Top Week One NFL Games in History

The first week of games in the NFL is a weekend that has been being circled on calendars across the nation for generations. In this edition we take a look at some of the best games and items from the first week of the NFL in its history.

September 4, 1994 - In a game that pitted two great AFC East quarterbacks of the time, Dan Marino and Drew Bledsoe and Hall of Fame coaches Don Shula and Bill Parcells against one another. This game really lived up to its billing and star power. In the game the Dolphins and Patriots combined to score 74 points while piling up nearly 1,000 total yards. Bledsoe's four touchdown passes helped the Patriots build a double-digit lead in the second half. However Dan Marino answered with five touchdown passes of his own. Dan the Man’s game-winning 35-yard touchdown pass to Irving Fryar late in the fourth quarter was pivotal in Miami's 39-35 victory over their divisional foes. 

September 5, 1994 - Jerry Rice put an exclamation point on his many records when in the first game of the 1994 season he passed  the great Jim Brown for the most career touchdowns in league history on Monday Night Football. Rice, who at that time was entering his 10th season in San Francisco, caught three touchdown passes in the night game as his 49ers were rude to their neighbors the Oakland Raiders, as they trounced the Black and Silver, 44-14. Rice would end the '94 season the way he started it, catching three touchdown passes in San Francisco's win over the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. 

September 6, 1998 - The New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers supplied one of the most entertaining opening-season games in NFL history. The two teams together would barely garner 12 ‘W’s” for the season, however the Jets and 49ers combined to score eight touchdowns while amassing 1,022 total yards in this week one tilt. Niners lefty slinging sensation, Steve Young threw for 363 yards and three scores, while Jets receivers Keyshawn Johnson and Wayne Chrebet combined to catch 15 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns. 
The marquee headline grabber on this day though was San Francisco running back Garrison Hearst, who scorched the entire Jets defense on his 96-yard, game-winning touchdown run on the 49ers' first play of overtime. 

September 6, 1998 - Randy Moss, who had some rumored skeletons in the closet from his days at Marshall, had to wait until the Minnesota Vikings selected him with the 21st pick in the '98 draft. Moss, using his draft position as fuel throughout his rookie season, made the teams that passed on him immediately regret their decision. 
Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an opening season tilt, Moss caught four of five targets for 95 yards that included two long touchdown bombs from Randall Cunningham. The young receiver went on to catch 69 passes for 1,313 yards and an NFL rookie record 17 touchdown passes while helping the Vikings become the third NFC team in NFL history to win 15 regular-season games per a CBS report. 

September 12, 1999 - The 1999 Rams had just lost their starting quarterback for the season, Trent Green to a season-ending injury during the preseason.  Things looked bleak for the franchise, but the Rams had a back-up plan. Kurt Warner, Green's replacement and a grocery store employee just several years earlier tossed for three touchdown passes in this debut game that started the Greatest Show on Turf.  The Rams got the attention of the entire NFL following their 27-10 blowout victory over Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1. 

September 3, 2000 - The Philadelphia Eagles had a game plan for their opponents the Dallas Cowboys and their other foe, game time temperatures of about 105 degrees.  Coach Andy Reid famously gave his players pickle juice to help them cope with high temps. Philly came out swinging, with a surprise onside kick to start the game. The Eagles recovered the kick and never looked back, dismantling the Cowboys 41-14 behind Duce Staley's 201 rushing yards and a Philadelphia defense that held Dallas to a putrid 167 total yards. 

September 9, 2004 - This Thursday Night season opener between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts in this chaotic week 1 game. The Colts future Hall of Fame running back Edgerrin James had two crucial fumbles, one late in the game at the Patriot one-yard line that helped the Pats Defense hold off the pontent Blue Horseshoe offense in a 27-24 exciting matchup. The victory extended the New England winning streak to 16 games going back to the prior season. Tom Brady threw for 3 touchdowns and 335 yards while Colts QB Peyton Manning rifled 244 yards of his own with two scoring passes.

September 8, 2011 - What a Thursday Night season opener occurred in this match-up as the past two seasons, defending champions, and arguably two best teams in the NFC the New Orleans Saints  and Green Bay Packers squared off. Two of the top signal callers of all time, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers turned the game into a shootout and the contest came down to a yard at the end. Green Bay’s defense stopped the potent Saints offense on the one yardline on the game's final play. The Packers prevailed 42-34 in this thriller. Brees tossed for 419 yards with 2 TDs while Rodgers earned 312 yards passing and 3 scores in the contest.

October 3, 1920 - The most memorable opening week in League history has to be the inaugural APFA season of 1920. On this day the first two league franchises versus another APFA opponent occurred. The Rock Island Independents knocked off the Muncie Flyers 45-0 in Illinois while in the state of Ohio the Columbus Panhandles fell to the Dayton Triangles 14-0. This day started all of the 100 plus years of head to head matchups in a professional league that would later be called the NFL.