The NFL Sunday Review - Week 1
We did it guys! Welcome back to another season of the NFL Sunday review. What did we learn in week 1? That we all know ABSOLUTELY nothing. This was an absolutely nonsensical Sunday of human battle chess, with crazy comebacks, insane endings, and at least three teams who had zero business winning their game doing just that. The carnage of Week 1 always provides us with drama, but this felt above and beyond the norm. Let’s dive in and take a look at the Sunday that was.
Chaos In The Jungle
I don’t think we talk about how good a Head Coach Mike Tomlin is often enough. The Pittsburgh Steelers are constantly able to outperform the sum of their parts. The Bengals are the reigning AFC Champions, firmly dispatched the Steelers twice last season, and added to their team nicely in the offseason. The Steelers are in a transitional phase after the departure of he-who-was-problematic-but-they-loved-him-anyway, and yet Mike Tomlin is always able to find ways to get his team to perform at levels that “experts” don’t predict.
The TJ Watt injury is perhaps the biggest headline, but what a maddening afternoon of chaos this was. I watched this with a couple of die-hard Steelers fans, and to say they went on a rollercoaster of an emotional ride would be rather selling this game short. There were numerous flags that appeared to turn the tide one way and the other, as Joe Burrow had one of the more challenging afternoons of his professional career (33/53, 4 INTs), and yet still ended up throwing for 338yds and a pair of TDs.
The last of Burrow’s touchdowns – to safety blanket Ja’Marr Chase – looked to have set up the Bengals to steal the victory with no time left on the clock, as the (usually) reliable Evan McPherson trotted out for the extra point. Alas, Minkah Fitzpatrick would not be denied. Fitzpatrick was a menace all afternoon, including returning a Pick 6 early in the piece. Fitzpatrick got a piece of McPherson’s kick, keeping the game tied and sending it to overtime.
And yet – even after all that – McPherson had the chance to win the game in OT, and stunningly missed from 29 yards away. Admittedly, the snap was high, and in truth the entire operation was a bit off all-day from the Bengals, but it was a shocker to see McPherson miss from that distance. Then, Chris Boswell’s first attempt at a game-winner – from 55 – swirled left, swirled right, and clanged off the upright.
Cincinnati couldn’t muster another drive so… Enter: Mitch Trubisky, who would end up a winner on his Steelers debut, despite a fairly uninspiring 21/38 for 194yds and 1 TD afternoon. The bright spots were his rapport with Diontae Johnson and Pat Freiermuth, who the Steelers are going to need to make big plays throughout this year. Trubisky’s drive inside the final minute of OT was exactly what the Steelers needed, as they gave Boswell a second chance – from 53 this time – and he delivered. As time expired in Overtime, the black and yellow celebrated a win in the jungle.
If this is the standard of AFC North drama we’re in store for this year… sign me right up. With Watt potentially done for the year (torn pectoral), it will be fascinating to see if Pittsburgh can find a way to back this up, and make an unlikely bid to keep Tomlin’s record of never having had a losing season. He certainly deserves to continue that run.
Time Tua Believe?
In writing this column, I have never attempted to conceal the fact that I’m a massive Miami Dolphins fan, so please allow me to wax lyrical for just a couple of seconds here. I’m so in love with Mike McDaniel and the way he is running this Dolphins team. The post-game shots of the Dolphins players just emptying gatorade bottles onto McDaniel, and Tyreek Hill professing he would need a wheelbarrow to walk around the facility because “he’s got so much cojones” was magical and equally terrifying in nature. STOP GETTING MY HOPES UP. I can’t deal with the Dolphins flirting with actual success. It’s so tantalising. Sunday was a good day.
As expected, Mac Jones doesn’t have enough weapons around him to be successful against competent defenses. Damien Harris looked good running the ball, but the Pats receivers being highlighted by a player the Dolphins were willing to trade away is a very obvious issue. Hunter Henry looks like he’ll be the biggest receiving threat for what looks to be one of the most dull and unexplosive offenses in the league. Sure, Belichick could prove me wrong as soon as next week, but the Fins were comfortably the better team here, as Tua Tagovailoa moved to 4-0 (yes, this is an actual real life factual stat) against the New England Patriots. Hmmmmmm. It feels like this could be a long season in New England, it really does.
For Miami, Chase Edmonds was perhaps surprisingly a pretty clear RB1, with a dash of Raheem Mostert mixed in. Tyreek Hill appears to have found a solid rapport with Tua, and Jaylen Waddle’s electric 2nd quarter Touchdown only proved to showcase that the Dolphins have the makings of a track team with how much speed they now possess. Mike Gesicki was conspicuous by his lack of usage, but that’s a fairly minor footnote on what was a good day overall for the Fins.
Special shoutout also goes to Kader Kohou, who forced the game sealing fumble from Nelson Agholor. I was fortunate enough to interview Kohou over the summer; his journey from Cote d’Ivoire to the NFL, via Texas A&M-Commerce is as remarkable a story as any I’ve ever heard. I encourage you to go check it out if you haven’t heard of him before. A real feel-good NFL story… and god knows we need more of those. But – in Miami – the feeling is hugely positive after a Week 1 win over “the enemy.” Can the Dolphins back it up? The gauntlet of Ravens, Bills and Bengals in the next 3 weeks will tell us a lot about this team.
