A new season is fully up and running

Welcome to center stage, Arian Foster.

Your 231 yards rushing Sunday not only landed you a spot in the Houston Texans’ record books — and were only 26 yards shy of what you amassed in six games as a rookie last season — but they helped your team pull off a 34-24 stunner over Indianapolis. That was just the second time in 17 tries the Texans beat the Colts.

“We heard all off-season that our running game wasn’t efficient,” said Foster, whose opening-game rushing performance was topped in NFL history only by O.J. Simpson’s 250 for Buffalo against New England in 1973. “You can either let it get to you, or let it get in you. And I feel like we let it get in us, and we used it.”

Welcome back, Chris Johnson. You opened your quest to become the only back in NFL history to compile two 2,000-yard seasons with a 142-yard, two-touchdown performance in the Tennessee Titans’ rout of the Oakland Raiders.

Welcome back, Pete Carroll. In your return to the NFL, your Seattle Seahawks delivered a 31-6 thrashing of NFC West favorite San Francisco, a team that lost one division game last season. The 49ers didn’t have the pedigree of an elite team, but they were supposed to be a lot better than that.

You’re welcome, Chicago Bears. Your narrow victory over the Detroit Lions will be remembered for a non-touchdown call that, while technically defensible, was a gift from the heavens. Receiver Calvin Johnson was stripped of what would have been the winning catch because, as he went to the ground after making what appeared to be a highlight-reel grab, he released the ball. As Johnson celebrated, the official ruled he failed to maintain possession.

Johnson said he was “shocked” by the call, adding: “I figure if I got two feet and a knee down, to me that is a catch. That’s why I got up and took off.”

And how about those welcome Matts? That’s Detroit’s Matt Stafford, knocked out of the game at Chicago with a shoulder injury, and Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, who saw his team lose a field-goal fest at Pittsburgh.

It was Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall who ended that one, scoring the only touchdown of the game with a 50-yard run on the first play of overtime.

“In the run game, you’ve got to be patient,” Mendenhall said after the Steelers — without Ben Roethlisberger — won their opener for the eighth consecutive year, the NFL’s longest active streak. “You just wait all day for something like that to open up.”

Welker returns

Sunday marked the return of New England’s Wes Welker, who is eight months removed from knee surgery. Think Tom Brady is exhaling over that one? Not only is Welker the best slot receiver in football, but he also caught a league-high 346 passes over the last three seasons.

Having Welker back at full speed is huge for the Patriots, who face Rex Ryan’s defense next Sunday when they play at the New York Jets. Welker played one game against the Jets last season but it was a whopper — 15 catches for 192 yards.

“I spent a lot of time with him this off-season and the determination that he has is pretty remarkable,” Brady said of Welker, who caught eight passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns Sunday in a 38-24 win over Cincinnati. “[He’s an] extremely mentally tough person. I knew in February, as a matter of fact, or March, that he was going to be back out on the field opening day. It just shows what his mind is all about.”

Welker wasn’t the only receiver to have a big game in the Bengals-Patriots opener. Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens combined for 19 catches and 212 yards, and Owens joined Jerry Rice and Isaac Bruce as the only players to reach the 15,000-yard milestone in yards receiving.

Just like Jake

Jake Delhomme is out of Carolina, but the turnover problem is not. The Panthers and New York Giants combined for nine turnovers. Each team had three interceptions; Carolina lost two fumbles, and the Giants lost one.

Oh, and Delhomme? He had a touchdown and two interceptions in Cleveland’s three-point loss at Tampa Bay. The Browns haven’t started the season with a victory since 2004, and are 1-11 in openers since they rebooted as an expansion franchise.

Injuries

There were several significant Week 1 injuries. Among them:

—Texans defensive end Connor Barwin’s season reportedly is over after he suffered a dislocated ankle when a teammate slid into him.

—Bob Sanders, star safety for the Colts, left the Houston game because of a bad elbow. It was yet another injury in a long list of them for him.

—Giants tight end Kevin Boss was carted off the field in the Carolina game because of a neck injury and concussion.

Short yardage

With his first of two catches, Atlanta’s Tony Gonzalez made reception No. 1,000 of his career. He already holds the record for career catches for a tight end. . . . Teams from the Bay Area were outscored, 69-19. . . . Tim Tebow made an appearance in Denver’s loss at Jacksonville — one that surely delighted his fans in Florida — and had two carries for two yards.

sam.farmer@latimes.com

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