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What NFL themes emerged from the Steven Nelson Jersey opening Sunday of the 2014 season? Our resident coach, Brian Billick, provides five major takeaways:1) The 18-game schedule is going to be a tough sellA significant injury can alter the course of a team's season, but this year, injuries could play an even more important role in the future of the league. There have been conversations about extending the regular season to 18 games, but with marquee players like , , , , , , and all going down with injuries in Week 1, the NFL is going to have an even tougher sell on this front moving forward.On the flip side of that, the NFLPA has campaigned for (and received) more favorable practice conditions for union members. There are far le s contact drills -- or even padded practices -- in the weeks leading up to the opener and throughout the course of the entire season. At first glance, you would think that would help to preserve the health of players, but recently I've heard grumblings from multiple coaching staffs that they no longer have the time nor the ability to get their teams into "playing shape." Thus, players simply aren't prepared for the physicality of the game come Week 1.I'm not sure when (or if) the 18-game schedule will ever come to fruition, but I can promise you that injury-riddled Sundays like this past one will be a notable bargaining chip during future discu sions.2) Rookie wide receivers make their markWe are coming off a 2013 season in which became just the fourth rookie in NFL history with 70-plus receptions, 1,000-plus yards and eight touchdowns. Two years earlier, and set the league on fire with a combined 119 receptions for 2,016 yards and 15 touchdowns. With that said, 2014 might truly become the year of the rookie receiver.There were five wide receivers selected in Round 1 of the . Four of the five first-rounders played on Sunday -- 's take the field Monday night, but the injured receiver already -- and they combined to rack up 21 receptions for 237 yards and two touchdowns, with (six receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown) and (seven catches for 77 yards and a touchdown) leading the way. Benjamin legitimized himself as a true No. 1 option in Carolina, while Cooks proved he can make up for the lo ses of both and in ' offense. had just three catches for 31 yards, but he helped the get their . Lastly, caught five pa ses, but for a meager 37 yards.All of those guys obviously enter the NFL with high expectations as first-round picks, but the rookie receiver who truly stole the show went completely undrafted in May: newbie . The Miami product became the first player in NFL history Mekhi Garner Jersey to record two receiving touchdowns in the first quarter of his NFL debut. Unfortunately, he finished with just two more catches and actually had some costly drops later in the game. Even still, the future is bright for this young man. And this is quite a find for the , who are without , due to the former No. 5 overall pick's indefinite suspension. Quite a difference in prospect pedigree, but Hurns looks capable of filling the void.3) Victims of their own succe sWe saw stirring comeback wins on Sunday , and , but it was the near comeback by the that really caught my attention.Pittsburgh jumped all over Cleveland early and took a 27-3 lead into the locker room at halftime. It was cla sic football, with a tough rushing attack led by and a quick-strike pa sing game headlined by and . They could do no wrong. But in the next 20 game minutes, the completely erased the 24-point deficit. The had become their own worst enemy, victims of their own first-half succe s. As a coach, that's one of the toughest things to do during a game: keeping your team's attention and focus after jumping out to a big lead. Momentum can shift in a hurry in this league, and it can be tough to maintain dominance through the halftime break.We saw it in Miami, as the carried a 10-point lead over the into the half ... then got outscored 23-0 in the final 30 minutes. Even in Dallas, the found themselves down by 25 at the break, but crawled back in the second half to at Dallas Goedert Jersey least make the score look respectable.You can't afford to get comfortable during a game in the NFL. No lead is ever big enough.4) Road warriorsI have long advocated the formula of holding serve at home and splitting on the road as the easiest path to the playoffs in the NFL. Those 12 wins -- eight at home and four on the road -- all but guarantee a spot in the postseason tournament. While it is way too early to start talking about the playoff field, the , , and surely surprised us all by stealing road wins in Week 1. The and did it, too, but those two outcomes were far le s surprising.Of the six road teams that won on Sunday, only (Kansas City). But still, with backup quarterback starting in place of the injured , for the first time ever in Soldier Field, and . Meanwhile, the overcame critical injuries on the defensive side of the ball Don Cherry Jersey to , while earned .In 2013, eight of the 12 playoff teams won their season opener. But doing so on the road is even more impre sive. These six teams have something big to hang their hats on heading into the second week of the season.5) Pa sing league ... to a faultSure, it's a quarterback-driven league. And if you don't have a franchise-caliber pa ser, you better do everything in your power to go out and find out. But even when you do have one, you can't ask Ainias Smith Jersey him to throw it more than 45 times in a game! posted an NFL-high 62 pa sing attempts on Sunday, with (56), (53) and (49) falling in right behind him. Not coincidentally, all four of their teams lost. Typically, pa sing numbers blow up after a team falls behind big in the early goings, forcing the offense into desperation mode. Strangely, this wasn't exactly the case on Sunday. The were never more than two po se sions behind the , and the actually held a 10-point lead at halftime. Cutler and the were down by 10 at the break, but had tied it up by the end of the third quarter. Only Luck was truly playing catch-up, having trailed the 24-0 in the second quarter.In all fairne s, there was one triumphant quarterback who attempted exactly 45 pa ses on Sunday: . But his faced a larger deficit (17 points) than the , or encountered. And what jump-started the ' comeback? ' breakaway .Even Brady, one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, completed just 51.8 percent of his 56 attempts. Flacco didn't do much better at 56.5 percent. And while Cutler (69.4) and Luck (66.0) logged high completion percentages, they each threw two interceptions. When you attempt that many pa ses, you are going to get all of your quarterback -- the good and the bad.Follow Brian Billick on Twitter .