There are so many ways to look at and analyze a football game. With more stats and algorithms pinpointing every bit of minutia, it can be mind-numbing. It’s like trying to order off of the Cheesecake Factory menu or choosing something to watch on TV between the hundreds of channels and streaming services. (I’m old enough to remember the three TV Networks: ABC, NBC, and CBS.)
But sometimes, it’s important to look beyond the boxscores. With that in mind, here are a handful of thoughts that caught my eye in week one.
Out of the four AFC North teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers had the longest odds to win the division. And although only one week is in the books, the Steelers find themselves in sole possession of first place…and they didn’t even need to score a TD to do it. They beat the Falcons 18-10 on six FGs by Chris Boswell. The Bengals, Ravens, and Browns are all looking up, sitting at 0-1.
Unlike the Steelers, the Texans were expected to win their division, and opening day didn’t disappoint. They won a hard-fought victory in Indianapolis, beating the Colts 29-27. The Texans, like the Steelers, have sole possession of first place, with the Jaguars, Titans, and Colts all 0-1.
It’s been a long time since Harbaugh last won an NFL game. With a completely revamped offensive behind QB Justin Herbert, the Chargers grinded out a 22-10 win against the Raiders. This was definitely a Harbaugh-style victory. No receiver had over 40 receiving YDs. Newly acquired RB J.K. Dobbins was a wrecking machine. He had 10 rushes for 135 yards and a TD.
Heading to New Orleans for a divisional matchup against the Saints, the Panthers weren’t even competitive. They were blown out 47-10, and they were inept in every aspect of the game. He’s still young, but QB Bryce Young must play better for them to have any shot of competing. When you complete less than 50% of your passes and throw two interceptions, you have virtually no shot at winning.
Maybe we now know why the Falcons took QB Michael Penix in the draft. It was Kirk Cousins’s first game back since his achilles injury last year, so some slack must be given, but he was truly awful. And the team is heading to Philadelphia to play the Eagles in primetime next Monday night…and we all know Cousins’ history in primetime games. This is shaping up to be a very disappointing 0-2 start for the Falcons.
Even if Jordan Love hadn’t been injured in the last moments of their game against the Eagles, they probably wouldn’t have won. However, losing Love to a knee injury only adds insult to injury. They’ll have to tread water for the next few weeks without him. Malik Willis will get the nod until he returns.
The Bears got off to an awful start at home against the Titans and found themselves down heading into the fourth quarter. Their special teams had already returned a blocked punt for a TD, but it took a pick-six in the fourth quarter to seal the deal. QB Caleb Williams wasn’t great, but a win is a win, and at the moment, they are tied for first place with the Vikings and Lions.
In a game that saw WR Cooper Kupp tie his record for catches with 14 and gain 110 receiving YDs with a TD, and Matthew Stafford complete 34 of 49 passes for 317 YDs, losing this game hurt. The Rams went into Detroit with high expectations, looking to avenge last season’s playoff loss at Ford Field. It took OT, but the Lions were able to prevail and continued to build on last year’s success.
Maybe if Nacua hadn’t gone down with a knee injury (the same knee that gave him issues in the preseason), the Rams would have won, but Kupp more than made up for his loss. WR Tyler Johnson emerged as a viable replacement. He caught five passes for 79 yards.
Njoku had a bit of a breakout for the Browns last season and moved himself up into the top 10 TE lists. In a game that was completely awful for the Browns, they also lost Njoku with a high ankle sprain. He’ll miss a handful of games, which will hurt their offense, but I don’t think they could look any worse than they did on Sunday.
The Cowboys were nearly flawless in Cleveland, beating the Browns 33-17. The biggest concern was the loss of TE Ferguson, who left the game with an MCL sprain. Luckily, it’s only a sprain, and he’ll be back in a few weeks.
I guess he is human, after all. I suppose anytime you do something for the first time, there is some doubt and nerves, but Brady was awful. He seemed most comfortable when he was trying to give a Tony Robbins motivational speech. I’m sure he’ll improve; for Fox’s sake, I hope so. They committed nearly $400M to him.
Two years ago, there was some real excitement and hope in New York. Last season, QB Daniel Jones went down, and the Giants sputtered at best. But he’s back healthy, and they entered the year with rookie WR Malik Nabers. Although Nabers did lead the team with 66 receiving YDs, the offense was terrible. Jones threw 42 passes but couldn’t even muster 200 passing yards, and he threw two interceptions. The team couldn’t find the endzone, and they were held to only two FGs. Daboll could very well be the first HC to get the axe this year.
