By: William Burns
We just finished the first week of NFL football and this season started with a blast! Almost every game was a nail biter, and overtime can either be your best friend or deepest enemy. Some may have noticed that Antonio Brown not only didn’t start on the Oakland Raiders, but he’s not even on the team anymore! Brown was dropped by the Raiders due to internal conflicts and then got picked up by the New England Patriots. Due to the timing, he will not start until week 2 because he was picked up too late. Although Brown left the Raiders, they still beat the Broncos 24-16. Meanwhile, Brown was on the sidelines of the Patriots watching his former team, the Steelers, get destroyed by his new team.
The first game of the season was the Packers v. Bears. Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn’t have the best game, but he had something he has never had before, a good defense. The game was low scoring and full of outstanding defensive plays on both sides. However, Green Bay got the better of the Bears with a game-sealing interception in the endzone by former Bears player Adrian Amos. Neither quarterback played very well but Chicago Quarterback Trubisky looked far worse than originally expected.
Bears’ Roy Robertson-Harris sacks quarterback Aaron Rodgers during the first half of the first NFL game of the year.
The Texans vs. Saints was also a close game throughout the whole night. Deshaun Watson had a fantastic night, throwing for 268 yards, 3 touchdowns and rushing for 40 yards and a touchdown. He kept the Texans in the game all night even after going to the injury tent twice. Drew Brees started off slow but quickly ignited throwing for 370 yards and two touchdowns, one of which was thrown to fellow quarterback Taysom Hill. Wil Lutz, the Saints kicker, won the game with a fantastic 58- yard field goal ending the game at 30-28. Drew Brees, once again, is still the king of comebacks.
A couple of teams had ridiculously embarrassing games this week. The Patriots scored 33 points on the Steelers, showing off their best defense in the last decade. Josh Gordon scored a touchdown after catching one pass from Tom Brady in the first half of the game. Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers scored a field goal, and that’s the only score they got the entire game. Ending score was 33-3 Patriots. This game wasn’t near as bad as the Dolphins and Ravens game. The Ravens completely slaughtered the Dolphins with a final score of 59-10, Ravens. After being told repeatedly by critics that he was not a QB, and that he should switch to wide receiver, Lamar Jackson started the season with a vengeance. Lamar threw for 324 yards and 5 touchdowns three of which were 40 yards or more. Marquise Brown scored his first 2 NFL touchdowns totaling 130 yards, making him the first player in NFL history to score multiple 40- yard touchdowns in this career debut.
Ravens wide receiver Marquise Brown grabs a pass for a touchdown.
There were teams that surprised everyone, like the Ravens, and there were teams that fell short of expectations, like the Browns. Other than the whole Antonio Brown news, the Browns were constantly making news either for players calling out other players and organizations, or the Browns making Super bowl claims. The self-proclaimed “dangerous” Browns were anything but dangerous in week one. The Titans absolutely man-handled them and possibly knocked some humility into young QB Baker Mayfield. Baker Threw 25/38, 385 yards and a touchdown, but threw three interceptions and a safety. The Browns looked out of their element, outcoached and outplayed. The Browns had some other impressive stats though, just not in a good way, 18 penalties combining for 182 yards given up, and an impressive 4 sacks given up and 5 fumbles. It’s safe to say maybe the Browns are not as good as advertised.
