It was a strong weekend for the AFC over the weekend, with conference favourites the New England Patriots and the Houston Texans starting strongly as expected, and the Atlanta Falcons racking up 40 points at Arrowhead Stadium.
But perhaps the most surprising and impressive win of the weekend went to the New York Jets, who powered past the hapless Buffalo Bills 48-28. Much of the preseason chat was about which of his two quarterbacks head coach Rex Ryan would plump for - franchise QB and last years starter Mark Sanchez or the newly arrived headline maker from the Broncos Tim Tebow?
Mark Sanchez calls the shots for Jets against Buffalo
It seemed we wouldn't be finding out as both quarterbacks took to the field, with Tebow lining up as a slot receiver. But it was Sanchez who called the shots, getting the offence up and running from the off, finishing 19 of 27 for 266 yards. Tebow's contribution from the pivot role amounted to 11 rushing yards from 5 carries and didn't throw a pass. It looked like the Jets contrasting stars may well work in the same team after all.
For all the positives in offence, it's the defence that suffered, allowing 195 rushing yards, 169 of which were racked up by the impressive CJ Spiller. His 56 yard TD was down to poor tackling as it was strong running. There is still a lot to work on for the Jets, but they'll get a lot of confidence from scoring their highest first week total in franchise history.
The NFC performance of the weekend came from the defensively dominant San Francisco 49ers. Lambeau Field is no easy venue to win at, not least against a heavily backed Green Bay Packers team led by Aaron Rodgers. But even the Packers number 12 struggled at times to overcome the ferocious 49ers defensive line.
We've come to expect a strong defence from the west coasters, and so it was a pleasant surprise to see them equalling their effort on offence. With the additions of Mario Manningham from the Giants and the veteran receiver Randy Moss over the off season, quarterback Alex Smith now has a more balanced array of attacking weapons at his disposal. No doubt boosted by his late season and playoff form last year when the 49ers were unlucky not to make it to Superbowl XLVI, Smith has continued where he left off. Completing 20 of 26 for 211 yards, Smith connected with Moss and Vernon Davis. Aaron Rodgers' stats may have been stronger, throwing for 303 yards, but the Packers didn't have the running to compete with the 49ers. RB Frank Gore ran for 112 yards against the Packers defence, including a 23 yard TD.
Aaron Rodgers gets sacked in the first quarter by the 49ers defence
The Packers will be back, and despite losing the same number of games already this season as they did the whole of the last regular season, they will definitely be in the mix come the playoffs. A rematch against Rodgers childhood team the 49ers is still very much on the cards for the NFC championship.
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