Welcome Back NFL! No preseason games and the product looked like I last remember it. Sure there were no fans and coaches on the sidelines were wearing masks, but given the challenges in front of the league prior to this weekend, I say congratulations.
I won't address the other stuff because this is about football and the men who play it, and play it well, and the coaches who pour their souls into preparing their teams to be the best they can be. I support their desire to use their platforms to bring awareness and try to make a difference in their communities.
More challenging weeks are ahead, but this was a great start.
Rapid Rundown
Here's my quick thought on the games from Week 1. I'll expand on a couple of games or subjects with more thought below. But, given the fact that I didn't get a chance to sit in my favorite sports bar and watch all these games, I feel pretty good about what I saw via highlights thanks to Twitter and YouTube.
HOU 20 - KC 34... feels like this game was over a week ago, but one of the best bets in football is taking the Super Bowl champs to win at home on the Week 1 opening night game. Props to the Texans for being above the gestures and staying in the locker room during the anthems.
SEA 38 - ATL 25 ... Russell Wilson probably could have won MVP last year. He will this year. He threw 4 TDs and completed 31 of 35 pass attempts. I'm so happy to see Pete Carroll let Russ be great early in a ballgame. If you had Falcons' Matt Ryan, Julio Jones or Calvin Ridley on your fantasy roster, congratulations.
CLE 6 - BAL 38 ... I guess Lamar Jackson's 2019 wasn't a one-year thing and he's actually going to be a pretty good quarterback. I'm glad I drafted him with the 4th overall pick in one of my fantasy leagues. Don't @ me. One more thing, is Baker Mayfield the quarterback for the Browns? I think this might be his last year if he doesn't show a real uptick in his production. He better not look bad against Joe Burrow and the Bengals in week 2.
NYJ 17 - BUF 27 ... I know they played the Jets, but I'm buying Bills stock. Josh Allen is going to prove he can lead the Bills back to a division title and playoff run.
LV 34 - CAR 30... Panthers Coach Matt Rhule got cute on 4th and 1 on the LV46 and called for the fullback instead of Christian McCaffrey with 1:23 to play. It cost his team a chance to win a winnable game. Welcome to the NFL, coach. Memo to Coach Rhule: give the ball to your best player in key moments.
CHI 27 - DET 23 ... Mitchell Trubisky leads the Bears to 3 unanswered TDs and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. All I heard in the offseason was how bad "MVP Mitch" was, yet he gets it done when it needed to be done. God bless you Bears fans. I still think the backup is better.
IND 20 - JAC 27... Serious question for Jaguars fans, are you sure you want to "Lose for Lawrence"? All Gardner Minshew did last year was go 6-6 as a starter, throw for 60% and less than 10 INTs. Then, he opens the season with a 19 for 20 passing performance, 2 TDs and win as the largest home underdog of Week 1. I'm just saying...the grass isn't always greener in the draft.
GB 43 - MIN 34 ... A-A-RON looked pretty, pretty good (32 of 44, 364 yards, 4 TDs), like MVP good. If you stayed away from drafting Packers on your fantasy team because of how unimpressive their offense has looked, statistically speaking, over the past couple of seasons, this might be the year you regret passing. One note about this game,
according to @NFL_Scorigami this final score was the 1,055th unique score in NFL history. That's a fact to share with buddy's when you want to show off how smart you are.
MIA 11 - NE 21 ... Cam rushes for 2 TDs, tied for the most by a QB in a game in team history, and looks good leading the Patriots in the post-Brady era. On the other side, well Fitzpatrick is gonna Fitzpatrick, right? He threw 3 INTs to a defense that had key defensive players opt-out of the season. I know Fitzpatrick is in a tough spot due to the recent passing of his mother, but if he has a couple more weeks like this expect to see Tua by early-October instead of November or December.
PHI 17 - WAS 27 ... Down 17-0 at one point in the 2nd quarter, and 17-7 at half, the team formerly known as the Redskins get an impressive 2nd half performance from their QB, Dwayne Haskins, and their defense led by first-round draft pick Chase Young. Washington benefited from having no fans in their stadium more than any team. Eagles fans have turned FedEx field into a home game for their beloved Eagles over the last couple of seasons. Philly missed having the home-road-field advantage.
