The return to the regular season of the NFL brought plenty of surprises. The beauty of the NFL is that with only 17 games (I’m still getting used to that), every week is important and brings forth plenty of intriguing storylines. Here is a digestion of the biggest takeaways I had from Week One.
A Wonderful Welcome Back
The Thursday Night Football opener was everything a football fan could hope for in its return. Tom Brady and Dak Prescott put on amazing shows. Both were fascinating for different reasons.
Tom Brady continues to drink from whatever Fountain of Youth he’s found or meet with whatever Witch Doctor helped broker a deal with the devil to never age. I mean seriously…are we all in the Matrix and Brady is just the architect? I’ve been watching this guy play in the NFL since I was 12 years old. I’m now 32 and he looks younger than me. Anyways, Brady looked great. Not just great for a 44 year old, but great for an NFL quarterback. Period.
Dak Prescott also played impressively after returning from last year’s ankle injury. I expect Ezekiel Elliott to be much more present in other games, but it seems obvious that the Cowboys offense is Dak’s, as it should be. With what looks like a second year leap for CeeDee Lamb, the Dallas offense should be fun to watch in the very winnable NFC East.
The Cowboys put up a great battle and arguably played better for the majority of the game, but it’s Tom Brady and Tom Brady doesn’t lose football games when he gets the ball with 1 minute and 24 seconds remaining. As if we’ve forgotten that the NFL World is Tom Brady’s to control and he has all the rings, like Thanos, he reminded us very quickly and I loved every second of it.
The No Win North
Clearly the most disappointing division after the fist NFL weekend was the NFC North. It’s not just that the division went 0-4. It’s that the two favorites for the division title, Green Bay and Minnesota, looked abysmal in their losses.
Green Bay’s matchup against New Orleans was no guaranteed win, but the Saints 38-3 beating resembled something the Incredible Hulk would do in an Avengers film. Aaron Rodgers finishing with the stat line he had (133 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs, 13.5 QBR, 36.8 RTG) is maybe the worst I can remember which isn’t hard because it’s that uncommon. Don’t worry Packers fans, I’m sure he will work these kinks out in plenty of time to kick the Vikings ass.
Yes, the Vikings 27-24 overtime loss to the Bengals was on the road, but they can thank a late overtime fumble in field goal range by Dalvin Cook and more penalty flags than Harry Potter received invite letters to Hogwarts for that outcome. It’s especially bad considering their next three games are @Arizona, Seattle, and Cleveland. They put them in a great position to start 0-4. Don’t worry, I’m fine. No seriously….I’m fine…covered up sobbing…
Of course, Detroit and Chicago also lost as expected. Detroit showed the most fight in the division by nearly completing a comeback against the 49ers.
The Packers chances to win the division were likely only increased after this week due to the Vikings unexpected loss, but at this moment in time the NFC North’s teams appear to have a lot of issues.
The Wild, Winning West
Both the NFC and AFC West exit week one with undefeated records. Not only are they the only two undefeated divisions in the NFL, but the NFC South was the only other division to even win three of their four games.
The NFC West proved out the gates why it should be deemed as the cream of the crop of the entire NFL. All four teams looked like serious contenders. Even San Francisco who fluttered late against Detroit, looked back to their 2019 selves in the first half. Russell Wilson was his usual early season self. Kyler Murray was the MVP of week one. Matthew Stafford looks great and thrilled to be playing for a contender. It will be fun to see who the “O’Doyle Rules” of the West is by the end of the season.
The AFC West, although more surprising also played well. Kansas City of course came back to defeat Cleveland once again, the Chargers won a game in Washington that would’ve been a loss in 2020, Broncos went to New York and beat the Giants by two touchdowns, and the Raiders beat the Ravens in overtime to open their season. The AFC West doesn’t have the Super Bowl contenders of the NFC variant and Kansas City will obviously win the division, but the division should test them more than in recent years.
Rookie Growing Pains
All five 2021 first round quarterback picks made their NFL debut on Sunday. Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, and Mac Jones all started their team’s openers, while Trey Lance and Justin Fields played sparingly for their teams. All five players also scored touchdowns (Fields being the lone rushing touchdown). Their teams combined to go 1-4 on Sunday as well. The sample size was too small for Fields and Lance, but the three starters seemed to realize the preseason was over fairly quickly.
Lawrence finished with 332 yards and 3 touchdowns, but also three picks while having a subpar rating of 70.1.
Wilson also had his moments including the confirmation that he has a cannon arm. He left a little bit off on his 22 yard touchdown throw to Corey Davis while on the run, but you can see the rare abilities he has. He also struggled with some accuracy issues.
Mac Jones looked the most comfortable in his debut. He was efficient and accurate in helping the Patriots produce 393 total yards. Unfortunately, they had difficulty getting points on the board and had costly turnovers that prevented Jones from getting a “W” in his first game.
I still think this class has a chance to be viewed as the “NFL QuarterBrat Pack”. They all show glimpses of talent, but as expected it will take some initial bumps.
The Kyler Murray Show
When Kyler is feeling it, I don’t think there is a more exciting player in the league. His Super Mario Brothers-esque quick feet, arm strength, and occasional recklessness make every play of his appointment viewing. On Sunday he was checking all of those boxes with 5 total TDs (4 passing/1 rushing) while impersonating a tap dancing killer with more casualties than Butters in South Park and still getting one questionable throw that led to an interception. The craziest part? Murray only had five carries for 20 yards which means he didn’t necessarily rely on his feet as he often did last season. If Kyler can keep his Ace of Spades running ability as a back up plan and not the initial focus of the offense, he may be able to keep the Cardinals in close competition with the rest of the best division in football.
A Steel Strong Statement
Many have viewed the 2021 season as the changing of the guard in the AFC North (slowly raising hand). The Pittsburgh Steelers gave great reason to hold off on those predictions by going into Buffalo and bullying one of the Super Bowl favorites. The Steelers defense reminded everyone that they are still one of the most elite groups in the league and can keep the Steelers in any game. The Steelers offense, albeit being run by a .0005x speed version of Ben Roethlisberger, still has plenty of talent at their skill positions to give Big Ben options. I don’t think this is a case of Buffalo not being as good as expected. We may be just be putting too much value into the Cleveland Playoff Massacre.
A Cheetah Always Catches Its Prey
Sometimes it just feels like the Kansas City Chiefs want to give themselves a challenge by spotting the other team some points. That’s obviously not the case. Cleveland’s 22-10 halftime league was completely legitimate, but it just shows how quickly Mahomes, Hill, and Kelce can turn things upside down. At this point, Kansas City just always seems like they are within reach and they proved that again by relying on two Kelce touchdowns and 75 yard Hill TD heave.
A late dropped punt from Cleveland punter Jamie Gillan certainly helped Kansas City increase their victory odds. It’s hard to say Cleveland should be proud of how they performed since they left empty handed, but the reality is that they showed they have the ability to give the favorites of the AFC trouble if they avoid any self-inflicted mistakes. I’m hoping we see these two meet again in early 2022.
Week two should bring some fun matchups between the Tennessee/Seattle, Dallas/LA Chargers, and Kansas City/Baltimore matchups It will be intriguing to see what teams put themselves in an 0-2 hole and if teams like the Steelers can double down on their great week one. It will also be interesting to see if the Vikings realize that a yellow flag being thrown means you are breaking the rules, but I digress….bring on week two.