Categories
BlogSports

NFL Week 1 Recap

  • Post Author
    by Sports director
  • Post Date
    Fri Sep 17 2021

Author: Dan Latto

With week one of the NFL season complete, it only feels right as a sports fan to make huge assumptions off a small sample size. So, let's get into which teams and players impressed me in the opening week.

The Still Dominant Brady

To start, I'll kick it off with the defending champs, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. There isn't a whole lot to say besides Tom Brady is still one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Brady and Dak Prescott put on a show for NFL fans in the first game of the season on Thursday night. They would end up combining for a total of 782 yards and seven touchdowns. However, as he has done for decades at this point, Brady would eventually get the better of Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys by leading his Bucs to a game-winning drive and field goal to clinch the victory. It seems like our friend Father Time has yet to realize that Tom Brady is no longer in his 20's.

The Raging Red Birds

A highlight of Sunday's huge slate of games was the historic defensive performance from defensive end Chandler Jones and his Arizona Cardinals. Jones would go on to make history in just the first quarter by accumulating three sacks, a feat never completed before on the opening weekend of the NFL season. He would end up finishing with a whopping five sacks to tie the Cardinals franchise record for sacks in a single game by one player, doing it against pro-bowl lineman Taylor Lewan. Not only did Jones and his defense impress against a very tough Tennessee Titans team, but also QB Kyler Murray had a fantastic start to the season.

Murray finished with 289 yards, five touchdowns (one rushing), and just one interception. Not only that, but also he was smooth in the pocket, constantly avoiding the attacking defense, and extended plays with his feet to keep his team moving down the field. While the Cardinals looked almost unstoppable in their debut, the Titans clearly will have some things to work out over the next week with Julio Jones having a very underwhelming debut catching only three receptions for 29 yards and committing an absolutely inexcusable unnecessary roughness penalty early in the game. 

Putting The Hurt On

Jalen Hurts and his Philadelphia Eagles were unreal in their first game, dominating the spiraling Atlanta Falcons 32-6. Hurts looked great in all aspects of his game, going 27/35 with 264 yards and three touchdowns while adding another 62 yards rushing. One of his touchdowns went to his former Alabama teammate and rookie phenom, Devonta Smith, who could be in for a big season if Hurts' success can continue. A team with a young, explosive offense, a great new coach in Nick Sirianni, and situated in a wide-open NFC East, the Eagles are going to be a team to watch for this year in the NFL.

Mahomes Does It Again

Now I know this sounds surprising, but Patrick Mahomes did it again and brought his team back from a 10+ point deficit against an explosive Cleveland Browns team to capture a week one win for the Kansas City Chiefs. Mahomes, as he's done in previous years, looked sluggish in the first half, just to dismantle the Browns defense in the second half. He had only 169 passing yards in the first half, but would go on to finish with 27/36, 337 yards, and four touchdowns (one rushing). Both teams were missing some star players on both sides of the ball, but it was the sloppy play by Cleveland that did them in. With a brutal fumble by the punter in their own territory and a tough Baker Mayfield interception to finish the game, the Browns blew their chances to end their 16 game losing streak in week one. This high-powered Chiefs offense looks like they're showing no signs of slowing down this season.

Blowing Out the MVP

I am going to be kind and lay off the Green Bay Packers this week after they had a humiliating performance against the rediscovered Jameis Winston and his New Orleans Saints. Winston did not have to make a lot of throws to pull this one out, but the throws he needed, he made. He only threw 20 passes but had five passing touchdowns for a 25% touchdown rate! For the first time in a long time, it seems like the Saints have found their deep passing game which is trouble for the rest of the NFL. With a strong defense that really showed up in week one, the Saints are for sure a team that you should be worried about come playoff time if you're not a fan of them. Okay, well I'm not that nice. Aaron Rodgers looked absolutely abysmal in one of the worst games of his career against the Saints. He ended up with only 133 yards and two interceptions while failing to reach the endzone at all. Rodgers and the Packers will have a whole lot of work in the next week if they are going to bounce back against the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football.

A Game to Remember

There are two more games I want to talk about, but I am going to start with the Monday Night game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Baltimore Ravens. In one of the wildest endings to a game I have ever seen in my lifetime, the Raiders pulled out an unbelievable win in their first game in their new stadium in Vegas. After scoring 10 points in three quarters, Derek Carr woke up his offense and would go on to explode for 23 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Even crazier than that, Derek Carr also went 40 yards in 38 seconds with no timeouts to set up the game-tying field goal that would send the game into overtime. On top of all that, the Raiders completed a 33-yard pass to win the game in overtime, which was eventually called back because the receiver's knee was down at the one. Rather than winning the game right there, they ended up throwing an interception, forced a Lamar Jackson fumble, and then eventually threw the game-winning touchdown two plays later. After a wild week of football, the Raiders capped it all off with an amazing comeback win.

A Look Towards the End

I wanted to finish off the week with the Los Angeles Rams game to reward my readers for making it this far. The reason why this is a reward is that I am going to give you a look into the future of the 2021 NFL season. Matthew Stafford made his debut with the Rams after spending his first 11 years with the Detroit Lions. In his debut, he did what he had done for over a decade for the Lions. He dominated. Stafford would go for 321 yards and three touchdowns while only having six incompletions on 26 passes. He looked comfortable in the pocket, made great deep throws, and seemed to have a very strong grasp of the offense after only having a couple of months to learn the playbook.

So here is my takeaway. You are looking at your 2021 NFL MVP in Matt Stafford. Not only that, but also you are looking at a super bowl contender in the Los Angeles Rams. If this team can stay healthy, they will be the most dangerous team in the NFL. In my eyes, Matt Stafford is in almost a parallel position to Tom Brady at the beginning of last season. He is joining a team with a great defense led by the best defensive player in the league in the last five years in Aaron Donald, great weapons in Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods, and a fun young coach in Sean McVay who has already had success with this Rams team. The one thing they have been missing you might ask? Matty Stafford. 

So here is your reward. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell anyone you can before it's too late and the rest of the world realizes my genius.

NFL MVP: Matt Stafford

Super Bowl Champions: The Los Angeles Rams

TAGS

AARON DONALD AARON RODGERS ARIZONA CARDINALS ATLANTA FALCONS BAKER MAYFIELD BALTIMORE RAVENS CHANDLER JONES CLEVELAND BROWNS COOPER KUPP DAK PRESCOTT DALLAS COWBOYS DEREK CARR DETROIT LIONS DEVONTA SMITH GREEN BAY PACKERS JALEN HURTS JAMEIS WINSTON JULIO JONES KANSAS CITY CHIEFS KYLER MURRAY LAMAR JACKSON LAS VEGAS RAIDERS LOS ANGELES RAMS MATTHEW STAFFORD NEW ORLEANS SAINTS NFL NICK SIRIANNI PATRICK MAHOMES PHILADELPHIA EAGLES ROBERT WOODS SEAN MCVAY TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS TAYLOR LAWAN TENNESSEE TITANS TOM BRADY

-