Dez Bryant had the right idea. With only a few seconds left and no timeouts, the Cowboys needed to get out of bounds to stop the clock. When Terrance Williams caught the pass, Bryant pointed to the sideline.
Unfortunately, Williams wasn’t paying attention. He turned inside, and time ran out after he was tackled. Giants 20-19 Cowboys.
The Cowboys weren’t assured of a win had he followed Bryant’s advice and run to the sideline; he was stopped at the Giants’ 40 and probably would’ve been a little shorter had he gone to the sideline. But Dan Bailey had hit 56- and 54-yard field goals already. Give him a chance and maybe they win the game.
The game-winning score went instead to Victor Cruz, who caught a three-yard touchdown with six minutes to play. Cruz missed the entirety of last season; his TD was his first since September of 2014. Eli Manning threw three touchdowns and improved to 13-12 against the Cowboys all-time (including a postseason win).
“You couldn’t even describe what was going through my body,” Cruz said. “I wanted obviously to do the dance. I’m sure I’ve got that down pat.” (Yes, his salsa touchdown dance appeared to be executed flawlessly.) “Everybody just pulled for me each and every day, each and every week as we got closer to Week 1. And to score a touchdown. You just couldn’t make up a story any better than that.”
The Cowboys started a rookie running back and receiver in the opener for the first time since Roger Staubach and Calvin Hill in 1969. Dak Prescott went 25-of-45 for 227 yards. Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 50 yards on 21 carries, but did score his first career touchdown.
Quote of the week
I really don’t get nervous. I like to listen to worship music before the game to calm my nerves and go out and have fun. It’s a game and I try to enjoy it. I had a lot of fun today and it turned out good.
That was Carson Wentz after his first NFL start — after getting just 38 snaps in the preseason. Wentz looked like a vet in his first drive. He went 4-for-5 on that drive – with the only incomplete a dropped pass – and drew the defense offsides with a hard count on a third-and-short as well. His last pass was a perfectly-placed throw to Jordan Matthews for a 19-yard touchdown. Some Philadelphians began planning a parade.
His final numbers weren’t quite parade worthy, but he did have an impressive debut: 22 of 37 for 278 yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles won his debut relatively easily, 29-10. They were the only team to win a game by double digits in Week 1.
Stat of the week
312. Nick Folk had attempted 312 extra points before lining up in the second quarter after an Eric Decker touchdown, including one earlier in Sunday’s game. But his PAT went wide, the first miss of his career. It was one of two misses in the game — he had a 22-yard field goal attempt blocked in the first quarter. Bengals kicker Mike Nugent – formerly of the Jets – hit a 47-yard field goal with 58 seconds left to give Cincinnati the 23-22 win. Oops.
“At that end [on the missed XP] the wind was pretty tricky, you had to hit really clean balls all day,” Folk said. “I didn’t hit a really clean ball. And the wind kind of ate it up.… That was a wind that we hadn’t had here in a long time.” These were kicks NFL kickers hit 95% of the time. Folk did hit his other three field goal attempts.
The Jets’ loss wasn’t really his fault, though. New York were inside the 10 twice in the fourth quarter and couldn’t punch into the end zone — including one drive early in the fourth when the Jets had first and goal at the 3-yard line. Matt Forte, signed this offseason by New York, said “we expect to score” in the red zone. On Sunday the Jets didn’t, and they lost.
Fantasy player of the week
Minnesota defense/special teams. Rarely does your defense/special teams win you a fantasy game, but it might’ve happened this week. Minnesota’s offense couldn’t get going all day: Adrian Peterson had just 31 yards rushing, and the Vikings had no points at halftime. The D picked up the O: Eric Kendricks returned an interception 77 yards for a touchdown to give Minnesota the lead, and Danielle Hunter’s 24-yard fumble return for a score put the game out of reach.
TD returns are pretty random, but the Minnesota defense put up solid numbers in other areas as well. Add in another fumble recovery, two sacks and just 16 points allowed and the Vikings’ D put up 21 points in standard-scoring leagues. The Vikings, down 10-0 at half, won 25-16 despite an offense that did basically nothing.
Gif of the week
Eagles lead the Browns, 8½ to 0. pic.twitter.com/1xf36Rwh5y
— Dan McQuade (@dhm) September 11, 2016
The Eagles’ Caleb Sturgis attempted a field goal late in the first quarter of the Eagles’ 29-10 win over the Browns. It hooked just wide. Or did it?! One referee signaled good, while the one closer to the ball correctly signaled no good. Hey, it was Week 1 for the officials as well.
Elsewhere around the league
— After a bad snap, Cardinals kicker Chandler Catanzaro missed a 47-yard field goal in the final minute and the New England Patriots beat the Arizona Cardinals without the services of Tom Brady, who is serving his four-game Deflategate suspension . Filling in for the suspended Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 264 yards, completing 73% of his passes. He drove the Pats to a go-ahead field goal with just under four minutes to play. Larry Fitzgerald caught two touchdowns to become the 10th NFL player to reach 100 receiving touchdowns.
.@LarryFitzgerald does it AGAIN!
— NFL (@NFL) September 12, 2016
This incredible grab gives the @AZCardinals the lead! #NEvsAZ https://t.co/X8rtfHK5rF
— Jameis Winston looked good in the first start of his second season. He tossed four touchdown passes in the Buccaneers’ 31-24 victory over the Falcons. Winston went 23-of-33 for 281 yards, completing passes to eight different receivers in the win. Winston threw three TD passes on three straight drives to give the Bucs a big lead.
— For the second consecutive year in Week 1, the Lions let a team come back from a 21-3 deficit. And it looked like they’d lose again this season after Andrew Luck’s fourth touchdown pass of the day and an Adam Vinatieri extra point game the Colts the lead with just 37 seconds left. But Matt Stafford drove Detroit 50 yards, and Matt Prater atoned for his earlier extra-point miss with the game-winning field goal. The Lions beat the Colts, 39-35, after a safety on the final play.
— One team did lose after coughing up a huge lead on Sunday. The Chargers were up 21 points early in the second half, but Alex Smith’s two-yard touchdown run in overtime completed the largest comeback in Chiefs history. Smith also threw two touchdown passes in the 33-27 win.
— Aaron Rodgers threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Packers held off the Jaguars, 27-23. Blake Bortles, who threw for 320 yards and one score, nearly led Jacksonville to a comeback victory — but the Jags’ final drive stalled at Green Bay’s 14.
— Players protested during the national anthem at several stadiums, angered Kate Upton. (Imagine a world before social media, where you are blissfully unaware of Upton’s stance on player protests during the national anthem.) Mike Seely wrote about protests at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.
— The Raiders went for two after driving to score a touchdown with 47 seconds left. Derek Carr’s pass to Michael Crabtree was successful, and Oakland beat New Orleans 35-34. Les Carpenter wrote about Jack Del Rio’s decision to go for two and the win.
