One week down. There’s been a few surprises and already a handful of injuries.
It’s hard to get a real feel for any team after only one week. It usually isn’t until a quarter way through the season that we can get a feel for the contenders and pretenders. However, this won’t stop me or any other armchair quarterbacks from jumping to conclusions.
Here are a few of my thoughts from week one in the NFL:
1. So much for the 16-0 talk. The Patriots got absolutely dominated by the Chiefs. The loss of Edelman is obvious. The lack of pass rush is going to hurt them all season. Belichick will figure it out, but I don’t think the Patriots are the overwhelming favorite to win the Super Bowl anymore.
2. Since I’ve been watching the NFL the Chiefs seem to be the same team. They play good defense, run the ball well, and have a game manager at quarterback. Every couple of years they will get a first round bye and then lose a low scoring game in Arrowhead. Will it change this year? Their week one win over the Patriots suggest that this year’s Chiefs may be different. But I doubt anyone takes them seriously until they win against a legit team in the playoffs.
3. Carson Palmer looked terrible on the road. David Johnson is out for 2-3 months. It’s only week one, but things are already looking dire for the Cards.
4. I thought the Lions would regress this year because they wouldn’t have the same luck as last season in close games (8 of their 9 wins were comebacks). Then the Lions go out week one and win another game in which they trailed entering the 4th quarter. Maybe it’s not luck.
5. Minus the terrible interception to Kerrigan, Wentz looked really good on Sunday. With addition of Jeffery and the improvement of Agholor, Wentz finally has some offensive weapons.
6. The loss of Jackson and Garcon is going hurt to the Redskins this season. Cousins looked mediocre most of Sunday’s game. The offseason addition of Pryor is seeming to help him out.
7. I expected the Falcons to thrash the Bears, but they barely got out of Solider Field with a win. Then again, a win is a win.
8. The Bears played better than I expected. Glennon played better than I expected. He would have got his first win as a Bear if his receivers could catch the ball. Maybe Trubisky won’t be starting by week 5.
9. I knew Savage would lose his starting job, but I didn’t think it would happen after only one half of football. Different season, but still the same old problem for O’Brien. The lack of quality quarterback is killing this team.
10. The Jaguars had one of the most surprising wins of week one. My OROY pick, Fournette is already looking good.
11. The Jets are who we thought they were.
12. Yes, the Bills won on Sunday, but it was against the Jets. There’s still no way to tell if this team is mediocre or just bad.
13. The Titans (this year’s sexy pick) played the Raiders tough, but ultimately the Raiders were too much for them. They did what legit playoffs team do, win tough games on the road. I should have never doubted the black & silver.
14. Everyone seemed to be writing this Bengals off this season, which I didn’t agree with until I saw highlights from Sunday’s game against the Ravens. The defense didn’t look good, the offense got blanked, and Dalton threw 4 interceptions with a passer rating of .6!
15. I thought the Ravens would have one of the top defenses in the league this year. They sure looked good on Sunday shutting out the Bengals on the road.
16. Yes, the Steelers won, but it feels like they should have won by more. They let the Browns hang around and barely escaped with a victory. This seems to be the Steelers MO. They play down to their competition.
17. Kizer wasn’t spectacular, but he looked better than any of the other quarterbacks the Browns have trotted out opening day in the past decade. There is reason to be optimistic in Cleveland. These don’t seem like the same old Browns.
18. A Luck-less Colts may be the worst team in the NFL.
19. The Rams beat a Luck-less Colts team, but still it was an impressive win. Who saw h Goff putting up better numbers than Brady in week one?
20. I didn’t see any highlights of the Panthers vs. Niners game. Judging by the stats the Panthers did exactly what I thought they would do – handle a bad team on the road.
21. I had both the Seahawks and the Giants going deep into the playoffs. Both teams seem to be in similar positions. They both have top 5 defenses, but lousy offenses, especially when it comes to offensive line play. I think both teams can still make the playoffs, but they’ll be a quick out if they can’t fix their problems up front.
22. I know it’s early, but I’m already declaring the Green Bay Packers the best team in the NFC.
23. Maybe it helped that OBJ was out. Maybe it was the poor offensive line play by the Giants, but the Cowboys defense looked good. Prescott seems to be picking up from where he left off last season. He’s legit which means the Cowboys are a legit Super Bowl team. I should have never doubted them.
24. Poor Brees. If only he had a defense. It’s only one game, but the Saints defense seems to once again be abysmal.
25. Maybe it had to do with playing the Saints defense at home, but the Vikings looked good offensively. We knew there defense was good, but the biggest question mark was their offensive line. They showed up Monday. So did Bradford. Ditto rooked running back Cook.
26. The Broncos narrowly escaped with a victory over the Chargers. The AFC West is going to be an extremely tough division this year.
THEORY ON X 