NFL Week 1: Welcome back, old friend
The first Sunday of the NFL season felt familiar in a lot of ways.
Every new season brings change, both big and small. There’s hope that the new coaching staff will revitalize a struggling franchise. There’s excitement that a former high draft pick is poised to break out. There’s a sense of possibility that the new quarterback will turn the team into a contender.
Even with everything that’s different about a new season, there’s also an overwhelming feeling of familiarity. Bill Belichick acting grumpy. Aaron Donald scaring the bejesus out of quarterbacks. Scott Hanson shouting out the witching hour. The Falcons completely ignoring one of their young playmakers. It’s like welcoming back an old friend.
Overall, I found our first NFL Sunday of the season to be enjoyable, even if quite a few of the results gave me deja vu.
The rookie quarterbacks all lose
It’s not much of a surprise that the three rookie quarterbacks all lost in their NFL debut. From 1970 to 2022, rookie QBs were 17-32-1 in the opening weekend of a season.
This was only the third time that three or more rookies were under center on the first Sunday. Two years ago, their collective record was 0-3, just as it was this year. In 2012, they went 1-4, with Robert Griffin III securing the only win.
That makes sense. Most of the time, if a rookie QB is starting in Week 1, then 1) that player was a top draft pick and 2) his team is not very good. As it were, all three were underdogs on Sunday.
On the positive side, none of the 2023 rookies looked like a deer in headlights out on the field. Despite up-and-down days, all three had promising moments. Anthony Richardson, who came the closest to a win, was the Colts’ leading passer and rusher, and he had a role in both of their offensive touchdowns. C.J. Stroud, who looked the best throwing the ball, passed for the most yards (242) and spread the ball out more than his fellow draftmates — he even completed his first pass to himself! Bryce Young orchestrated three drives that lasted 11 plays or longer, and though only one of them ended in a touchdown, he never seemed panicky.
The wins might be tough to come by this year for Richardson, Stroud, and Young, but what matters most is how they develop. So far, there’s no reason to worry on that front.
The Ravens are dealing with a bunch of injuries again :(
The Ravens’ season was derailed by injuries in 2021, when 22 players went on the injured reserve list. That included starters such as running back J.K. Dobbins, left tackle Ronnie Stanley, and cornerback Marlon Humphrey, but not Lamar Jackson, who missed the final four weeks of the year (all losses) as Baltimore fell out of the playoff race.
It was a similar, slightly less bleak story in 2022, when 18 players went on IR. That included Dobbins again and safety Marcus Williams, but not Stanley (who missed six games) and Jackson, whose knee injury kept him out of the final five contests of the regular season as well as a playoff loss to the Bengals.
To start this year, Humphrey and tight end Mark Andrews were already ruled out of Week 1 before kickoff. Then Dobbins, Stanley, Williams, and center Tyler Linderbaum all left due to injuries.
Of those, Dobbins’ torn Achilles is the most severe and the biggest bummer. Not only is Dobbins an easy guy to root for and one of the Ravens’ top playmakers — as he showed when he scored their first touchdown of the game — but this is his third season-ending injury dating back to his high school days. Dobbins missed his entire senior year due to a broken ankle, then stayed relatively healthy while starring at Ohio State, and after a strong rookie season in Baltimore, an ACL tear cost him all of 2021. This was also a contract year for Dobbins, a sad reminder of how running backs are treated in today’s NFL market.
Williams will likely be out for a while with a torn pec, but Stanley’s and Linderbaum’s injuries appear to be less serious. Hopefully that’s the case for two of Jackson’s starting linemen, for their sake and for the Ravens’ too. Although they handled their business against the Texans, three of their next four games will come against an AFC North foe.
The Chargers lose a one-score game late
The good news is that the Chargers didn’t blow a historic lead this week, like they did last time we saw them in real action. The bad news is that they still blew a late lead, letting the Dolphins score the game-winning touchdown with just under two minutes left on the clock.
Losing one-score games used to be The Chargers Experience, particularly when Philip Rivers was their quarterback. Since Justin Herbert and Brandon Staley have teamed up, the Chargers have gotten slightly better at winning those close contests. In 2021, they went 5-5 in games decided by one possession. Last year, that record was 7-6, their playoff defeat included.
So far this year, LA is 0-1 after the two-point loss to Miami. In fairness to the Chargers, there’s no shame in dropping one to the Dolphins, who looked like the Super Bowl contender I thought they could be. A healthy Tua Tagovailoa was dealing (466 yards, 3 TDs), Tyreek Hill’s goal of 2K receiving yards doesn’t seem like a pipe dream, and Vic Fangio’s defense brought the heat when it needed to most.
