SCOREBOARD
Monday, Sept. 10
New Orleans at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m. EDT. The Saints’ Drew Brees had a NFL-leading 5,208 yards passing last season, a record seventh time he’s topped the league, and will play out the final year of his contract with New Orleans. Sam Bradford is coming off a career-best season for Minnesota, and also is playing 2017 on an expiring deal while the Vikings wait for 2014 first-round draft pick Teddy Bridgewater to recover from a severe knee injury last summer.
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Los Angeles Chargers at Denver, 10:20 p.m. EDT. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is 3-9 in his last 12 games against Von Miller and the Broncos, with 18 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Rivers also has been sacked 37 times by Denver in that span, including 13 by Miller. Vance Joseph will be making his head coaching debut for the Broncos.
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STARS
Passing
- Matthew Stafford, Lions, tossed four touchdown passes and went 29 of 41 for 292 yards with an interception in his first game as the NFL’s highest-paid player, leading Detroit to a 35-23 victory over Arizona.
- Matt Ryan, Falcons, threw for 321 yards and a touchdown in Atlanta’s 23-17 win at Chicago.
- Carson Wentz, Eagles, passed for 307 yards and two scores to help Philadelphia top Washington 30-17.
- Jared Goff, Rams, went 21 of 29 for a career-high 306 yards and a TD in Los Angeles’ 46-9 rout of Indianapolis.
- Derek Carr, Raiders, had 262 yards passing and two touchdowns in Oakland’s 26-16 win at Tennessee - his first game since breaking his right leg late last season.
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Rushing
- LeSean McCoy, Bills, ran for 110 yards on 22 carries in Buffalo’s 21-12 win over the New York Jets.
- Leonard Fournette, Jaguars, had 100 yards rushing and a touchdown on 26 attempts in his NFL debut, helping Jacksonville to a 29-7 win at Houston.
- Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys, rushed for 104 yards on 26 carries and caught five passes for 36 yards in Dallas’ 19-3 win over the New York Giants.
- Terrance West, Ravens, ran for 80 yards and a TD on 19 carries in Baltimore’s 20-0 victory at Cincinnati.
- Marshawn Lynch, Raiders, had 76 yards rushing on 18 attempts in Oakland’s 26-16 win at Tennessee - his first regular-season game since coming out of retirement.
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Receiving
- Antonio Brown, Steelers, caught 11 passes for 182 yards in Pittsburgh’s 21-18 win at Cleveland.
- Golden Tate, Lions, had 10 receptions for 107 yards as Detroit topped Arizona 35-23.
- Kenny Golladay, Lions, caught two TD passes in his NFL debut to help Detroit defeat Arizona 35-23.
- Nelson Agholor, Eagles, had 86 yards receiving, including a 58-yard TD, in Philadelphia’s 30-17 victory at Washington.
- Austin Hooper, Falcons, had 128 yards receiving and a TD on two catches in Atlanta’s 23-17 win at Chicago.
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Special Teams
- Giorgio Tavecchio, Raiders, kicked field goals of 20, 52, 52 and 43 yards in his NFL debut, helping Oakland top Tennessee 26-16.
- Matt Prater, Lions, made a 58-yard field goal and averaged 34.8 yards on four punts - with a long of 47 - in relief of the injured Kasey Redfern in Detroit’s 35-23 victory over Arizona
- Greg Zuerlein, Rams, made all three of his field-goal attempts and five extra points to help kick Los Angeles past Indianapolis 46-9.
- Matt Bryant, Falcons, booted three field goals and two extra points in Atlanta’s 23-17 win at Chicago.
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Defense
- Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue, Jaguars. Campbell had four of Jacksonville’s franchise-record 10 sacks in a 29-7 win at Houston. Ngakoue had two sacks and forced two fumbles.
- Ryan Kerrigan, Redskins, returned an interception of Carson Wentz 24 yards for a touchdown in Washington’s 30-17 loss to Philadelphia. He has scored on all three of his career INTs.
