Plus, a rookie’s devastating drop, Lamar cruises, Washington overwhelms Wentz, Josh Allen does his thing, Jags come back on Colts, Jamal Adams debuts in style, Philip Rivers not so much.
Reacting and overreacting to everything that happened in the Week 1 Sunday afternoon games...
Things That Made Me Giddy
Seahawks’ Run-Pass Balance: It was 38 dropbacks and 20 runs, in a game they led almost throughout. Instead of sweating out a one-possession win, they cruised in Atlanta.
Russell Wilson, Fourth Down, Foot on Throat: The Falcons had been going out of their way to take the deep ball away, but the fourth-and-5 scenario, forcing Atlanta to press his receivers, presented an opportunity. DK Metcalf working one-on-one, no safety in sight, Russell Wilson throwing it… this is a gosh dang layup.
Lamar Jackson Fails to Show Up in the Fourth Quarter: Jeez, guy just checks out with eight minutes left and his team clinging to a 32-point lead in Cleveland. (You get the feeling we’re going to see a lot of Robert Griffin III in mop-up duty again this season.)
C.J. Henderson Showed Up: The Jags' rookie corner had a pick, a key open-field tackle on a third down in the fourth quarter, and had solid coverage on the game-sealing incompletion—and throughout the game. Update your Defensive Rookie of the Year scorecard accordingly.
Cam Dragging Tacklers Again:
Jamal Adams on the Blitz: The Seahawks’ punchless front four will be an issue at times, but Adams helped make up for that as a blitzer in his Seahawks debut. He had a sack and forced an incompletion in Atlanta.
Josh Allen Working Late Into the Down: When he extends the play and keeps his eyes upfield, this Bills offense can toy with secondaries. Allen has gotta take care of the ball better when he’s on the run (two lost fumbles in the first half), but overall, Sunday was an argument in favor of “cut it loose,” for Allen.
Stephon Gilmore Is Very Good: He had an off day against the Dolphins in last year’s regular-season finale, but, as Split Enz once told us, history never repeats.
Chris Carson as Christian McCaffrey: He had a nifty one-handed-catch-and-run on Seattle’s first drive, and ended up catching six passes, including two touchdowns, in Atlanta.
Washington Pass Rush Delivers: They showed up a little late, but ultimately the high-pedigree group showed up and dominated the makeshift Eagles front five like they should have. Sacks don’t always tell the full story, but eight sacks is pretty indicative of how this one went.
Panthers Are Gonna Be a Tough Out: They ran out of gas against the Raiders—their defense is out-manned—but Joe Brady did some things with this offense and Teddy Bridgewater won’t lose it for them.
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Regrets
Lions Can’t Close Out a Game: There’s no moral victory, even in a game where they were missing their second-best offensive player (Kenny Golladay), their potentially best defensive player (Jeff Okudah) and watched as their most important addition to the front seven got ejected early (Jamie Collins). Coffee’s for closers. Put that coffee down.
D’Andre Swift’s Nightmare Drop: He’s a talent, and there will be better days ahead. But the only way this could’ve been worse if it happened in front of the entire class and he wasn’t wearing pants. A potential game-winner in his hands, and he … just drops it.
The Force Is With Philip Rivers: There was a lack of comfort with his receivers (and perhaps a lack of trust in his arm talent), but Rivers made his own mess with turnovers in his Colts debut. Two of his interceptions—and a third that was called back by a ticky-tack hold away from the ball—never should have been thrown.
A Very Falcons Loss: Over the course of about 90% of this game, they played the Seahawks to a draw. Then came the situational football. The Seahawks had a third-and-23, and Ricardo Allen commits a wholly uneccessary, 41-yard pass interference penalty. On the ensuing drive, the Falcons get to third-and-inches and end up turning it over on downs. In the third quarter, the Seahawks face a fourth-and-5 at Atlanta’s 38u and throw a touchdown pass. A few plays later, the Falcons face a fourth-and-2 in their own territory, run a fake punt and convert but fumble it back at the end of the play. They were 1-for-4 on fourth downs. That’s losing football.
Baker Struggling to See the Field: We’ll withhold judgment—the Ravens are good, after all. But this was not an encouraging start.
T.Y. Hilton and the Mysterious Case of the Drops: The last time we saw Hilton in a meaningful game, he was assembling a lowlight reel in a season-altering loss at Houston. On Sunday he came down with a case of the drops again, this time on the final drive—an unforgivable one as he toe-tapped the sideline, and one on the final play where he let the ball get into his shoulder.
Eagles O-Line Collapses: They held up early, but after losing both tackles perhaps it wasn’t surprising that Washington’s pass rush took over. Throw in some sloppy routes from receivers and some scattershot accuracy from Carson Wentz, and it’s the colonel’s recipe for a complete collapse.
Jets Offensive Line Outright Refuses to Block: That whole team is a mess.
Trubisky’s Accuracy: Or, Trubiskuracy, if you will. Anyway, it wasn’t good. And it came with an especially troubling caveat: He was rarely under any real duress. Inside the pocket he plays with the balance of one of those inflatable waving tube guys. The Bears have to put him on the move exclusively, or put him on the bench. It won’t be the short-handed Lions trying to close them out every week. (Well, it could be the short-handed Lions at least one more time this season.)
A Bleak New Day for the Vikings’ Secondary: A rough go of it for the revamped cornerbacking group, particularly third-rounder Cam Dantzler.
Ricardo Allen Failing to Locate the Ball on 3rd-and-23: A brutal, 41-yard (and, for all intents and purposes, seven-point) pass interference penalty from a veteran safety to keep the Seahawks’ first drive alive. Instead of punting from midfield, the Seahawks were in the end zone two plays later.
Wentz Taking Three Points Off the Board: On third-and-long at this part of the field, you can’t back up late in the down. It turned into a 53-yard attempt for Jake Elliott, who came up just short.
Austin Seibert Goes 0-for-2: A lot went wrong for the Browns in the opener. And this was among them. Seibert missed a PAT and a 41-yarder.
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Moments We’ll Tell Our Grandkids About
Jamie Collins No Longer Qualified to Play: He’s trying to argue for a lowering the helmet flag, and granted, you shouldn’t touch an official, even if you’re just lovingly nuzzling him. But this flop by referee Alex Kemp is going to earn him a scholarship offer from Duke.
Chase Young, Age 21, Gets Jason Peters, Age 38: For his first career sack. It’s like a Harry Chapin song, or something.
Marvin Jones Lowers the Shoulder: Consider this rookie CB Jaylon Johnson’s “Welcome to the NFL” moment. (I had a similar “Welcome to the NFL” moment on my first day on the job, when Peter King did that to me in the hallway of the Time & Life Building. To this day, I still consider it uncalled for.)
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What We’ll Be Talking About This Week
In Foxboro, This Will Do: Whatever the Patriots’ offense was going to be before they signed Cam, it wasn’t going to be better than this. Maybe Cam gets banged up as the year goes on, maybe future opponents will be better prepared, but a 2-to-1 run/pass ratio, along with that defense doing it’s thing, is a formula for wins.
Beware the Division Rival on the Road!: Remember when the Bucs blew away the Saints in the 2018 opener? Football Team over Eagles and Jaguars over Colts had a similar feel. (We’ll all look back and laugh when the Colts and Eagles are getting ready to face off in Super Bowl LV.)
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