great posts in what is always a must-read thread. Here are mine:
PHI can still get after the QB and that's the most important thing in the league. ATL looked to be blaming Ryan for the loss, don't think he was great but it was the pass rush that really made the difference. Nice to see Ajayi getting goalline work with the stable of pass-catching RBs around him and when Wentz returns PHI could be the best team in the NFC
CIN is a question-mark, but they did what they needed to get a win at a bad team's stadium in the opener. Game was back and forth, but Mixon was crushing it and it's nice to see Ross and Green get in the endzone because that offense was horrendous last year. Trading and drafting OL help may have worked, but i wouldn't assume they are fixed simply because they won @ a cellar-dweller. Luck was decent, not sure if that was him or the CIN defense but we'll find out. TY didn't do as much as i expected and the RBs were pretty ineffective from what i saw
TEN looked terrible and got three very important pieces injured, Mariota/Lewan/Delanie. The situation with the delays certainly didn't help, but MIA wasn't really expected to be good and they were ahead throughout and would have been ahead more if not for the endzone pick. It looked like Dion was the clear lead back, which is awful for Henry owners and i don't really understand the usage rate. New OC coming from LAR doesn't really explain much because Gurley got the lionshare and Henry showed he can still hit the hole and then outrun everyone after that display on the TD that got called back for a hold. Tannehill threw at least two picks, including one you can't do in the endzone, but Stills found the endzone and it sounds like the RB work was evenly split. Sorry kenyan drake owners, but for the team that at least sounds stabilizing no matter how small of a TD threat Gore is. Rashad Jones is a beast, MIA will need him even though that division is weak
MIN was in control of the game throughout, but didn't put it away when they could/should have. It didn't come back to bite them, but they made Garoppolo look average if not bad and without McKinnon (and maybe now Goodwin) how is SF going to move the ball? They will face weaker defenses, MIN is incredibly strong and makes you pay for mistakes. An offense with Garcon, Alfred Morris, Kittle and a passing back who can't catch is not going to win enough football games. SF is on my concern list for sure right now after a week. Cousins was okay, expect he'll be great this year and Cook wasn't as impressive. The team is loaded on offense with a great coach and an awesome D, think they will give PHI a run for its money in an NFC Championship rematch
CLE got a million turnovers and still couldn't win. What a joke of a franchise, but they deserve credit for climbing back from 21-7 down in the 2H. That would have meant game over last year, but they fought and Tyrod really only took sacks until the late interception that was a worthwhile risk. Ben has a game like this every year, expect he'll be sharper vs KC next week when it isn't monsooning but he's still a concern for me. Conner filled in for Bell admirably besides the fumble, Bell is rarely missed by PIT anyways, but i'm not sure the tradeoff between magical throws to AB are worth all the damage Ben does turning it over. He was a huge reason they didn't win, some bad luck due to tips and not being protected but still. The JAX games last year were red flags, i'm not sure what to think about him. CLE is still unable to win games and the blocked game-winner was just so Browns. Gordon made one play the whole day, Landry was good and the team looks stronger around but i'm not changing my stance on them just yet
BUF looked terrible and i'm beginning to wonder if Peterman has naked photos of someone. Allen looked bad, still not sure why he got drafted when he did. BAL looked okay, defense was great and offense capitalized. Can't ask for anything more, but that may be a bad BUF team who got punked by anybody in the rain on the road week 1. Lamar Jackson did not look like he's taking Flacco's job anytime soon and Collins got benched for a quarter for fumbling. He's had problems with that in the past, but should get past it
HOU was in the game late, but it was almost miraculous thanks to a NE dropped punt. They fell behind early because Watson was bad and he didn't improve much throughout, potentially because he was getting pummeled all day by the NE front. No Fuller was an issue, though Ellington caught a TD. Miller ran well, so did Blue, but that was likely against a prevent D to force HOU to use clock to catch up. Gronk was okay, sometimes dominant but dropped a few and fumbled. The catch that didn't get overturned was a joke and put the game out of reach. O'Brien chasing a deficit on 4th down in the redzone too early also hurt, may have cost me a cover if the game flow stayed the same, so it was a pretty poor game all around from HOU. Watt got a little pressure and the defense was okay, but they just weren't going to stop NE. Watson is the biggest concern as mentioned above if he's not healthy, because he will be under duress all season based on his OL who also just lost Seantrel Henderson to a broken ankle ayer
DEN finally has a QB, though Keenum disappointed a bit with some bad interceptions (and three total). Baldwin going down is a scary thing as he already had a knee issue, now another one. Von Miller made a huge impact, if DEN has a defense this year and Keenum can be anywhere near competent maybe the AFC West is even tougher. Carson looked okay, but was in a split with Penny. Not a good sign for Carson as the 1st round draft pick will eventually take the job. Sanders was incredible, Demaryius somehow got credited with a TD despite no evidence to confirm it in my eyes. The game was back-and-forth, so i wouldn't annoint DEN yet. They made the plays to win, but left Lockett alone for a long TD and it didn't really feel like they had it locked up at any point
WAS murdered ARI. Not sure why ARI is so bad, but David Johnson is going to crush PPR leagues and not others if he can't score TDs (got one late). Alex Smith will not turn the ball over, he never has, so if his team is ahead it will be really tough to come back. I was impressed by the WAS defense and with how Chris Thompson looked, but Peterson put up a big game as well. ARI has the toughest schedule in the league, not sure what that means for Rosen but check-down Sam was there yesterday and when behind the chains the team had little chance
NYG is a bad team no matter how many weapons it has. Defense was okay, but JAX can make people look that way especially when they're not feeling threatened and they keep Bortles contained. Fournette going down was a concern, but Yeldon was pretty good in his place. Dede was good and I expect he'll earn more targets each week he plays as he's still relatively new to the squad. OBJ was great and is a super talent, but he was somewhat contained. Saquon took one carry to the house, but didn't do much besides that. Eli still looks terrible and even if the NYG defense plays well i don't think they can compete with good teams. That may mean nothing to the NFC East, but JAX is playing in a division with three teams who did not look good yesterday. Very confident in them for the division after a single week
DAL could not move the ball against a good defense missing its best player. CAR didn't look great, Cam tends to do that, but they weren't in much danger because inaccurate Dak's legs and Zeke are the only threats. Losing Olsen to a re-injury to the same foot makes me think he's closer to retirement than another TD. Tough to learn from the CAR defense after that "display," but DAL looks worse and worse when their replacement for Dan Bailey is missing FGs
CHI looked great on the scripted plays and Trubisky was accurate early on those, but he panicked late when GB got close and returned to his 2017 self. I'm not sold on CHI as that was my biggest concern this year and it reared its head yet again. The CHI defense is supposedly nasty, but Rodgers knifed through them on one leg and didn't have to deal with any pressure when he clearly couldn't move. That points to coaching issues on the CHI staff, most odd when the DC has been there four years and last year they were pretty good. GB turned over its defense, got a new DC and added a ton of youth. Maybe they're good, I think they had no answers early and deserve credit for adjusting but were not doing anything to stop CHI in the 1H. A sprained knee sounds like a nice way for Rodgers to escape, but everyone should attack him and that questionable OL until he's on the sideline. I like the idea of CHI moving forward as they were wizards early and i liked the extra involvement of Jordan Howard in the passing game plus the dynamic Cohen, but Trubisky is too big of a concern for me