Philadelphia 24—Dallas 20
Jalen Hurts was once again the key to the Eagles’ offense, rushing for two touchdowns and 62 yards. The big problem is that he only threw for 152 yards, and only 24 of those yards went to his starting wideouts, A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith. Anyone who drafted those wideouts may feel nervous moving forward, as the Eagles are clearly a run-first offense.
Dallas’s receivers really let Dak Prescott down. CeeDee Lamb must have dropped three or four catchable balls, and Jake Ferguson dropped a surefire touchdown in the end zone. On a brighter note, Javonte Williams looked terrific, rushing for 54 yards and two touchdowns. He is clearly the RB in this offense.
Los Angeles Chargers 27—Kansas City 21
Justin Herbert surprised everyone, throwing for 318 yards and three touchdowns. Omarion Hampton only had 15 carries, and the Chargers were a pass-first team, which was surprising. Former first-round pick Quentin Johnston had five receptions and two touchdowns, which has shown he’s come a long way from a guy who’s had a lot of big drops in his career. Keenan Allen returned to the team with 7 receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown. He could be a real difference maker this season.
Kansas City’s game got off to a rough start when star wide receiver Xavier Worthy dislocated his shoulder on the third play of the game. Luckily, Hollywood Brown had 10 receptions for 99 yards to help keep Kansas City close. The big problem is that the Chiefs are just not running the football very well. Their two running backs (Pacheco and Hunt) had 10 carries for 41 yards, and that’s just not going to be enough to win games.
Washington 21—New York Giants 6
Washington dominated this game behind Jayden Daniels’ 233 yards passing and 68 yards rushing. Rookie Jacory Croskey–Meritt had 82 yards and a touchdown, including a 42-yard run. He has so much burst, and he makes a great RPO partner with Daniels. Daniel’s missed finding Terry McLaurin on a couple of occasions, but their timing should improve with more practice reps.
New York’s offensive line could not stop Washington’s defensive pressure as they were in Russell Wilson’s face all game long. The Giants’ running backs only had 15 carries for 30 yards, which tells you that the offensive line is not getting any push. If Wilson has no time to throw, he can’t find Malik Nabers, who was clearly frustrated on the sidelines throughout the game.
Arizona 20—New Orleans 13
Kyler Murray was efficient, throwing two touchdown passes, including one to Marvin Harrison Jr, who lived up to the preseason hype. Harrison looks bigger, stronger, and faster than his rookie season. James Conner only had 39 yards rushing, but Trey Benson was able to break off a 52-yard run, which helped seal the victory.
Spencer Rattler played reasonably well, and tight end Juwan Johnson dropped a late touchdown pass that would have tied the game. Johnson finished with eight receptions for 76 yards, and he is somebody to pick up in deeper leagues as he is a huge red zone target.
Indianapolis 33—Miami 8
This game was a complete disaster for Miami as Daniel Jones threw for 272 yards and 1 touchdown, and he also ran for 26 yards and two touchdowns. Michael Pittman had 6 catches for 80 yards and a touchdown, and rookie tight end Tyler Warren had 7 receptions for 76 yards. Jones ran the offense with complete proficiency, but it’s hard to tell how good Indianapolis was because Miami was just bad on defense. In an amazing stat, the Colts scored on all seven of their offensive possessions in this game.
Speaking of bad, I’m not sure there was a quarterback who played as badly as Tua Tagovailoa. Tua had two interceptions and only completed 14 passes. Tyreek Hill was visibly frustrated on the sideline as they were not able to get any offense going all game long. It’s only Week 1, but Head Coach Mike McDaniel might be on the hot seat.
Las Vegas 20—New England 13
This was a big road win for Pete Carroll and the Raiders. New quarterback Geno Smith threw for 362 yards and a touchdown and had complete command of the offense. He found Brock Bowers for five receptions for 103 yards, but Bowers left the game with a knee injury late. Rookie RB Ashton Jeanty literally couldn’t find his footing on the wet turf, but he did have a touchdown in his first game.
The Patriots were sparked by Drake Maye, who had 287 yards passing and a touchdown. Maye played well, finding a bevy of his receivers throughout, including Kayshon Boutte had 6 receptions for 103 yards. Sadly, it seemed like the Patriots did not use rookie TreVeyon Henderson nearly enough, as Henderson only had five rushing attempts for 27 yards. He did have 6 receptions for 24 yards, but if they want to win games, he’s going to have to get the ball more often.
Pittsburgh 34—New York Jets 32
The game that was supposed to be the lowest scoring of the weekend turned out to be the highest. Aaron Rodgers came back to New York and threw for 244 yards and four touchdowns to four different receivers. DK Metcalf had 83 yards receiving, and Calvin Austin was sensational with 70 yards and a touchdown. Rookie Kaleb Johnson only had one carry as Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell were the primary ball carriers.
Justin Fields played some fantastic football, throwing for 218 yards and a touchdown as well as running for 48 yards and two touchdowns. Even better was Breece Hall, who had 107 rushing yards to go along with two receptions and 38 yards. Hall looked very explosive. The Jets played much better than expected and really deserved to win this game.
Cincinnati 17—Cleveland 16
Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz must have Joe Burrow’s number, as he figured out a way to limit him to 113 yards passing and one touchdown. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins combined for five receptions for 59 yards, which almost never happens. Chase Brown only averaged 2 yards per carry, but he did find the end zone. Shockingly, it was the Bengals defense that played very well, getting 2 sacks as well as two interceptions during the game.