LAC 16 - CIN 13... I think only fans of the Chargers and Bengals really watched this game, despite the beautiful colors and design of the uniforms by both teams. I guess the big takeaway is that the Bengals and Joe Burrow did well against a good defense, and probably could have won the ball game. And the Chargers snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat. I already like the Bengals over the Browns in Week 2.
TB 23 - NO 34 ... The first possession for the Bucs on defense and offense were the kind of positive starts TOMpa Bay fans wanted to see. They should have cut off the television after taking that 7-0 lead. Rest of the game was really a teaser for how good the Saints are, and how much better they are going to be. As the Bucs get used to each other over the next couple of games in September, I expect a great game when these teams in Tampa for the rematch mid-season.
ARZ 24 - SF 20 ... If I had a STONE-COLD-LOCK for Week 1, it was probably the Cardinals +7/6.5 points on the road. Kyler Murray impressed in the last two months of 2019, and now you go and add one of the best receivers in DeAndre Hopkins...that equals 14 receptions on 16 targets for 151 yards. The Super Bowl hangover for losing teams is real. The NFC West just became the best division in the NFL.
DAL 17 - LAR 20 ... The new home for the LA Rams and Chargers is BEAUTIFUL! The Rams helmets pop in HD and I actually like the off-white home uniforms. With all the attention leading up to the game on Dak's comments about his mental health, I don't think this matchup got the attention it deserved because the action on the field was pretty good. Solid performances by all the key offensive guys. Impressive and timely defensive plays in the front seven, and big hits from the secondary for both teams. This might have been the best played game of the week on both sides of the ball by both teams.
PIT 26 - NYG 16 ... Big Ben is back! After shaking off a little rust in the first couple of drives, he looked pretty good, throwing 3 TDs and connecting with 8 different receivers. And the Steelers' defense looked as good as ever. They held Saquon Barkley to 6 yards on 15 carries and intercepted Daniel Jones twice. It's amazing how some teams just look good at the start of the season year in and year out. That's a product of good coaching. Props to Mike Tomlin.
TEN 16 - DEN 14 ... I actually watched the second half of this game thanks to taking a nap through the 2nd half of the first Monday Night game. It ended just past 1 o'clock in the morning. My lone thought as I watched Titans' kicker Stephen Gostkowski miss 3 field goals and then an extra point attempt was how similar this looked to the start of last season by Adam Vinateri. Gostkowski replaced Vinateri in New England when the latter moved on to play for the Colts. Both kickers were two of the best in the past decade until Vinateri wasn't and he retired. If the Titans are going to be a serious contender in the AFC, they can't have kicking issues like they did last year. Should be an interesting week for the Titans.
Belichick 1, Brady 0
After 20 years together in New England, the most successful Head Coach - QB tandem in the 100 year history of the NFL decided to part ways. Tom Brady left for Florida (Tampa Bay), and Bill Belichick made plans to prove he could win without Tom.
If you made a bet in the summer on who would have the better season, or at least a win to start the season, good money would have fell on Brady. But, then Bill signed him a former MVP on the cheap, Cam Newton, for a one-year deal.
With no preseason games and probably altered training camp routines due to COVID-19, Newton became the starting quarterback and captain of Belichick's team. Then he went out and led them to a 21-11 victory over the Dolphins.
Brady's Buccaneers traveled to New Orleans to play their division rivals to open the season, featuring a pair of 40-something future Hall of Fame QBs. All the hype and expectation was on the Bucs to better than the team formerly led by Jameis Winston, who now is a backup in NOLA.
The Bucs opening offensive drive was fantastic - 9 plays, 57 yards, 4:53 starting from the TB15 - and it was capped by a Brady QB sneak from 2 yards. Then, the Saints settled in and capitalized on a pair of Brady INTs in the 2nd and 3rd quarter to walk away with a 34-23 win.
This Brady-Belichick "rivalry" (?) will be one of the big storylines to follow all season. I'll always bet on the coach over the player.
