NFL Player News

The Browns used a no-huddle, hurry-up offense Sunday against the Steelers to rally from a 24-point halftime deficit to tie the game early in the fourth quarter. 

"It’s something I’m very comfortable with," quarterback Brian Hoyer said Monday, per the Akron Beacon Journal. "I think for our whole entire offense, we’re all comfortable with it. We practice it a lot. To go out and execute it in a game boosts your confidence level."

Hoyer completed 15 of 20 passes for 173 yards, one touchdown and a quarterback rating of 117.3 after halftime Week 1. Even with the great success, Hoyer said the Browns will have to be comfortable with changing tempo on offense moving forward.

"I think when you can move fast and you’re getting big chunk plays whether it’s in the running game or the passing game, that gives you a little bit of momentum," Hoyer said. "But we can’t just rely on our no-huddle offense because no one can sustain that type of energy for an entire 60 minutes, plus 16 games a year. So I think obviously it’s something that will be a good mix-up for us, but we just have to get better in our normal offense, too."

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford got off to a dream start, scoring three touchdowns Monday night against the Giants in Week 1.

Stafford scrambled and escaped the rush to keep the play alive before firing a 67-yard touchdown to Calvin Johnson, who was left all alone downfield on the opening drive of the game. Stafford found Johnson again, who made a leaping grab for a 16-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive. He showed his wheels in the third quarter, scoring from 5 yards out.

He compiled 346 yards through the air while completing 22 of 32 passes. He threw for two touchdowns and no interceptions, finishing with a 125.3 passer rating. 212 of his 346 yards came in the first half. He also had four carries for two yards and a touchdown.

Stafford will travel to Carolina to face the Panthers in Week 2. He hasn't faced Carolina since 2011. He carved them up for 335 yards through the air, with five touchdowns and two interceptions.

Raiders rookie quarterback Derek Carr completed 20 of 32 passes against the Jets in his debut, but only three completions were caught 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. And eight of Carr's completions were behind the line.

"We had some shot plays called down the field, and a couple of those opportunities, for whatever the reason was, we didn't get the ball down the field and ended up having to check it down," coach Dennis Allen told the Oakland Tribune. "I would say it's a combination of us and some of what they did."

Carr, who has a big arm, will try to attack downfield more Week 2 against Houston.

Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill got off to a slow start in Week 1 against the Patriots, but found his stride in a 33-20 win Sunday.

Tannehill tossed a touchdown on his first drive, but ended up finishing the first half with just 73 yards of passing, along with one interception. He was much improved in the second half, finishing the game 18 for 32 with 178 yards and two touchdowns through the air.

Tannehill got more help from the running game than he has been able to depend on in the past, so he wasn't forced to do much as the team worked its way back from an early deficit. He will face another AFC East rival in Week 2, with the Bills looming on the schedule Sunday.  

Jets second-year quarterback Geno Smith played well in Week 1 in a 19-14 victory against the Raiders.

Smith was 23-of-28 passing for 221 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also had 10 carries for 38 yards.

Smith's touchdown was a 5-yard pass to Chris Johnson in the second quarter. He also lost a fumble.

The Jets play at Green Bay in Week 2.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton played made enough plays to come out on top in Week 1, in a 23-16 win over the Ravens Sunday.

Dalton had a pretty quiet game for the most part, but came up with a big play late to win it. With the score tied 16-16, Dalton hit A.J. Green for a 77-yard touchdown to put the Bengals up for good.

Dalton finished the game with 301 passing yards, first 300-yard performance in a Week 1 of his career. Dalton completed 25 of 38 passes and had one touchdown, while avoiding any turnovers in the win.

Dalton started his season well Sunday, and will look to keep things going in Week 2 against the Falcons. 

Raiders rookie quarterback Derek Carr made his NFL debut Sunday at the Jets, and he was mediocre at best in a 19-14 loss.

Carr was 20-of-32 passing for 151 yards and two touchdowns. But he should have had an interception returned for a touchdown, and he was limited after a 7-of-7 start. He connected on touchdowns to Rod Streater and James Jones.

The Raiders play host to Houston in Week 2.

Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer overcame the pressure of a miserable first half and the spectre of Johnny Manziel as his possible replacement to lead an inspired rally Sunday in Pittsburgh that nearly resulted in victory.

Throwing crisply and confidently to a wide array of receivers, Hoyer completed 15 of 20 for 174 yards after intermission. Included was a 9-yard touchdown off a bootleg to Travis Benjamin in the left corner of the end zone. He finished the game 19 of 31 for 230 yards and no interceptions.

Hoyer nailed three of his first four attempts, including a 47-yarder to tight end Jordan Cameron, but missed on seven of his next eight tries. He then engineered four scoring drives in first 20 minutes of the second half to turn a 27-3 deficit into a 27-27 tie.

He will try to lead the team to its first win next Sunday when the Saints come marching in.

The Cowboys have listed QB Dustin Vaughan, LB Korey Toomer, DE Jack Crawford, OT Donald Hawkins, OT Darrion Weems, DE Anthony Spencer, DT Terrell McClain as inactive Week 1 against the 49ers. 

Only McClain was listed on the injury report coming into the game. He's dealing with an ankle injury. Spencer had already been ruled out heading into the game.

The 49ers have listed QB Josh Johnson, WR Quinton Patton, OL Anthony Davis, CB Chris Cook, OL Marcus Martin, DT Cornellius Carradine and DT Quinton Dial as inactive Week 1 against the Cowboys.

With Johnson out, Blaine Gabbert will officially serve as the backup quarterback for Colin Kaepernick.