(AP PHOTO/PAUL CONNORS via AZcentral.com)

Panthers No. 1 draft pick Cam Newton had the best debut of any rookie NFL quarterback ever on Sunday, throwing for 422 yards and 2 touchdowns in a losing effort, falling 28-21 to the Arizona Cardinals. Newton’s performance destroyed the previous modern-day yardage record held by Peyton Manning, who threw for 302 yards back in Week 1 of the 1998 season, and ties Matt Stafford‘s 2007 Week 10 performance for most yards ever thrown for by a rookie. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the all-time record for a first-game by a rookie was 346 by Otto Graham for the Cleveland Browns in 1950.

Newton’s first professional touchdown pass came on this 77-yard strike to WR Steve Smith:

In total, Newton went 24-for-37 for 422 yards, 2 TDs and 1 interception, plus 18 yards and 1 score on the ground. Both passing scores went to Smith, who finished with 178 yards receiving, with Newton completing passes to eight different receivers and making all the throws you could ever hope to see from your new quarterback.

Watch complete game highlights of the league’s newest superstar after the jump, via BSO:

Unfortunately for Newton, the Panthers surrendered two 4th quarter touchdowns, including an 89-yard punt return by Cardinals rookie Patrick Peterson with 7:51 remaining that proved to be the difference in the game. But Panthers fans are understandably excited about their future prospects after today’s display.

(Photo: Getty Images via Skysports.com)

As the NFL kicks off the 2011 season with the Packers-Saints match-up on NBC (with pre-game entertainment from the likes of Kid Rock and Lady Antebellum!), and while President Obama unveils his “American Jobs Act” to Congress and the nation, the biggest news of the day is that Colts’ QB Peyton Manning underwent another surgery on his neck on Thursday – his third in 19 months – and could miss the entire season.

The Colts released a statement today saying they would keep Manning – who will miss his first start in 14 seasons this Sunday vs the Texans – on the active roster, but there is no timetable for his return:

Team officials said Manning had an anterior fusion procedure to treat the nerve problem that was continuing to give him trouble months after his May 23 surgery.

 Recovery from the procedure typically takes at least eight to 10 weeks, said Dr. Victor Khabie, co-chief of the Orthopedics and Spine Institute at Northern Westchester Hospital in New York. He has not treated Manning, but is familiar with the procedure and how athletes recover from it.

 “It could be season-ending, seeing the piggybacking off of another surgery,” Khabie said. “But the athletes I’ve known over the years, I never count out because they are such great competitors and such great healers.”

So, while you can never count out a guy like Manning, whose older brother Cooper underwent a similar procedure, but speculation has been running rampant this week that this type of injury could even be career-ending.

Earlier this week, even before the news of this latest surgery, Howie Long told Yahoo! Sports that neck issues are a scary proposition, and ultimately it’s important that “Peyton does what’s best for Peyton”:

“When the lights go out at night, and an athlete’s staring at the ceiling, one thing that is probably their biggest fear is the neck,” Long said. “For a number of reasons, and some of them are obvious. When you start to get into multiple neck procedures, you’re getting into nerve damage, and you’re getting into the spinal column. It’s a scary proposition, and it’s certainly not a good thing.

“Will he be back this year? Hopefully, he is. But my point is this — when you’re into multiple neck issues, it doesn’t get better.”

(Image via DirecTV.com)

With the lockout giving NFL athletes even more time than usual to hawk products for huge endorsement deals, it should come as no surprise that two of the game’s most prolific pitchmen – the Manning brothers – are taking things to the next level with their new promotion.  Football Cops is being presented as a new original drama from DirecTV, featuring Peyton and Eli as Mike Tahoe and C.J Hunter, two mustachioed partners who use their rocket arms as crime-fighting weapons.

And despite the fact that DirecTV is playing this up as a real new series, and even has 3 “episodes” listed on the website, its hard to believe that this will actually be a recurring full-length television program. If anything, it’s far more likely to become an unavoidable marketing onslaught of commercials and short-format viral videos that we’ll have to endure over and over (and over) this Fall, until the very sound of the theme music makes our ears bleed.

But before it gets to that point, enjoy the official trailer for Football Cops:

Yeah … as much as we love the Fu Manchu mustache on Eli (let’s face it, anything that helps butch him up a bit is a good thing), and seeing Archie getting into the act as defense attorney Orlando Midnight, we’re going to reserve judgement about this “show”.  There’s a pretty good chance we’ll grow to hate it in time.