Top Passing Performances:
Lamar Jackson, Ravens - 20-25 (80% comp), 275 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, Rating 152.1 (leader through Sun. night), 38-6 W over Browns
Russell Wilson, Seahawks - 31-35 (86.6% comp), 322 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, Rating 143.1, 38-25 W over Falcons
Gardner Minshew, Jaguars - 19-20 (95% comp), 173 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, Rating 142.3, 27-20 W over Colts
Aaron Rodgers, Packers - 32-44 (72.7% comp), 364 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, Rating 127.5, 43-34 W over Vikings
Impressive debut with new team
Phillip Rivers, Colts - 36-46, 363 yards (78.3% comp), 1 TD, 2 INTs
Good: it's been since 2018 since PR threw for over 360 yards in game. Spread the ball around to 9 different receivers who had at least 2 catches.
Bad: 2nd interception was absolutely horrible. 3 drives in which the Colts probably should have resulted in touchdowns ended up with field goals, and the kicker only made two of those.
Cam Newton, Patriots - 15-19, 155 yards (78.95% comp); 15 rush att, 75 rush yards, 2 TDs
Good: After only playing 2 games in 2019, being released by the franchise that drafted him and led to the Super Bowl, and sitting unemployed for nearly 70 days, "Super Cam" was back and made the New England post-Brady era look better than many thought the Patriots would look like 3+ months ago.
Bad: You tell me.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Chiefs - 25 att, 138 yards (5.5 avg), 1 TD
Good: The rich got richer. He is the 4th player in the last 30 seasons with at least 130 rushing yards and a TD in his NFL debut. Each of the previous 3 either won the Rookie of the Year or the league's rushing title that year. (ESPN Stats & Info)
Bad: No receptions was surprising. Six carries inside the 5 yard line and zero TDs was more surprising. (FANTASY WARNING!)
Adrian Peterson, Lions - 14 att, 93 yards (6.6 avg); 3 rec (3 targets), 21 rec yards
Good: This performance was one of the most surprising of the weekend, tied for 3rd most rushing yards on Sunday. AP was cut by Washington a week ago and added to an already muddled running backfield. All he does is come in and be the leading rusher for the game. Is the 35-year old the best RB in the Lions backfield? For one week with little to no practice reps he was.
Bad: I'm less likely to question Peterson's ability to play an entire season, played in 15 and 16 games the last 2 years with Washington, than the Lions commitment to him as the better back given the investment they've made in Kerryon Johnson and 2020 draft pick DeAndre Swift.
DeAndre Hopkins, Cardinals - 14 rec (16 targets) , 151 yards, 10.8 avg.
Good: What a great trade for the Cardinals! Hopkins has been reliable and productive over the past 6 seasons in Houston - only missed 2 games. He's the perfect person to take the baton from Larry Fitzgerald who has been a great receiver for that franchise for over the past decade.
Bad: Other than not scoring any touchdowns, I don't see any. And if he puts up those kind of receptions and yards weekly, in a win, fantasy owners will live with it.
Top 5 Teams
Never too early for rankings. Here's my Top 5 teams after Week 1:
- Kansas City
- Seattle
- Baltimore
- Green Bay
- Buffalo
Best and Worst Divisions
BEST: NFC West
Cardinals, Seahawks, Rams all won. 49ers played Cardinals. Good quarterbacks and good defenses showed up this week. If these teams stay healthy, the race for first place and best record in the NFC will be intense.
WORST: NFC East
Based on net points scored/allowed, the answer would be the NFC South. But, I don't believe the Falcons, Bucs and Panthers are as bad as their loss. So, I'll look at the NFC East and question what type of team the Eagles are going to be after losing to Washington, and the Giants offensively looked like the Cowboys from the last several years. For now, the NFC East get
Final Thought
Had I seen
this tweet Sunday morning, reminding me that the Colts had not won a road season opener since 2006, a season opener since 2013, or a game in Jacksonville since 2014 (I was at that game), I would have picked Jacksonville to beat the Colts. Real talk.
I'll have to set a reminder for myself that at least one of those steaks will be waiting on the Colts in 2021.
Thanks for taking time to read. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
-B
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