NFL 2013 season, Week 1: Football returns

On Monday night, the Houston Texans rallied from a 21-point deficit and didn’t sustain any major injury. Good times for those boys.

• NFL Debrief: Pryor for MVP and other irrational reactions to Week 1

It’s unclear how much Bryant will practice leading up to the game, if at all.

The 24-year-old receiver has proven to be durable over the past two seasons after missing four games his rookie seasons, by only sitting out once in the past two years.

Bryant sprained his foot in the fourth quarter and wasn’t too happy about it, as seen here:

Stupid Gatorade.

Over at Bleeding Green Nation, Brandon Lee Gowton was giving love to a defensive player on a night which will be remembered for the other side of the ball:

The happy feelings weren’t flowing on Hogs Haven, where expectations were not me by Griffin:

The league wanted to make sure his knee brace was covered up and out of sight, according to NFL.com. Griffin said afterwards he wasn’t sure why the NFL was so concerned about the brace, but did as he was told, per the story:

This isn’t the first time Griffin has had to deal with the league’s version of the fashion police. Earlier this year in the preseason, Griffin wore a shirt with the words “Operation Patience” on it, earning him a $10,000 fine.

Meriweather missed most of training camp and the preseason while he worked his way back from a knee injury. He made his debut in Washington’s final preseason game, but suffered a groin injury upon his return to the field.

The Eagles won’t be missing any starters due to injury considering defensive lineman Vinny Curry the most notable name on the inactive list. Curry is a healthy scratch and Jeff McLane of Philly.com noted Curry spent most of the preseason working with the third-team defense. The former second-round pick appeared in six games for the Eagles last season.

(via @MarkSchoek)

The “[NFL Quarterback] Is/Is Not Elite” is my least favorite narrative in all of sports media because it eliminates any baseline of rational thought or statistical analysis. “Elite” is a moving target, with no agreed-upon definition, no set limit for membership, and no requisite accolades.

The two teams will meet in San Diego for Monday Night Football on ESPN. It will be the final matchup of Week 1, and it should be a good one.

Here’s how to watch the game:

Opening week of the 2013 NFL season has proven to be a wild one, but there are still two games to be played. Monday Night Football will feature a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins playing the early game before the Houston Texans and San Diego Chargers finish the week with their nightcap.

So far, here’s a rundown of every game played thus far:

Let’s stop ourselves here. Pryor did plenty to remind you that he won the quarterback job by default. And the Colts defense -- which I’d be especially worried about if I were banking on this team to unseat Houston in the AFC South -- isn’t going to threaten many opponents, even the Raiders. There was shaky footwork, underthrown passes and iffy decisions.

One look at the final score here, not to mention a quarter of sloppy play, and someone could let the overreaction to one game go off the rails. The Patriots were not immune to the sloppy starts that were the norm everywhere else across the league this week.

Here is the medical update from the week so far:

It remains to be seen whether there will be any lasting effects of the hit as the week progresses. Pain management is a particular concern with rib injuries - something Romo is familiar with, having suffered a punctured lung due to a fractured rib in 2011 and another cracked rib in the season-ending loss to Washington last year.

Manning drove the Giants down the field for a touchdown in the final minute, but it was too little too late. He finished with 450 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions.

Fantasy studs and duds

Here is a look at the play:

Prior to the injury, Romo was 25-of-33 for 188 yards, a touchdown and an interception. According to the team, Romo had the wind knocked out of him and he returned in the second half of the game.

It moves like something out of The Matrix, and it lets you see exactly what the Cowboys offense is doing wrong:

Fantasy studs and duds

Jared Cook scored two touchdowns for the Rams and racked up over 140 receiving yards. Larry Fitzgerald’s two touchdowns also earned him fantasy stud status.

Remember earlier when Clay Matthews went out of his way to deck Colin Kaepernick well after Kaepernick had decided to run out of bounds? Well, unsurprisingly, it seems the two players are not on the best of terms.

Matthews once again had a chance to drop Kaepernick, this time on a sack towards the end of the third quarter. And when Kaepernick got up, the two jawed at each other a bit.

You knew that if we were going to get a fat guy touchdown this week, there was a good chance it would come from the St. Louis Rams’ season opener against the Arizona Cardinals. And sure enough, that’s where we find the latest athletic accomplishment by large men.

Sam Bradford gets the ball, rolls out and has Cardinals DE Matt Shaughnessy right in his face. Bradford throws the ball anyway. Shaughnessy tips the pass right into nose tackle Dan Williams’ arms. Williams punches it in for the touchdown.

After playing in the NFC playoffs last year, San Francisco and Green Bay aren’t exactly on friendly terms. Things came to a boil in the second quarter after Clay Matthews blasted Colin Kaepernick on his way out of bounds, and after some pushing, shoving, and mayyyyyyyyyybe even some punches thrown in a hockey-level scrum. And after some sub-par officiating, the Niners tossed a TD.

Kaepernick was just trying to get out of play on a third-and-9, which would’ve set San Francisco up for a chip shot field goal. But then this happened.

In his press conference after the game, Reid said he expects Charles to be fine. He was held out the rest of the afternoon because the Chiefs had the game well in hand.

Before leaving the game for good, Charles touched the ball 19 times and racked up 100 total yards and a touchdown. Reid lined Charles up as a wide receiver on a few plays, which proved to be effective. He caught three passes from Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith.

Fantasy studs and duds

Reggie Bush was a fantasy stud on Sunday. He needed just four catches to amass 101 yards receiving and a touchdown, plus he added another 90 yards on the ground.

The St. Louis Rams are banking on a big season in Jeff Fisher’s second year at the helm. It almost happened, but tight end Jared Cook had a sure-fire touchdown taken away when Tyrann Mathieu punched the ball out of his hands at the three-yard line.

Sam Bradford hit Cook with a perfect pass in the seam. It was the kind of play the Rams got some production with in the preseason, and are counting on as a staple of the playbook after inking the former Titans tight end to a five-year, $35 million contract in the spring.

The Steelers offense looked slow and stagnant all day, showing little signs of life until late in the fourth quarter. They finished with just 195 yards of total offense.

Fantasy studs and duds