Fantasy Football's Week 1 was a thrilling week, especially if you are a fan of high passing totals. For the first time in NFL history, there were five games where both quarterbacks passed for 300 or more yards. New England Patriots QB Tom Brady was the league leader with an incredible 517 yards passing. It was the most passing yards in a single game since Arizona Cardinals QB Boomer Esiason threw for 522 yards against the Washington Redskins.

 

The other extreme happened in San Diego. In a week where 14 starting quarterbacks managed to throw for more than 300 yards and 22 starting quarterbacks topped 200 yards; Minnesota Vikings QB Donovan McNabb had 39 yards passing.

His complete stat line was seven completions in 15 attempts for 39 yards, one touchdown, one pick and a QB rating of 47.9. It was arguably one of the worst efforts by a quarterback of his stature in the history of the NFL, especially considering he played the entire game.

 

The important thing is to not hit the panic button. The Pittsburgh Steelers are not going to turn the ball over seven times a game this season. The Cincinnati Bengals are not going to play the Cleveland Browns 16 times. The worst thing you can do is start cutting or trading good players for players that had one good week.

Cam Newton is a perfect illustration of how you have to be careful about Week 1 statistics. Newton had 422 yards passing, two touchdowns and one pick against an Arizona Cardinals pass defense that was brutal in 2010. The Green Bay Packers allowed 419 yards passing and three passing touchdowns to the New Orleans Saints.

Therefore, Newton is a great play this week. But you cannot become a prisoner of the Week 1 moment. The Panthers rookie had a great game against a mediocre opponent. The Packers had a bad game against Drew Brees, a future Hall of Famer. Do not expect Newton to play as well as he did last week and do not expect the Packers to play as bad as they did last week.

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