Quite the opening weekend and quite the interesting storylines already developing.
The lead story for me is the Steelers and how they were exposed last night. Ben has been reliant on his playmakers for years now, and with no more Bell and Brown, we got a glimpse of how inflated his numbers were (no QB had more passing yds or higher QB then Ben on short and screen passes over the last 5 years, and no let me stop you, Brady isn't even in the top 10 for short or screen attempts and or success). Deion Sanders said last night on Game Day that he doesn't think Ben lasts the season, and the more I think about this, he's absolutely right.
The Titans heard the noise... All offseason the Browns were the darling, they were the "next team" bc of their big splash acquisition. Lost in that, was their sheer disregard for their OL. The Titans have a good D, but they completely dominated the Browns front. TE Delanie Walker had a great Dennis Green tribute line that showed how all the talk of offseason champs clearly got to them. The Browns will be fine, in part bc I think that division is bad this yr, but they still haven't won an opening game since 2004.
Sam Darnold got tons of praise this offseason, esp in the NY media, with even some calling him the best QB in the AFC East, but when push came to shove, he couldn't quite capitalize on 5 Bills TOs and was outdueled by Josh Allen in the 4th Q.
Patrick Mahomes is awesome, he loses Ty Hill, but still shreds a Jags D that many thought was the best in the league. He tried the no-look pass again, which he overthrew an extra wide-open Travis Kelce but 15 feet, hopefully that's the end of that. The Chiefs D still left a lot to be desired, after rookie QB Gardner MInshew went 22-25 and 2 tds against them. Nick Foles getting hurt sucks.
Kyler Murray looked really average for 3 Qs before catching fire in the 4th and OT. Some really bad time penalties and moronic TO by Lions OC, Darren Bevall gave Kyler a chance to come back, and he delivered by picking apart the Lions prevent D. This Cards team Q rating is way up, and will be fun to watch.
Speaking of debuts, Zac Taylor and the Bengals had almost zero expectations going into yesterday, but Andy Dalton went into Seattle and dropped 400+ yards passing. That was a fun offense to watch as well. Meanwhile, Seattle was outplayed in just about every facet, but Russ Wilson found a way, buoyed by a strong debut from DK.
Rams and Panthers was the strangest game I saw all day. With a total of 50, every expected points, and while teams spent much of the first half exchanging drives that passed midfield, only to stall, the second half opened up on the ground. Cam Newton looked off all day, missing open guys down the field and throwing a horrendous pick late. Goff had his own moments of futility too, missing open guys by wide margins and taking bad sacks. No idea how that game ended up at 57 pts, bc I thought the QBs stunk. Hard to say a RB is the best player in the league, but Christian McCaffery's name is atop of the non QB list for me.
Dak wants to get paid.... new OC Kellen Moore called basically a flawless game and Dak was dropping dimes all day long. If that Dak is here to stay, the Cowboys are the NFC favorite for me.
Eagles- Redskins was heading towards stunner of the day before the Eagles O finally unleashed. Philly was a popular SB pick, and they still have an elite O, but they are still vulnerable on the backend, which was their Achilles heel last year as well.
Austin Eckler had himself a day, including scoring the GW TD in OT vs a valiant Colts effort. We saw the Colts run the ball successfully with Marlon Mack, but Brisset had a hard time throwing downfield. I think the Colts can win some games with their offense, but their D has to be better. They got pressure on Phillip Rivers, but not nearly enough, and the Chargers prob have one of the worst lines in the league. Malik Hooker had one fo the best picks I've seen, which kept hope alive, but in OT they had no gas left.
Lamar Jackson looked awfully good. Not needing to throw often, he made the Dolphins pay for loading the box. His throws didn't come with a great deal of difficulty, but I was all in on Jackson this year, and think a big year is in store. That Ravens offense greatly upgraded their team speed, and Hollywood Brown looked like (a less assualty) Tyreek Hill with his sudden burst.
I thought the Falcons would win outright in Minnesota, but the Vikings just thoroughly dominated both lines of scrimmage. If the Vikings have indeed fixed their leaky OL, they are going to be really good. Vikings- Packers became a lot more interesting to me with the Packers "having a defense" and the Vikings having an OL now. In Atlanta, I think a lot of people thought they were due for a strong bounce back, but maybe Dan Quinn has to go before that can happen? They just looked unprepared and had a pre-season game like urgency.
Jimmy G threw a horrendous pick, but lucky for him Jaemis was tossing up free-bees of his own, including two really bad pick 6s. The second of which came with 2 minutes, down 6 and a chance to drive for the win. Burying Jimmy G after a preseason game was ludicrous, and while he had his struggles, he found a way to win again. The NFC West is going to be appt TV.
