Joe Burrow and Caleb Williams struggle, Lions beat Rams in overtime
Mackenzie Salmon of Sports Seriously “overreacts” to the biggest headlines of Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season.
Sport in Seriousness
The first NFL Sunday of the 2024 season is over, and it was exactly what pro football fans have been waiting for.
The lineup gave us a complete surprise: The Cincinnati Bengals, who entered as almost double-digit favorites, lost to the New England Patriots. We were able to record two come-from-behind victories in the early stages: The Miami Dolphins beat the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Chicago Bears beat the Tennessee Titans – with the winning defenses in each case eliminating their opponents in the second half.
There was even the first-ever dynamic kickoff return for a touchdown, by DeeJay Dallas of the Arizona Cardinals. Here are the winners and losers from Sunday’s Week 1.
WINNER
The toughness and determination of the Detroit Lions
That was far from their best performance. The Lions’ offense faltered considerably in the second half, recording three three-and-outs in their first five drives after halftime and an interception on another drive in that span. Still, Detroit held on longer than the Rams and showed it’s an NFC contender. This was the first game since the Lions blew a 17-point halftime lead to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. And while it wasn’t clean — star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown caught just three passes for 13 yards and Detroit made 2 of 4 red-zone conversions — the team’s offensive line dominated the Rams in overtime, driving the ball seven times for 60 rushing yards in a crucial, game-winning drive. The Lions sent the message that their identity hasn’t changed.
Aggressive measures by the Houston Texans pay off
Houston knew it had a solid, young core and took steps to get better. The Texans secured an early lead in the AFC South with their 29-27 win over the Indianapolis Colts, and two transfer acquisitions made an impact.
The focal point of the offense was running back Joe Mixon, who carried the ball 30 times for 159 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, receiver Stefon Diggs, who the team acquired in a trade from the Buffalo Bills in April, caught six passes for just 33 yards. Two of those passes were touchdowns, however, and one came late in the fourth quarter, giving Houston a nine-point lead.
The support of Caleb Williams
The first-round pick didn’t play particularly well in his debut, but it wasn’t a problem. Chicago showed it could overcome a massive deficit – 17 points, in fact – and score points in a variety of ways to win. The Bears’ defense didn’t let the Titans in the game in the second half and, following the lead of the special teams, scored a touchdown.
At some point (soon), Williams will have to put his team in a position to win, but that’s a huge advantage for a rookie quarterback. The idea is that if the Bears can win despite their offense converting just 2 of 13 third-down attempts and totaling 148 yards — only 64 of which come through the air — they could become a surprise contender if Williams and the offense can get things together.
The dynamic impetus (so to speak)
This is, frankly, neither a winner nor a loser, but more of a hold, considering the sample size and the fact that teams are still primarily kicking their kickoffs through the end zone. But in the few cases where kickoffs were returned, the adjusted rules brought some excitement to the game.
Through Sunday night’s game, there had been 101 touchbacks on 157 kickoffs. There were 54 returns — or 34.4% — while two went out of bounds. But those returns averaged 27.2 yards, which was significantly more than last season’s average of 23 yards per kick return. Essentially, the game was more exciting when the kicks were actually returned. The Cardinals-Bills game in particular featured some great returns, including the first for a touchdown.
The return rate is still too low, however. Eleven of the 54 returns – or 20.4% – came from the Carolina Panthers’ game against the New Orleans Saints alone, with Carolina having nine of them. The return has potential, but it’s only a good start; the league needs to continue to wean teams away from touchbacks for the tweaks to have real value. An unsolicited solution: Place a touchback at the 35-yard line to encourage more returns.
LOSER
Is Cincinnati about to take a step backwards?
Don’t let the absence of receiver Tee Higgins fool you; this was an inexcusable loss to a Patriots team that is going through a complete cultural upheaval. And the Bengals – notoriously slow starters who haven’t appeared in a Super Bowl in three years – showed problematic signs that point to an offensive regression.
The Bengals lost just two fumbles all of last season. They had the same tally by midway through the third quarter on Sunday. Cincinnati was the only offense that didn’t score a single point by halftime. Joe Burrow had just 164 passing yards and, aside from Ja’Marr Chase’s 62 yards, Bengals receivers had just 37 receiving yards on five catches. Worse still, the Bengals are missing Mixon in the running game; Cincinnati’s 70 rushing yards were the second-worst in Week 1, only better than the Panthers (58).
It’s time for the New York Giants not to compound Daniel Jones’ mistake
Now in its sixth year, the Daniel Jones experiment has run its course. Jones wasn’t blessed with much talent during his time in New York, but the team’s decision to reward him with a four-year extension in March 2023 is looking worse with each game.
Jones simply repeats mistakes he’s made throughout his career, such as a two-interception game in a 28-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He often holds the ball too long and climbs into the pocket to get into sacks and pressures. He also takes sacks when dump-offs or throwing the ball away would clearly be better options. He commits turnovers, seemingly at the most inopportune moments. According to Spotrac.com, Jones will count $47.86 million against the 2024 salary cap, and the team would still have to pay $22.2 million in dead cap if it fires him in the offseason.
The Browns, however, do not have this luxury
Cleveland is essentially stuck with Deshaun Watson after losing 33-17 to the Dallas Cowboys. Since the Browns gave him a fully guaranteed contract in March 2022 despite facing 24 allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct, there’s not much the team can do but accept his poor performance. It’s unlikely that a team will sign a player who can’t consistently run an NFL offense, let alone one with Watson’s personal baggage. Releasing him in the offseason would trigger an absurd dead cap hit of $172.78 million, according to Spotrac.com.
Not all of Cleveland’s problems are Watson’s fault. But last season’s offense was inconsistent when he played center until Joe Flacco turned the deep passing game — and the Browns’ offense as a whole — around when Watson was out with a shoulder injury. And unlike Jones, Watson actually has talent around him — lots of it, in Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku.
Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons’ newly formed offense need more time
The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t score a touchdown on Sunday and still beat the Falcons 18-10. Atlanta’s offense was overwhelmed and ineffective in its first game with Kirk Cousins at quarterback and Zac Robinson as offensive coordinator.
Cousins managed just 155 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. The second interception was called with 2:47 left in the game when Atlanta was trailing by five points in Steelers territory. Cousins was under pressure the entire game, especially with TJ Watt acting on him. Atlanta lost the turnover battle 0-3 and with so many new players, it might just take time for the offense to find its rhythm. But with games coming up at the Philadelphia Eagles and against the Kansas City Chiefs, an 0-3 start could be cause for concern.
