Week One Rewind: Eagles’ Sirianni wins in coaching debut – Buffalo News

Six newcomers to the head coaching ranks in the NFL debuted with their new teams on Sunday; only two were winners. One was Western New York native Nick Sirianni, who won his debut as head man of the Philadelphia Eagles on the road over another new man, Arthur Smith of the Falcons in Atlanta, 32-6.

The unveilng of Sirianni’s first Eagles team was anxiously anticipated by Philadelphia media and fans because the graduate of Southwestern Central High in Jamestown and Washington & Jefferson University in Pennsylvania kept much of his offensive strategy under wraps leading up to Kickoff Sunday.

Sirianni is the second most important Jamestown product and W&J graduate in the NFL. The first, of course, is NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

With the win Sirianni is assured of being in first place in the NFC East for at least a week because the other three NFC East Division teams all lost their Week 1 games. Sirianni’s first home game will be Sunday against San Francisco. His first division matchup will be a Monday Night game at Dallas on Sept. 27.

Even with the status of star quarterback Deshaun Watson up in the air, David Culley of the Houston Texans won his head coaching debut, just as easily as Sirianni. With former Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor at the controls, the Texans defeated the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars and their new coach Urban Meyer, 37-14.

Also losing in their first games on the job were Robert Saleh of the New York Jets and Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions.

Game of the day

Chiefs 33, Browns 29

The scoop: Cleveland seemed to have Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs on the ropes, leading, 22-10, at the half and 29-20 with 10:24 left. A 75-yard pass from Mahomes to Tyreek Hill turned everything around. Mahomes’ 8-yard pass to tight end Travis Kelce with 7:04 left gave the Chiefs their first lead.

Why the Chiefs won: Cleveland had a chance to go for the lead, but Mike Hughes intercepted Baker Mayfield’s first down pass at the Chiefs’ 42 with 1:09 left to seal it.

Top attractions

Dolphins 17, Patriots 16

The scoop: Tua Tagovailoa passed 3 yards to rookie Jaylen Waddle for the touchdown that snapped a 10-10 tie in the third quarter. The Patriots could manage just two Nick Folk field goals the rest of the way. Miami was outgained 393 to 259 but turned back three out of four New England Red Zone possessions.

Why the Dolphins won: Clinging to a one-point lead with 3:31 to play, Xavien Howard of Miami recovered Damien Harris’ fumble at the Dolphins’ 9 with 3:31 to play to save the lead.

Saints 38, Packers 3

The scoop: Playing in Jacksonville because of the hurricane damage in New Orleans, the Saints turned in the most surprising performance of the day, routing Aaron Rodgers and the Pack. Jameis Winston easily outshone Rodgers, passing for five touchdowns but only 148 yards in his first game for the Saints. His TD passes went for 3, 1, 10, 8 and 55 yards. Rodgers completed 15 of 28 for 133 yards and no touchdowns with two interceptions.

Why the Saints won: They won the turnover battle, 3-0, and limited Green Bay to 43 rushing yards and a 2.9 average.

Bengals 27, Vikings 24 (OT)

The scoop: Cincinnati blew a 21-7 lead but won it on rookie Evan McPherson’s 33-yard field goal on the last play of the 10-minute overtime after recovering a Dalvin Cook’s fumble at the Bengals’ 38 with 1:48 left in the extra period. Earlier the Florida Gator hit from 53 yards. Minnesota tied it on the last play of regulation when Greg Joseph kicked a field goal from 53. Joe Burrow passed for two Cincinnati touchdowns, one for 50 yards to rookie Ja’Marr Chase. Kirk Cousins passed for 351 yards and touchdown throws for 5 and 24 yards to Adam Thielen.

Why the Bengals won: They scored touchdowns on three straight 75-yard drives in the middle of the game. They did little offensively outside of that but it was enough.

Seahawks 28, Colts 16

The scoop: Four of Russell Wilson’s 18 completions for the Seahawks went for touchdowns as the Colts lost their season opener for the second year in a row. Last year, Indy was upset at Jacksonville, the Jaguars’ only win in a 1-15 season. Wilson had only five incompletions as he passed for 254 yards. Ex Philadelphia Eagle Carson Wentz passed for both Colts touchdowns and 251 yards in his debut with Indianapolis.

Why the Seahawks won: Led by linebackers Bobby Wagner (13 tackles) and Justyn Brooks (11) the Seattle defense shut down the Colts offense from the middle of the second quarter until they scored with 2:08 left in the game.