Afterward, Rex Ryan was his usual ebullient self in the Jets locker room, and shared his excitement over finally defeating their arch nemesis Peyton Manning and the Colts. And since everyone (ourselves included) seems to loves them some Rex, we thought we’d share it with you:

Unfortunately, the Jets will meet the Patriots in the next round of the playoffs, so this celebration will likely be short-lived.

I am serious. And don't call me Shirley. (Image via KissingSuzyKolber)

The San Diego Chargers took it to the Colts 36-14 last night, winning their fourth straight game and handing Indianapolis their worst home loss of the Manning era. The Chargers defense was the star of the show, picking off Peyton Manning FOUR times, including two that were returned for scores. After starting the year at 2-5, the Chargers have rebounded in a big way, and are serving notice to the rest of the AFC that they’re a force to be reckoned with coming down the stretch.

The very un-Peyton like performance was caused by the consistent pressure San Diego put on the normally unflappable QB all night long.  In fact, during the game, Cris Collinsworth showed a series of highlights that saw Manning flinching before contact was even made by a defender (watch here).  It was only the third time in his career that Manning has thrown 4 interceptions in a game, and he has now thrown 7 interceptions in the last two games, making it the worst stretch of his 13-year career.  Could we finally be seeing that Peyton is actually human, or is this (more likely) just an aberration?

In case you missed it, the headline for this article is a tribute to one of the greatest comedic actors of our time, Leslie Nielsen, who passed away yesterday at the age of 84. His roles in Airplane and the Naked Gun series will never be forgotten … and to keep this somewhat sports related, we leave you Nielsen’s classic performance as an umpire in the Naked Gun:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

I’ve never seen any of their cartoons before, but this one’s actually not bad. Not as funny as the Bang Cartoons, but not bad … I laughed at loud at the way Eli talks:

The Eagles defense picked off Peyton twice and sacked him three times in their meeting two weeks ago, but if I’m the Giants this week, I’m probably more scared of Michael Vick than I am of the Eagles D. This game could be an offensive shootout.

But again, this is an official Eagles cartoon. Is this really what they’re spending their time on in Philly these days? Does this even qualify as trash talk? It’s more cute than anything. Certainly not going to get the Giants locker room any more fired up than they already are.

A couple of thoughts:

* Few things of late are more satisfying than the sight of Peyton Hillis running through the Baltimore Ravens defense. It has been 20 years since the Browns had anything like it on the ground. Not sure it will last — this is Cleveland, he’ll probably tear his ACL tomorrow — and the Browns still LOST to the Ravens, but I don’t care. Watching this guy smash through that traitorous mess of a team was fantastic.

This guy is AFC North material. (Source: Zimbio.com)

* When I ask myself which team better step up huge and win at home this week PRONTO — or face a house cleaning — it’s the New York Giants. This team is on the brink of disaster, but a win over the 3-0 Bears (who don’t scare anyone yet) will go a long way to fixing the beginning of the season. New York seems like a team in search of something — anything — to grasp onto.

* Love how everyone spends all offseason talking about the Cowboys and Giants — and, to some degree, the Redskins due to McNabb and Shanny — and then Philly goes out, once again, and outplays everyone.

* Wicked tired of the Steelers.

* Have the Pats become the late-80s Chicago Bears? We respect them due to their somewhat-recent history, some of the star players are still hanging around, and we know they’ll win 11 games and reach the playoffs — but something is just out of place. They aren’t a Super Bowl team, and we all know  it — and they know it. They’ve become the team that gets bumped in the Divisional round for the next three years.

* Detroit fans would take that life in a second.

* I just fell asleep for a few seconds while typing…

* Last night I had a strange dream where Belichick traded Brady to the Bucs for a second- and fifth-round pick. My wife didn’t feel the dream was significant enough to wake her up to recount at 4:03 a.m. — she made that clear. Sounds absurd, but BB’s the same guy who jettisoned Kosar and Bledsoe early enough to shock everyone.

* I hate doing laundry. It always somehow drops into my Sat/Sun schedule. Then I refuse to do it, and I’m fishing button-down shirts out of the hamper to start the workweek. Driving to the office in a wrinkled blue mess that smells slightly like jogging shorts that were peed in — the Browns 0-4 and nobody made coffee.

