Professional Football Wrap-Up

 

I am going to try and revive an old (from 2019) concept of a weekly NFL update.  I cannot promise that I can keep it up, but I do know that I accomplish more the busier I am, so why not add ANOTHER column into my weekly routine (See, The Ole College Try).  So, here are my thoughts from Week 1 of the NFL Season.

Game of the Week

Buffalo Bills 36 Houston Texans 31.  Two potential contenders for the AFC throne facing off against each other in Week 1, and this game is not disappoint!!!  Josh Allen was, well, Josh Allen, going 20-29 for 334 and 2 TDs while also rushing for 2 TDs to really shake-up our belief structure in the Texans' defense.  The Texans, forced to rely on its offense, kept pace with C.J. Stroud throwing for 274 yards and newcomer David Montgomery scored twice on the ground while gaining 30 yards  Nico Collins was Nico Collins, with 7 catches, 75 yards and 1 TD. 

Best Team Performance

San Francisco 49ers.  Thursday night game in Melbourne, Australia against the opening-season odds-on favorite to win the Super Bowl LA Rams, and they actually made the Rams seem like they are contenders for the number 1 overall pick.  The 27-7 victory put the 49ers in the drivers' seat for the NFC West and put the league on notice that a healthy San Francisco is a force - especially with Dre Greenlaw being back!!!  

Least Impressive Team Performance

Tennessee Titans.  This team looked like it did not belong in the NFL in a 23-10 loss to the New York Jets.  And this is saying something because the Cleveland Browns looked downright dreadful.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Offense)

Caleb Williams, QB - Chicago Bears.  21-29 for 269 yards and 2 TDs, and 65 yards rushing for 2 TDs, and led the Bears offense to 59 points.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Defense)

Anthony Hill, LB, Tennessee Titans.  Hill had 16 tackles, and judging from the way the Titans' offense played, he is going to have more and more series to add to these tackle totals. 

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Special Teams)

Tyler Owens, Gunner - Washington Commanders.  Because of THIS PLAY!!!  Note that any portion of this play would qualify for most impressive special teams performance!!!

Most Impressive Team Performance (Premier League)

Brighton & Hove Albion.  A comfortable 5-0 victory over Coventry City, taking a 1-0 halftime lead and cruising to victory.  Five separate goalscorers show the team was really spreading around the ball on offense.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Premier League)

Kevin Schade, M - Brentford.  Scored a brace in a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth.

Goat of the Week

Drake Maye, QB - New England.  Drove the team into field-goal position late in the opening game down three, only to heave the ball into coverage in the end zone.  Guess what?  Intercepted.

Goat of the Week (Premier League)

Phil Foden, Manchester City.  Earned a straight red for violent conduct after earning a free kick on a foul by Bruno Fernandes.  Could have been much worse if they were playing a team that was better than Manchester Unite.

Hit of the Week

Tyler Owens, Gunner - Washington Commanders.  See above post and video.

Breakthrough Performance

Isaiah Likely, TE - New York Giants.  Likely has flashed potential brilliance in the past, but he was stuck behind (or with on 2 TE sets) Mark Andrews in Baltimore on a run-heavy team.  Now he is on a pass-friendly team where he is one of the 2 best receiving threats.  Finished the game with 8 catches for 78 yards and 2 TDs.

Finally

Dre Greenlaw, LB - San Francisco 49ers.  Finally back from injury, and boy does Greenlaw make a HUGE difference in this defense.  Only formally credited with 6 total tackles, but he seemed to be everywhere, especially on important plays.

Impact Injury

Kyler Murray, QB - Minnesota Vikings.  Murray, who was supposed to save the Vikings offense from the dregs of J.J. McCarthyism.  Lucky for the Vikings, Carson Wentz may have some left in the tank.

Team Rising

New York Giants.  It looked like the Giants should be much improved as Jaxon Dart enters his second-year as QB and some of the other pieces fall-into place.  Isaiah Likely looks like a bona fide weapon, and with the three-headed pass-rushing monster of Brian Burns, Kayvon Thiebodeaux and Abdul Carte, with Arvell Reese added to the mix, could give a lot of quarterbacks problems, especially ones that Tremaine Edmunds can clear up as a solid MLB.  They defeated the Cowboys 28-20 in week 1, but it wasn't that close. 

Team Falling

New England Patriots.  Yes this is an early overreaction to week 1, but New England just looked lost and overwhelmed, by a Seahawks team that lost QB Sam Darnold early and replaced him with Drew Lock!!!

Best Teams

(All teams will be ranked by record, even if teams with more losses may be better than a team with fewer losses, since Bill Parcells always said that you are what your record says.  The inverse is true for the Worst Teams rankings.) (Yes, I know that you could have a worse record and be better, but we are working off record.)

1. San Francisco 49ers (1-0)

2. Buffalo Bills (1-0)

3. Kansas City Chiefs (1-0)

4. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0)

5. Baltimore Ravens (1-0)

Worst Teams

(All winless teams will be ranked here until all teams have at least 1 win, then I will rank them based upon which teams I think are the worst, regardless of record.)

32. Cleveland Browns (0-1)

31. Tennessee Titans (0-1)

30. Miami Dolphins (0-1)

29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1)

28. Dallas Cowboys (0-1)

Middle Teams

15. Arizona Cardinals (1-0)
16. New York Jets (1-0)
17. Houston Texans (0-1)

18. New Orleans Saints (0-1)

Last Week's Trivia Question/Answer

Last Entry's Trivia Question was (From 2019!!!):

As the lone remaining winless team, the Cincinnati Bengals have the inside track to selecting first in the 2020 NFL Draft. Name the three players in Bengals history that were selected with the number 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.  (Hint:  There were 3).  [Ed. Note:  There were three at the time of asking the question - there are currently 4!)

Answer:  Dan Wilkinson (DT Ohio State 1994); Ki-Jana Carter (RB Penn State 1995); Carson Palmer (QB USC 2003); Joe Burrow (QB LSU 2020)

Preview - Game(s) of the Week

6.  Cincinnati Bengals v. Houston Texans - With the Texans defense giving up a lot of yards and points to the Bills, but keeping pace offensively, could this be an exciting shootout for the fans?  Burrow's back is something upon which to keep an eye.

5.  New Orleans Saints v. Baltimore Ravens - Both teams looked really, really good in week 1.  We know about the Ravens offense, but Tyler Shough to Chris Olave might be ridiculously unstoppable.

4.  Jacksonville Jaguars v. Denver Broncos - Jacksonville looks to cement itself early as an AFC team to watch for the remainder of the season.

3.  Brighton & Hove Albion v. Arsenal - The prevailing champions and current number 1 in the standings versus the upstart BHA in 5th place team coming off a 5-goal game against Coventry.  Could be really exciting.

2.  Minnesota Vikings v. Chicago Bears - A team whose offense looked unstoppable hosting a team whose defense looks incredible.  Which one will be able to assert its will in this early intra-divisional battle?

1.  Detroit Lions v. Buffalo Bills - An amazing Thursday night game that we hope lives up to its billing!

Trivia

In week 1, each of the 16 NFL contests was decided by a different margin of victory.  When was the last time this occurred during a 16-game schedule?