The NFL is finally back, and there is no shortage of news and controversy to introduce the new season.
Around the NFL
Following the soap opera of an NFL preseason featuring holdouts, hold-ins, and bullet wounds (Ricky Pearsall is okay, thankfully), it only felt appropriate that the season opener ended in chaos. It all came down to a toe on the final possession of the game as the Kansas City Chiefs held on to beat the Baltimore Ravens 27-20.
The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers 34-29 in the first-ever NFL game in South America. As if the result isn’t bad enough for the Packers, they will be without their star quarterback Jordan Love for the foreseeable future. In positive news, Green Bay isn’t putting him on IR which suggests they think he can return inside four weeks.
Packers QB Jordan Love's initial timetable for return is 3-6 weeks. (via @tompelissero) pic.twitter.com/FdcIynUAR9
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2024
Jason Sanders knocked over a 52-yard field goal as time expired to seal a 20-17 Miami Dolphins win against the Jacksonville Jaguars. A Josh Allen clinic in the second half ended up being enough for the Buffalo Bills to beat the Arizona Cardinals 34-28. Notably, we saw the first kickoff return for a touchdown after the rule changes.
Chris Boswell’s six field goals proved enough for the Pittsburgh Steelers to beat the Atlanta Falcons 18-10. It’s a first win for Justin Fields who will look to hold off an injured Russell Wilson as the starting quarterback. Sam Darnold also picked up his first win in new colours as the Minnesota Vikings handled the New York Giants with relative ease to win 28-6.
The Seattle Seahawks made things difficult for Bo Nix in his NFL debut. Turnovers are going to be a problem for the Denver Broncos if this 26-20 defeat is anything to go by. Everything is an issue for the Las Vegas Raiders right now. Antonio Pierce already looked out of his depth. He sounded out of his depth when trying to justify his baffling decision to punt late in their 22-10 loss to the LA Chargers.
Hindsight is always 20/20, so it’s easy to say Antonio Pierce shouldn’t have punted now.
But #Raiders decision to punt on 4th-and-1 down 6 midfield midway through the 4Q tells you what you he thinks of his offense, which failed to convert on 4th-and-1 early in the game.
— Moe Moton (@MoeMoton) September 8, 2024
CJ Stroud v Anthony Richardson didn’t disappoint as the Houston Texans beat the Indianapolis Colts 29-27. The Carolina Panthers, on the other hand, continue to disappoint as they barely threw a punch in their 47-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints. The 37-point deficit flatters the Panthers…
Caleb Williams is the favourite to win Rookie of the Year and started his NFL career with a 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans. While most expected the New England Patriots to be one of the worst teams in the league this season, they’ve opened their campaign with an impressive 16-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Cincy now prepares to face the Chiefs as +5.5 underdogs while looking to avoid an 0-2 start.
Jayden Daniels became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for over 80 yards and score two rushing touchdowns in his first career start. However, it wasn’t enough for the Washington Commanders to win with Baker Mayfield leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 37-20 victory.
All of the preseason controversy has been forgotten for the Dallas Cowboys, who made it look easy in their 33-17 win over the Cleveland Browns. It wasn’t so easy for the Detroit Lions, who had to work hard in their 26-20 overtime win over the LA Rams.
Finally, Aaron Rogers made it through Week 1 of the NFL season this year, but the New York Jets couldn’t contain the San Francisco 49ers while going down 32-19.
3 Takeaways from NFL Week 1
Are the Ravens too reliant on Lamar Jackson?
Lamar Jackson simultaneously did everything he could to lead the Baltimore Ravens to victory. However, with the opportunity to secure the win in front of him, Jackson didn’t have enough.
The post-game conversation has centered around the toe which ultimately decided the result. It should have already been decided, though. Jackson missed an open Zay Flowers on the previous play. He struggled to finish the game having dominated so much of it up to that point.
Lamar Jackson’s last three plays of the game the biggest storyline of the game
– One missed throw
– One miscommunication
– One inaccurate throw pic.twitter.com/XJaD8ibB7i— Joel Moran (@joelvmoran) September 6, 2024
The Ravens played with a more balanced approach last season, and seem to be doing similar in this one. Jackson aired the ball out with 41 throws, connecting on 26 of them for 273 yards. He found another 122 on the ground through 16 carries, too. While balanced, the Ravens were still heavily dependent on Jackson.
Caleb Williams Bad On Debut
The number one pick in the NFL Draft did not play well in his first game.
Caleb Williams struggled. Where he’d scrambled and dominated in college, things didn’t come quite so easy against grown men in the league. He lost 29 yards in sack yardage. Williams is somewhat lucky to get out of his debut with a win after making only 14 of his 29 pass attempts for a lowly 93 yards.
Williams says all of the right things. He looks the part. He’s not played up to expectations yet, though. It doesn’t get any easier going up against Stroud and the Texans as +6.5 underdogs in Week 2, either.
Concerns In Cincy
The Cincinnati Bengals starting an NFL season slowly isn’t a huge shock. They have a habit of easing out of the blocks to be 1-10 in the first two weeks of the season under coach Zac Tayor.
Ja’Marr Chase not being available in the preseason took some of the sting out of the offence. Still, with Joe Burrow healthy and at home against a New England Patriots team with little expected of them, the Bengals don’t have any excuses for their 16-10 loss.
Burrow and the Bengals didn’t manage a first down until halfway through the first quarter. The quarterback struggled throughout, finishing with only 162 passing yards. Perhaps it’s a sign of this simply being a bad day at the office, but the Bengals lost two fumbles in this one.
Bengals fumbles lost:
2 — Today
2 — Last season pic.twitter.com/yWw9Uin5JR— StatMuse Football (@statmusefb) September 8, 2024
It’s not panic stations for the Bengals. Burrow is still a candidate to win the Most Valuable Player award despite his poor start. It’s essential that they put in a good shift against the Chiefs in Week 2, though.
NFL Odds & Futures
Good without being great, the San Francisco 49ers claimed a Week 1 win and are alongside the Kansas City Chiefs on the first line of betting to win Super Bowl LIX at $7.
The Baltimore Ravens are 0-1 to start the year but hold firm at $11. There were enough positives to take out of the loss to be encouraged about their Super Bowl LIX prospects. The Detroit Lions weren’t as convincing. Nonetheless, they’re on the third line of betting at $10 and have an excellent opportunity to make a statement next week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as -6.5 favourites.
TOP 6 SUPER BOWL LVIII ODDS
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| TEAM | CURRENT PRICE | LAST WEEK’S PRICE | |
| San Francisco 49ers | $7 | $- | |
| Kansas City Chiefs | $7 | $- | |
| Detroit Lions | $10 | $- | |
| Baltimore Ravens | $11 | $- | |
| Philadelphia Eagles | $13 | $- | |
| Buffalo Bills | $15 | $- | |