FanHouse NFLWeek1Recaps

Par for the course in a wild Week 1 of the new NFL season. In a matchup of the last two AFC North champions, the Bengals made the least amount of mistakes and held on to a 27-20 win.

The Ravens turned the ball over SIX TIMES ... including on their last possession when a bobbled pass from Kyle Boller [more on that later] to Todd Heap landed in Bengals' DT Michael Myers hands in the endzone to clinch the win for Cincinnati. Boller came in on the Ravens final drive for an injured Steve McNair ... who threw an interception and lost three fumbles [Le'Ron McClain also fumbled, for the Ravens' other turnover]. One McNair fumble was returned by Bengals LB Landon Johnson for a TD.

That wasn't the only mistake. B-more was called for 10 penalties for 86 yards ... including an iffy offensive pass interference call that negated a game-tying TD in the final moments.

The sad thing is they had the Bengals. They had them. The Ravens offense was pretty effective while shutting down the Bengals normally explosive offense. Rudi Johnson was held to 50 yds rushing while Carson Palmer was sailing passes over everyone's heads. Well, not every pass. Palmer did connect with TJ Houshmandzadeh for the go-ahead TD and Chad Johnson [who debuted his weak "Hall Of Fame jacket celebration"] for the game's opening TD.

Story #2 of this game was injuries. The Ravens lost Jonathan Ogden when he re-aggravated his turf toe, Steve McNair to a groin injury and BJ Sams ... while they watched Ray Lewis, Ed Reed [who actually returned a punt for a TD when Sams left the game] and Terrell Suggs deal with various injuries. The Bengals weren't immune, themselves. Shayne Graham's hip pointer acted up again ... while the offensive line had to deal without Levi Jones [who didn't play at all], Willie Anderson and Eric Ghiacuic.

(Hat tip to the Sports Kittens ... pictured above ... for a hilarious poem about the Ravens)

Final Score: Bengals 27-Ravens 20

In the preview for the Giants-Cowboys game, I said that both QBs ... Tony Romo and Eli Manning ... were very much under the microscope. Well, both came through with flying colors. Both threw for 4 TDs apiece and over 300 yards.

Romo looked like the star he's projected to be. He picked apart the Giants secondary; working the seams and the middle. And not just dinks and dunks, but huge plays [Dallas averaged 14.1 yards per passing attempt]. He found Jason Witten six times for 116 yards and a TD ... and Terrell Owens three times for 87 yds and 2 TDs. He also found Sam Hurd for a 51 yard TD pass. Oh, and dude ran one in himself.

Manning was no slouch himself, completing 28 of 41 passes while torching the Cowboys secondary. His main targets were Plaxico Burress [8 rec, 144 yds, 3 TD] and Amani Toomer [9 rec, 91 yds]. He did some of that after suffering a shoulder injury.

It was the defenses that let them down. Neither, obviously, could stop the other team's QB ... nor could they stop the run game. Julius Jones and Marion Barber combined for 131 yards and a TD for Dallas. The Giants, despite losing Brandon Jacobs to a knee injury and having to use Reuben Droughns as a fullback, still saw backup Derrick Ward rush for 89 yards and catch a late TD. The two teams combined for 916 yards of total offense ... 5.1 yds per rush attempt ... 14.7 yds per reception ... and 13 of 25 on third downs.

Dallas heads into next week's game with the Dolphins trying to figure out how to lock down what was supposed to be an improved defense. The Giants head into their home opener with Brett Favre and the Packers trying to patch up that pourous secondary, as well as deal with injuries to Manning, Jacobs and Osi Umenyiora.

Final Score: Cowboys 45-Giants 35