NFL Week 1 Takeaways
Photo by Jane Gershovich from Getty Images
Last year, I wrote endlessly about how the NFL season simply wasn’t that exciting.
It’s only been one week, but it’s off to a great start.
Bills defeat Rams 31-10
The Bills played a sloppy football game.
They were certainly not at their best.
They still beat the defending champs on the road by 21 points.
They’re really, really good.
Steelers defeat Bengals 23-20
Does this win sort of feel like a loss for the Steelers?
They dominated Joe Burrow all game long, but were offensively putrid and needed a blocked PAT to avoid losing.
Not to mention TJ Watt is likely out for the season.
It’s a win, sure. But it wasn’t one to inspire confidence.
Saints defeat Falcons 27-26
This might surprise you, but the Falcons lost a game they were easily winning and should have put away.
You can change the coach. You can change the quarterback.
You can’t change Atlanta.
Bears defeat 49ers 19-10
This loss was more concerning for the Niners than people are leading on.
People were worried about Trey Lance’s accuracy at quarterback, but the Niners can run. And the conditions in Chicago were perfect for running the ball and keeping the ball out of Lance’s hands.
They still only put up 10 points and got beat down in the 2nd half by a pretty weak Bears offense.
It’s only week 1, but that’s not a good sign.
Eagles defeat Lions 38-35
The Eagles are a good team, so the Lions are once again showing what they are.
They are tough to play against but just missing that last ingredient to become a true good team in this league.
I imagine a quarterback is being selected in the upcoming draft.
Goff wasn’t bad, but they need something better.
Dolphins defeat Patriots 20-7
First game with a new head coach against a great defensive mind like Bill Belichick and Tua was extremely efficient in their win.
Which is weird, because I was told he was horrendous because of one training camp video.
Ravens defeat Jets 24-9
Not much to take away here.
The Jets, until proven otherwise, are a tire fire.
Commanders defeat Jaguars 28-22
Trevor Lawrence is young and the Jaguars aren’t very good, so I’m sure they’re fine.
But it’s a little concerning that they let Carson Wentz actually look like a good quarterback on Sunday.
That is not a good sign at all.
Browns defeat Panthers 26-24
This was the first time ever that I’ve ever seen a referee get on the mic, explain to the entire crowd that a quarterback broke the rules, and still do nothing about it.
The official said “There is no foul for intentional grounding, as the quarterback faked the spike and then spiked the ball.”
He said that publicly. To the whole stadium.
And faking a spike before spiking the ball is against the rules.
Weird!
Colts and Texans tie 20-20
Davis Mills did really well being embalmed before going into the sarcophagus because when they dug him back up and examined him he was well preserved.
I mean, that’s what the bar I was at was showing.
It was weird to see NRG Stadium look like an old public access show about mummies and mummifications, but those Texans sure are crazy!
Giants defeat Titans 21-20
This was a tale of coaching.
The Giants coaches took a risk on the road to go for two and the win, and it paid off.
The Titans coaches decided to take the ball out of Derrick Henry’s hands on a 3rd and 1 to potentially put the game away.
The result says it all.
Vikings defeat Packers 23-7
The Vikings have continuity and the Packers have a bunch of rookie receivers which Aaron Rodgers struggles with.
This was only a surprising result if you weren’t paying attention.
Chiefs defeat Cardinals 44-21
I think the Chiefs might be good offensively.
I don’t know. I need to see some more of this Mahomes fella.
Chargers defeat Raiders 24-19
This was exactly the type of game the Chargers would lose in the past.
Turning the tide, maybe?
Buccaneers defeat Cowboys 19-3
This game was ugly, gross, and ruined the Cowboys season as Dak is now out for a few weeks because he needs surgery on this throwing hand.
It was a complete dud to end a pretty exciting Sunday of football.
Seahawks defeat Broncos 17-16
Hooookay.
Here we go. I’m going to write a lot here, because there’s a lot to discuss.
First of all, the Broncos will be fine. It was week 1 and they hardly played any preseason together.
Still, there were some concerning things I saw.
Let’s start with Russell Wilson.
He was solid, but there were two easy interceptions dropped by Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs, and his touchdown pass was very underthrown where if Coby Bryant turns around/doesn’t get thrown to the ground by Jerry Jeudy after he made the catch isn’t a touchdown.
And then there’s the thing many Seahawks fans mentioned was an issue but were criticized for being “salty” about Wilson being traded, and that was that Russ once again completely ignored the middle of the field.
Again, Russ played well. And he will continue to play well. He’s a great quarterback. But ignoring the middle of the field has been a theme in the past, and if they face a team who has corners that can match the Broncos receivers, it’s going to become an issue.
Now let’s talk about Nathaniel Hackett, the offensive coach the Broncos hired as head coach because that’s the trend they’re heading towards.
First, the Broncos were completely undisciplined. There were far too many needless penalties.
And situationally the Broncos were terrible.
Multiple times the play came in late, one of which led to a goal line fumble, and then a complete disaster of clock management (and lack of faith in the quarterback, ironically enough) led to a NFL record tying field goal attempt which missed wide.
You can be a smart offensive mind, and I’m sure Hackett is. But you still need to be a head coach.
And that was never proven more than the other sideline with Pete Carroll and the Seahawks getting a win with multiple injuries and rookie corners on defense with Geno Smith at quarterback.
As I said earlier, the Broncos will be fine overall.
But those who thought the Seahawks were going to spend years being terrible were terribly mistaken.
