Is it January yet?
After waiting seven months for the NFL to return to the field, and being rewarded with an absolutely sensational AFC showdown between Buffalo and Baltimore to cap the first Sunday of the season, it’s hard not to flip ahead a few months on the calendar and pencil in another bout between the Bills and Ravens.
Because Sunday night’s matchup — a rematch of last January’s Divisional Round battle between two of the greatest quarterbacks of this generation, both surrounded by supporting casts worthy of Super Bowl rings — had all the makings of a post-season preview.
Of course, nobody really wants to hit fast-forward on the NFL season — because considering how much drama it packed into Week 1, we’re in for a memorable campaign to come.
Here are of our top takeaways from Sunday’s slate of season-openers.
Allen, Jackson kick off strong bids for another MVP battle
We all know the MVP trophy isn’t what either of these athletes is truly after this year, but considering how fun it was to watch these premier QB talents battle it out for the honour of being named the league’s most valuable player, it’s only right we get to do it all again.
Sunday was certainly a strong start for both.
Jackson completed 14 of 19 passes and made the most of all of them, tallying 280 yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air — one to leading receiver Zay Flowers, and the other to DeAndre Hopkins, whose one-handed TD catch on his first target as a Raven is an early front-runner for catch-of-the-year. Jackson did his best damage, though, on foot — typical of this Ravens’ offence, which ran all over Buffalo. Derrick Henry’s clearly eying a second 2,000-yard campaign and is off to a solid start with 169 yards and two scores. But it was Henry’s fourth-quarter fumble — an uncharacteristic mistake — that ultimately led to Allen & Co. making a comeback.
Allen’s numbers — 33 of 46 for 394 yards, four total TDs and no interceptions — was MVP worthy already, but his fourth-quarter feat in particular was a thing of beauty: Facing a 15-point deficit with just over seven minutes to go, Allen marched his team downfield and connected with Keon Coleman for a momentum-building score that brought hope. Henry’s fumble on the ensuing Ravens possession gave Allen the ball again with just over three minutes, and he turned that into a touchdown, too. A clutch defensive stop gave Allen nearly 90 seconds to put newly signed kicker Matt Prater in position for a walk-off field goal, completing a 41-40 win that by season’s end will be the stuff of lore.
Buffalo and Baltimore both have questions to answer on defence. Both gave us plenty of fodder about the risks and rewards of going for two, and for pushing on fourth down. And both, clearly, are going to give us MVP candidates once again.
Okay, forget about fast-forwarding to January. We’ll take 17 more weeks of this, please.
Daniel Jones goes Manning-mode in historic debut
No, that wasn’t Peyton Manning turning back the clock and reprising his role as QB1 in Indianapolis — though, the way Daniel Jones was playing in his Colts debut on Sunday, it was easy to make the comparison.
Jones, best known for his role as New York’s underwhelming (and, for the last few years with the Giants, overpaid) successor of the younger Manning brother, signed a one-year deal with Indianapolis to come in and challenge Anthony Richardson for the top job.
He won it out of camp, and on Sunday against Miami he looked every bit the part of the Colts’ QB1, completing 22 of 29 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns — one through the air, and two on foot. More impressive was the fact all seven of Indy’s drives resulted in points in the 33-8 victory.
We all know the perils of overreacting to Week 1. Not every performance will be like this one. But considering the QB carousel that has been the Colts’ situation under centre since Andrew Luck’s retirement, the organization has to feel good about this one.
Is Miami really this bad?
Sure, it’s probably worth applying a grain of salt to our reactions about Jones’ Colts debut, because as much as Indy’s QB showed out, Miami didn’t really show up at all.
While the Dolphins looked completely lost on both sides of the ball, the lacklustre offensive outing was particularly glaring. After all, this is a unit that boasts some of the most dynamic weapons in the league, a quarterback who excels at getting the ball out quickly, and a masterful play-caller known for his ability to keep defenders on their toes. You wouldn’t know it by watching Week 1, though.
For nearly every scoring play posted by the Colts, Miami answered with an error — an interception on Tua Tagovailoa’s first possession of each half, and a fumble early on. Tagovailoa was out of sync with his weapons, the unit registering just 12 first downs all game and turning over the ball three times. While the on-field optics were pretty abysmal, the sideline shots made it even worse. The camera caught a frustrated-looking Tyreek Hill airing grievances. Head coach Mike McDaniel — whose job security will be a big talking point in the weeks ahead if the club can’t bounce back — looked like he was at a loss, his team unable to get on the board until garbage time, shut out through 53 minutes of play.
The coach entered the season under speculation about his job security, and if the Dolphins can’t bounce back next week against the Patriots, that chatter is only going to get louder.
Rodgers looks right at home at helm of Steelers’ offence
So disastrous was Aaron Rodgers’ two-year tenure in New York, that when the QB was sacked on the very first play of his opening drive for the Steelers, it felt like a cruel case of déjà vu — only in black and yellow, this time.
But then, clearly unfazed by the not-so-warm welcome from his former teammates, Rodgers went and marched his new squad 71 yards downfield with a 10-play scoring drive for his first TD as a Steeler.
And he didn’t stop there. In what was a dramatic, no-love-lost double-revenge game between Rodgers and his old squad (and Justin Fields against his, too), Rodgers proved — at least, to start the season — that he’s very much still capable of running an NFL offence. The 41-year-old looked comfortable in his new digs, completing 22 of 30 passes for 244 yards and a whopping four touchdowns. He resembled his old self in the fourth quarter with a come-from-behind 34-32 victory for the visitors.
Fields, too, put together an impressive game as New York — 16 of 22 and a touchdown through the air, 48 yards and two touchdowns on the ground — but fell just shy of an opening-week victory in his debut. Still, a promising start, especially for a team so clearly looking to run the ball early and often.
As strong as Rodgers’ on-field performance was, his post-game comment might’ve been even stronger. No love lost here, that’s for sure:
Packers’ defence packs a punch
The Lions put up more touchdowns than any other team last season, but you wouldn’t know it based on Sunday’s outcome. Fifty-nine minutes of playing time passed before the club that so excelled at finding the endzone cashed in six points against Green Bay — that’s how powerful the Packers’ defence looked in their season debut.
While some growing pains are to be expected for Detroit’s offence in the wake of losing coordinator Ben Johnson to Chicago’s head coaching vacancy, the Packers’ defence stifled every attempt at meaningful momentum from Jared Goff & Co.
With new Packer Micah Parsons on the field, the pressure was relentless. Goff was sacked four times, including once by Parsons for his first as a Packer since being traded out of Dallas. So suffocating was Green Bay’s coverage through the air, Goff was forced to dink and dunk his way to 225 yards on 31 completions. Despite winning the possession battle, Detroit couldn’t capitalize on anything.
Can Green Bay keep this up? We’ll get another look Thursday against another offensive powerhouse in Jayden Daniels and the Commanders.
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