The Patriots opener is just over three hours away, but most of the Week 1 slate is in the books. The PFW boys got a rare chance to actually check out some of the games since we’re at home and waiting for the Monday nighter to open our seasons. I thought I’d post a couple of observations …

*I totally agree with Phil Simms’ comments about not reading too much into the goings on in Week 1. I’ve been guilty of that more than once over the years and it’s amazing how quickly things can turn. Remember the 2003 Bills?

*That said, it was tough not to come away at least a little impressed with the Jets. Mark Sanchez showed great poise and made very few mistakes. He converted third downs with great regularity and avoided negative plays for the most part. And defensively this is an aggressive group with the speed, size and athleticism to make things tough on opponents. I’m already anxious to see how that unfolds next week against the Patriots.

*If someone were to tell you that a game was won on an 87-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds left, wouldn’t you assume that a.) the Bengals lost, and b.) Gus Johnson had to be doing the play-by-play? I was almost sad that I saw it happen live and thus never got to guess on either case. By the way, think the Bengals could have gotten any more DBs to go after the intended receiver and forget about the ball?

*The Giants looked scary good. Defensively we all know what they’re capable of, and with Osi Umenyiora back the group is even better. Offensively there were questions about the lack of receivers for Eli Manning, but Steve Smith, Mario Manningham, Hakeem Nicks (before he was hurt) and Kevin Boss looked pretty good. If this team ever figures out how to convert in short-yardage situations it might be unbeatable.

*Adrian Peterson is good.

*Brett Favre looked a lot like the Brett Favre of the past couple of years — he dinked and dunked, relied on his running game, made a couple of “plays” and then had to treated for an STD after the fawning announcers treated him like a god yet again. I actually heard one lemming say that Peterson got all those yards because the Vikings now have a quarterback who needs to be respected. Please.

*Joe Flacco is ready to emerge into a legitimate top-flight quarterback. I didn’t get to see much of the Ravens highlights, but his numbers continue to show the Ravens are ready to put more of the burden on his shoulders.

*The Colts will miss Anthony Gonzalez if he’s seriously injured. Much like the Pats, the Colts have solid weapons in the receiving game but not a lot of depth. Fred the Boss reports that Indy has already looked into re-signing Marvin Harrison. Since Harrison has been done for three years, that’s not the answer.