The Morning After Week 1 || NFL Recap
Edition #152
Intro:
Now that was a crazy week 1 and if that’s how it’s going to be for the whole season, oh boy we’re in for a wild ride.
Let’s talk about it all, and more.
NFL Week 1 Recap:
I’m gonna skip over the Ravens vs Chiefs and the Packers vs Eagles because everyone knew what happened in those two games. Let’s head straight to the Sunday games.
Panthers vs Saints:
Okay, look. Bryce Young is an absolute bust. He’s the next Cam Newton. He can’t do anything.
This is an NFL defense, but make no mistake, this is not the best defense in the league. Bryce Young got absolutely blanked and guess what happens when that happens? The other teams take advantage which was exactly what Derek Carr did.
The final score? 47-10. This meme really sums it all up for the Panthers…
I don’t know how a team could be this bad… They’re going to have a tough time getting two wins this season…
Vikings vs Giants
. I guess I was completely wrong. Sam Darnold absolutely cooked in this game.
He went 19/24 with 208 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. In fact, Sam Darnold literally had a perfect completion rate halfway through the game. Daniel Jones didn’t do that bad, other than his 2 picks, but I wouldn’t say that’s his fault either.
Malik Nabers, the Giants rookie finished with 66 yards and was the Giants leading receiver. Meanwhile, Justin Jefferson finished with 59 yards. Aaron Jones had 94 yards rushing.
The Vikings are off to a really good start with a 28-6 win against the Giants.
(Btw, 2024’s week 1 marks 100 years of New York Giants football in the NFL.)
HIGHLIGHT PLAY:
Patriots vs Bengals:
The biggest upset of the day for sure. The Pats were in absolute control of this game from the start and to the finish and they never let up. Jared Mayo’s defense was stellar and he deserved a Gatorade bath at the end of the game (which he got).
While the stats may show that Joe Burrow did better than Jacoby Brissett, Burrow didn’t make the best decisions. On the rushing side, Rhamondre Stevenson had a terrific game with 25 carries, 120 rushing yards and 1 touchdown. Austin Hooper was the leading receiver for the Pats, while Ja’Marr Chase was the same thing for the Bengals.
FINAL SCORE: PATS 16 - BENGALS 10
Steelers vs Falcons:
The Steelers didn’t even need a touchdown to beat the Falcons 18-10. How did the Falcons lose? Kirk Cousins.
In my most recent article, the mailbag, I talked about… Well, here’s the complete quote.
The Falcons on the other hand have the easiest path to division winners. Their division consists of the Panthers (the worst team in the NFL), the Saints (we could all argue that they’re the 5th worst team in the NFL), and the Buccaneers (who for some reason made it past the Eagles in the playoffs, but they lost key assets in the offseason). With a QB in Kirk Cousins (one of the most underrated QBs in the league), role players like Drake London, Jessie Bates III, Kyle Pitts, and Matthew Judon, and star players like Bijan Robinson, there’s no way this team doesn’t make the playoffs.
-Smayan Srikanth (Edition #150: MAILBAG!!!)
Yeah. Well, Kirk Cousins failed, but that’s nothing to panic about (article coming soon). The Steelers have one of the league’s best defenses. They have TJ Watt, who is one of the best defensive players. Kirk doing badly against the Steelers isn’t that big of an issue. Now, if he does badly against the Eagles, that’s a different story.
Justin Fields had an okay game. It would’ve been a great game if he threw for a touchdown, but that too is a different story. No, he’s not going to stick as the starting QB. That’s for Russell Wilson, but this is a promising start for Fields.
Texans vs Colts:
This game is probably competing for the best game of the morning hour because this was filled with crazy moments. Before we get to that, I have to say this. Both CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson weren’t playing their best game. They were overthrowing receivers a lot and well yeah. But, man oh man there were some crazy moments.
FINAL SCORE: 29-27
Cardinals vs Bills:
The game score probably won’t surprise you, but one thing will.
The Cardinals had the lead half of the game. Yes, the Cardinals owned this game with a 17-10 lead at the half, but in the 3rd quarter, the Cards couldn’t convert giving the Bills a huge advantage. That’s how they won this game.
Kyler Murray had a really good game both passing and on the run combining for 219 total yards. Wow. Meanwhile, Josh Allen threw 2 TDs and then decided to run for the rest of them finishing with 4 TDs in total and 271 total yards.
Keon Coleman had an amazing first game with 4 receptions and 54 yards. In fact, I don’t think he was passed to a single time in the first half but still led the team in yards and receptions. Crazy!
Titans vs Bears:
Now, onto the best game of the day, the Titans vs the Bears.
WHAT A GAME!
So, the Bears were down 17-3 at the half. Apart from a few plays, Caleb Williams was struggling. He finished with less than 100 yards passing. The Bears’ defense and special teams carried this team to victory. Here’s how.
