NFL Week 1: 3 Things I Noticed

The NFL posts will work the same way as the college football posts. I pick at least three things that stood out to me over the weekend and talk about it. One will always be about my team, the 49ers, unless they are on bye. And we're off!

1. San Francisco is not playing around.

I don't know if there is such a thing as a statement win in Week 1, but the Niners might have just invented it. The Niners/Packers game was arguably the best game of the weekend. It had everything you could want in a football game - big plays, solid defense, down-to-the-wire drama, and even some snarl. Colin Kaepernick beat the Packers with his legs last year in the playoffs. This time around, he beat them with his arm. Kaepernick was 27/39 for 412 yards, 3 touchdown's and more importantly, no picks. If he can keep that up all season, the Niners  look to be a lock to come to the Meadowlands in early February. Anquan Boldin was an absolute monster in his San Francisco debut; 13 catches for 208 yards and a touchdown!

Anquan Boldin had an amazing 49er debut. (Photo credit: Google Images)

That's one way to quickly endear yourself to the 49er Faithful. We're going to need him to be huge until Crabtree and Manningham come back from injury, but that doesn't mean that Boldin is our only weapon. Vernon Davis showed why he is the best tight end in football right now making 6 catches for 98 yards and 2 scores. Seems that any questions about his and Kaepernick's chemistry were answered in a big way on Sunday. Two things concerned me on Sunday. One of them was the running game. Gore and Kaepernick couldn't really get anything going on the ground all day. I don't know if the Packers defense keyed in on it or the offensive line wasn't doing enough to open up holes for our backs. Either way, the ground needs to get going if we're trying to get back to the Super Bowl this season. We also could have held the Packers to fewer points if our tackling was better. There were plenty of times our corners couldn't make a simple tackle and their receiver would break for a big gain. That can't happen. I like were this team is headed and I'm really looking forward to next week's game in Seattle.

2. The Ravens need help.

I knew the Ravens were going to have a rough time this year because of all of the players they lost (thanks for Boldin, by the way). I didn't think they were going to get stomped like that by Denver.

Tough times ahead for Flacco. (Photo credit: Google Images)

Peyton Manning was in some kind of zone on Thursday. He TORCHED Baltimore for 7 touchdowns; first time that's happened since 1969. Granted, Baltimore was leading at the half, but then Denver completely controlled the second half. That was helped by injuries to Jacoby Jones and Michael Oher, two huge losses for the Ravens. This pretty much leaves Joe Flacco with two offensive weapons, Ray Rice and Torrey Smith. Simply put, if opponents can slow the Ravens' run game and successfully double-cover Torrey Smith, the Ravens are going to have a hard time winning football games this year. If we get halfway through the season and Baltimore has a losing record, everyone's attention turns to Joe Flacco's insane contract. Is it fair to blame Flacco? Not really. Think about it this way - if you were him and Ravens ownership pushed that contract in front of you, would you sign it? If you said no, that's the wrong answer. It's not Flacco's fault if ownership that he was worth way more than he really is. So, if anyone is to blame, it's the Ravens' front office. I still think the Ravens will be in the hunt for a wild card spot, though. Their division is pretty bad this year outside of Cincinnati. They may be able to sneak into the playoffs at 9-7.

3. Week 1 overreactions are funny.

Three of the most over-reactive fan bases had their teams win this week. The Jets, the Eagles, and the Cowboys all are starting 1-0 this year. However, based on the reactions from the fan bases, you would think that they had just punched their tickets to the Super Bowl. I am not going to single anyone out, I'm speaking of the fan bases as wholes. So, if you didn't overreact, sorry, but you're getting lumped in with your crazy brethren. Jets fans are trying to think that they weren't handed their win on a silver platter from Tampa. If Schiano actually taught his players not to hit people when they're already out of bounds, you wouldn't be sitting here saying Geno Smith is going to lead you to the playoffs. Cowboys fans, you only beat the Giants by five even after they incessantly turned the ball over. If David Wilson could just hold on to the ball, you guys would have lost your fifth straight game to the Giants in "The House That Jerry Built." You can't only beat a team by five if you force THAT many tunrovers. You've got to capitalize on those chances and make them pay by scoring, even if it's a field goal. And judging by the reaction by Eagles fans, they just won the Super Bowl and Chip Kelly just got inducted into the Hall of Fame. You won a game no one thought you could win. Congrats, I guess. As teams watch more tape on as the season goes on, you guys will come back down to Earth. Maybe we'll even here clamoring for Nick Foles at quarterback and for Chip Kelly to be fired. I hope not because I like Chip, but Philly fans have a habit of overreacting, you can't argue with me there. Temper your enthusiasm, fans of teams that are 1-0. You've got fifteen games left; anything can happen.