Football is back with a great week one of games. There was a bunch of teams who let us down, and a lot more who surprised us with their dynamic play on the field. The Baltimore Ravens vs Las Vegas Raiders game had to have been the game of the week, with the Raiders winning 33-27 in OT off of a Zay Jones TD. The Ravens defense didn’t seem to have an answer for Derek Carr as he there for 435 yards & 2 TDs. Without further wait, let’s recap week 1 & see who can get better.
Who surprised:
Houston Texans. The Texans were a team everyone wrote off this season & said they wouldn’t win any games. Tyrod Taylor & rookie HC David Culley had something to say about that, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 37-21 behind Tyrod’s 291 yards & 2 TDs. Mark Ingram showed he can still play as well, rushing for 85 yards and a TD in 26 rushes. Neither team will go far this season, but this was a strong performance by Houston on both sides of the ball.
Detroit Lions. This was the week for rookie HCs. Dan Campbell’s Lions showed they have enough fight to keep up with playoff teams. Detroit took the San Francisco 49ers to the last drive of the game before their defense held the Lions to a turnover on downs. They would go on to defeat Detroit 41-33, but that’s not the point. The point is how well they were coached Sunday. Jared Goff threw for 338 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT with TJ Hockenson totaling 8 receptions for 97 yards & 1 TD. For being in a “rebuild” year, Detroit could win a few games.
Who let us down:
Buffalo Bills: The Bills have Super Bowl aspirations this year, and they had to run through the Pittsburgh Steelers to start the season off. The Bills looked like a shell of their former selves, allowing 24 pressures on Josh Allen, terrible penalties, and questionable play calls, among others. The Bills defense held strong for most of the game, allowing 177 yards to Ben Roethlisberger. But the Bills will need to get the penalties & the pass protection cleaned up before they face the Miami Dolphins next week. Still plenty of time for them to get this figured out, but the Bills start the year off with questionable play.
Green Bay Packers: What happened to Green Bay? The Packers lost miserably to the New Orleans Saints in a game where Aaron Rodgers threw for 133 yards and 2 INTs before being replaced by Jordan Love. Not only was the passing game poor, but the run game couldn’t get going either, rushing for 45 yards combined. I don’t need to tell you this, Aaron Jones rushing for 9 yards on 5 rushes is just unacceptable. HC Matt LaFleur needs to do a better job of getting this team going. They looked like they didn’t prepare for this game & just played uninspired football, starting with Aaron Rodgers.
Tennessee Titans. After acquiring Julio Jones, the Titans were viewed by many as a championship contending team. While that can still happen, they need to get some things figured out first. Starting off with how to get Julio Jones & Ryan Tannehill on the same page. Julio totaled 3 receptions for 29 yards. We all know that Julio is capable of getting that stat line in the first couple of drives. If they can get Julio & Tannehill working on the same page, this could be a dynamic trio of playmakers at Tannehill’s disposal. What also will need to improve is the Titans defense. Allowing 289 yards & 4 TDs just doesn’t help your team win ballgames. The Titans defense seemed to not gameplay to stop Kyler Murray & DeAndre Hopkins, which is going to have to change before they face the Seattle Seahawks & September Russell Wilson next week.
