NFL Week 1 round up: The Falcons, Steelers hang on to avoid upsets

The defending NFC champs got off to a better start than the team that beat them in last February’s Super Bowl, defeating the surprisingly competitive Bears Sunday.
A field goal to turn a three point lead to a six point lead put Atlanta ahead for good in the 23-17 victory on the shoulder of Matt Ryan and his 321 yards passing.
Austin Hooper posted 88 of those yards in one play, a forth quarter touchdown scamper.

Bills 21, Jets 12

The Jets held their own — for three quarters at least, before Buffalo broke open a two point game with a Mike Tolbert one-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

LeSean McCoy’s 110 yards were the highlight in an ugly game with few of them.

Ravens 20, Bengals 0

Andy Dalton threw four interceptions and the Ravens ran for 158 yards in yet another ugly AFC battle Sunday.

A 48-yard Joe Flacco touchdown pass to new receiver Jeremy Maclin was the lone passing score in the game.

Steelers 21, Browns 18

In a game much closer than anyone could have imagined, Antonio Brown was responsible for a ridiculous 188 of Ben Roethlisberger’s 263 yards.

The Browns and rookie Deshon Kizer closed a 21-10 gap but were unable to pull off the upset.

Lions 35 Cardinals 23

Matthew Stafford threw for four touchdowns while Carson Palmer threw for three interceptions in one-sided NFC battle Sunday.

Golden Tate made friends of his fantasy owners, catching 10 passes for 107 yards and a score.

Raiders 26, Titans 16

Derek Carr picked up where he left off before a season-ending injury last season, outdueling the agile Marcus Mariota in a game with seven field goals.

Leading by just three midway through the fourth quarter, Carr found Seth Roberts on a 19-yard strike to give Oakland a comfortable 10-yard lead.

Eagles 30, Redskins 17

The Eagles pass rush was on full display in the NFC East Sunday as Fletcher Cox got his second sack late in the fourth quarter — with just two minutes to play — and forces and recovered a fumble that he would take into the end zone.

Carson Wentz threw for 307 yards and the Eagles defense held the Redskins to one offensive touchdown and less than 250 yards.

Jaguars 29, Texans 7

Leonard Fournette stole the show in his NFl debut, gaining 100 yards on the ground and catching three passes en route to a convincing win against one of the NFL’s most highly-touted defenses.

Neither team gained more than 280 yards of offense as the Texans were undone by three lost fumbles.

Tom Savage was benched for rookie DeShaun Watson who threw his first NFL touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins.

Rams 46, Colts 9

In a blowout many could see coming miles away — with Andrew Luck sidelined to start the season — his Indianpolis stand-in threw two pick sixes in the first half ultimately giving way to Jacoby Brissett at quarterback.

Jared Goff finally resembled a No. 1 overall draft pick throwing for 306 yards on 21-for-29 passing.

Panthers 23, 49ers 3

Cam Newton had two touchdown passes and Graham Gano added three field goals as Carolina dominated the lowly Niners.

Carolina netted three sacks and allowed just 217 yards of offense in the Week 1 triumph.

Packers 17,  Seahawks 9

After the Packers failed to score in the first half, Aaron Rodgers resembled his old self throwing for 311 yards and leading the Packers to two scoring drives.

Russell Wilson was the Seahawks leading rusher but struggled to complete 50 percent of his passes in the loss.