* T.O. and Ochocinco = snoozefest. Slightly more intriguing than Albert Haynesworth. Slightly less intriguing than Phil Simms and his folksy non-attempts at humor.

* Problem: Fourteen teams are impossible to believe as playoff contenders.

* NFC East might feature one playoff team.

* AFC East might feature three (but Miami needs to start winning prime-time games at home).

* Brady has soft, womanly hair. I think he’s had some sort of work done — fueled by Giselle’s input. Some sort of hair transplant, softening, thinning, conditioning type thing. He was dealing with male-pattern baldness a few years back — now he looks 22. Something ain’t right. I think some people are aliens.

* If Peyton Manning grew his hair out like that he’d look like some sort of half-baked, poor-man’s Matthew McConaughy (I’m tired and don’t care if I spelled that wrong). Peyton needs to do something unusual. He’s a dull robot.

* I get annoyed by: People who rave about the commercial acting of the Manning Bros. They are relentlessly tedious.

* I do not understand why the Bills hired Chan Gailey.

* I do not understand why Chan Gailey refused to upgrade the quarterback position before the start of the season — I couldn’t give a hoot about the Bills, but I admire their fanbase, and I’d accept the concept of them BURNING PEOPLE ALIVE right about now. This is a quarterback’s league. It’s Week 4 and there’s zero hope in the Upstate.

* I don’t understand why Chan Gailey isn’t leaning on C.J. Spiller to save his job right now. Spiller is a freak speedster who’s been given the ball 12 times in three games.

* The Cowboys don’t want it enough. Tony Romo is on the edge of being classified as a con man, root being “confidence man,” or “a person who swindles another by means of a confidence trick.” We all bought it. This guy was going to give Jerry three titles to walk away into the sunset with. NO.

* Eighteen games? Really? We can’t keep players healthy for 16, so what’s the point?

* Oh, right… the point is money.

The Manning Bowl resumes tonight in Indianapolis (minus Cooper)

It’s been a great Sunday of football so far, but the most hyped match-up the NFL this weekend is tonight’s Manning Bowl II (aka the Colts vs Giants), in which the brothers Manning will square off for the second time as pros.  The first time – in 2006 – Peyton got the better of Eli and the Giants with a 26-21 win.  This time around, Eli has a lot more experience to go with the best receiving corps he’s ever had.

Aside from the QBs, the Colts are trying to bounce back from a beating at the hands of the Houston Texans in Week 1, but will do so without their best defensive player, Bob Sanders, who may be lost for the season. The Giants will look to create pressure and turnovers on defense, with a unit that looks re-energized under new DC Perry Fewell.  If they can’t get to Peyton and force him to hurry, this could be a high-scoring affair.

Believe it or not, there are 20 other players involved in tonight's game. We couldn't find any pictures of those guys.

We’re going to be following tonight’s Colts/Giants game using our new CoverItLive chat interface feature (below) … if you’re watching the game and are bored, join us in making fun of the Manning brothers, cringing at Cris Collinsworth, and calling for the heads of the horrible NFL refs. No big whoop.

JOIN IN THE CHAT AFTER THE JUMP


To Launch chat in a new window, Click Here

Our man DJ Steve Porter (of Press Hop fame) gives the Manning brothers the auto-tune treatment in his brand new video, “That’s My Brother”:

A picture says 1000 words (Photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images via ESPN.com)

The New Orleans Saints shocked the world and defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 to win Super Bowl XLIV, and bring the Lombardi Trophy home to the city of New Orleans.

Trailing 10-0 at the end of the 1st quarter, head coach Sean Payton made a series of gutsy calls – including a failed 4th and goal attempt in the 2nd quarter and successful onside kick to start the 2nd half – that helped the Saints chip away at the lead and put themselves in a position to win.

Drew Brees went 32-39 for 288 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions to collect the MVP award, and the Saints defense came up big when it mattered to preserve the lead.  The game winning-play came when Tracy Porter picked off Peyton Manning and brought it 74 yards to the house with 3:12 remaining.

WATCH VIDEO OF PORTER’S INTERCEPTION AFTER THE JUMP

Porter also picked off Brett Favre to seal the NFC Championship game two weeks ago (video here).  And for Manning, who is already regarded by many as the best QB of all time, it is a legacy-defining play.

Full Super Bowl XLIV highlights from NFL.com here

Congratulations to the Saints … and good for the city of New Orleans.