This was the best game on Sunday; both teams were throwing haymakers at each other in the back-and-forth clash. If they can keep it up, the Chargers and Dolphins will make it back to the playoffs — and could meet again. Well, unless the Chargers fall back into the habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
The teams that just can’t seem to beat a certain rival
On Sunday, the Jaguars won for the first time in Lucas Oil Stadium since 2017. However, every other team that has had trouble in recent years with a specific division rival wasn’t as lucky.
Joe Burrow keep getting tripped up by the Browns
Here’s a fun little factoid for you, unless you’re a Cincinnati fan.
The Bengals’ record vs. the Chiefs with Joe Burrow as their QB: 3-1
The Bengals’ record vs. the Browns with Joe Burrow as their QB: 1-5
The last time these two in-state rivals met, Burrow and the Bengals had finally seemed to figure out the Browns. Last December, Burrow earned his first ever victory against Cleveland with a 23-10 win in Cincinnati.
Nine months later, the Bengals mustered a measly field goal in a 24-3 loss in rainy Cleveland. Burrow, who just became the highest-paid player in NFL history, threw for a career-low 82 yards and posted a career-worst 52.2 passer rating. Though I wasn’t expecting that kind of awful outing for Burrow, I’m not surprised that he struggled or that the Browns won. As I said in my last newsletter, Burrow got off to a slow start last season after sitting out the entire preseason. It might take a couple of weeks to get back to form after his recent calf injury, and as such, the Bengals will need more time to find their rhythm. Luckily, they won’t face the Browns again until the final week of the season.
The Bears can’t get past the Packers, no matter who’s at QB
A lot was made last year of Aaron Rodgers “owning” the Bears, and it’s true that he was hugely successful against them, with a 24-5 record in his 15 seasons as Green Bay’s starter. So when Rodgers left for Gang Green-er pastures — I apologize for such a terrible pun; I even groaned as I typed it — the question was if Chicago could start beating the Packers again now that Jordan Love was their quarterback.
The answer, it turns out, was no. The Bears lost for the ninth straight time in the rivalry, while Love notched his first career win as a starter. Love was efficient and didn’t try to do too much, which was the perfect game plan against a Chicago defense that still can’t get a stop when it needs to (the Packers were 9 of 16 on third down and 3-for-3 in the red zone). Justin Fields’ passing game remains a work in progress, the offensive line and receivers once again didn’t help out much, and the playcalling wasn’t very inspired.
It was a tough afternoon for Chicago fans, who were hoping to detect signs that their team was turning things around. But the Bears were never going to magically become a contender this year. They’re in, basically, year two of a rebuild. So let’s wait to see if they improve as the season goes on, similar to the Lions a year ago.
Josh Jacobs is the Raiders’ good luck charm vs. the Broncos
With five minutes to go in Denver and the Raiders clinging to a one-point lead, they tried to do something that they hadn’t done this millennium: run out the clock. And it worked, thanks to clutch play from Jimmy Garoppolo, a scary-looking penalty, and a few carries from Josh Jacobs.
If you look at his box score, Jacobs didn’t have all that productive of a game this weekend. He ran the ball 19 times for 48 yards, had two catches for 23 yards, and didn’t score. That didn’t matter, though, because the Raiders still won, as they’ve always done against the Broncos when Jacobs plays.
In his career, Jacobs has put up 950 total yards against Denver in eight meetings, with Vegas winning all eight of those matchups. The Broncos’ only win over the Raiders since 2019 came in the final week of that season, when Jacobs was inactive. That’s not great, but at least it’s better than Denver’s track record against Kansas City as of late.
Dak Prescott has the Giants’ number
Unlike Aaron Rodgers, Dak Prescott probably wouldn’t say that he “owns” another team. But I will speak for Dak and tell you that he is better at taking down Giants than David. Prescott is 11-2 against NY, with 3,290 passing yards and 23 passing touchdowns — his highest numbers against any opponent.
Prescott wasn’t tasked with carrying the load on Sunday night. The Cowboys thoroughly whipped the Giants in every phase of the game, particularly their swarming defense that bullied Daniel Jones into the worst game of his career. Dallas’ 40-0 road win was the first of its kind on opening weekend since the Steelers beat the Browns 43-0 in 1999.
In some ways, it reminded me of the Cowboys’ 40-3 win over the Vikings last November: Dallas was firing on all cylinders while things simply snowballed for the other team. It might not be realistic for the Cowboys to dominate like that every week, but it’s sure fun to watch them when they’re cookin’ like that.
As for the Giants, the best course of action for them is to quickly move past this wet turd of a game. The offensive line is a major concern going forward, considering Jones was sacked seven times, but they won’t be playing in a downpour every week either. And just because they lost to the Cowboys again doesn’t mean they have to let this one poor performance define their whole season. In fact, that’s a lesson for all of Week 1’s losers.