Comparing Week 1 results from one season to another is always an interesting exercise, but it takes on even more significance this season. In 2010, teams had the benefit of minicamps, organized team activities, more padded practices and a normal free agency period. In 2011, not so much, thanks to the lockout.
So how did the lockout affect things? Let's take a look at four key areas:
Rookie starters
Everyone thought getting rookies ready to start would be a disaster. It was an easy conclusion to draw -- less practice and preseason reps and no rookie minicamps would mean fewer rookies hitting the field. It was also dead wrong.
In 2010, 39 rookies started in Week 1. In 2011, 52 started on offense and defense, the most since at least 1991 (when Stats Inc. began keeping track of that data). Cam Newton led the way, with 422 passing yards (an opening day record for rookies), two touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown, but he wasn't alone (see box, right). The Eagles started a rookie center and a rookie middle linebacker and won on the road. The Bengals bettered that by starting four rookies on offense, scoring 27 points and winning in Cleveland.
So much for the lost time setting youngsters back.
Penalties
In 2010, there were 203 penalties called on opening weekend. In 2011, there were 219. That's an increase of one penalty more a game, which isn't bad at all. That flies in the face of those who suggested the lack of an offseason would lead to looser, undisciplined play early in the season.
Looking closer at the numbers, 10 teams had fewer penalties last weekend than they did in 2010; four teams had the same amount. The Jets had the most drastic improvement. In 2010, they led the league in penalties on opening day with 14 and they had 10 on opening day 2009. What did they do this year? They had zero penalties.
Of course, there will always be teams like Oakland. The Raiders led the league with 15 penalties for a whopping 131 yards, and had 10 last year on opening weekend.
Punts
Punting is a function of solid defenses stopping teams and offenses not being effective when they have the ball. I came into this week with the belief that defenses were way ahead of offenses, based on visiting over a dozen training camps. Most of the summer, the offenses that I watched struggled against defenses.
But things weren't as bad as I thought. In 2010 on opening weekend, there were 171 punts or an average of 10.7 punts per game. In 2011, there were 169 punts or 10.6 per game. When it came right down to it, teams moved the chains the same this year as they did in a year when they had a lot more prep time.
Passing
The passing game for an offense is complicated and takes time to install -- from the protection schemes to the coverage reads to the timing between a quarterback and his receiver. In the offseason, more time is dedicated to the passing game than anything else. This would lead some to conclude that the lockout would have an adverse affect on passing throughout the league.
Um, not quite. Last year in Week 1, there were three quarterbacks who threw for 300 yards or more. In 2011, there were 14, including Tom Brady's 517 night. The passing game looked healthier than ever as Week 1 featured 7,842 combined passing yards -- this highest single week total in NFL history.
So much for all the lost practice time.
As you can see through one week, the lockout really didn't have the total negative effect on the game that most experts, including myself, thought it might. Of course, there is still tons of room for improvement and that starts with tackling on special teams. Don't forget that there were eight kick or punt returns for touchdowns in Week 1, which is more than any other opening weekend in history.
