Winners & Losers From Week 1

They say you shouldn't read too much into Week 1 results. I'm doing it anyway.

WINNERS

San Francisco 49ers: No team had a more impressive win than the 49ers. Not only did they win in Lambeau Field--they won handily, completely outplaying the Packers in the process. Alex Smith, armed with new receiving options, may have had his best game as an NFL quarterback and "over-the-hill" Frank Gore looked positively spry. This is a scary-good football team.

Robert Griffin III: It's just one game, but RGIII's debut went as well as anyone could have hoped for. 320 passing yards on just 19 completions to go with two touchdowns, 40 rushing yards, and no turnovers. All of this was in New Orleans, where the Saints went 9-0 last year.

Peyton Manning: Turns out his neck is screwed on straight. 19 completions in 26 attempts for 253 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He ran the hurry-up offense with his typical ruthless efficiency. He's obviously healthy. All of which makes the Broncos heavy favorites in the weak AFC West.

Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco: Both fifth-year quarterbacks have received their fair share of criticism. And both appear poised for breakout seasons. They each threw for exactly 299 yards this week without turning the ball over. Flacco burned a solid Bengals defense for two touchdowns; Ryan threw three against the Chiefs, and ran one in himself. I'm buying Ryan more than Flacco, but both were outstanding.

The Jay Cutler-to-Brandon Marshall connection: Cutler and Marshall were best buds when they played together in Denver. Reunited in Chicago, Cutler completed nine passes to his big receiver for 119 yards and a touchdown. There will be many more days like this.

New York Jets: Their first-team offense failed to score a touchdown all preseason. Then they exploded for 48 points against the Bills' supposedly-revamped defense, and Mark Sanchez was rather excellent. Not buying the offensive output, but this defense/special teams sure is elite: they returned a punt for a TD and notched three interceptions, one of which was also returned for a TD.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: In their 16-10 win over the Panthers, the Bucs showed exactly who they're going to be: a tough, grind-it-out team that won't beat itself or light up the scoreboard. Their defense was abysmal last year; it held Cam Newton and company completely in check on Sunday. With a few breaks, Tampa could be a sneaky wild card contender.


LOSERS

Rookie quarterbacks not named Griffin: Andrew Luck threw for over 300 yards in his debut, but he was picked off three times. Russell Wilson threw for just 153 yards (though at least would have won the game if his receivers could catch footballs). Ryan Tannehill would have had the worst day of them all (three interceptions, no TDs, 219 yards) if it wasn't for Brandon Weeden. The Cleveland quarterback didn't score, was intercepted four times, and completed just 12 of of 35 attempts for 118 yards. Yuck.

Chris Johnson: Oh my god. 11 carries for 4 yards. What a joke. Hard to believe this guy ran for 2,000 yards three years ago.

DeAngelo Williams: His Panthers had the highest yards-per-carry average in the NFL last year. Their opponent on Sunday, the Buccaneers, allowed the highest yards-per-carry average in the NFL last year. A dream matchup. Instead, DeAngelo rushed six times for negative-1 yard. Nightmare.

New Orleans Saints: Drew Brees, who set the NFL record for completion percentage last year, connected on less than half of his passes. The defense was porous to say the least. The running game was nonexistent. They may miss Sean Payton more than we realized.

Philadelphia Eagles: Almost lost to the Browns, whose rookie quarterback had a 5.1 QB-rating and whose rookie running back averaged 2.1 yards per carry. Four and very-nearly-five interceptions for Michael Vick. Embarrassing.

Buffalo Bills: After spending all that money on upgrading on defense, giving up a huge point total to Mark Sanchez's Jets was....less than ideal. The high-profile defensive line was silent, Ryan Fitzpatrick threw three picks, and they lost running back Fred Jackson for a month.

Detroit Lions: I know they love coming from behind to win games. But they shouldn't need a last-second touchdown to beat the lowly Rams at home.