Cleveland hung on and really deserved the victory. Their kicking game let them down as they missed both an extra point and a field goal. They cut veteran Dustin Hopkins late in training camp, which turned out to be a huge mistake. Rookie running back Dylan Sampson had eight receptions for 64 yards, and it looks like he will have the third-down running back position even when Judkins returns to the lineup. Rookie TE Harold Fannin Jr surprised with 7 receptions for 63 yards. He looks like the real deal and someone who needs to be picked up in all leagues.
Tampa Bay 23—Atlanta 20
It was obvious that Tampa Bay was missing their star offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs as Atlanta had Baker Mayfield under siege for most of the game. Baker only completed 17 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns went to rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, who had four receptions for 67 yards and two touchdowns. There’s no way they’ll be able to take him out of the lineup even when Chris Godwin returns in Week Five.
Atlanta looked pretty good behind the arm of Michael Penix Jr, who threw for 298 yards and a touchdown and ran for 21 yards and a touchdown. Bijan Robinson was only able to rush for 24 yards; however, he did have 6 receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown. Star wide receiver Drake London hurt his shoulder and left the game late; it remains to be seen if he’ll be available for Week 2. Kyle Pitts looked very good with 7 receptions for 59 yards and will need to be counted on if London misses time.
Jacksonville 26—Carolina 10
The Liam Coen era got off to an exciting start as the Jaguars clearly were the better team. TrevorLawrence controlled the offense very well and threw for 178 yards and a touchdown. But what was more exciting to see was that Travis Etienne Jr really took off and thrived in this offense. He had 16 carries for 143 yards, including a 71-yard run. He is absolutely RB-1 moving forward.
Bryce Young is still struggling for Carolina. He was only able to throw for 154 yards and had two interceptions on the day. Rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan led the team with five receptions for 68 yards, but Carolina just looked off all day. Dave Canales is a good young coach, but he just lacks talent on both sides of the football.
San Francisco 17—Seattle 13
San Francisco was lucky to escape with a road victory once star tight end George Kittle left the game with a hamstring injury. Luckily, Brock Purdy threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns, and Ricky Pearsall had 108 yards receiving. Christian McCaffrey, who many thought might have missed the game with a calf injury, had 69 yards rushing to go along with 9 receptions for 73 yards. He looked terrific and healthy.
Seattle’s offense just could not get rolling behind Sam Darnold. Darnold only threw for 150 yards and didn’t have a touchdown on the day. What makes matters worse is that 124 out of his 150 yards went to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. No other receiver had more than 15 yards.
Denver 20—Tennessee 12
This was one of the most shocking results of the day as Denver really struggled at home against a young Titans team. Rookie running back RJ Harvey had a 50-yard run in the second half to help seal the victory, and JK Dobbins had a late-game touchdown. Evan Engram left the game with an injury, so his status is very iffy for Week 2.
Tennessee put up a spirited fight against a better opponent. Cam Ward only threw for 112 yards, but he didn’t look overmatched against a very tough Denver defense. Tony Pollard led the team with 60 yards rushing and 29 yards receiving. Calvin Ridley had an off day, but that was to be expected considering he was going up against Patrick Surtain, who is one of the best cover cornerbacks in the game.
Green Bay 27—Detroit 13
Green Bay has been very excited about their defense, and you can see why, as they had four sacks on Jared Goff and pressured him throughout the game. What makes Green Bay so difficult is that Jordan Love throws to a bevy of receivers. Romeo Dobbs had 68 yards receiving, but it was Jayden Reed and Tucker Kraft who got the touchdowns.
Detroit looked stale on both offense and defense. David Montgomery was only able to rush for 25 yards, and Jahmyr Gibbs only had 19yards. Jared Goff had 225 yards passing and one touchdown, but the team just never seemed to be in sync. We will have to keep a close eye on whether this is about losing the creative Ben Johnson or whether this is just a one-week hiccup.
Los Angeles Rams 14—Houston 9
Los Angeles’s defense was stifling as they sacked CJ Stroud three times and pressured him the entire game. Puka Nacua had 10 receptions for 130 yards, but it was Davante Adams who had important catches in critical situations. This was a very tough game against a physical opponent, and the Rams came out on top.
The Texans’ Achilles heel is their offensive line. CJ Stroud was under pressure all game long and was only able to throw for 188 yards. Nick Chubb ran for 60 yards and looked pretty good, but the offense struggled as WR1 Nico Collins only had three receptions for 25 yards. When Collins can’t get going, this team is going to struggle to put points on the board. Their defense looked very good, sacking Matthew Stafford three times, and they’re going to need to play well all season long until this offensive line begins to gel.
Buffalo 41—Baltimore 40
Despite the late-game heroics, if Buffalo wants to make the Super Bowl, they are going to have to improve their run defense. The Bills just couldn’t get the important stops when they needed to all game long. On a positive note, Dalton Kincaid was back healthy and looked great, catching 4 passes for 48 yards and a TD. Also, second-year WR Keon Coleman looked much improved from his rookie season. The Bills are a much better offensive team when Kincaid and Coleman can challenge opposing secondaries.
Right now, the NFL just doesn’t have an answer for Derrick Henry. Henry ran all over the Bills run defense to the tune of 169 yards and a TD. Zay Flowers shredded the Bills’ man coverage for 143 yards and a TD, providing Lamar Jackson with the alpha receiver downfield he’s been needing. Mark Andrews was disappointing, but Bills LB Matt Milano is one of the top coverage LBs in the league. The Ravens blew a commanding fourth-quarter lead due to a Henry fumble, but that is such a rarity, expect them to come out and win in Week 2.
