Article:Whatifsports.com NFL 2007-08 Replay: Week 1

For those who don't know what this is about, read this article.

= Simulations =

Thursday Night
Indianapolis Colts 31 New Orleans Saints 21

Sunday
Minnesota Vikings 37 Atlanta Falcons 20 Carolina Panthers 26 St. Louis Rams 0

Buffalo Bills 28* Denver Broncos 23

Kansas City Chiefs 27 Houston Texans 21

New England Patriots 38 New York Jets 17

Green Bay Packers 32* Philadelphia Eagles 17 Cleveland Browns 24 Pittsburgh Steelers 10

Jacksonville Jaguars 18 Tennessee Titans 13

San Diego Chargers 26 Chicago Bears 6

Detroit Lions vs. Oakland Raiders (Result to be shown on "Game of the Day" ) Seattle Seahawks 17 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16

Dallas Cowboys 35 New York Giants 13

Monday
Baltimore Ravens 34 Cincinnati Bengals 14

Arizona Cardinals 20 San Francisco 49ers 13

Notes:


 * Bills starting QB was JP Losman, as in actual season.
 * Packers starting RB was Vernand Morency.

Game of the Day
The Raider vs. Lions was the start of Jon Kitna's 10 win guarantee campaign. It got off to a great start as the kick return went all the way to the Oakland 16. Sadly, it's the Lions as Kitna threw two incomplete passes and he was sacked by Chris Clemons. Jason Hanson kicked the FG to make it 3-0 Lions. Reaching the end of the 1st quarter, Raiders RB Justin Fargas fumbled at midfield, recovered by the Lions and returned to the Oakland 33. Detroit needed little time to strike. After a 23 yard pass to rookie Calvin Johnson,  Tatum Bell burst through that Raiders defense, and went all the way for the touchdown! 10-0 Lions.

Oakland started the 2nd quarter with a punt, and it seemed to all fall apart. But opportunity struck as rookie Michael Huff picked off Kitna in the end zone. Momentum to Oakland after being in danger of falling 17-0 down. Oakland went on a 11 play 80 yard drive that took 5:30 off the clock, culminating in a 25 yard touchdown catch by Zach Miller. 10-7 Lions. Detroit quickly responded after a key turnover put the Raiders back into the game. At their own 33, Kevin Jones once again ripped through the Raiders, he rushed for 32 yards to the Oakland 35. After a TJ Duckett 10 yard scramble, Kitna found a wide open Shaun McDonald for a TD to end the half at 17-7.

Start of the 2nd half, Oakland drove 7 plays, 65 yards, in 3:56, with the final 29 yards coming on a Jerry Porter 29 yard touchdown grab, QB Josh McCown's 2nd TD pass of the game. 17-14 Lions. An uneventful 3rd quarter after that TD set up a wild 4th quarter.

With the Lions driving deep into Oakland territory, Kitna threw yet another ill-advised pass. This time Thomas Howard came up with the pick and went all the way to the Detroit 37. A break for the Lions, as the Raiders fumbled the snap on 3rd and goal a few plays later. A bigger break for the Raiders, as they recovered the fumble and Sebastian Janikowski tied the game at 17-17. More trouble for the Lions when Kitna was picked again in his own territory, by John Bowie. That Lions defense once again made a key stand with 6:44 left in the game, and Janikowski put up 3 more. 20-17 Raiders lead for the first time.

The Lions needed something to click offensively as Kitna was getting picked, and they had gotten away from the running game. They got no help with a poor kickoff return to the Det 14 yard line. A false start sent them to the 9 yard line. It seemed bleak, the Raiders fans were going wild. Quickly silenced were those Raider fans as Kevin Jones burst through that Raider defense for 32 yards. Now the Lions were back in control. Runs of 9, 6, 5, 7, and 4 by Jones, then a 25 yard grab by Roy Williams had them at the 3 with 2:08 left. After the two minute warning, the Lions could not punch it in the end zone. Jason Hanson for the tie....GOOD!!! 20-20 with 1:32 left.

The Raiders would not run the clock out, they wanted to win. But McCown on the 2nd play of the drive, was intercepted by Shaun Cody. An unbelievable turn of events as Cody returned it to the Oakland 17 yard line with :58 left. A couple of more running plays set up Hanson's 30 yard field goal attempt for the win.......GOOD!!!! WHAT A FINISH!!! LIONS WIN!!!

Detroit Lions 23 Oakland Raiders 20










= WIS (Whatifsports) Standings =

AFC East
Patriots (1-0)

Bills (1-0)

Jets (0-1)

Dolphins (0-1)

AFC North
Browns (1-0)

Ravens (1-0)

Steelers (0-1)

Bengals (0-1)

AFC South
Colts (1-0)

Jaguars (1-0)

Titans (0-1)

Texans (0-1)

AFC West
Chiefs (1-0)

Chargers (1-0)

Raiders (0-1)

Broncos (0-1)

NFC East
Eagles (1-0)

Cowboys (1-0)

Redskins (1-0)

Giants (0-1)

NFC North
Lions (1-0)

Vikings (1-0)

Packers (0-1)

Bears (0-1)

NFC South
Panthers (1-0)

Saints (0-1)

Falcons (0-1)

Buccaneers (0-1)

NFC West
Seahawks (1-0)

Cardinals (1-0)

49ers (0-1)

Rams (0-1)

= Actual NFL Standings After Week 1 =

AFC East
Patriots (1-0) Bills (0-1) Jets (0-1) Dolphins (0-1)

AFC North
Steelers (1-0) Bengals (1-0) Browns (0-1) Ravens (0-1)

AFC South
Colts (1-0) Titans (1-0) Texans (0-1)

Jaguars (0-1)

AFC West
Broncos (1-0) Chargers (1-0) Raiders (0-1)

Chiefs (0-1)

NFC East
Redskins (1-0) Cowboys (1-0)

Eagles (0-1) Giants (0-1)

NFC North
Lions (1-0) Vikings (1-0) Packers (1-0) Bears (0-1)

NFC South
Panthers (1-0) Saints (0-1) Falcons (0-1) Buccaneers (0-1)

NFC West
Seahawks (1-0) 49ers (1-0) Cardinals (0-1) Rams (0-1)

So there you have it. Look for this feature throughout the coming days.