Week 1 of my 'Teams of the Past' Football Season was under way, and we had some really good match-ups in Week 1, while 1971 Miami Dolphins & 1999 St. Louis Cardinals had bye weeks.
One of the epic match-ups most fans dreamed of.. Joe Montana vs Tom Brady -- ended up being all Tom Brady, as Montana struggled mightily against the New England defense. Montana's numbers at the end of the day (12/40, 159 yds, 1 TD / 1 INT & sacked 4 times) was horrible, as he ended the day with a very low 41.6 QB Rating.
Brady, meanwhile, played smart, execution football (21/31, 191 yards, 2 TD passes) with a QB rating of 105.7... good enough to finish 3rd in Week 1 (behind Carson Palmer & Johnny Unitas). Although, Brady didn't complete a pass over 25 yards at any point in the game, he effectively led his team down the field on two strong drives before the end of each half.
The Niners' strong point came in their rushing game with Roger Craig (14-86 /6.1 avg) while the rushed for 131 yards on 20 carries. The Patriots did match the Niners' running game, nearly in yards (130), but on 32 carries, mostly split between Antowain Smith & Kevin Faulk. Craig, by the way, also had 3 catches for 43 yards (129 total yards) for the day.
Besides the stark contrast between the two teams' quarterbacks, the offenses were pretty equal all across the board, but the Patriots made it count when they needed to.
Injury Report: DL-Rick Lyle (NE/Out for 7 weeks), S-Antwan Harris (NE/Out for 5 weeks), DE-Richard Seymour (NE/Out for 2 weeks), RB-Kevin Faulk (NE/Out for 1 week), Willie McGinest (NE/Out for 1 week), P-Ken Walter (NE/Out for 1 week) & RB-Del Rodgers (SF/Out for 15 weeks).
What's Next for both teams?
- 2000 Baltimore Ravens (0-1) @ 1988 San Francisco 49'ers (0-1)
- 2003 New England Patriots (1-0) @ 2015 Denver Broncos (0-1)
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