ESPN's Joe Theismann answers five key questions on Week 1 of the NFL season:

How surprising was Chris Weinke's debut in Minnesota?

	Rookie Chris Weinke looked poised for Carolina, and he finished 13-of-22 for 223 yards, with a TD and an interception.

Chris Weinke didn't surprise me at all. In fact, when he was drafted, I thought he would come in and play well. He's very mature and he's very bright.

Steve Beuerlein had success in that Panthers' offense, and Weinke is a similar type of quarterback. He's good at getting rid of the football, he throws a nice tight spiral and he's accurate.

If you have those three components at the professional level, plus the skill players he has at Carolina, Weinke will likewise be successful. I was very impressed with the way he made decisions with the football.

I didn't expect Michael Vick to play Sunday, but he has a long way to go compared to Weinke -- you're talking about an eight-year difference between these guys.

There's a maturity factor at work here. Weinke chose to go back to Florida State for his senior year, which turned out to be an excellent decision for him. It gave him another year at a great program and allowed him to make the transition to the NFL much more easily. When you think about it, Vick played a limited amount of football in college -- only two years.

What grade would you give the replacement referees?
I thought the replacement referees did a decent job. Going in, I felt the toughest thing for them would be to determine what was pass interference and what wasn't.

From the games I watched, it looked like different crews called pass interference different ways -- some let cornerbacks bump and run, some called it a bit tighter. But overall, the replacement refs did a good job.

If I were to rate them on a scale of 1-10, I'd give them a good 7½. It was a good start.

Will the Cowboys not be as bad -- or the Bucs be as good -- as people think?
The Bucs were extremely disappointing. Their offense just didn't show much -- what I saw was an inability to go down the field. Keyshawn Johnson is a good intermediate receiver, but the Bucs displayed an unwillingness or an inability to go to him down the field.

Regarding the Cowboys, give Dave Campo a lot of credit for getting his team to come and play. When the Cowboys face a team that throws the ball effectively and can go deep, that'll be the real test.

To me, Quincy Carter did a good job in his first start. He kept away from making big mistakes. And the defense was outstanding.

Is it time to break up the Bengals?
I don't think so -- not yet, anyway. I said this heading into the season: I think the Cincinnati Bengals will be a better football team. With Bob Bratkowski as the offensive coordinator and Jon Kitna at quarterback, there's an understanding of what needs to get done.

The Bengals beat a New England Patriots team that is missing offensive weapons and missing players on defense. Still, Cincinnati got an early season win and some momentum -- and when's the last time we saw that?

Can Jay Fiedler lead the Dolphins to Super Bowl XXXVI?
I think he can. And I think Jay Fiedler can be a Pro Bowl quarterback (as I said during the Dolphins-Titans broadcast Sunday night on ESPN).

Against the Titans, Fiedler made good decisions about when to run with the football and showed he's athletic enough to make plays with his legs. He didn't really throw the ball anyplace where anybody had a chance to pick it off. And with the addition of speed outside -- in receivers James McKnight (a free-agent pickup) and rookie Chris Chambers -- the Dolphins should be able to put some points on the board.

Then Miami can let its defense go out and do what it does best -- which is shut teams down. That's exactly what the Dolphins did Sunday night.

A game analyst for ESPN's Sunday Night Football, former NFL QB Joe Theismann won a Super Bowl and a league MVP award. He reviews the NFL each week for ESPN.com in Cup o' Joe.