After a thrilling season opener, the rest of the National Football’s week one matchups came through with a bang. And what better way to celebrate and remember the losses and heroes a decade ago than in all of the stadiums where the ‘new national pasttime’ is played.

But having opening Sunday fall on the date of such a memorable tragedy is only one of the reasons that this NFL debut was so heavily anticipated. First, there’s the appreciation that professional football is actually being played – after a work stoppage threatened to have everyone looking for sporting alternatives this autumn. Of course, there’s the personnel changes including everything from the prediction of a ‘dream team’ to the concern surrounding the untimely absence of a 4-time MVP.

Well, each week, we’ll take a glance at some of my random thoughts from the week’s contests. Let’s get started with Week 1:

- I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a moment as spine-tingling as I did when I listened to the sailor that sung the Star Spangled Banner at the start of the Eagles-Rams game.  My wife and I were about to do some odd chore (I can’t recall what) when we overheard the gentleman hurling out operatic notes.  We immediately jetted back to the television and stood with our mouths open as we listened.  Amazing.

- As for the Eagles-Rams game, I have to give credit to the Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.  Philly obviously has supreme talent at the skill positions, but the cynics continue to focus on the extremely weak offensive line – and how that weakness will be the team’s eventual downfall.  Now, I know today’s game was only against St. Louis, but Mornhinweg showed that he is going to do his best to keep Michael Vick from being a sitting duck.  On nearly every offensive play – whether run or pass – the line pulled or the the pocket moved, in a clear attempt to negate any defensive momentum that the Rams could gain.  Surely, the Eagles need to upgrade their linemen, but at this point they have to get the best out of what they have.

After committing five turnovers, Big Ben already has his sights set on his next game against Baltimore.

- Where do you start with the Steelers-Ravens?  Seven turnovers – five from Ben Roethlisberger.  Giving up 170 yards rushing to Ray Rice and Ricky Williams.  This is the most lopsided contest that I can recall in some time between these two.  As Baltimore sprinted out to a 14-0 first quarter advantage, all I could remember was last year’s playoff debacle.  But the Ravens kept the pressure on, and Pittsburgh never saw the light of day.  John Harbaugh’s group sent its message, and the Steelers already have the night of November 6 circled on their calendar.

- Atlanta, what happened?  After last season’s 13-3 regular season mark, big things were expected from the Falcons.  They ran into a sizzling Aaron Rodgers in last year’s Divisional Playoff round, and they were history.  But they were supposed to build on their unexpected success, and the predictable Chicago Bears were supposed to be their first victim in the 2011 campaign.  A quick look at the box score shows Matt Ryan putting up a 31-47, 319 yard game, and Michael Turner collected 100 yards on the ground.  That would normally be the recipe for success, but the Falcons couldn’t finish anything today against the Bears.  Chicago used turnovers and a ‘bend but don’t break’ defense to put the contest out of reach.  The Falcons now face the real possibility of getting out of the box with an 0-2 start as they face Vick-adelphia on Sunday night.

- Welcome back Plaxico.  It was good to see Plax catch a much needed 26-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter as the Jets tried to slice into a 14-point deficit against the Cowboys.  Minutes before, Burress laid out Mike Jenkins to give Santonio Holmes more running room on a key play to extend the drive.  And in classic Plaxico-style, the camera caught him mouthing off about the block on the sidelines.

- 41 points for the Buffalo Bills – and none of them came directly from a Chiefs defensive turnover.  I don’t think anyone saw this coming, especially Kansas City.  The Chiefs were a dominant running team last season, posting two big-time rushers in Thomas Jones (896 yards) and Jamaal Charles (1,467 yards).  Although the Chiefs average six yards per rush today, they simply couldn’t keep the chains moving.  They only converted 23% (3 of 13) of their third downs.  In addition, Matt Cassel completed 22 passes for 119 yards.  That almost seems like a misprint, but KC’s leading receiver was Steve Breaston with 26 yards.  But back to the Bills – Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for four scores and Fred Jackson gained 5.5 yards per carry.

- Kickoff returners were certainly trying to prove their worth in Week 1.  There was a concern the kickoff return specialists would possibly have their value lessened by the league’s mandate to have kickers tee it up from the 35-yard line.  To my count, there were three kickoffs returned for TDs this week – Randall Cobb (Green Bay), Ted Ginn, Jr. (San Francisco) and Percy Harvin (Minnesota) – so there will still be opportunities.  Touchbacks will be up, but I saw more returners running the rock out when they were seven, eight, or even nine yards deep in the end zone.  In prior years, these would be labeled as poor decisions.  So…what do you label them now that the kicking team is five yards closer to you than they were before?

- Way to go, Cam Newton.  The number one draft pick showed us all that he can get it done through the air (422 yards passing), and that he’s not just the stereotypical dual threat quarterback that almost everyone wanted to label him as.  The Heisman winner played great, and, perhaps his most significant accomplishment was developing a rhythm with superstar receiver Steve Smith. Newton has the potential to make the coaches look good, but they’ll need to help themselves, too.  DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart - both above average backs that competitors would be pleased to have – combined to rush the ball 19 times on Sunday.  Regardless of how brilliant Newton is, Carolina will have a hard to winning any game will that type of unbalanced playcalling.   

Despite the Panthers' loss, Newton shined on Sunday afternoon.

- The Colts got trounced by the Texans.  If I recall correctly, Indy fell to the Texans early last year as well – with Peyton Manning on the field.  Kerry Collins didn’t do much today, and one positive (probably the only one) was that he didn’t commit any turnovers.  Houston scored 34 points in the first half, and appeared to call off the dogs a bit in the second half.  Even a 4-time MVP would have had an extremely difficult time making up for his team’s poor defensive effort.  The Texans pounded out 167 yards on the ground and managed 8.7 yards per pass play.  Yes, Indy is in deep trouble without Manning – and I mean ‘the Colts won win 5 games’ type of trouble.  But on this day, to put it bluntly, Manning would have needed to play on defense as well.

- Hats off to the team from the nation’s capital.  After allowing Eli Manning to connect with Hakeem Nicks on a deep busted-play (which set up a TD run), the Redskins marched by down the field and had their drive stalled inside field goal range.  However, when the 39-yarder sailed wide, the usual visions of underachievement could have easily entered their heads.  But Washington didn’t stop fighting and secured an important divisional win that could give them the confidence that they need to be the second-best team in the NFC East.