It was a week of superstars showing off new uniforms, many players choosing to stay in the locker room for the national anthem, teams playing through horrible air conditions out west, and stadiums being mostly empty because of coronavirus precautions. But a few shocking upsets provided a thrilling Sunday, reminding everyone that football games can go sideways quickly.
Here’s what we learned:
These are not Tom Brady’s Patriots. In his first game for New England, quarterback Cam Newton led the team to an easy win over the Miami Dolphins by throwing for 155 yards and rushing for 75 more along with two touchdowns. The 75 rushing yards are more than Brady had in 14 of his 19 seasons as New England’s starter, with the veteran’s single-game high being just 31 yards. Not to be outdone entirely by Newton, Brady showed he is still nearly unstoppable in short-yardage situations by running for a 1-yard touchdown early in Tampa Bay’s loss to the New Orleans Saints.
When they say “on any given Sunday,” that includes Week 1. The Jacksonville Jaguars, the Chicago Bears and the Washington Football Team looked like basement dwellers coming into the season, but all three are 1-0 after Jacksonville and Washington delivered shocking upsets of well-regarded teams (the Indianapolis Colts and the Philadelphia Eagles, respectively) and the Bears engineered a thrilling fourth quarter comeback over the Detroit Lions. You might want to wait a week or two before hopping on the bandwagon, but wins are wins.
Super Bowl hangovers continue to be real. The San Francisco 49ers were hoping a stable off-season would help the team avoid the fate of Super Bowl losers of years past, but the team’s defense continued to struggle with mobile quarterbacks, new Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins had a great day — even by his lofty standards — and San Francisco’s defense of its N.F.C. title began with a division loss at home.
Janoris Jenkins jumps in front for the pick-6! #Saints
📺: #TBvsNO on FOX
— NFL (@NFL) September 13, 2020
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The spirit of Jameis Winston lives on for Tampa Bay. Tom Brady, a 43-year-old six-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, was brought over from the Patriots to stabilize a wildly volatile position for the Buccaneers, but in his first start he looked a lot like Winston, his predecessor as Tampa Bay’s starter. Brady had his moments where you could see the magic, but he also threw two interceptions, including a pick-six, letting Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints get an easy win at home. Winston, who had a front-row seat from the New Orleans sideline, set some lofty goals for Brady, however, with 33 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions last season.
The Packers should have drafted Aaron Rodgers’s heir apparent years ago. Much was made of Rodgers being miffed that Green Bay used its first-round pick on Jordan Love, a quarterback out of Utah State. Rodgers said the right things in interviews, but he seemed to do so through clenched teeth. Known for playing well with a chip on his shoulder, Rodgers responded to the perceived slight by throwing for 364 yards and four touchdowns in Sunday’s road win over the rival Minnesota Vikings. If Rodgers can play like that every week, the Packers might want to draft a quarterback next year too.
Plans change quickly with running backs. Only one running back — Kansas City’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire — was taken on the first day of this year’s draft, but this year’s crop of rookies is already looking particularly strong. Edwards-Helaire found himself starting for the Chiefs after Damien Williams opted out of the season, and he ran for 138 yards in Kansas City’s win over Houston on Thursday. Jonathan Taylor, a second-round pick out of Wisconsin, had 89 yards from scrimmage in the Colts’ loss to Jacksonville on Sunday, and J.K. Dobbins, a second-rounder out of Ohio State, had two touchdown runs in Baltimore’s romp over Cleveland.
Sometimes the obvious call is the right call. In a classic case of overthinking things, Carolina faced a fourth-and-inches play in the closing minutes of the team’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders. With everyone expecting a run, or pass, to Christian McCaffrey, Teddy Bridgewater instead handed off to fullback Alex Armah, who was crushed to the ground at the line of scrimmage for no gain, ending Carolina’s comeback attempt. McCaffrey finished the day with 134 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. Armah carried the ball twice for 1 yard.
