NFL Takeaways: Week 1
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee via USA Today
The NFL is back!
And with that, so are my weekly takeaways from each game.
There’s no point wasting any time. Let’s just jump right in.
Buccaneers defeat Cowboys 31-29
The Cowboys have a rebuilding defense, a makeshift offensive and a quarterback coming off a serious injury, multiple surgeries and a shoulder issue.
That’s a bad recipe for any start to the season.
Oh, and they had to face the defending champions.
Still, they played very well and put themselves in a position to win. They just left too much time for Tom Brady.
It counts as a loss, but the Cowboys should be happy.
Eagles defeat Falcons 32-6
The Eagles, on paper, don’t look very good.
The Falcons, on paper, also don’t look very good!
The difference is the game is played in real life, and the Eagles showed they actually are pretty talented and fun offensively, while the Falcons…didn’t…
Steelers defeat Bills 23-13
I feel like I was one of the only people wondering if Josh Allen’s fantastic season last year was just a blip on the radar considering all the years of poor play he’s had every year before last, including college.
The Steelers have an incredible defense, but so far Allen is not off to a good start to repeat his success.
Bengals defeat Vikings 27-24
Burrow’s back!
The Vikings may not be the most impressive win in the world, but a win is a win and the Bengals will take any single one they can get right now.
Seahawks defeat Colts 28-16
All offseason we heard people say Carson Wentz will be better now that he has a good offensive line in Indianpolis.
Now, the Colts line was injured which definitely didn’t help. But on a key fourth down, Wentz held on to the ball far too long with two open receivers and took a sack.
This was his issue in Philadelphia as well, which is why you should keep an eye on this.
The Colts line may get healthy and improve, but their sack rate might not.
Also, I could watch Russell Wilson throw deep balls to Tyler Lockett every single day of my life.
That throw is picture perfect.
49ers defeat Lions 41-33
The Niners let the Lions get close in the end, but this really wasn’t close.
Unfortunately, the Niners have already suffered key injuries which was a key part in their rough season last year.
In a very tough division, early injuries do not help.
Cardinals defeat Titans 38-13
Alright, NFC West.
We get it. You’re good. Relax.
The Cardinals, on paper, may be the worst team in the division and if they went 11-6 I don’t think a single soul would be surprised.
The division is a death trap, and Chandler Jones seems to be the grim reaper.
Chargers defeat Washington 20-16
There is so much data you can use in the NFL today.
So much arithmetic you can use to show how good a player or team is.
That’s why I feel so lazy using the “eye test” but man, you don’t need advanced analytics when you watch Justin Herbert.
The kid is absurdly good.
The Chargers really found something special.
Panthers defeat Jets 19-14
The same people who said Sam Darnold could never succeed against a tire fire franchise like the Jets are praising Darnold for having a decently good game against the Jets.
It’s a good start compared to what it was, but relax a bit people.
Texans defeat Jaguars 37-21
There isn’t a single soul on Earth who expected the Jaguars to be good this year. The team is bad.
But so are the Texans, and this was a very, very tough look for the Jags week one.
Trevor Lawrence made mistakes, but he showed flashes and throws that showed how great of a prospect he really is.
Urban Meyer on the other hand….
Let’s just say it’s good news for him that the USC job is now available.
Chiefs defeat Browns 33-29
The Browns are one of the best teams in the AFC. They showed that through the first 3 quarters of the game.
They also showed that if you really want to dethrone the Chiefs, you’re going to need to show it through all 4 quarters.
The Chiefs don’t go away.
They never go away.
Well, except for the whole manifest destiny thing but we don’t need to talk about that.
Dolphins defeat Patriots 17-16
Two teams with great defensive head coaches and young Alabama quarterbacks played to within a point of each other.
They’re the exact same team. Just different uniforms.
Saints defeat Packers 38-3
I said the Packers would be great this year because a pissed off Aaron Rodgers is the best player in the NFL.
Unfortunately, it turns out Aaron Rodgers is not pissed.
He just doesn’t care anymore.
In the past, Rodgers made mistakes and was visibly upset.
Sunday? Ehh. No biggie.
He’s completely checked out.
Broncos defeat Giants 27-13
This is what you get for cutting WVU legend David Sills, Giants.
How does it feel? Jerks.
Rams defeat Bears 34-13
The Chiefs sat Patrick Mahomes behind Alex Smith because Alex Smith still made the Chiefs a playoff team.
The Dolphins sat Tua behind Ryan Fitzpatrick because Tua was coming off a terrible hip injury and had no preseason.
The Niners are sitting Trey Lance behind Jimmy Garoppolo because Trey Lance barely played any football last year.
None of those situations apply to the Chicago Bears, and the decision to sit Fields behind Dalton could cost Matt Nagy his job if he doesn’t correct it quickly.
The Bears don’t even need to be a playoff team behind Justin Fields this year. They just need to be somewhat interesting and show they have something for the future.
Make the switch, Matt. Don’t waste time.
Raiders defeat Ravens 33-27
The Ravens shouldn’t panic.
There are 17 games. They barely had any practice due to Lamar getting COVID and the insane amount of injuries they had during training camp and preseason.
Still, something did surprise me.
In years past, the Ravens did not let inferior opponents stick around if they started slow.
Derek Carr and the Raiders offense, outside of one drive, were basically useless for three quarters.
If you told me that would be the case before the game, I would assume the Ravens already had a 30 point lead.
But that wasn’t the case.
The Raiders stuck around, forced overtime and ended up forgiving their own mistake and getting the win.
Like I said, the Ravens and their fans should not panic.
But I’ll definitely be keeping my eye on that for weeks to come.
(And no, if the Ravens get their doors blown off by the Chiefs next week they should also not panic. The Chiefs are really good).
