[ad_1]
The first week saw many scenarios, but the teams having to play badly are the most important points.
The pre-season choices are fun, but often they come across an avalanche of reality in the regular season. This line of thought certainly held Sunday, with a host of summer favorites fading under the lights.
The San Francisco 49ers were supposed to be a sneaky team in the NFC with Jimmy Garoppolo at the helm. In the first week, Garoppolo was shaken by three interceptions in a loss to the Minnesota Vikings, completing less than half of his passes.
Elsewhere, the Dallas Cowboys fell without much fight against the Carolina Panthers. Dak Prescott and Co. scored eight points, with only nine yards (94) more than yards (85). If the Cowboys can not shoot more Ezekiel Elliott and Prescott, the American team will have a long season.
NFC South also had its two underperformers. The New Orleans Saints were the week's biggest favorites and were beaten by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, giving the Superdome 48 points. New Orleans must understand how the defense has returned to its pre-2017 form, allowing an absurd total of 529 yards in total.
Thursday night, the Atlanta Falcons continued to be unfit in the red zone, somehow targeting Austin Hooper more than Julio Jones in the 10-meter line. At one point, the Falcons have to answer difficult questions about coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Atlanta has all the talent it could ask for – although Keanu Neal's torn ACL is a blow – but nothing counts without execution.
Then there was the Pittsburgh Steelers, who could not play a more awful match. The Steelers have returned the ball more than six times (Ben Roethlisberger being responsible five times), escaping somehow against the Cleveland Browns with a draw 21-21. Pittsburgh spent the whole week talking about Le'Veon Bell and it showed a lack of focus in a division battle. The result? An unfortunate match in a game that might come back to haunt them later.
AFC South was also not spared by poor projections. The Houston Texans are supposed to be a Super Bowl contender, but they were easily eliminated by the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Tom Brady did what he wanted, while Deshaun Watson completed half of his passes for 176 yards and an interception. More worryingly, the offensive line still allowed pressure.
In Miami, the Tennessee Titans were injured and were ambushed. Mike Vrabel's debut ended in disaster, with Delanie Walker and Marcus Mariota injured and humiliated. The Dolphins won 27-20, forcing three turnovers, including two Mariota interceptions. If the Titans fail to feel healthy and solve their problems before Sunday when they will welcome the Texans, they will see a big hole
Finally, the Los Angeles Chargers, still disappointing. This is the year the Chargers finally won AFC West for the first time since 2009. All the pieces are in place. Instead, Los Angeles was defeated by Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs, losing 38-28 to Arrowhead West. If the Chargers are going to usurp the Chiefs in 2018, losing at home is a difficult way to start this journey.
Power rankings
Top 10 individual performances of the week 1
1. Ryan Fitzpatrick / Mike Evans / DeSean Jackson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7 combined)
2. Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs (169 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns and a 91-yard return)
3. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints (439 passing yards and 3 touchdowns)
4. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers (286 passing yards, 3 touchdowns)
5. Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots (7 receptions, 123 yards and TD)
6. James Conner, Pittsburgh Steelers (135 yards rushing, 2 touchdowns)
7. Saquon Barkley, New York Giants (106 yards rushing, TD)
8. Michael Thomas, Saints of New Orleans (16 receptions, 180 yards, TD)
9. Emmanuel Sanders, Denver Broncos (10 receptions, 135 yards, TD)
10. Von Miller, Denver Broncos (3 bags, 4 presses)
Quotable
"I was very excited to play," Luck said. "Part of what I've been trying to do is feel the same when you're a 12-year-old footballer. A young boy. Because it's a game. We play the game. We do not work. We are playing football. Some things were a little different.
– Indianapolis Colts quarterback, Andrew Luck, on his return to football
The Colts lost 34-23 to the Cincinnati Bengals at Lucas Oil Stadium, but the defeat must have been a moral victory in Naptown. For the first time since the 2016 season, Andrew Luck was under center and throws with 53 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns.
Luck and Colts have a long season ahead of them, but seeing number 12 play and play well was a great show.
Podcast
Matt Verderame and Josh Hill offer you a new episode of Stacking The Box every Sunday night. The duo will be accompanied by Ashley Young and Mark Carman every Tuesday at 12:30. on the FanSided Facebook page.
