With their fans forced to watch from scattered venues across the south and their hearts with the victims and families affected by Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Saints delivered a gutsy, emotional 23-20 victory over the Carolina Panthers Sunday afternoon.
Ever since the devastation began on Aug. 28th, the Saints have themselves been displaced, both personally and professionally, as their home stadiums for the year will be at LSU (four games) and San Antonio (three). Their "home" opener next Monday night against the New York Giants will actually be played in the Meadowlands. A number of players took off preseason time to recuperate, survey the damage, and offer help to some of the thousands in need.
Many football experts were unsure of how the Saints could respond and forge ahead with an NFL season, and they assumed the team's focus would understandably suffer. Many thought it was triumph enough to take the field the opening week.
But the Saints players, especially after receiving a letter from New Orleans mayor C. Ray Nagin imploring them to play for those suffering, were determined to offer hope and a brief bit of happiness.
"We're down, but not out," said all-pro running back Deuce McAllister in a post-game interview, expressing the sentiments of both the Saints and the region.
To start the game, the Saints looked professional and poised as two of their opening three drives were long possessions resulting in touchdowns. McAllister led the way with two scores and QB Aaron Brooks was effective when necessary and avoided mistakes.
The Panthers, a popular pick to win the NFC this year, fought back at home behind a score from halfback Stephen Davis (who is still not entirely healthy) and the acrobatic catches and speed of receiver Steve Smith (eight catches for 138 yards), who seemed to be signal-caller Jake Delhomme's only target.
In the fourth quarter, the scoring was two field goals apiece, with the winning kick delivered by New Orleans' John Carney in the final seconds, delivering to the fans and the region a well-deserved chance to smile.
Another entertaining game on Sunday's docket was the Dallas Cowboys' big 28-24 road defeat of the San Diego Chargers, which offered the first glimpse at the second marriage between Bill Parcells and Drew Bledsoe.
Bledsoe had one of his better games in recent memory, throwing for three scores, two of which went to Keyshawn Johnson on impressive, thread-the-needle throws reminiscent of Bledsoe in his days with the New England Patriots.
Besides his touchdown on the opening drive, the Cowboy defense was able to prevent LaDainian Tomlinson from running wild (72 yards). This game was even throughout and down to the wire, but the Chargers had first and goal at the end of the game and came up empty-handed.
Parcells was his ever-glowing self when commenting about his team's performance, calling the game "a good start," but adding that he "couldn't enumerate the things [Dallas] did wrong."
In other action, the Indianapolis Colts opened what they hope to be "the year they beat the Patriots" by defeating the Baltimore Ravens 24-7 in the Sunday night game.
Peyton Manning and company were held in check by the tough Raven defense in the first half but were up to their old tricks in the third quarter as they recorded two scores to go up 17-0.
The Ravens made the Colts defense look impenetrable, however, as they watched their quarterback Kyle Boller get knocked out of the game, and were plagued by four turnovers and three errant field goal attempts.
Monday Night Football saw the Atlanta Falcons win a "brawl" of a game over the Philadelphia Eagles in a highly anticipated contest between two potential Super Bowl XL teams.
The fireworks started about a half-hour before kickoff, as a scuffle between the sides resulted in the ejection of Atlanta cornerback Kevin Mathis and Philly linebacker Jeremiah Trotter and forced the officials to separate the teams.
On the field, both quarterbacks struggled. The Falcons' Michael Vick and the Eagles' Donovan McNabb, were sporadic, committing turnovers and throwing inaccurately. Effective pass-rushes kept the scoring low and prohibited both offenses from maintaining a rhythm.
The game was highlighted by the stars: Vick's usual running antics (one rushing touchdown) along with his deep completion setting up the second score, not to mention Terrell Owens' 112 yards receiving for Philadelphia.
But the most telling statistic was Atlanta's decisive rushing advantage as they out-gained the Eagles 200-51 yards on the ground, enabling the Falcons to control the clock.
To round out the action, what NFL Week One would be complete without its share of upsets? The San Francisco 49ers charged out to a 28-9 lead and survived 362 Marc Bulger passing yards as they hung on to upset the St. Louis Rams 28-25. Joining San Fran in the Nobody Saw This One Coming Department was Nick Saban leading the Miami Dolphins to a 34-10 rout of the Denver Broncos in his professional coaching debut.