Josh Allen keeps things exciting — sometimes too exciting. The Bills’ third-year quarterback threw for a career-high 312 yards in a 27-17 dismantling of the Jets, making him the first Buffalo quarterback to top 300 yards since Tyrod Taylor did it in 2016, and just the second to do it since 2014, according to Pro Football Reference. Allen threw two touchdown passes, and ran one in as well, while leading the Bills with 57 rushing yards. Lest Buffalo fans get too excited, Allen also had two fairly brutal fumbles in Jets territory that could have cost his team dearly if the Bills’ defense wasn’t so proficient that the damage resulted in just 3 points.
One* Sentence About Sunday’s Games
*Except when it takes more.
Ravens 38, Browns 6 Cleveland beat Baltimore on Sept 29 of last season, and the Ravens have not lost a regular season game since — a streak that will reach at least 357 days thanks to Lamar Jackson throwing for 275 yards and three touchdowns, with a sparking passer rating of 152.1, in a game that was not nearly as close as the final result suggests.
Saints 34, Buccaneers 23 For much of the games, the — shall we say, experienced? — quarterbacks of these teams looked their age, but Drew Brees had an undeniable highlight with a 46-yard completion to tight end Jared Cook, and New Orleans took care of business at home.
Packers 43, Vikings 34 There were plenty of positives Minnesota could take from this game — Adam Thielen succeeding without Stefon Diggs, Dalvin Cook running for two touchdowns, etc. — but all of them came on offense, as the team’s short-handed defense was brutalized by Green Bay, giving up an unseemly 522 yards.
Jaguars 27, Colts 20 Indianapolis added quarterback Philip Rivers to complement the team’s power running game. Rivers threw for 363 yards (and two extremely costly interceptions), but the Colts struggled to run the ball and lost starter Marlon Mack to injury. That and the team’s defense falling apart resulted in easily the biggest upset of the week to that point.
Washington 27, Eagles 17 It was an incredibly messy off-season for Washington, but the season got off to a shockingly happy start with the Footballers fighting their way back from a 17-point deficit thanks to some tough play from the team’s defense, two rushing touchdowns from Peyton Barber, and steady play from second-year quarterback Dwayne Haskins.
Cardinals 24, 49ers 20 It seems like DeAndre Hopkins is going to work out just fine for Arizona, as the wide receiver, acquired in a trade with Houston this off-season, had 14 catches for 151 yards against one of the best secondaries in football.
Bears 27, Lions 23 For three quarters, Chicago’s decision to stick with Mitchell Trubisky at quarterback looked brutal, but the Bears, who trailed at that point by 23-6, had a comeback for the ages. The much-maligned Trubisky threw three touchdown passes in the final quarter, including a 27-yard go-ahead pass to Anthony Miller with 1 minute 54 seconds left in the game.
Raiders 34, Panthers 30 Just coming back to the point already made above: If you need a few inches, and your team has Christian McCaffrey, you give the ball to Christian McCaffrey.
Seahawks 38, Falcons 25 It appears as if Coach Pete Carroll finally heard about the “Let Russ Cook” campaign, as Seattle was the Russell Wilson show in a road victory, with the quarterback throwing for 322 yards and four touchdowns.
Chargers 16, Bengals 13 Rookie quarterback Joe Burrow looked awfully great on a 23-yard touchdown run, but the Bengals were the Bengals, with wide receiver A.J. Green being flagged for offensive pass interference in the closing seconds, ruining Cincinnati’s chance at a come-from-behind win.
Bills 27, Jets 17 Given a stiff test to start the season, the Jets failed, with quarterback Sam Darnold looking pedestrian against Buffalo’s (admittedly terrific) defense, and running back Le’Veon Bell missing the second half with a hamstring injury. That left the team’s defense — minus safety Jamal Adams, who was traded to Seattle — to deal with an onslaught led by Josh Allen of the Bills.
Patriots 21, Dolphins 11 It’s not particularly fair to judge a journeyman quarterback for a developing team when he’s up against one of the best secondaries in the N.F.L., but Ryan Fitzpatrick’s zero-touchdown, three-interception effort certainly didn’t quiet calls for Tua Tagovailoa to get a shot under center for Miami.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/13/sports/football/week-1-nfl-results.html
2020-09-14 00:00:00Z
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