The first week of the NFL season has officially ended. Overall, 16 games have taken place since Thursday September 4th, until Monday September 8th. Fans all around the U.S. have shared their thoughts, optimistic for teams like the Broncos, Eagles, and Buccaneers, while others have felt more negative about the season’s start. Throughout each of the games, you can expect rookie debuts, veteran surprises, fouls, upsets, and more. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from NFL week one.
Aaron Rodgers and Justin Fields
The Jets-Steelers game on September 7th was one of the highest scoring of the week. With a final score of 34-32, the Steelers won the game thanks to a last minute 60+ yard field goal from Chris Boswell–the Steelers place kicker. The stars of the day, however, were both teams’ quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers who went for 244 yards with 4 touchdowns, and Justin Fields who had a total of 266 yards and 3 touchdowns. At first, Aaron Rodgers was a signing that was heavily criticized by many Steelers fans due to his advanced age and his recent poor performance-however, his performance on Sunday was more than enough to quiet many of the doubters. Justin Fields, on the other hand, is a young, former first round draft pick who had a rocky start in Chicago, then a brief one year stint in Pittsburgh, and now finds himself in New York. While the game resulted in a win for the Steelers, it can’t be denied that the future is bright for the Jets for the first time in a long time.
Miami might be in trouble
The Miami Dolphins played their first game of the season at home against the Indianapolis Colts, led by Quarterback Daniel Jones, and most people wrote it off as a guaranteed win for Miami. Granted, Tua Tagovailoa had some injury concerns and was coming off a major concussion, but the Colts were in a rough spot and Daniel Jones was hardly a difficult quarterback to play against given his history with the New York Giants.
The game went anything other than expected, ending in a 33-8 trouncing courtesy of the Indianapolis Colts. Tua Tagovailoa threw two interceptions and just one touchdown, with only 114 yards in the air. The quarterback play in Miami was also a large issue last season, as when Tua went down against the Bills early in the season, the team had a difficult time finding their rhythm on offense until he came back. The Colts, however, shocked viewers with a genuinely good performance. Daniel Jones shocked fans as he went for a total of 292 yards and 3 touchdowns. Many analysts were shocked to the point of asking whether or not the Dolphins would be drafting with the number one pick in next year’s draft.
JJ McCarthy’s first NFL game
The Minnesota Vikings began their season in Chicago during Monday Night football. The Vikings were surrounded with questions. Jordan Addison, a starting wide receiver would be missing this game and the next several due to violating conduct policies. They also lost starting linebacker Blake Cashman during the game to a hamstring issue. And of course, their whole game relied on, effectively, rookie JJ McCarthy, who had missed his entire rookie season due to a knee injury in pre-season. The Bears as well had the pressure on, missing their star Cornerback Jaylon Johnson to injury, and this was on top of the highly awaited debut of head coach Ben Johnson- the former offensive coordinator of the division rival Detroit Lions.
The Bears looked to be the dominant force as of the whistle. A quick touchdown drive followed by holding the Vikings to a field goal during the first quarter made it seem like an easy affair. A pick-six for the Bears defense as well only added to the pressure on the Vikings. By the end of the third quarter, they held a 17-6 lead over the Vikings, with JJ McCarthy looking remarkably shaky and unrefined in the pocket.
As of the fourth quarter however, McCarthy came alive. McCarthy zipped a touchdown to Justin Jefferson in the middle of the endzone, then followed up with one to Aaron Jones on a deep shot. And finally, ran one in himself to more than tie the game. A final Vikings field goal would bring the score to 27-24 for the Vikings. McCarthy had 168 yards total, nothing insane, but the fourth quarter showed just why the Vikings felt more than comfortable taking him in the first round in 2024.
The Ravens lose a 40-19 lead in the fourth quarter
The Sunday night football game for week one was a divisional round matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills. Although each team had Super Bowl potential this season, the game looked anything but even in the first few minutes. The Bills offense marched down the field in less than five minutes to open the scoring with a touchdown. Despite the early lead, the Ravens responded-Derrick Henry, Lamar Jackson, and Zay Flowers proved to be a force to be reckoned with for the next few quarters, ultimately putting the Bills in a deficit of 40-19 a few minutes into the fourth quarter.
However, ravens fans soon learned that one of the worst mistakes you can make is betting against Josh Allen. The Bills went down and scored, stopped the Ravens, and did it again. It became a tense atmosphere with the score 40-38. The Bills only fault seemed to be going for two point conversions, as missing all three put them down by 3 points with only a few minutes left. The Ravens had the ball and seemed to be carefully stalling. . They decided to hand it to their star running back Derrick Henry- only for him to fumble, recovered by the Bills defense. Ravens fans could only sit in shocked horror as the Bills marched down the field again, for their kicker to drill a field goal as time expired. The game ended 41-40, Bills over Ravens.
Week one, as long awaited as it was, definitely delivered on the entertainment. However, the season is only just starting – while many teams started off 0-1, there’s another sixteen weeks of football left to play. No team’s season ends week one, and nobody is crowned Super Bowl champion week one either. The Jets are more than capable of winning many games this season. JJ McCarthy could flame out or get injured again. Tua could suddenly decide he’s going to perform like Tom Brady and throw for 7 touchdowns and 500 yards. The Ravens game was so tight that the both of them could easily meet again in the playoffs. The season’s just begun, and no matter if you liked or hated how your team played, there’s still plenty of time for things to change.
