Winners and Losers of Week 1 in the NFL
The NFL is finally back.
After seven long months without regular season action, the sport is back and what a first week it was.
There were statement wins from the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers in what was an exciting opening weekend.
Here are three winners and three losers from Week One of the 2024 NFL season.
The Philadelphia Eagles took on the Green Bay Packers on Friday night in not only the first ever NFL regular season game in Brazil but also the first ever International Series game to be played in Week One. Fans who attended were given a treat, as the Eagles came out victorious with a 34-27 win.
A.J. Brown had 119 yards receiving along with one touchdown and Jayden Reed had 138 receiving yards with two total touchdowns. However, it was Saquon Barkley who stole the show. He ended the day with 109 yards rushing as well as three total touchdowns.
Barkley had a brilliant rookie year but has had injury problems that have followed. With over 2,000 rushing yards across the past two seasons, Barkley has now gone from being the bell cow in New Jersey to being one of many. We saw Christian McCaffrey make a similar move from the Carolina Panthers to the 49ers and with that first game showing, it is feasible that Barkley could have a similar rise in performances.
The Panthers had a terrible 2023. However, with a new head coach in Dave Canales and a new weapon in Xavier Legette, there was hope for the Carolina Panthers.
Against a team in the New Orleans Saints, a team unfancied by many, they were embarrassed, losing 47-10. Quarterback Bryce Young had a terrible day, with zero passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, two interceptions and just 161 passing yards.
The defense also allowed Derek Carr to only throw four incomplete passes, as well as throwing for 200 yards and three touchdowns.
With a lot of expectation from fans that things could not get worse, they are getting ready to hold their beer.
The Miami Dolphins struggled immensely in this game, and their defense could have easily been in this list after the game changing play from Jevon Holland that stopped an all but certain touchdown from Travis Etienne from the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tyreek Hill scored an 80-yard touchdown on the very next play and the Dolphins went on to tie the game level after a Jason Sanders field goal with 4:26 remaining.
The game was tied at 17-17 when the Dolphins ran the clock down to four seconds. Jeff Wilson came up big to gain a first down and allow the Dolphins to showcase their clock management skills.
Sanders missed an earlier field goal from 42 yards, so when he came on the field to try and win Miami the game from 52 yards, there was definitely a tetchiness from the home fans.
Miami’s long-term kicker converted and this won the Dolphins the game, winning their opening game for the fourth year straight.
With a mammoth game against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football in Week Two, it was important for the Dolphins to get off to a winning start.
Cousins joined the Atlanta Falcons this offseason, seen as someone that will turn them into playoff contenders. However, whilst there is still 17 weeks remaining, it was not an encouraging performance.
In total, he threw for 155 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions as Atlanta lost 18-10 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. With the lack of starting quarterbacks that play in preseason, you often see plenty of rusty performances in Week One across the league.
This is why you cannot take the opening weekend too seriously, but for a team who wants to make the playoffs, they need to improve fast and especially so with a tough few games coming up. They take on the Eagles on Monday Night Football in Week Two before playing the Chiefs on a shorter week and then the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers to follow. Against a Pittsburgh team that did not look great and always start slow, this was a chanced missed for the Falcons and Cousins.
Is the Madden curse back?
49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is the cover star on this year’s Madden but missed Week One with a calf/Achilles injury.
However, no McCaffrey, no problem as the Niners eased to a 32-19 win over the New York Jets on Monday Night Football. This was partly due to the performance of backup running back Jordan Mason.
Undrafted in 2022, Mason took his opportunity, recording 147 rushing yards and one touchdown from 28 carries. Even if McCaffrey comes back in, Mason has shown the Niners what he can do to at least keep his backup spot or be the RB1 somewhere else.
The Bengals have notoriously started slow both before and during the Joe Burrow era. They have only won two of their last eight opening weekend games, with just one of those with Burrow under centre.
They were seen as 7.5 favourites in their Week One clash against the New England Patriots but succumbed to a 16-10 defeat at home. Burrow had under 200 yards passing and failed to throw for a single touchdown.
With a game against the Chiefs in Week Two, there is every chance they go 0-2 to start 2024.