- Brandon Graham, Eagles, had two sacks and forced a fumble in Philadelphia’s 30-17 victory at Washington.
- Terrell Suggs, Ravens, sacked Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton twice and forced a fumble in Baltimore’s 20-0 win.
- T.J. Watt, Steelers. The little brother of J.J. Watt had two sacks and an interception in his NFL debut, helping Pittsburgh to a 21-18 win at Cleveland.
- Justin Bethel, Cardinals, returned Matthew Stafford’s first pass 82 yards for a touchdown in Arizona’s 35-23 loss at Detroit.
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STREAKS & STATS
Philadelphia’s 30-17 win at Washington on Sunday snapped a five-game skid against the Redskins dating to Sept. 9, 2014. The Eagles won at FedEx Field for the first time since 2013. … Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger improved to 21-2 in his career against Cleveland with a 21-18 win. The Steelers also improved to 32-6 against the Browns since 1999. Meanwhile, the Browns have lost 13 straight openers. … Jacksonville had a franchise-record 10 sacks and forced four turnovers against Houston in a 29-7 victory, its first in a season-opener since 2011. … Jets quarterback Josh McCown went 26 of 39 for 187 yards in a 21-12 loss at Buffalo, opening his 15th NFL season by extending his personal losing streak to eight games. The skid dates to Oct. 11, 2015, when he led Cleveland to a 33-30 win over Baltimore. McCown is 1-17 in his last 18 starts. … Aaron Rodgers’ regular-season streak of passes without an interception ended at a career-high 251 when Nazair Jones intercepted him at 9:26 of the first quarter of Green Bay’s 17-9 win over Seattle. It was Rodgers’ first interception since Nov. 13, 2016, at Tennessee. … Atlanta’s Austin Hooper had an 88-yard touchdown reception in the Falcons’ 23-17 win at Chicago, the longest TD catch by a tight end in a season opener in NFL history.
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MILESTONE
Dallas tight end Jason Witten broke the franchise record for yards receiving in the Cowboys’ 19-3 season-opening victory over the Giants. Witten, who scored the Cowboys’ first touchdown on a 12-yard catch and finished with seven catches for 59, broke Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin’s club record of 11,904 yards. Witten, already the franchise leader in catches, now has 1,096 receptions for 11,947 yards. Witten is the only tight end other than Tony Gonzalez with at least 1,000 catches and 10,000 yards.
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RAM TOUGH
Los Angeles Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson and safety Lamarcus Joyner each returned interceptions for scores, and defensive end Morgan Fox had a safety in a 46-9 win over Indianapolis. The Rams became the first team in NFL history to return two INTs for TDs and a safety in a season opener.
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STINGY START
Baltimore’s 20-0 win at Cincinnati was the Ravens’ third season-opening shutout. They also blanked Pittsburgh in 2000 and Tampa Bay in 2006, both on the road. The Bengals hadn’t been blanked in their season opener since 1979, when they lost at Denver 10-0. They hadn’t been shut out at Paul Brown Stadium since 2001 by the Bears.
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DIAPER DANDY
The Los Angeles Rams routed the Indianapolis Colts 46-9 Sunday in 31-year-old Sean McVay’s impressive debut as the youngest head coach in modern league history. The Rams produced their highest-scoring performance since November 2014 in their first game since McVay took over a franchise that went 4-12 in its 13th straight non-winning season and 12th straight non-playoff season.
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DEBUTS
Cleveland’s DeShone Kizer ran for a 1-yard TD and threw a 3-yard scoring pass in an impressive debut, but came up just short in the Browns’ 21-18 loss to Pittsburgh. … Houston coach Bill O’Brien replaced Tom Savage with rookie Deshaun Watson at halftime of the Texans’ 29-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, leaving questions about who will start on Thursday night for a team long plagued with problems at the position. Watson was 12 of 23 for 102 yards and had two carries for 16 yards. Savage managed just 62 yards passing and lost two fumbles, including one which was returned for a touchdown. … Carolina first-round pick Christian McCaffrey had an up-and-down debut in a 23-3 win at San Francisco. The former Stanford star gained 45 yards on 13 carries and added five catches for 38 yards, but also lost a fumble in the fourth quarter.
