Highlights: NFL Kickoff Weekend
The NFL kicked off an exciting first weekend on Sunday. Sept. 9.
Washington's Robert Griffin III and Indianapolis' Andrew Luck joined an elite group of rookie quarter backs that passed for at least 300 yards on Kickoff Weekend. Peyton Manning in 1998 and Cam Newton in 2011 were the only two rookie quarterbacks in NFL history to achieve the feat.
Griffin passed 320 yards, Luck 309, Manning 302 and Newton 422.
Griffin is having a good season so far. He became the only player in NFL history to pass for at least 300 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception in his NFL debut. Griffin threw an 88-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter for his first career touchdown and tied with Ed Rubbert (1987) for the second-longest touchdown pass in a player's NFL debut. Neil O'Donned had an 89 yards touchdown pass in 1991.
The New York Jets defeated Buffalo 48-28 and became the third team in NFL history to score a touchdown via the rush, pass, interception-return and punt-return in a season opening game. The other two teams to accomplish the feat are the 1982 Miami Dolphins and 2003 Detroit Lions. Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez threw three touchdown passes to rookie Stephen Hill and Jeremy Kerley. Running back Shonn Greene had a rushing touchdown and cornerback Antonio Cromarite returned an interception 40 yards for a score and Kerley added a 68-yard punt-return TD.
Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber made his 200th consecutive start - the longest streak in NFL history at the position - in the Buccaneers' 16-10 win over Carolina. Barber had a sack and an interception in the victory and is the only player with at least 25 sacks (28) and 40 interceptions (44) in a career.
Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford passed for 355 yards and threw the game-winning touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining in the Lions' 27-23 win over St. Louis.
Stafford has now passed for at least 350 yards in four consecutive games, joining Drew Brees as the only players to accomplish the feat in NFL history. Stafford made his 30th career start today and has 8,195 passing yards, the third-most through 30 starts by a QB who began his career in the Super Bowl era.
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