Don’t look now, but one of these two teams will leave Gillette Stadium with a 2-0 record after next week’s game. Both first-year head coaches won their inaugural matchups, which is fantastic. But, one can’t help but reminisce to think of what might have been this week, with Pete Carroll coming back to Foxboro to face off against the coach who replaced him nearly 25 years ago.
We’ve been waiting for it, and Cardinals kickoff returner Dallas was the first NFL player to score a kickoff TD in this new dynamic alignment. It was a 96-yard return. It seems that when the returning team can figure it out and place their speediest players to receive the kick, we’ll see more and more TDs. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more than double-digit kickoff returns go for TDs.
All-world RB Christian McCaffrey was absent from the game against the Jets in their week one matchup. No problem; the Niners prevailed 32-19, and CMC’s replacement, Jordan Mason, was every bit as solid. He rushed for 147 yards on 28 carries and a touchdown. If this is what the team looks like without McCaffrey, the rest of the league should take notice. By the way, the Jets defense was supposed to be their strong suit. The Niners carved them up all game.
Owner Jerry Jones has opened up the purse strings. First, he signed Cee Dee Lamb, and just before Sunday’s game, he and QB Dak Prescott agreed to a 4yr/$240M deal, with all but nine million guaranteed. It seems like a lot of money for a guy who seemingly cannot win in the playoffs. Jones has definitely put his chips all in and has banked his future on Prescott. The reality is that this is the price of competing. You find your guy, and you hope he’s good enough, and if he isn’t, you win 12 games year after year but sputter in the playoffs. The alternative is being the Arizona Cardinals or Carolina Panthers…and nobody wants that.
Each of these teams could have very well been facing off this week 0-1, but they each found a way to win, setting up this week’s matchup of two 1-0 teams. The winner of this game will set themselves up to be an early favorite to win the AFC East. But both teams have much higher aspirations than just winning the division, and losing this game will hurt those chances.
Each of these teams faced cupcakes in wk.1. And each team’s offense was clicking on all cylinders. And each team’s defense was stout…basically, something has to give. The game is in Dallas, which will give the Cowboys the edge, but there are a ton of expectations in Big D. The fanbase’s patience is wearing thin, and although it’s only a regular season game, a loss will be unacceptable.
This feels like a good spot for the Buccaneers. Each team won their week one matchup, but the emotions were much higher in Detroit, with the Lions prevailing in their matchup with the Rams. Baker Mayfield looked fantastic, scoring four TD passes. And in the Lions game, they really weren’t able to stop Matthew Stafford from having his way. He completed 34 passes last week…Mayfield was 24-30. Look for a high-flying affair with speed all over the field for both teams. This is shaping up to be a very special matchup.
The NFL is often called the Not For Long League, and although the Giants were about as bad as a team could be the other day against the Vikings, they could come back this week to throttle the Commanders…although it seems very unlikely. The Commanders have more talent at skill positions, and I think they will prevail. Unless there’s a tie, one of these teams will be 1-1 at the end of the game.
Similar to the Giants, the Browns played about as badly as a team can…especially at home. The Jaguars took defeat out of the jaws of victory in Miami. Each team is 0-1, and each had high hopes coming into this year. With all the hype that has followed QB Trevor Lawrence since he entered the league, he hasn’t broken through into that top tier, and at this time, he’s barely in the second tier…with second-year QB CJ Stroud surpassing him, along with many other QBs. This is a sneaky big game for the Jags, and although Lawrence’s job isn’t in jeopardy, starting 0-2 will be a tough hole to dig out of.
With each of these teams starting off 0-1, it goes to show how difficult it is to project and predict results in the NFL. The Colts and Packers each faced tough opponents in wk.1, and neither was able to prevail. Without Jordan Love, it is conceivable that the Packers start the season 0-2, which would be devastating for a team that many predicted to go deep into the playoffs.
One of Patrick Mahomes’ only tough opponents has been the Bengals. Joe Burrow has more than been able to hold his own against Mahomes. But the team is reeling after their inexplicable loss against the Patriots. They were at home and were 7.5pt favorites. Even without Tee Higgins, this team had no business losing to the Pats. And now they are onto Kansas City. Although the Chiefs didn’t play their best game against the Ravens, they walked off the field with the win. They have a few extra days to prepare and should be able to go to 2-0 while dropping a potential playoff opponent to 0-2.
