Week 1 what I saw.....
Bills/Rams
The Rams were completely overwhelmed by the Bills. It could have been way worse. The Rams offensive line will need to improve or things could head south quickly for this team. The Bills are as advertised, in all aspects of the game. They are talented and very deep. They can continue to sub in fresh defensive linemen all game long.
Saints/Falcons
The Falcons will not be a pushover. Mariota is still a pretty good player when healthy and it kinda looks like they will be scrapy. The Saints will go as Jameis goes. The first half he was not so good and they were not so good. He heated up after halftime and they came back for the win.
49ers/Bears
I will look for spots to fade the 9ers till Lance proves me wrong. The injury at running back makes them very thin at that position. I think this is a great roster but I do not think Lance is ready. The Bears were who I thought they would be. Fields looked pretty good considering the weather. Great effort but the sloppy track for sure helped them.
Steelers/Bengals
Superbowl loser hangover. Burrows looked terrible and they still had a chance to win the game. Huge coaching error late in the game not reviewing a clear as day touchdown and instead rushing up to the line to run a play. Steelers put up perhaps the best effort of the week on defense. This was fun to watch. Terrible loss of Watt with the torn pec and it will absolutely deflate this defense a bit. Overall this was a crazy game to watch.
Eagles/Lions
The Eagles look to be nearly unstoppable on offense. Of all the players I watched on Sunday Hurts looks to have been the qb to have taken the biggest step forward to me. Its only one game but things seem to have slowed down for him. The Lions will be a fun team to watch this year. They can score points. They are wearing their hearts on their sleeves just like their coach. They need help on the defensive side of the ball though.
Patriots/Dolphins
The Patriots looked just about as bad on offense as they did all preseason. They have lost their identity with Josh McDaniels gone. The Pats tend to treat the first few weeks of the regular season as their preseason so things usually get better but they look to have A LOT to work on. The Dolphins looked great. Solid on both sides of the ball. Tyreek Hill looks to have fit right in. I do not think the Pats are very good so I am interested to see the Dolphins against a better team.
Ravens/Jets
Poor Jets fans. This one was ugly. The Jets just did not have anything. I honestly thought they would be much improved but they certainly did not show it. The Ravens won this game and it was basically a walk in the park. Something to watch moving forward, the Ravens did not run the ball well. 63 yards rushing as a team. Lamar had only 6 attempts for 17 yards. Could he be saying since you wont pay me I am not going to run like I usually do so as to self preserve?
Jaguars/Commanders
Carson Wentz was his usual self. Some amazing plays where you think he is going to be great and then some ridiculous plays where you have no idea what he is doing. He made enough plays to win the game. The Jags look to be improved but still a work in progress. For you fantasy players who drafted Travis Etienne with a high draft pick it looks like Doug Pederson is up to his usual fuckery with running backs as Robinson outcarried him 11 to 4.
Browns/Panthers
Typical Browns, 217 yards rushing on the day and Nick Chubb with 141. They are content just running you into the ground. I honestly thought Baker would light them up and I was wrong. McCaffrey had no room when he did get the ball and they did not get him the ball enough. 14 touches to CMC is not the formula for them to win a game. Thats on Matt Rhule
Colts/Texans
One of the teams I had circled to make some money on this year was the Texans. I shied away from my lean at the last moment in week 1 and left money on the table. Davis Mills is a real NFL qb in my opinion. He would be a lot of fun to watch with some better weapons. They played a nearly flawless game for 3 quarters before imploding in the fourth and ending up with a tie. The Colts with Matt Ryan are a team I have no handle on yet. They were clearly the better team on Sunday but ended up with a tie. The Texans gave them all they could handle.
Giants/Titans
Saquon Barkley is healthy. He was a beast on Sunday and he looked fast again. D Henry did not look fast. Too many carries catching up to him? Also the Titans clearly missed AJ Brown. He was very much the Eagles gain and the Titans loss. Giants will be live dogs if Barkley plays this way.
Packers/Vikings
This felt like one of those games to me weeks ago. I trust Rodgers to get shit together over there but I saw this one coming. I think the Pack are going to have to dial it down a bit and put the ball in the hands of Dillon and Jones more than in past years. Their defense should be better than what we saw on Sunday. Vikings are a team I think a lot of people have as a sleeper this year and for good reason. Jordan Jefferson in that Rams Cooper Kupp role may just set new records. This is a good balanced team on both sides of the ball.
Chiefs/Cardinals
Well Pat Mahomes looks to be out to prove that he does not need Tyreek Hill. He was in complete control of things on that side of the ball. 9 different Chiefs caught a pass and 4 different Chiefs caught TD passes. They look great on offense. That said, the Cardinals defense was a complete pile of dogshit. I said in my week 1 thread that they do not have a single corner on their team ranked in the top 35 by PFF. They may not have any ranked in the top 100 after this season with how bad they looked. They are gonna have to put up 35 on offense to win with how they look on defense.
Raiders/Chargers
The Chargers are absolutely loaded with talent. Herbert seems to be able to do whatever he wants whenever he wants. They sacked Carr 6 times and picked him off 3 times. Yet the Raiders still had a chance to win the game on their last drive. Same old Chargers? As for the Raiders the sky is not falling. I think they are a very good team but they are not yet as good as the Chargers who I think are probably top 3 at this point. The Raiders offensive line is a major problem. Carr was rushed on just about every single throw he made on the day and those who have followed him know he is not good when pressured. The line has to button it up and he has to cut down on mistakes. Adams looked right at home in Silver and Black and the defense played well enough when it counted to give them a chance for a win. Some good things to take away from week 1.
Bucs/Cowboys
Mike McCarthy will not last the year. Prior to Dak being hurt the Cowboys were simply not prepared in this game. They looked lost. This game seemed over at halftime even though the score was only 12-3. The Cowboys defense is good enough to keep them in games but through curious roster moves in the offseason and terrible coaching they look like they will be a liability on offense. As far as the Bucs they silenced all the offseason Brady news pretty quickly. They looked great on defense and Brady looked just fine. Fournette was a wrecking ball as well. Bucs = good, Cowboys = bad.
Broncos/Seahawks
12th man showed out last night in a big way. Damn that stadium was loud. Props to Geno and to coach Carroll for having the team ready. I still do not think they are a good team. They are however capable of upsets in Seattle due to that crowd. As far as the Broncos go, Hackett gets a F - in his debut. He completely lost his mind on the last drive of the game. No urgency at all, horrible clock management and how on Earth do you kick a 64 yarder when you paid big money for Russ to have the ball in those EXACT situations? No damn excuse for what happened at the end of that game. Everyone on the planet besides Hackett knew they were fucking up. If you have not had a chance to see the Manning brothers broadcast just to see Peyton Manning's reactions during that last drive you are missing out. He was losing his shit. The Broncos do not appear to be the roster many people thought they were. Especially if coaching is going to hurt them.
