NFL Highway, Week 1

And, now, the long-awaited trip down Week 1 of NFL Highway. This isn’t a boulevard, as that title has been taken. It’s not a freeway, because I don’t write that fast. However, it is a highway, because it covers long distances. So, buckle up and enjoy this trip around Week 1 of the NFL.

Sunday night at the Cowboys’ retro sorta-dome, Tony Romo went off on the Giants, throwing four touchdown passes and running for another, as Dallas outscored the New York Football Giants 45-35. The Giants are in for a long season, as three players were injured, including RB Brandon Jacobs and DE Osi Umeniyora. Also, QB Eli Manning left the game late with a bruised shoulder, giving way to the Round Mound of Touchdown, Jared Lorenzen. Lorenzen has slimmed down from his college days at Kentucky, and now weighs in at 280 pounds. That’s still huge for a QB. If the Giants have many more weeks like this, Tom Coughlin won’t last the season as coach. It is now being reported that Manning's shoulder is indeed separated, and that he will be out for at least four weeks. The G-men are in T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

Break up the Texans! Matt Schaub will paint any car any color. Oops, that’s Earl Scheib. Schaub made Texans fans forget all about David Carr yesterday. Texans fans wanted to forget all about David Carr. Schaub connected with Andre Johnson on a 77 yard touchdown pass, and the Texans cruised to a 20-3 victory over Kansas City. Was that me that predicted the Chiefs to have a good season? I was on drugs when I reviewed their schedule. The Chiefs are off to an awful start. It looks like they will need to blow the whole thing up and start all over.

The Philadelphia Eagles will need to practice returning punts this week. The Eagles fumbled two punts, leading to two Green Bay scores, as the Pack beat the Iggles 16-13. The second fumble was by someone named J.R. Reed. When I first heard that, I thought it was J.R. Reid, the former UNC Tar Heel and NBA hoopster, making a try at the NFL. Wrong J.R. Reid. The Eagles may regret this one later in the year, when they’re trying to win the division or wild-card berth.

The eyes of most of the country were on San Diego yesterday, as Da Bears made the trip out to the West Coast. The Bears’ defense dominated for most of the game, but fumbles by Cedric Benson and Adrian (Georgia Southern) Peterson were costly, and the Chargers scored two late touchdowns to beat the Bears, 14-3. LaDainian Tomlinson threw a touchdown pass and rushed for a TD for San Diego. Antonio Gates looks to have a huge year as the tight end in Norv Turner’s offense.

Atlanta coach Bobby Petrino is one week closer to a reunion with his last college quarterback, Brian Brohm of Louisville, who is expected to be the first QB taken in next year’s draft. The Falcons stunk in the first game of the post-Michael Vick era, losing at Minnesota, 24-3. Adrian (Oklahoma) Peterson rushed for 103 yards and scored on a 60 yard pass play in his Vikings debut. He helped my fantasy team in my Yahoo public league, as well.

Two rebuilding teams met Sunday at Fedex Field in Landover, Maryland, as the Washington Redskins scored an overtime win over the Miami Dolphins, 16-13. This will be the first of a handful of wins this season for the Redskins, who are expected to end the Hall of Fame career of coach Joe Gibbs with a thud.

In St. Louis, MVP candidate and fantasy stud Steven Jackson fumbled twice and was held to 58 yards, and the Carolina Panthers handled the Rams, 27-13. The Rams were not the Greatest Show on Turf yesterday.

The Denver Broncos made a comeback yesterday in Buffalo. Out of timeouts at the end of the game, the Broncos rushed a field goal try, and kicker Jason Elam won it with a 42-yard field goal. This game was marred by a helmet-to-helmet collision which injured Bills TE Kevin Everett. He was taken to a Buffalo hospital for surgery, and was still unable to move as of Sunday night. Our thoughts and prayers are with him. ESPN is now reporting Monday afternoon that he will most likely be paralyzed. That is awful. Football is a brutal game, but this makes lots of other things pale in comparison.

The New England Patriots are a well-oiled machine. They made the best acquisition of the off-season, getting Randy Moss from the Raiders. Moss took a couple of years off figuratively while playing for Oakland, but is back with a vengeance, with 9 catches for 183 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots will be very hard to beat in the AFC as long as Tom Brady is the quarterback.

The Pittsburgh Steelers mauled the Cleveland Browns, 34-7. It was a great debut for Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. On the other hand, it would really suck to be a fan of the Cleveland Browns. First, the original Browns were stolen by ex-owner Art Modell and taken to Baltimore, where they have been consistently good and have won a Super Bowl. After a few years without the NFL, they were replaced by poor excuse for an expansion franchise, with the Browns’ colors and nickname. The Browns are pathetic.

Vince Young continues to carry the Tennessee Titans on his back. The Titans went into Jacksonville and stole a win, 13-10. The Jags really needed that win to have hopes for contention this season. Vince is a special, special player.

Two bad teams met yesterday in Oakland. Detroit was the better of the two, beating the Raiders 36-21. The Lions are showing some flashes of hope. The Raiders are a step above the CFL, but are looking at another long, long season.

In the Great Northwest, Seattle proved to be a good pick for me in survival football, getting a solid 20-6 win over the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Will this be Jon Gruden’s last year in Tampa? It’s been downhill the last five years since winning the Super Bowl.

And, how can we forget last Thursday night, as the Colts opened defense of their world championship with a strong 41-10 win over the New Orleans Saints. The Colts will need more wins like that to keep up in the strong AFC. For the Saints, it seemed worse, but it only counts as one loss. They still look to be a team to beat in the NFC.

Tonight is the annual Monday Night doubleheader. The Ravens visit Cincinnati to take on the Bengals, and the Arizona Cardinals travel to San Francisco to play the 49ers. It’ll be a long night on the East Coast, but a welcome game at a reasonable time for people out West.