Some Notable Firsts In Week 1

Before I begin, I want to express my deep condolences to the victims and families of the tragedy on Sept. 11, 2001 that happened six years ago this morning. May we never forget the sacrifices made by those brave heroes on that fateful day in New York City, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania.

NFL's Week 1 came and went and I can't wait for the five months left of this glorious sport we call football. Personally, I spent this past Sunday in my apartment watching my beloved Patriots go through the yearly ritual of skewering the hapless New York Jets like a suckling pig all while enjoying some pizza and some foamy, canned refreshments.

Overall, I had a great time and I hope you did too.

While this was certainly not the first (nor the last) time that I've seen the Patriots chalk up a 'W' at the expense of the Jets, there were some notable firsts in the infant NFL season. A record was broken, some old faces in new places and some brand new faces hit NFL fields this week and started the 2007 season off with a proverbial bang.

Week 1 had its share of blowout games, but no blowout was more significant than the Vikings' 24-3 shellacking of the noticably Michael Vick-less Falcons.

In the Falcons' first regular season game without the aforementioned ASPCA Person of the Year, Joey Harrington tried to do his best Vick impression - to the tune of one rush for eight yards. Being sacked six times was also very un-Vick, as the Vikings romped and started off the Falcons' season of futility.

But the real first worth noting in this game was rookie running back Adrian Peterson's NFL debut. In what looks like the start of a promising career, he ran for 103 yards on a game-high 19 carries and scored his first NFL touchdown - a nice 60-yard catch from Tarvaris Jackson. So far, my Offensive Rookie of the Year pick is safe and I don't know about you, but I'm excited to see what this kid has up his sleeve in the coming weeks.

My winner of the week is Mike Tomlin, the Steelers' new head coach, who started off his career in the Steel City with a 34-7 romp over the Browns. I know what you're thinking - the Browns are about as entertaining as shopping for wallpaper with your significant other. All joking aside, as only the third head coach the Steelers have had since 1969, Tomlin needed to set the tone and gain some love from those Terrible Towel-wavers and what better way to do it than to slice and dice a hated division rival? So, cheers to you, Mike Tomlin! Maybe this second-youngest-head-coach-in-all-of-North-American-sports thing you have going is grounded in some merit, after all!

Those who wanted to see an offensive showcase got it from Tom Brady and his new buddies on offense in the Patriots' 38-14 rout of the Jets. New England's offseason shopping spree paid dividends Sunday with its new acquisitions making plays all over the field and on both sides of the ball. In all, three of the new Patriots receivers combined for 263 receiving yards on 16 catches that resulted in a pair of touchdowns.

But no new face was more apparent than that of Randy Moss, who lit up the Jets' secondary for 183 yards and a score. Still think he's rusty after not playing in the preseason? I'm not colorblind, but I thought he was wearing a Vikings jersey out there by the way he was playing.

To top it all off, history was made on Sunday as Ellis Hobbs returned a kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown in the longest kickoff return in NFL history. The Patriots got the job done and looked as advertised in their opening game.

I feel good about anybody who made a name for themselves in the NFL's first week and if this week is any indication we have quite a season in store.

Tim Ehrens's NFL Column appears every Tuesday. He can be reached at Timothy.Ehrens@gmail.com