Of the 160 offensive line starters leaguewide in the opening week, 69 were either players with new teams, blockers playing new positions, or rookies. That's an average of 2.16 new starters per team, and 10 clubs had three or more new starters.
Around the league, though, such coordination was mostly lacking in the opening week. The optimist might point out that, like in baseball, where the pitchers almost always set the tone coming out of spring training, defenses characteristically rule in the early weeks of the NFL schedule, and things eventually even out. But the situation was so treacherous in the first week that one has to wonder how many quarterbacks might be laid out, or how many tailbacks will be in traction, by the time offensive line units meld.
There were 81 sacks last week, an average of slightly more than five per game, and
that is a pace that would set a new high since the NFL went to the 256-game schedule in 2002, when the Texans came into the league as an expansion team. Of the 32 starting quarterbacks, only four -- New Orleans'
Drew Brees, the
New York Giants'
Eli Manning, Washington's
Mark Brunell and San Diego's
Philip Rivers -- didn't hit the deck at least once.
The league quarterbacks, though, weren't the only players absorbing plenty of lumps behind poor lines. Running backs suffered as well. There were only three games in which both teams ran for 100 yards or more. There were, likewise, three games in which neither offense posted 100 rushing yards.
Thirteen teams registered less than 90 yards on the ground, six had less than 70 and three had 50 or less. "Let's face it, you can have all the best skill-position players in the world, and if your line isn't doing its job, you're going to be in trouble," said
Cincinnati Bengals right tackle
Willie Anderson, whose unit was one of just six in the league to return intact from 2005. "It all starts up front. It goes good up front or it can go bad up front. This week, I guess, it went
real bad for some people