The lead story for me is the Steelers and how they were exposed last night. Ben has been reliant on his playmakers for years now, and with no more Bell and Brown, we got a glimpse of how inflated his numbers were (no QB had more passing yds or higher QB then Ben on short and screen passes over the last 5 years, and no let me stop you, Brady isn't even in the top 10 for short or screen attempts and or success). Deion Sanders said last night on Game Day that he doesn't think Ben lasts the season, and the more I think about this, he's absolutely right.
The Titans heard the noise... All offseason the Browns were the darling, they were the "next team" bc of their big splash acquisition. Lost in that, was their sheer disregard for their OL. The Titans have a good D, but they completely dominated the Browns front. TE Delanie Walker had a great Dennis Green tribute line that showed how all the talk of offseason champs clearly got to them. The Browns will be fine, in part bc I think that division is bad this yr, but they still haven't won an opening game since 2004.
Sam Darnold got tons of praise this offseason, esp in the NY media, with even some calling him the best QB in the AFC East, but when push came to shove, he couldn't quite capitalize on 5 Bills TOs and was outdueled by Josh Allen in the 4th Q.
Patrick Mahomes is awesome, he loses Ty Hill, but still shreds a Jags D that many thought was the best in the league. He tried the no-look pass again, which he overthrew an extra wide-open Travis Kelce but 15 feet, hopefully that's the end of that. The Chiefs D still left a lot to be desired, after rookie QB Gardner MInshew went 22-25 and 2 tds against them. Nick Foles getting hurt sucks.
Kyler Murray looked really average for 3 Qs before catching fire in the 4th and OT. Some really bad time penalties and moronic TO by Lions OC, Darren Bevall gave Kyler a chance to come back, and he delivered by picking apart the Lions prevent D. This Cards team Q rating is way up, and will be fun to watch.
Speaking of debuts, Zac Taylor and the Bengals had almost zero expectations going into yesterday, but Andy Dalton went into Seattle and dropped 400+ yards passing. That was a fun offense to watch as well. Meanwhile, Seattle was outplayed in just about every facet, but Russ Wilson found a way, buoyed by a strong debut from DK.
Rams and Panthers was the strangest game I saw all day. With a total of 50, every expected points, and while teams spent much of the first half exchanging drives that passed midfield, only to stall, the second half opened up on the ground. Cam Newton looked off all day, missing open guys down the field and throwing a horrendous pick late. Goff had his own moments of futility too, missing open guys by wide margins and taking bad sacks. No idea how that game ended up at 57 pts, bc I thought the QBs stunk. Hard to say a RB is the best player in the league, but Christian McCaffery's name is atop of the non QB list for me.
Dak wants to get paid.... new OC Kellen Moore called basically a flawless game and Dak was dropping dimes all day long. If that Dak is here to stay, the Cowboys are the NFC favorite for me.
Eagles- Redskins was heading towards stunner of the day before the Eagles O finally unleashed. Philly was a popular SB pick, and they still have an elite O, but they are still vulnerable on the backend, which was their Achilles heel last year as well.
Austin Eckler had himself a day, including scoring the GW TD in OT vs a valiant Colts effort. We saw the Colts run the ball successfully with Marlon Mack, but Brisset had a hard time throwing downfield. I think the Colts can win some games with their offense, but their D has to be better. They got pressure on Phillip Rivers, but not nearly enough, and the Chargers prob have one of the worst lines in the league. Malik Hooker had one fo the best picks I've seen, which kept hope alive, but in OT they had no gas left.
Lamar Jackson looked awfully good. Not needing to throw often, he made the Dolphins pay for loading the box. His throws didn't come with a great deal of difficulty, but I was all in on Jackson this year, and think a big year is in store. That Ravens offense greatly upgraded their team speed, and Hollywood Brown looked like (a less assualty) Tyreek Hill with his sudden burst.
I thought the Falcons would win outright in Minnesota, but the Vikings just thoroughly dominated both lines of scrimmage. If the Vikings have indeed fixed their leaky OL, they are going to be really good. Vikings- Packers became a lot more interesting to me with the Packers "having a defense" and the Vikings having an OL now. In Atlanta, I think a lot of people thought they were due for a strong bounce back, but maybe Dan Quinn has to go before that can happen? They just looked unprepared and had a pre-season game like urgency.
Jimmy G threw a horrendous pick, but lucky for him Jaemis was tossing up free-bees of his own, including two really bad pick 6s. The second of which came with 2 minutes, down 6 and a chance to drive for the win. Burying Jimmy G after a preseason game was ludicrous, and while he had his struggles, he found a way to win again. The NFC West is going to be appt TV.