Dolphins DB Kader Kohou Interview https://t.co/FF5ufBTbv1
— Unwrapped (@UnwrappedSports) May 9, 2022
Boredom & Despair In Dallas
If you debated staying up for this one and said “Nah, I’m gonna get some sleep and watch the highlights on YouTube in the morning,” … Congratulations, you made the right choice. Tom Brady’s 23rd NFL season got underway with a thoroughly underwhelming Sunday Night Football game, that was a shadow of the barnburner the Buccaneers and the Cowboys shared on opening night last season. The Buccaneers were… good enough to win this game, but really they were handed the victory by how poor the Cowboys were offensively. We’ll give Todd Bowles some credit for his defensive game plan, but for a team to kick FOUR (near) redzone Field Goals and still win by two scores… tells you how anaemic the Cowboys were.
Besides the first drive, to call the Cowboys’ offense “ponderous” would be a great understatement. No rhythm, no juice, and a strange reluctance to run the ball with Ezekiel Elliot, who actually flashed some drive early on. Obviously, the headline is the injury to Dak Prescott, who will be out “indefinitely,” as announced by Jerry Jones post-game. Dak’s thumb/hand is the issue, and without him, you really wonder what the Cowboys are going to do… is Dallas going to be the team to trade for Jimmy G? Surely not, but it’s hard to imagine Jerry being okay starting Cooper Rush for the next… indefinite number of weeks.
The Bucs themselves lost Chris Godwin to a hamstring injury, but will have been delighted by Julio Jones’ debut showing – looking like a different human to the one who played in Tennessee last season – and Mike Evans continuing to do Mike Evans things with an outstanding Touchdown grab. Brady will be better. The Bucs will be better. Perhaps the road to the Super Bowl will once again go through Tampa? That said, right now, it’s impossible to believe that road will be anywhere near Dallas in any way.
Thursday Night Throwback
Josh MF’in Allen.
What a performance, not just from Allen, but from the entire Bills team. Von Miller looked like he was 26 again, Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis took Jalen Ramsey’s lunch money, and the aforementioned Allen decided to stiff arm Rams linebackers into oblivion. This was an absolute destruction, and borderline emasculation of Sean McVay, Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams.
Cooper Kupp – as I expected – appears to be the only offensive weapon worth his salt (or a spot on your Fantasy Team’s Roster). Cam Akers? Never seen or heard of him. Allen Robinson? I’ve been saying he’s largely irrelevant for 3-4 years now. It’s nice the rest of the world got to see that Thursday night. Sure, the Rams will bounce back and figure it out, but this was a “straight up, good ol’ fashioned ass-whooping” that won’t be forgotten in a while.
The Bills laid down a marker – and a warning shot – to the rest of the league, by demolishing the defending champions. The Bills are must-see TV, and Allen is the MVP frontrunner for a number of very obvious reasons.
Quick Hits
- A tie!!!! We got another week 1 tie!!! Hallelujah. A weird one, as the Texans threw the game away, and the Colts were awful and found a way to rally to avoid defeat. A strange outcome, as the Colts continue to be allergic to winning in Week 1. Shout out Brandin Cooks. So reliable, as always. Michael Pittman Jr. too… The Colts will bounce back from this I’m sure. Jonathan Taylor is still a monster.
- The Philadelphia Eagles clung on for a win against the plucky Detroit Lions. I love Dan Campbell’s team, and they keep finding a way to fight and stay in games late. D’Andre Swift looked shifty as hell, and Amon-Ra St. Brown continued his excellent early career with another nice showing. This Lions team is far from the finished article, but with their intriguing mixture of grit and youthful exuberance, Detroit will cause problems for many teams, just like they did Philly on Sunday.
- AJ Brown settled into Philly like a hand to a glove… that said, have we forgotten that Devonta Smith plays on that team!? What’s going on!? Philly will look to go 2-0 against the Vikings next Monday… and speaking of the Vikings…
- Justin Jefferson appeared to want to justify his Top 5 Fantasy Draft ADP in week 1. No doubt, he’s a star in this league. Minnesota came out swinging and knocked Green Bay down. That said, this happened to the Packers last year too…
- BUT this time Rodgers is having to figure this out without Davante Adams. Christian Watson dropped a sure fire TD, so AJ Dillon and Aaron Jones may have to do even more receiving work as the Packers look to rebound against the Bears next week.
- Davante Adams had an impressive debut in silver and black, but the Raiders came up short against the Chargers. I do struggle to foresee a way the Raiders have enough to win this division. The AFC West is now what the NFC West once was.
- Not perhaps a vintage offensive explosion from this loaded Chargers team, but a solid defensive showing allowed Brandon Staley’s men to get a big win to start the season. This division may be a war of attrition… with every game being a shootout. It’ll be great to watch regardless. Anyone fancy Chargers vs Chiefs on Thursday night? Me, please.
