Another tight victory for the Jets that had you saying..."how did they win that game?"

Darrelle Revis' interception and Nick Folks' field goal capped off a valiant fourth-quarter comeback that was somewhat fitting for New York on the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. 

Actually, the comeback was about one yard away from never happening. 

Dallas had the ball on the one-yard line ready go to up by two scores but couldn't get in the end zone.

Tony Romo's fumble was the first of two boneheaded plays in the last eight minutes, and Plaxico Burress came to life in the second half.

It wasn't the prettiest game ever played in the Meadowlands (new or old), but after digging themselves such a hole, the Jets will take the stunning win.  

Loser: Pittsburgh Steelers

They've had the Baltimore Ravens number of late, and when they had a great chance to send another message to their much-hated divisional rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers simply got man-handled in almost every aspect of the game. 

I could have listed the Ravens as a "winner," but for the Steelers, they lose a very important edge on Baltimore that could affect the team's next meeting. 

They came out flat on defense, which never happens, allowed Joe Flacco to get comfortable and gave up an astounding 170 yards on the ground.

Baltimore gains loads of confidence with this win because of the way they dominated the whole game.

Steelers-Ravens has been a closely-contested, high-intensity battle the last two seasons, but Baltimore took a major step on Sunday.