Boston College Football: Eagles in the NFL, Week 1

A look back at the performances that were in Week One of the NFL for former members of the Boston College football program:

Will Blackmon, Jacksonville Jaguars

Blackmon had five tackles as the Jags jumped out to a 17-0 lead.  They couldn't hold it, though, as the Chip Kelly Project led the Philadelphia Eagles to a monster second half and a 34-17 victory.

Anthony Costanzo & Gosder Cherilus, Indianapolis Colts

The prized offensive linemen drew starting assignments protecting Andrew Luck on Sunday Night Football.  Despite being down 24-3 at halftime to the Broncos, the Colts made a game of it, roaring back in the second half in Denver.  Luck finished with 370 yards and was only sacked three times, but the second half comeback fell short in a 31-24 loss.

Jo-Lonn Dunbar, St. Louis Rams

The former Eagle linebacker played snaps for a Ram defense that's entrusted with way too much this year.  The hapless St. Louis offense couldn't get anything going, and the Minnesota Vikings destroyed them, 34-6.  Dunbar had three tackles and assisted on one sack.

Kasim Edebali, New Orleans Saints

Edebali, a long shot by our accounts at making and sticking with one of the NFL's premier franchises, not only made it out of camp with the Saints but saw snaps and game time action in the overtime loss to the Falcons.  More on that later.

Nate Freese, Detroit Lions

There's plenty of Giants fans on our staff, but they watched in horror as Matt Stafford picked apart the Big Blue defense.  That meant plenty of face time for the former Eagle kicker and rookie in Detroit.  Freese shanked his first field goal try but was good on his next two, connecting from 27 and 28 yards out.  He registered three extra points as Detroit nuked the Giants, 35-14

Mark Herzlich, Matthias Kiwanuka, & Andre Williams, New York Giants

The Gints have always been a safe haven for Boston College grads.  On the losing end of a rough performance, all three saw action.  Herzlich, predominantly known as a special teams player, registered one tackle, while the venerable veteran Kiwanuka picked up one of his own.

The heralded rookie Williams picked up nine yards on five carries and looked poor on a pass pattern that he ran.  He looks to vulture some carries and be used in pass protection situations, though, especially after Rashad Jennings got blown up pretty badly in protection scenarios by the Lions defensive line.

Luke Kuechly, Carolina Panthers

The reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, the tackling machine picked up nine in the opening game win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Two of those tackles came in the late stages under two minutes to go with the Panthers nursing a three point lead.  He also forced a fumble in the final two minutes and contributed one sack overall against Tampa QB Josh McCown.  Carolina defeated the Bucs, 20-14.

Ryan Quigley, New York Jets

One thing about the Jets is that they never disappoint to give us performances by a punter.  Quigley punted five times for an average of over 44 yards per kick.  Two of those landed inside the 20 with one touchback, and his longest kick of the day went 56 yards.  The Jets upended the Oakland Raiders, 19-14.

Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons

Ryan had a record setting and fantasy season starting performance for the ages in Atlanta's 37-34 overtime win over the Saints.  He threw for 448 yards, a franchise record for Atlanta, going 31-of-43 with three touchdowns.  He now has 156 career touchdowns, best all-time in Falcon franchise history, and he did not throw a single pick.

Inactives or players that did not see action

Matt Hasselbeck (Indianapolis Colts) - backup to Andrew Luck, did not play
BJ Raji (Green Bay Packers) - torn biceps during preseason, placed on season-ending injured reserve
Kaleb Ramsay (Seattle Seahawks) - Placed on Physically-Unable-To-Perform list.
Damik Scafe (San Diego Chargers) - Dressed but did not play as Chargers lost on Monday to Arizona, 18-17

Stats via bceagles.com.