- Cade York – welcome to the big leagues son. A big win for the Browns. Brissett did just enough, but it was the two-headed monster of Chubb and Hunt that won Cleveland this game, and will attempt to keep the Browns alive until week twelve when (REDACTED) makes his return from suspension.
- Baker Mayfield’s revenge tour hit a bit of a bump in the road thanks to York’s late FG… that said… I liked what I saw from Baker as the game went on. First Half was… awful. Second Half? …Promising?! CMC must be more involved, but I liked a lot of what Baker did late on, including the rushing TD, and the long bomb to Robbie Anderson. The Panthers won’t have a hugely successful year (the roster is just too shallow), but they will be significantly better with Baker than they were with Cam Newton or Sam Darnold.
- Firmly placing Trey Lance and the 49ers on Fraud Watch. I don’t care what the weather is, you can’t lose to that Bears team and be claiming to be a threat to make the playoffs. Frauds.
- Congrats to the Bears and Justin Fields! This is NOT going to be a fun season, so celebrate this one. There ain’t gonna be many more.
- I’m really not sure what to say about the Saints vs Falcons game, except that “Falcons gonna Falcons”… NOLA seemed to be completely out of sorts all day, and yet SOMEHOW Jameis Winston found just enough to dig the Saints out of the hole they were in. Give HUGE credit to Jarvis Landry and Michael Thomas. The Saints will win a bunch of games this year if Jameis stays healthy and plays sensible football.
- The Giants! Saquon Barkley! What a win! Really not sure what the hell the Titans were doing, but give huge credit to Brian Daboll for showing the grit to bring this team back from down 13-0. I can’t say I’m a convert to believing in Daniel Jones, but I believe Daboll can be the right guy to build something good for the G-Men.
- Lamar Jackson started slow but eventually found a bit of rhythm as the Ravens easily dispatched the Jets. Joe Flacco ain’t it, Chief. Without Zach Wilson, the ceiling for this Jets team is going to be remarkably low. The Ravens – conversely – will go wherever their QB takes them, but will need to be much better offensively to beat Miami next week.
- The Cardinals didn’t look like themselves, and perhaps that’s really down to the absence of Deandre Hopkins. For all of our sakes, we have to hope that Arizona are in the thick of the playoff race to make “Hard Knocks: In-Season” as interesting as possible. Kyler and Hollywood Brown got their mojo going a little bit as the game wore on, and James Conner continues to be able find the endzone with regularity, but the Cardinals were completely taken apart by the Chiefs offense.
- And lastly… you thought Patrick Mahomes was gonna lose Tyreek Hill and all of a sudden look like Josh Rosen? Yeah… okay. The man is a monster. The Chiefs obituaries were very premature. Watch out, AFC West. Mahomes x Kelce is still the combo to fear.
MNF Prediction: (Season Record: 0-0)
The NFL’s schedule makers were not messing around in making a huge number of intriguing matchups with great storylines, and weaving them through the tapestry of Week 1. Monday Night’s game is no different. Russell Wilson returns to Seattle with his new Denver Broncos team (let’s ride!!) as the Seahawks welcome home their former hero.
To be frank, this shouldn’t be close. Geno Smith is not the answer at QB, and neither is Drew Lock. I think we may look back at Seattle’s decision to not pursue Baker Mayfield this summer as a very bad choice. DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett deserve better, they really do. I love Pete Carroll, but this feels like a season where the Seahawks are gearing up for a run at a top 5 pick, not a Super Bowl.
On the other side, Russell Wilson was brought to Denver to make them Super Bowl contenders once more. The Broncos have a great defense, which is good because I remain completely unconvinced by their offense besides Wilson. Sutton & Jeudy could be good. They’re still using WAY too much Melvin Gordon, and are we SURE Javonte Williams is the guy? We’ll see soon enough… However, they should have no problem winning this game on Monday night. I’m sure the 12s in Seattle will attempt to create a raucous atmosphere, but I can’t for the life of me see a way that the Broncos lose this game.
Official Prediction: Denver Broncos
Week 2 Preview
Week 2 kicks off Thursday with the aforementioned (surefire) barnburner between the Chargers and the Chiefs. I’m hoping that by giving it the big build up, I won’t have jinxed it…
As for Sunday, Ravens vs Dolphins, Saints vs Bucs, & Raiders vs Cardinals track as the most intriguing matchups, with a nightcap of angry Aaron Rodgers absolutely ruining the entire city of Chicago again… We can work with that. Plus a Monday Night double-header!! Exciting. Anyway, thanks for spending a little of your week reading my thoughts. I’m @CallumJDSquires on Twitter and Instagram. Come say hey. Have a great week everyone.
Callum Squires
NFL/CFB ANALYST
CALLUM IS FROM LONDON, BUT PLAYED COLLEGE SOCCER AT TRINITY UNIVERSITY IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, WHERE HE LEARNED NEVER TO CHEER FOR THE COWBOYS. CALLUM IS A LONG-SUFFERING DOLPHINS FAN WHO BELIEVES THE TUA HYPE. NOW BACK STATESIDE, HIT HIM UP ON TWITTER @CALLUMJDSQUIRES!