Week 1 Results:
For the Week/Season:

Vs. W/L: (11-4)
Vs. Spread: (11-4)
Vs. Aggregate: (7-8)

Vs. “The Sportsline Experts”:
Madden: 11-5-0
PFN: 11-5-0
Richard: 11-5-0
Harmon: 10-6-0
Prisco: 9-7-0
Judge: 6-10-0
“SpiN”: 5-11-0

One week is in the books and there’s a three-way tie across the leaderboard. 11 wins for the week was a pretty good showing.

For all intents and purposes, the Patriots' hopes for the postseason went down the drain in the first quarter of Sunday's game with the chiefs when Brady injured his knee. So much for that "gilded age", no? The show must go on, and players and coaches will say all the right things, but make no mistake about it, the Patriots went from contenders to also-rans in the blink of an eye. With Brady now out for the season the Patriots will be fortunate to win eight games.

And so, life for the New England Patriots and their fans goes on without Tom Brady. While this was a terrible blow to the franchise and changes the entire complexion of the season, the sun still rose in the East and the weather was perfect. Bill Belichick held a press conference on Monday to announce that the team is not canceling the balance of the schedule, so they will have to make do with what they have. What does this mean exactly for the next 16 weeks? Other than that, nobody really knows for sure, but removing last year's MVP and one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL from the lineup doesn't exactly bode well for the Patriots' chances this year. Injuries are part of all sports, and New England fans have been fortunate beyond their wildest dreams that Brady has remained in relatively good health over the last seven years.

It's hard to think of one person who has meant more to their franchise in modern times than Tom Brady to the Patriots. Without him, chances are the Patriots would have been a very good team under Bill Belichick, but three super Bowl victories? Doubtful. Without all of that success on the field, chances are there would be no Gillette Stadium or "Patriot Place" today and the team would still be playing in the concrete dump they occupied for 30 years, or may be on the short list for relocation to LA. In short, his talents have been instrumental to a phenomenal return on investment for Mr. Kraft. Prior to 2001, this team had a four-decade legacy built on failure and humiliation. It was one of the true laughingstocks of professional sports in America. But there was a core group of fans that stuck with the team through many lean seasons. There are a lot of us who still remember how it used to be, back to the days of Babe Parilli, Gino Cappeletti, Jim Nance, Houston Antwine and Jim "Earthquake" Hunt at Fenway Park. To see what this team was in the 1960s and what it is now is nothing short of amazing.

In case anyone has forgotten, Brady received his opportunity to shine in Week 3 of the 2001 season when Mo Lewis nearly killed Bledsoe. The team would go on to an improbable run, winning the Super Bowl. Early in his career, Brady did not blow away the opposition with gaudy numbers such as he put up in 2007. The fact is that he was criticized in many quarters for being an "effective manager" of Belichick's game plan rather than the Hall of Fame quarterback into which he ultimately developed. The team that surrounded Brady in 2001 was arguably not as talented as this year's group. But they were team in the best sense of the word. The jury is still out on whether these guys will show up to play or just go through the motions. There is just too much of a veteran presence to allow anything like that to happen. But someone else's loss is someone else's gain. In the vacuum caused by Brady's injury, the Patriots' opponents in the AFC East get a major boost. Brett Favre and the Jets obviously have to look at this as a chance to get to the playoffs, as do the Bills, who were really dominant in their opening game win against Seattle. But there remains a lot of football remaining to be played. Patriots’ fans should take comfort in the fact that their team will be well prepared every week.

Brett Favre had a pretty nice debut for the Jets, going 15-22-194 2TD, as his team squeaked by the Dolphins 20-14. Dallas and Pittsburgh were dominant as expected, but San Diego and Indy were not sharp at all. Given the extent of injuries to Manning, and Indy's O-Line, it wasn't a shock to see them lose, but the way that they lost was surprising.

Week 1 Game Balls:

Michael Turner (220 rushing yards) and Matt Ryan (9-13-161 1 TD) for Atlanta, in their impressive 34-21 rout of the Lions.

The Chicago Bears defense for utterly confounding Payton Manning.

Carolina's Jake Delhomme and Dante Rosario for hooking up for a last-second touchdown to defeat San Diego.

Donovan McNabb: 21-33-361 3 TD, a fantastic day in a blowout win for the Eagles.

Knucklehead of The Week: Oakland's DeAngelo Hall, for committing two personal foul penalties in the same series. Oakland was humiliated at home.

Other Things We Learned:

The Raiders are truly an awful football team and JaMarcus Russell is at least 2-3 years away from being the quarterback Al Davis dreamed he would become. It used to be that going to “The Black Hole” would be an intimidating experience for opposing teams, though it no longer that way.

Something very strange is transpiring in Nashville with Vince Young and the Titans. Beyond the fact that he injured his knee and will miss the next 2-4 weeks, there may be confidence issues in play that need not be. There are simply far too many expectations thrust upon a young player. The Titans have already committed their future to Young, now they need to provide him the professional support necessary to grow and develop.