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BEWARE THE RAVENS
Baltimore’s rebuilt defense picked off Andy Dalton four times and forced him to fumble in the Ravens’ 20-0 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Dalton has nine three-interception games during his career, four of them against Baltimore. His only other four-interception game also was against the Ravens in the 2013.
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RAIDERS REPLACEMENT
Giorgio Tavecchio kicked field goals of 20, 52, 52 and 43 yards in his NFL debut, helping Oakland beat Tennessee 26-16. He was signed Friday to fill in for the Raiders’ all-time leading scorer and 18-year veteran Sebastian Janikowski, who’s on injured reserve with a bad back. Tavecchio became the first player in league history to make two field goals of at least 50 yards in his debut.
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BEAST MODE RETURNS
Marshawn Lynch took the first carry of the game for Oakland and rumbled right over Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jurrell Casey on the Raiders’ final scoring drive on one of his six rushes to set up the clinching field goal in a 26-16 win over Tennessee.
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OPENING ONSIDE
Tennessee became the first team since 2009 to open a season with an onside kick, pulling one off against Oakland in a 26-16 loss. The Minnesota Vikings were the previous, and they also didn’t recover the kick. Ryan Succop’s kick went to Shalom Luani. Derek Carr completed three passes, Marshawn Lynch rumbled 14 yards on his first carry, and Amari Cooper finished the drive with an 8-yard TD catch for a quick 7-0 lead for the Raiders.
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BACK IN BUSINESS
Both Oakland’s Derek Carr and Tennessee’s Marcus Mariota broke their right leg hours apart on Christmas Eve for season-ending injuries - and both were back on the field for the season opener - a 26-16 win by the Raiders. Carr finished his third season by tying Ezekiel Elliott of Dallas for third in voting for the AP MVP award after leading Oakland to a 12-4 season, while Mariota led the Titans to a 9-7 mark in just his second season. Carr threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, while Mariota looked healthy in running for a 10-yard TD and threw for 256 yards.
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SIDELINED
A person familiar with the situation said that Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Allen Robinson is out for the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the season opener. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the team had not released details of Robinson’s injury. Robinson landed awkwardly on his left knee while making a catch in the first quarter of Sunday’s 29-7 victory at Houston and did not return. Tests revealed a season-ending injury, the person said. … Houston linebacker Brian Cushing, tight ends Ryan Griffin and C.J. Fiedorowicz and receiver Bruce Ellington all left with concussions. … Arizona running back David Johnson left the Cardinals’ 35-23 at Detroit loss with a wrist injury in the third quarter. Johnson, who led the league with 2,118 yards from scrimmage and 20 touchdowns last season, was limited to 23 yards rushing on 11 carries and had six receptions for 68 yards. … Baltimore running back Danny Woodhead injured his left hamstring on the opening series and didn’t return to the Ravens’ 20-0 win at Cincinnati. Linebacker Za’Darius Smith hurt his left knee in the second quarter and was helped off the field. … Philadelphia lost cornerback Ronald Darby to what looked like a serious right ankle injury early in the second quarter of the Eagles’ 30-17 win at Washington. Kicker Caleb Sturgis, who made three field goals, was injured late in the game.
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SPEAKING
“Last year was last year. … We just got in there and got back to work. We just got the win today. We just put our head down and continued to work.” - Atlanta’s Julio Jones on opening with a 23-17 win at Chicago while coming off a Super Bowl loss.
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“I could have avoided it if I wanted to, but I felt like I kind of had to take it a little bit.” - a grinning Rams coach Sean McVay after the 31-year-old coach - the youngest in modern NFL history - led Los Angeles to a 46-9 win over Indianapolis in his debut.
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