Cardinals 38, Titans 13

The scoop: Kyler Murray passed for two touchdowns and ran for another as Arizona built a 24-6 halftime lead over a Tennessee team that is regarded as a Super Bowl contender from the AFC. Murray added two touchdown throws to Christian Kirk in the third quarter to finish off the Titans. Murray passed for 289 yards and had a 121.0 passer rating.

Why the Cards won: They got an early jump when Tennessee’s Ryan Tannehill fumbled on a sack at his 1-yard line. Their next three touchdowns came on drives of 70, 75 and 75 yards. Arizona averaged 4.1 yards on 33 rushing attempts.

Best of the rest

Eagles 32, Falcons 6

The scoop: It was not a very impressive debut for new Atlanta coach Arthur Smith and offensive coordinator Dave Ragone. Philadelphia gave up the first points on a field goal then outscored the Falcons 32-3 the rest of the way as Jalen Hurts completed 27 of 35 for 264 yards and three touchdowns. The Eagles outgained Atlanta 434-260. Matt Ryan passed for only 164 yards and was sacked three times for 28 yards.

Why the Eagles won: They allowed Atlanta to convert only 3 of 14 third downs.

Panthers 19, Jets 14

The scoop: Carolina built a 16-0 lead with former Jet Sam Darnold passing to another former Jet, Robby Anderson, for a touchdown and running for another. Rookie QB Zach Wilson passed for both New York touchdowns in the second half, completing 20 of 37 for 258 yards one interception. Christian McCaffrey of the Panthers ran 21 times for 98 yards and caught nine passes for 89.

Why the Panthers won: They held Wilson and the Jets to 78 yards in the first half.

49ers 41, Lions 33

The scoop: The Niners led 38-10 halfway through the third quarter after a 79-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Garoppolo to Deebo Samuel. Jared Goff, in his Detroit debut, rallied the Lions throwing two of his three TD passes in the fourth quarter.

Why the 49ers won: The difference was the first half when San Francisco scored three touchdowns on offense and got another on a 39-yard interception return by Dre Greenlaw.

Chargers 20, Washington 16

The scoop: Ryan Fitzpatrick was injured and knocked out of the game with 9 minutes left in the second quarter after throwing only six passes with three completions for 13 yards. Taylor Heinicke replaced him and passed to former Bill Logan Thomas for the only Washington touchdown and a 16-13 lead with 11:20 left in the third quarter. The other WFT points came on Dustin Hopkins field goals.

Why the Chargers won: Justin Herbert put the Chargers back in the lead with a 3-yard pass to Mike Williams with 11:21 to go in the fourth quarter after L.A. had recovered a fumble by Antonio Gibson at the Washington 4. That came one play after Herbert threw an interception at the WFT 4.

Broncos 27, Giants 13

The scoop: Denver went in front on Teddy Bridgewater’s 2-yard pass to Tim Patrick with 8 seconds go to in the first half and shut out the Giants the rest of the way until Daniel Jones scored on the last play of the game. Bridgewater completed 28 of 36 for 264 yards in his first game for Denver after being acquired in a trade with Carolina.

Why the Broncos won: Jones lost a fumble after a scramble to the Broncos’ 15 in the third quarter to kill a 60-yard drive when the game was still reach.

Rams 34, Bears 14

The scoop: Matthew Stafford threw scoring passes of 67 yards to Van Jefferson and 56 to Cooper Kupp and Matt Gay kicked field goals from 53 and 22 yards in the first half of the L.A. victory. David Montgomery ran 3 yards for the Chicago touchdown and rookie quarterback Justin Fields ran 3 for a score in the third quarter to bring Chicago within 20-14 before Darrell Henderson scored on a short run and Stafford passed to Robert Woods for a his third passing score.

Why the Rams won: Chicago ran more plays and dominated time of possession for three quarters but L.A. was able to make big plays.

Dog of the day

Texans 37, Jaguars 21

The scoop: With Tyrod Taylor passing for two touchdowns, Houston built a 34-7 lead with 3:24 left in the third quarter. The rout by the Texans spoiled the NFL debut of Jaguars coach Urban Meyer and No. 1 draft pick Trevor Lawrence. The former Clemson star passed for two touchdowns as he completed 28 of 51 passes for 332 yards. However, he was intercepted three times. Lawrence’s first NFL touchdown pass went to former Canisius College basketball player Chris Manhertz for 22 yards in the second quarter.

Why the Texans won: Taylor had an efficient performance. He was sacked just once in the Texans’ first game under coach David Culley.