Random stat
The Cincinnati Bengals have benefited from two quarterbacks of MVP, and yet neither Ken Anderson nor Boomer Esiason are in the Hall of Fame.
Info learned this week
1. Rodgers leads the Bears' return for a long time
The Chicago Bears were leading 20-0 with the game apparently underway. Aaron Rodgers was injured. Everything seemed to arrive in Chicago, queuing beautifully for a conversation Monday morning about the return of the Monsters of the Midway.
Instead, the narrative made a complete 180, with the dominant talking point being about Rodgers and his magnificence. The future Hall of Fame in the first round racked up nearly 300 yards in the second half, scoring three touchdowns in a 24-23 victory. The Packers have somehow escaped 1-0 while the Bears – thanks to a questionable game call and a Kyle Fuller have lost the interception – are sitting at 0-1.
Still, Rodgers is at the center of this game, a contest that will be remembered for a while. It was perhaps a virtuoso performance of the best player in the league on a national stage.
2. Ravens, bills in opposite directions
The biggest blast of the weekend involved the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills, the first with a final score of 47-3. For Baltimore, early returns showed a motivated Joe Flacco, a defensive hurricane and a balanced attack. Flacco threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns, the defense had six sacks and two turnovers, and six players had at least 30 receiving yards.
Conversely, nothing has happened for the bills. Nathan Peterman continues to be the worst quarterback in league history, at least in the third quarter. Peterman made both choices and made only 5 attempts on 18 for 24 yards, before giving way to rookie Josh Allen. Allen looked restless and outclassed, going 6-for-15 for 74 yards while being thrown for three sacks. All in all, the Bills are the proverbial leader of the club for first choice in April.
3. Jags wins despite offensive concerns
The Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the New York Giants, 20-15, to start their season, but things were far from encouraging. Blake Bortles was extended over a period of three years due to controversy and he did nothing to support that confidence by performing 18 of 33 passes for a total of 176 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Perhaps more worrying was the release of Leonard Fournette in the first period, leaving a thigh injury. Head coach Doug Marrone does not believe this is a serious problem, but time will tell. If the Jaguars are without Fournette in addition to wide receiver Marqise Lee, Jacksonville will need his defense to be almost perfect.
4. Smith, Peterson looks good for "Skins
The Washington Redskins have barely been talked about, but the nation's capital should feel confident after a 24-6 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Washington beat two veterans of Alex Smith and Adrian Peterson, with a total of 365 yards of offense.
Smith was himself a very effective man, getting 255 yards and two touchdowns without a turnover. As for Peterson, the future Hall of Famer had 96 yards and a score of 26 carries, highlighting its value for the new team.
5. Monday night, intriguing clashes
The Oakland Raiders are a continuous saga for months and now they are finally taking home ground against the Los Angeles Rams. Jon Gruden highlights the sideline for the first time in ten years, after six months of experience that saw more questionable staff movements – more in a minute – than could be imagined in that time frame. For the Rams, here's our first look with Marcus Peters, Ndamukong Suh, Brandin Cooks and Aqib Talib.
At the start of the game, Sam Darnold made his NFL debut for the New York Jets, facing head coach Matt Patricia and the Detroit Lions. Do the Jets finally have their first quarter of franchise since Joe Namath? We are about to start discovering.
History lesson
The Seattle Seahawks withdrew their first issue in 1984, choosing 12 in honor of their fans.
Coup de part
It will be short and sweet. The Bears lost in a devastating way Sunday night, but it's certainly not because of Khalil Mack. Mack, who recently became the richest defensive player in NFL history, was simply brilliant in his defeat. The 27-year-old has recovered a bag, a touchdown, an interception and a tackle recovery in one of the most dominant games you can see.
The performance makes that one wonders what Gruden does in Oakland? If you can not make this type of talent a top priority over Jordy Nelson's signature and Martavis Bryant negotiation, why not even return to the business world?
The Raiders will welcome the Rams Monday night, and they will do it with the worst defensive staff in the league. Meanwhile, their former star showed why it was worth every penny that the Bears paid him, and why Oakland will spend decades trying to regain his talent.
[ad_2]
Source link