In the 3rd quarter, the Bears blocked a punt and with a 21-yard return scored a TD. The next time the Bears get the ball is in the 4th quarter where they score two FGs in a row. Towards the 7-minute mark, the Bears get a PICK 6 by Tyrique Stevenson from Will Levis to take the lead and seal the deal for the Bears. If you have this game recorded and have an hour of free time, WATCH THIS GAME. Another crazy game folks.
Jaguars vs Dolphins:
In another come-from-behind victory in Week 1, Tua and Tyreek went nuts vs the Jaguars (Tyreek was playing with fire after being detained earlier in the day). I don’t have to write anything. Look for yourselves.
Broncos vs Seahawks:
Rookie quarterback Bo Nix actually played an okay game against the Seahawks. The problem? The Seahawks are way more experienced and the Broncos aren’t the best team either.
Nix was picked off twice, while Geno Smith was picked off half of that. Nix went 26-42 while Smith went 18-25. Geno Smith is 33 years old while Bo Nix is 24.
Look, I get all the panic. Heck, a CBS announcer calling the game literally called the pick. But, he’s a rookie and he wasn’t a highly coveted one. Things take time for these guys, but they eventually gain success.
Raiders vs Chargers:
To be honest, not a bad start for both of these teams.
The Raiders lost because of Antonio Pierce and Antonio Pierce only. In a crucial 4th and short in Chargers territory, he decides to punt it instead of going for it on 4th down. What makes matters worse is that it’s in the 4th quarter, the Raiders are down by 6 and the clock is ticking.
This probably was the Raiders win.
For the Chargers, all they care and should care about is winning these games. It wasn’t about their offense (it kinda never was). It was about the defense, coaching, and run game. Gardner Minshew did outperform Justin Herbert in basically every category (except interceptions and I’m not counting rushing yards because it was only by 1).
Whatever it is, it’s a good start for both of these teams.
Cowboys vs Browns:
Special stuff happen when Tom Brady is commentating your game.
Dak Prescott signed a huge extension with the Cowboys (highest AAV in the NFL) just hours before kickoff and did great. Ceedee Lamb did amazing.
Prescott only passed for 176 with a touchdown, but went 19/32 if you count that as a bright side. Ceedee Lamb had 5 receptions for 61 yards plus 25 rushing yards. That’s pretty good, but it was Brandon Aubrey who went nuts in this game. He hit 4 field goals and all of them were over 40 yards.
Now to the Browns. Watson had 169 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions. He also had 39 yards on the ground. Not that bad. When your leading receiver has 44 yards though, that’s when you know you have a problem.
Here’s what the Cowboys did that the Browns didn’t. They converted. Whenever the ball was in their hands, they scored points.
Commanders vs Buccaneers:
That’s a very good game for Jayden Daniels. I mean, wow!
Just because the Commanders lost, doesn’t mean all hope is lost. This is exactly why I think the commanders are going to be a competitive team this season, because of Jayden Daniels and the team.
That’s the receiving room. It isn’t filled with superstars, but if you look closely, almost all of these players are people you see on lists ranking underrated players. Because, they are! Think about it! Zach fricking Ertz is on this team!
The Commanders have a bright future in Jayden Daniels. They just gotta use it.
Rams vs Lions:
Well, we saw our first OT game in Week 1 of the NFL season. Pretty crazy how that’s already happened.
The Rams and the Lions. This reminds me of January early this year. It wasn’t a good memory because I was sick, cranky, and other stuff. I still watched half of the game (literally drooling and with a splitting headache) and it was nice, but just watching even a quarter of this game killed me.
Both Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff finished with and INT, but Stafford finished with 317 yards with almost 50 passes and Goff finished with 217 with almost 30. The Lions relied on the running game, while the Rams didn’t. Cooper Kupp (WR1) absolutely carried the Rams offense, while it was Jameson Williams who did his part (WR2).
The Lions won in OT because of a 1 yard David Montgomery run to seal the deal.
Conclusion:
And thank you for reading this. Please share this recap with all your friends. I’ll see you next time.
Thanks for the shoutout!
In all, I was shocked by very little of what happened in week one, but I did think Bryce Young would play better. He wasn't as bad as people think last season. His CPOE was only -1.4, which is quite bad but not as bad as rookies normally get. I hope he can turn it around, but this is becoming intimidating. I also thought a few other players would do a bit better than they did.
I think the story of week one was the lack of offence. As a fan of defensive football, this does not bother me, but out of 30 teams who have played so far, just 13 (Baltimore, KC, GB, BUF, ARI, MIN, NO, HOU, IND, TB, WAS, LAR, DET) had what I would call a good offensive game. This could be down to week one sloppiness, or it could be something more, and if that's the case it may upset some rule makers who have just tried to boost offence again. Perhaps the league ought to do something about all these unqualified rookie QBs running around. If JJ McCarthy had stayed healthy this figure would've been just 12 out of 30.
While I'm on the subject, shoutout to Jayden Daniels for not being completely awful. Still not ready as an NFL arm, but the legs were impressive enough to have him generate 0.21 EPA/Play as a player. This playstyle will not work when behind (like they were all game yesterday), but if the Commies can get some leads, it's possible that this can work.