Ravens: The addition of Anquan Boldin looks to be paying off for the Raves. Boldin hauled in 7 Joe Flacco passes for a total of 110 yards. It should be noted that Revis didn't shadow Boldin all game. Todd Heap also had a good game catching 6 passes for 72 yards. If Heap can finally stay healthy he could return to the top 10 for tight ends. TJ Houshmandzedah only had 1 catch for 27 yards and Derrick Mason had 21 yards on 2 catches. Mason and Houshmandzehah should have better games this season chalked this one game up to playing the Jets and Revis. Ray Rice's expectations for this matchup weren't very high and they were right. Rice ran the ball 21 times but only managed 43 yards. One thing to watch with the addition of Housh and Boldin is it could take away from Rice's receptions which was an area Rice excelled at. Rice only had 2 catches tonight for 19 yards. Also it still looks like Willis McGahee will be stealing the goal line carries. McGahee only had 7 touches tonight (6 rushing, 1 receiving) and he managed a total of -8 yards but he scored on a 1 yard TD plunge.
Jets: The Jets offensive struggles from the preseason carried over to the first week of the regular season. Matt Sanchez was horrid going 10 for 21 and only 51 yards. Shonn Greene was being taking in the top 15 picks in every draft this year and tonight he didn't live up to that value. Greene rushed the ball 5 times for 18 yards and had 1 catch for 9 yards. Greene fumbled twice losing one of them and was promptly benched by Rex Ryan. LaDanian Tomlinson came in and looked great rushing 11 times for 62 yards and hauling in 2 passes for 16 yards. It appears that Tomlinson might have some gas left in that tank and shouldn't be taken lightly. Because of Sanchez poor play the leading receiver was Jerricho Cotchery who had 18 and 2 catches. One of the biggest one year wonders ever Braylon Edwards looked just as bad as Sanchez and only managed 1 catch for 9 yards. Santonio Holmes can not return from suspension soon enough for the Jets.
Chiefs 21, Chargers 14
Chiefs: Matt Cassel wasnt asked to do much tonight but the Chiefs can not rely on that every game. Cassel finished the night with only 68 yards and 1 TD on 10 completions out of 22 attempts. The lone TD going to rookie tight end Tony Moeaki from 2 yards out. Moeaki lead all receiving for the Chiefs with 3 catches for 21 yards and the 1 TD. Dwayne Bowe and Chris Chambers were nonexistent tonight combining for 2 catches for 27 yards. The Chiefs won the game on the ground and on special teams. Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones split carries evenly tonight with 11 apiece. What they did with them was totally different. Jones ran for just 39 yards on those 11 carries. Charles on the other hand busted off a 59 yard TD in the 1st quarter and finished the night with 92 yards and added 1 catch for 6 yards. Rookie RB/WR Dexter McCluster only had 3 touches (2 catches for 9 yards and 1 rush for 2) but he did his biggest damage in the punt return game McCluster scored on a 94 yard punt return that showed off his great speed. The punt return was the deciding factor in the upset victory for the Chiefs.
Chargers: The Chargers were rattled all night by the extremely loud and rocking crowd at New Arrowhead Stadium. Philip Rivers and his Chargers offense had trouble communicating because of the noise and had to take costly timeouts and committed costly penalties all night. Rivers went 22 for 39 and 298 yards with 2 TDs. Antonio Gates caught 1 of those Rivers TDs on the a 3 yard catch in the 1st quarter. Gates ended up finishing the night with 76 yards on 5 catches. Sleeper of the year candidate Malcom Floyd managed only 3 catches that resulted 43 and had trouble in the wet and rainy night with a couple of passes. Though at the end of the game when the Chargers were going for the tying score Rivers overthrew a wide open Floyd. Legedu Naanee had a good night catching 5 passes for 110 yards and 1 TD. Naanee's TD came on a badly blown coverage by the Chiefs that resulted him a 59 yard score. Highly touted rookie running back Ryan Mathews had a decent first game. Mathews ran 19 times for 75 yards and added only 1 catch on the night that resulted in 2 yards. Mathews looks to losing any touches right now to an other Charger running backs and should be in for a nice rookie season.
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