NFL Sunday: Week 1 Stats
- New England quarterback Tom Brady passed for 288 yards and two touchdowns in the Patriots’ 23-21 win at Buffalo. Brady improved to 11-1 (.917) in season openers, the best record among quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era.
- New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees passed for 357 yards in the Saints’ 23-17 win over Atlanta. The performance marked Brees’ sixth consecutive 300-yard passing game, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young (1998), Kurt Warner (2000) and Rich Gannon (2002) for the second-longest streak in NFL history. Brees (2011-12) also holds the NFL record with nine consecutive 300-yard passing games.
- Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck passed for two touchdowns and rushed for the game-winning TD with 5:20 remaining in the fourth quarter in the Colts’ 21-17 win over Oakland. Luck has now led his team to eight game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime since he entered the league as a rookie in 2012. That total is the most through a player’s first 17 games by any quarterback that began his career since the 1970 merger.
- San Francisco wide receiver Anquan Boldin had 13 catches for 208 yards and a touchdown in the 49ers’ 34-28 win over Green Bay. There have been only three 10+ catch, 200+ yard receiving performances on Kickoff Weekend in NFL history and Boldin has two of them. In his NFL debut with the Arizona Cardinals in 2003 (September 7), Boldin had 10 catches for 217 yards and two touchdowns. The only other player with such a game on Kickoff Weekend is Dallas’ Frank Clarke, who had 10 catches for 241 yards and three touchdowns on September 16, 1962.
- Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson had a 78-yard touchdown run and Detroit’s Reggie Bush had a 77-yard TD reception in the Lions’ 34-24 win over Minnesota. It marked the first time since 1971 (September 19) that opposing players had 75+ yard scrimmage touchdowns on Kickoff Weekend when Dallas’ Bob Hayes and Buffalo’s Marlin Briscoe accomplished the feat.
- New York Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith threw for 256 yards and a touchdown in the Jets’ 18-17 win over Tampa Bay. Smith, who led the team on a 50-yard drive to set up the game-winning field goal with two seconds remaining, is the first rookie quarterback drafted in the second round or later to pass for at least 250 yards and win on Kickoff Weekend since the 1970 merger.