By Justin Kuczborski
Week 1 of the 2015-16 NFL season is officially over and it was an explosive one. The season started with the defending Super Bowl Champions, New England Patriots, defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-21.
After Tom Brady’s suspension was revoked, he had a point to make and that point was that he is here to stay. Brady tossed up four touchdowns, three of which were to Rob Gronkowski and had a total of 288 total yards. On the flip side, wide receiver for the Steelers, Antonio Brown, had an impressive showing. Brown accumulated 133 receiving yards.
What caught the eye of every football fan is quarterback for the Titans, Marcus Mariota. Mariota was the 2nd overall pick in this past year’s draft. The 1st overall draft pick was actually the quarterback Mariota played against this past week and his name is Jameis Winston. This game was a test to see what team chose the better Q.B. in the draft. In that game there was no doubt Marcus Mariota was the better quarterback. Mariota completed 13 passes out of 16, threw for 209 yards with four touchdowns. The Titans would end up defeating the Buccaneers in a blowout score of 42-14. Later in the season, we will find out who truly is the better quarterback.
There are many Giants and Jets fans at James Caldwell High School and only half of those fans are happy. The Jets defeated the Cleveland Browns 31-10 in week one. Both the passing and rushing game for the Jets were a big factor in their victory at MetLife Stadium. Quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is replacing injured quarterback, Geno Smith, for the next few games, had a great game after throwing above 150 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Running backs Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell both had an impressive game on the ground combining for a total of 153 rushing yards and two touchdowns both of which came from Ivory. For at least three quarters, the Giants played good football until the fourth quarter came about. The Giants turned the ball over three times which led to easy points for the Cowboys. The Cowboys would drive 72 yards in just one minute and 27 seconds after forcing the Giants to take their fourth field goal of the game. A touchdown on that possession for the Giants would have gave them the victory. Tony Romo would end up throwing an 11 yard touchdown on that 72 yard drive to tight end, Jason Witten, with only seven seconds left on the clock to complete the fourth quarter comeback and defeat the GMen 27-26. Tony Romo had a fantastic game throwing 36 completed passes out of 45 for a whopping 356 yards and three touchdowns.
Week 1 of the 2015-16 NFL Kickoff was filled with excitement, comebacks, amazing performances and close games. Players rose to the occasion this week and that’s makes the NFL interesting. Seeing players you don’t think will play well end up exceeding everyone’s expectations. There are another 16 weeks of great football ahead.
