NFL: Cam Newton and 10 Big Surprises from Week 1 That You Won't See in Week 2

Week 1 of the NFL season always seems a little weird. Whatever it is, and I personally can never put my finger on it, something doesn't seem right. 

It's fair to say that things may have been even weirder this year after the lockout and therefore shortened offseason. On Sunday, September 11, when the USA mourned the 10th anniversary of the most devastating attack on American soil, the NFL showed us that nothing turns out as expected. 

Here are the 10 biggest surprises from Week 1 of the 2011 NFL season. 

10. Ted Ginn Jr. Returning a Punt and Kick for Touchdowns

Ted Ginn Jr. really gave San Francisco an even greater reason to cheer following their 33-17 victory over their NFC West rivals, the Seattle Seahawks. 

Just when it looked like the West Coast battle would go down as the most boring of Week 1, Ginn Jr. returned a kick for 102 yards from inside the end zone and then, less than a minute later, he plowed through defenders to return a punt for 55 yards. 

His performance was both surprising and phenomenal. 

9. Tom Brady Throwing for 517 Yards and 4 Touchdowns

If this was any other quarterback in the league, this would go down as one of the most discussed stories of the year. Because it's Tom Brady though, people are hardly surprised. 

Brady has shown us time after time in his brilliant career that he is simply the best. 

After getting ripped in the social media this week for a less-than-masculine UGGs commercial, Brady showed all his haters that he has not gotten soft. His 517 yards and four touchdowns is a pretty convincing statement—and a Monday Night Football record. 

8. The Cincinnati Bengals Winning and Looking Like a Complete Football Team

The Cincinnati Bengals, in every way, shape and form, seemed like a lost cause before this season began. After the way they banded together Sunday and came back to beat a division rival, people may have changed their opinions.

A lot of individual performances by the Bengals surprised us. Andy Dalton completed 10 of his 15 pass attempts and had a passer rating of 102.4. When he got injured, Bruce Gradkowski came in and was able to throw for over 90 yards and a touchdown. A.J. Green scored in his debut and Cedric Benson, despite personal problems, ripped the Browns defense for 121 rushing yards and a touchdown. 

More surprising than these offensive performances were the defensive ones, however. Cleveland star running back Peyton Hillis was held to only 57 rushing yards and Colt McCoy completed less than 50 percent of his passes. 

The Bengals looked like something that no one thought they would look like this season—a team. 

7. Two Key St. Louis Rams Starters Getting Injured

Poor, poor St. Louis Rams. As if it's not bad enough that they had to open up their season versus Philadelphia "The Dream Team" Eagles, but then both their star running back and starting quarterback suffered injuries. 

The loss of running back Steven Jackson for an extended period of time is terrible, but the loss of quarterback Sam Bradford would be even worse. 

Wide receiver Danny Amendola and cornerback Ron Bartell were also injured. 

You can't wish, let alone expect, bad luck like this for any team. 

6. Plaxico Burress's Swag

Plaxico Burress made quite a statement on Sunday Night Football following his two-season hiatus due to imprisonment. 

Playing for his new squad, the New York Jets, Burress collected 72 receiving yards and a touchdown. 

Obviously, the game was even more significant, as Burress formerly played for the New York Giants, whom he helped win the Super Bowl in 2007. 

We all expected Burress to get his swag back, but not this quick. I think he's going to slump for a few weeks. 

5. LeGarrette Blount Getting Only 5 Carries for 15 Yards

LeGarrette Blount is no household name and the Detroit Lions do have a solid run defense, but how minimal of a factor that Blount was in the Tampa Bay Bucs' loss to the Lions really surprised me in Week 1. 

It wasn't so much his low yardage total, but the lack of carries that he received. 

The whole Tampa Bay offense looked flat as a tire, so I won't make any presumptions about how the season will go for Blount, but this was certainly a shockingly bad performance. 

4. Sebastian Janikowski Kicking a 63-Yard Field Goal

A lot of ironies exist about Sebastian Janikowski tying the longest field-goal record. A 63-yard field goal is not something you will see every day.  

1) It occurred in Denver, where Denver Broncos kicker Jason Elam formerly tied the record held by Tom Dempsey in 1998. 

2) Oakland Raiders punter Shane Lechler tied his career long for a punt in the same game, booting a 77-yarder. 

3) The kick occurred on the same night that Tom Brady set a Monday Night Football passing record. 

It was a Monday night of records; there ya go. 

3. The Indianapolis Colts Looking as Bad as They Did

A lot of people figured they would be bad without future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning under center, but I don't think anyone figured they would be this bad. 

Kerry Collins passed for only 139 yards and Joseph Addai rushed for 39. The defense got smoked and gave up 34 points in the first two quarters. 

Once the Colts accept Manning is gone for now, they can move on and play better football.  

2. The Pittsburgh Steelers Giving Up 7 Turnovers

Ew, ew, ewww. 

That's about all you can say about how the Pittsburgh Steelers looked on Opening Day versus their division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. 

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw three interceptions and the team fumbled four times for a total of, yes, SEVEN turnovers.

That's just gross, sad and inexcusable. The Steelers will still be pretty good this season, though. 

1. Cam Newton Throwing for 422 Yards

All eyes were on Cam Newton, this past draft's first overall pick, and he made those eyes gaze in awe. 

In Newton's first ever pro-football game, he led the Carolina Panthers, who finished dead last in the league last season at 2-14, for the entire game. 

Despite ultimately losing the game, 28-21, Newton showed everyone that he is primed and ready to be a successful NFL quarterback. The Panthers will not go 2-14 this season, but Newton will not have another game like this for a few weeks, maybe not the entire season.