Carolina vs. Arizona
Cam Newton is the real deal. The rookie quarterback stepped onto the field in his first ever NFL regular season game and threw for 422 yards, a rookie single-game record. But unfortunately it was not enough to will the underdog Panthers to victory.
The Cardinals came back with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and stole the victory right out from under the nose of Cam and the Panthers. Newcomer Kevin Kolb had a pair of long touchdown throws in the second half, and the Cardinals prevailed at home to open the season on a winning note.
With the game tied 21-21 midway through the fourth, Cards rookie corner Patrick Peterson took a punt back to the house for an touchdown that electrified the hometown crowd. Arizona pulled off a 4th down stand in the final minute of the game as Cam was running the two-minute offence into the red zone.
But the story of the game was without question Newton. Coming into the league, many had questions about how NFL ready he was considering that he was relatively unknown just a year ago at Auburn. But he proved all of the doubters wrong, with some help from wide-outs Steve Smith and Brandon LaFell, as well as the two-headed tight end monster of Greg Olson and Jeremy Shockey.
Minnesota vs. San Diego
The new look Vikings came out firing against the Chargers, but were unable to hold on to their first half lead. Philip Rivers paired up with Mike Tolbert for a trio of touchdowns, as San Diego proved why they are one of the elite teams in the AFC.
Donovan McNabb was playing his first game at the helm of the Vikings, and he did not do much to impress. He managed to complete just seven passes, and struggled mightily in the second half.
It was a team effort for the Chargers, with Ryan Mathews getting over 100 all purpose yards, and All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates snagging eight catches on the day. Tolbert caught a pair in the end zone, and scampered in for another.
Washington vs. New York Giants
Maybe Rex Grossman is ready to lead the Redskins after all. After questions surrounded whether Grossman would be able to lead Washington to anything resembling a respectable season, he came out in the season opener and gouged the Giants for over 300 yards through the air.
Granted New York has a banged up secondary, it was a rough outing for them nonetheless. Eli Manning completed just over 50% of his passes, and struggled to find his consistency all day.
Grossman benefited from the career best game from his tight end Fred Davis. The USC product went over the century mark for the first time in his short career, with 105 yards on just five catches.
San Francisco vs. Seattle
This was a close game in the fourth quarter until Ted Ginn Jr. came along and ruined all the fun. After the Seahawks had closed to score to 19-17 with just under four minutes to play, Teddy Ginn took a kickoff back to the house from 102 yards out.
Then a minute later he took a punt back from 55 yards out. It was the most exciting part of the entire game, and it happened in a matter of minutes.
Neither Alex Smith, nor Tarvaris Jackson were especially impressive all day, and if it were not for Ginn, you would be hard pressed to find someone who had anything to say about this game.
