What Do Protests, Rob Lowe + ESPN’s Fantasy Football Outage Have in Common?
Just your typical NFL kickoff weekend
There are still two games left in Week 1 (the MNF doubleheader), but this season is already off to a dramatic, fascinating start. Just how we like it.
Sunday began on a somber note, with the 15th anniversary of 9/11, accompanied by continued Kaepernick-inspired protests across the NFL, receiving mixed reactions. Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall knelt for the anthem on Thursday night, and lost an endorsement deal with a military-affiliated sponsor. Saturday night, Rob Lowe (yes, the recently roasted actor Rob Lowe) chimed in, as he did on Peyton Manning’s premature retirement — tweeting that the NFL should tell players who planned to boycott the anthem on 9/11 to stay in the locker room.
His advice went unheeded: Arian Foster and several of his Dolphins teammates also kneeled, while the Seahawks and Chiefs locked arms and stood together (Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters also raised a fist, as did Pats TE Martellus Bennett and Saftey Devin McCourty in the late game). Meanwhile in Baltimore, many reported Ravens fans booing during President Obama’s opening remarks in their home opener against the Bills. And Sunday evening, Kate Upton weighed in on Instagram, calling the Dolphins kneeling “a disgrace” on 9/11.
And don’t even get us started on the fact that ESPN’s Fantasy Football app crashed on opening Sunday (just like it did last year)!
All that, and we haven’t even talked about any action on the field. Here are a few highlights from Week 1:
— Eagles QB Carson Wentz drove down the field for a touchdown on his very first drive of what would become his first win, vs. RGIII and the Browns (final score: 29–10). RGIII also sprained his shoulder.
— Jameis Winston threw four touchdowns in the Buccaneers’ 31–24 win vs. Atlanta.
— Chargers receiver Keenan Allen, who missed the second half of last season with a lacerated kidney, may have torn his ACL, and #1 Saints CB Delvin Breaux broke a bone in his lower leg.
— The Jaguars may be a team to watch; they lost a close one to the Packers, and that was without running back Chris Ivory.
— The Bengals beat the Jets 23–22 off of Mike Nugent’s 47-yard field goal with 54 seconds left.
— With just 47 seconds left, the Raiders decided to attempt a two-point conversion instead of a game-tying extra point, and pulled it off to beat the Saints 35–34.
— The Chiefs came back from a 24–3 third-quarter deficit to win 33–27 in overtime vs. the Chargers.
— Seahawks QB Russell Wilson found Doug Baldwin in the end zone for a two-yard touchdown with 31 seconds remaining to eke out a 12–10 victory vs. the Dolphins.
— Victor Cruz (in his first game in 700 days) caught a touchdown pass from Eli Manning to regain the lead vs. the Cowboys with about six minutes left to play, and the Giants held on to win 20–19.
— Eight games (half the games in Week 1) were decided by four points or less, with the two games to go Monday night. The NFL has preached parity, and it looks like that might actually be achieved.
We can’t wait to see what Week 2 has in store for us!
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