NFL Week 1 – Jets, Giants & Eagles

by Donald Hanson • September 9, 2013 • Sports & Leisure • Comments (0) • 1248

The NFL 2013-14 season began this weekend and the local teams have gone through some changes.

The New York Giants began their season with an away game against the Dallas Cowboys last night. With the loss of running backs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, David Wilson will have to carry the load. The rock is on him. The Giants looked lousy in preseason and continued to look lousy with mistakes including 6 turnovers. Down as much as 17 points, they did stage a comeback but all that did was prevent their loss from being a blowout with a final score of 36-31.

The New York Jets opened at home against Tampa Bay. With Mark Sanchez sidelined with a shoulder injury, the Gino Smith era began by default. The rookie will have to take the bull by the horns this season, ride the wave and see what happens. He notched his first win as Quarterback but it was more like pulling a rabbit out of a hat than proving they are good. The capitalized on a Tampa Bay mental error that allowed them to score a 48-yard field goal with just seconds left in the game. The Jets got their sweet revenge on their former teammate and current Buccaneer Darrelle Revis with an 18-17 win. Darrelle’s homecoming was not a happy one.

The Philadelphia Eagles start the season with the Monday Night Football early game. They will be in the nations capital playing RG3 and the Washington Redskins tonight at 7:00 p.m. Their new coach Chip Kelly graduates from College to NFL Football with Andy Reid moving on to the Kansas City Chiefs. I have some reservations about him switching the team from a 4-3 to a 3-4 scheme, a departure from the past 4 seasons. Kelly will bring a high tempo, high octane offense which is nicknamed ‘no huddle’. The idea is to keep the defense off balance by getting to the line of scrimmage and snapping the ball as fast as possible. This is obviously a work in progress and you can’t expect miracles in the first season of a new system.

Update : The Eagles came on strong and ran up a 33-7 lead. But then they took their foot off the gas pedal and let the Redskins drive a comeback rally. I guess they didn’t realize that it is a 60 minute ball game. The Eagles wound up having to hold on for dear life and won the game 33-27.