Things That Made Me Giddy
Chiefs Always Find a Way: The Browns threw as good a punch as you can throw against the Chiefs in Arrowhead. Cleveland had a double-digit lead at halftime, were winning at the line of scrimmage and preventing big plays. Then Mahomes escaped right and launched a 75-yard touchdown, and then the punter dropped a snap to set up another Chiefs touchdown, and that was… it.
Chandler Jones’s Pent-Up Energy: Things started with a tackle-for-loss on Derrick Henry on the first play from scrimmage, and by the end of the first quarter Jones had three sacks in his first game back from a ruptured Achilles. That included a perfectly-played defense of a Ryan Tannehill play-action boot, turning it into a strip-sack that set up the Arizona offense on the 1-yard line. Jones finished the day with five sacks, two forced fumbles (both recovered by Arizona), and as big a Defensive Player of the Year opening statement as you can make.
Xavien Howard Saves Christmas: Well, more accurately, saves Tua Tagovailoa from being burdened with one of the worst game-losing interceptions imaginable. Instead, the game-losing turnover falls on Damien Harris as the Dolphins outlast the Patriots in Foxboro.
The Saints Defense Makes the Saints QB Situation Moot: Bobby Hebert could have gone under center in Jacksonville and the game still wouldn’t have been competitive. The New Orleans defense absolutely steamrolled the Packers on Sunday, dominating the line of scrimmage and making Aaron Rodgers look more uncomfortable than he has in years.
Jalen Hurts Proving the People Who Drafted Him Wrong: It’s been the weirdest developmental track ever set up for a young quarterback. First, the Eagles spent a second-round pick on Hurts with the idea of making him a long-term backup. Then, after an encouraging (if flawed) stint after Carson Wentz’s meltdown last season, the Eagles front office spent most of the offseason looking to replace Hurts. He wasn’t asked to do a ton in Atlanta, but Nick Sirianni had a plan with his legs and arm, and Hurts sprinkled in a couple of spectacular improvisational plays in what added up to an outstanding performance.
Steelers Do It Their Way: I could still stand to see them open the offense up a little more (the offensive line won’t be any worse than last year’s edition), but they won on their terms in Buffalo, dominating defensively and hanging around until they could string together a couple of drives and get a couple of turnovers. After just 53 yards of offense in the first half, they had 201 yards of offense and 16 points on their first four drives of the second half, and their lone touchdown drive featured a 26-yard defensive pass interference penalty when they finally started to test the Bills downfield. Sleep on this team at your own risk.
T.J. Watt Chase-Down Sacks: Those always help too. He had two of them, including a strip-sack turnover of Josh Allen.
Kyle Shanahan’s Offense: Sure, it got a little too interesting in the end. But through their first seven drives—including a turnover on a QB-center exchange on the season’s first snap—the 49ers scored 38 points while averaging 10.3 yards per play. Yes, grain of salt considering the opponent (it will take years to undo the damage done to the Lions’ roster by the previous regime), but you rarely see that level of dominance in a game featuring two NFL teams.
Hey, I Remember Joe Burrow!: The Bengals didn’t exactly open things up in his first game back, relying heavily on the run game and play-action (and a strong performance by a defense that is probably deserving of more credit). But Burrow generally looked calm and collected in the pocket, and was efficient overall.
Nick Sirianni and David Culley Are on the Board!: Both faced fellow first-year head coaches (Atlanta’s Arthur Smith and Jacksonville’s Urban Meyer, respectively) and both coaches equipped themselves well. Sirianni got sufficiently creative with Jalen Hurts and then watched his veteran defense have its way with the Falcons. As for Culley, he and coordinators Tim Kelly and Lovie Smith have an undermanned team that played on Sunday, completely outclassing the more talented Jaguars.
Teddy Bridgewater Leaves No Doubt: He sprinkled in a few impressive improvisational plays, but mostly there was just a level of competence at quarterback that the Broncos haven’t had post-Peyton Manning. He’s probably not Denver’s quarterback of the future, but he’s clearly their quarterback of the present.
Chargers Gut One Out: Let’s not lose track of the fact that this is a really talented team, with a stud quarterback, who was facing a Washington Football Team playing their backup quarterback most of the way. But this game was played on Washington's terms—ugly—and the Chargers went on the road and came away with a victory. That’s a very good sign for a team with a recent history of creative losses.
The Russell Wilson-Shane Waldron Marriage: They took their foot off the gas a bit while they defended a two-possession lead in the second half, but this edition of the Seahawks offense looked like a really nice mesh of run and pass game, along with some clever route designs at the intermediate level. When combined with a couple of Wilson moonball TDs to Tyler Lockett, this looked like the beginning of something special.
Zac Taylor Puts It in Joe Burrow’s Hands: Facing a fourth-and-1 at midfield with less than a minute to go in overtime, Taylor called play-action, with Burrow hitting C.J. Uzomah for a 32-yard play, setting up the game-winning field goal.
Melvin Gordon as Kyra Sedgwick in : With a big assist from the offensive line on the game-clinching TD run.
DeAndre Hopkins, Still a Difference Maker: His two first-half touchdowns were both tremendous individual efforts, the first a late-down improv session (with an incredible throw by Kyler Murray to the back of the end zone) and the second a quick-strike run-and-catch that required him to slip a Kevin Byard tackle.
Bridgewater, Okwuegbunam, Effort: This is a game-changing fourth-down play, literally the difference between seven points and a turnover (and, for that reason, Blake Martinez has to make that tackle).
Whoa, Seattle Might Have Something in Darrell Taylor: And that’s a defense in desperate need of an edge-rushing presence. After missing his rookie year with a broken leg, Taylor was a force in his NFL debut, absolutely owning his matchup against Braden Smith. The Seahawks’ front-four won the day against a Colts O-line that was supposed to push them around.
Ja’Marr Chase Catches Everything: Almost everything. The rookie was targeted seven times and caught five of them, for 101 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown down the right sideline. And so we bid farewell to “Ja’Marr Chase can’t catch an NFL football,” one of the dumbest preseason storylines of recent years.
Good to See Saquon Barkley Back: Even if he didn’t do much. And even if the Giants don’t use him in very imaginative ways.
And Good on Sam Darnold: He was solid enough in a win over his old team, though it’s that Panthers defense that is going to make the difference if they sneak into playoff contention.
Evan McPherson vs. Greg Joseph Kicker Duel: New kickers forever in Cin City, as Joseph (who kicks for the Vikings) hit from 53 as time expired in regulation to force overtime, after which McPherson (who kicks for the Bengals, and who also hit from 53 earlier) ending it with a game-winning kick from 38.
Matt Ammendola Pinch Punting: The Jets placekicker didn’t have a field goal or PAT attempt in his NFL debut, but he was forced into punting duty after Braden Mann was injured. Ammendola delivered a 65-yard directional punt that landed on the sideline on his second kick, and over six punts finished with a respectable 42.8 net average. That’s the stuff that Week 1 legends are made of. At least in my book.
