NFL season is finally here! We've got one week in the books and already some of us are freaking out about our favorite teams and bemoaning a loss saying they won't win a game all season. Others have the feeling of invincibility. We all know it's way too early to feel like this but that's what football season does to us. Each week I'll recap each match-up with my quick thoughts after watching the games and later in the season start to give a panic meter of where I think fans should be with their team. Enjoy!
Green Bay @ Seattle
Seattle is a legitimate repeat contender. The scary thing is the offense, if Percy Harvin can stay healthy (that's an awfully big if) is going to be more explosive and put up more points early which could lead opponents to have to try and pass their way out of a hole......that's terrifying. As for Green Bay, losing on the road to the Seahawks is hardly a bad loss but the worrisome proposition for this team once again is injuries. Eddy Lacy is already suffering from a concussion and Bryan Bulaga has a n undisclosed knee injury. The defense was nothing to write home about in the opener either. They should be helped by the anemic Jets offense visiting this week.
Jacksonville @ Philadelphia
Coming into the year I thought the Jaguars would surprise people in some games with their defense and they certainly caught the Eagles off guard in the 1st half. The Jags have some good pieces and seem to be trending in the right direction, but they're still a couple years away. The Eagles meanwhile, still are an enigma on defense and on offense will be tough again. Biggest problem? The offensive line injuries. Already Philly is missing replacement tackle Allen Barbre and G Evan Mathis with varying injuries.
New Orleans @ Atlanta
I have an APB out for the defenses of these two teams. If anyone finds them please give coordinators Rob Ryan & Mike Nolan a call. In all seriousness, these offenses are scary good when healthy and the supposedly shaky Falcons O-Line looked fine protecting Matt Ryan this week. The NFC South is gonna be fun this year.
Minnesota @ St Louis
With the 1st overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft the St. Louis Rams select....okay that's an over-reaction but with no viable options at QB and a suspect back end of the defense, the Rams defensive line would have to hit the opposing QB every play for this team to have a chance to do anything this year. On the Vikings side, I think Norv Turner is just cackling every night as he falls asleep thinking of ways to unleash Cordarrelle Patterson on the league.
Cleveland @ Pittsburgh
Brian Hoyer delayed the inevitable Johnny Football sighting for one more week with his second half performance and the Steelers a team long known for its defense will have to rely on its offense to beat teams. Allowing 389 yards to a Browns offense with no Josh Gordon, a rookie running back and Brian Hoyer at the helm? I'll leave it at that.
Oakland @ New York Jets
An ugly game between two ugly looking teams. Jets fans are more happy with New England's loss to Miami than their own team's win and that says something. Derek Carr could be the answer or he could have had a decent day against a bad Jets secondary. Hard to tell.
Cincinnati @ Baltimore
This game was hard to watch in the first half. Both defenses are good, the Ravens offense is relying on a 35 years old Steve Smith for big plays and that's not a recipe for success. The Bengals are the team many expect to take a step back without Mike Zimmer. I'm not so sure. That D still looked plenty good on Sunday.
Buffalo @ Chicago
If I'm a Bears fan I'm having flashbacks to last year's awful D after this one. This was a bad loss at home to a Buffalo team that will likely end up last in the AFC East.
Washington @ Houston
Bad news for Houston? The loss of JaDeveon Clowney for 4-6 weeks. The good news? JJ Watt is terrifying as ever and DeAndre Hopkins looks like he'll make a leap forward. If Fitzpatrick can provide average quarterback play, the defense will be good enough to win 8-9 games. As for Washington, RGIII looks awful when he's forced to stay in the pocket and the offense looked as anemic as it did last year. The NFC East is just terrible.
Tennessee @ Kansas City
Typical Andy Reid team Week 1 performance. They did nothing to help the offense this offseason let key members of the O-Line go and Reid expected the system to carry them to another good record. Without help for Jamal Charles and a regressing defense, it could be a tough year in KC. I wasn't high on the Titans mainly because Jake Locker hasn't played a full season and hasn't looked that great when he has played. After the first game of the season people are starting to buy into this team. I'm not ready to just yet but there are some good signs.
New England @ Miami
We all assumed this would be another cakewalk to the division title for the Patriots. We might have been wrong. There are offensive line issues, the wide receivers don't look any better for Brady this year and a supposedly upgraded defense was gashed once again by Knowshon Moreno on Sunday. Miami on the other hand got a good day from Ryan Tannehill who has looked fine when not forced to run for his life and the Fins D has a fearsome pass rush. I'll be watching Miami a little more closely this week.
Carolina @ Tampa
The Panthers were picked as a regression team and Tampa as a riser.....well Week 1 tells us we were wrong. Over the full season we could be right but the Panthers pass rush still was great (don't get me started on whether Greg Hardy should be allowed to play. Point blank he shouldn't) and Kelvin Benjamin had a great debut. Josh McCown looked like the career back-up that he is.
San Francisco @ Dallas
The 49ers defense is good, Tony Romo looked terrible coming off back surgery (every INT he threw was his fault, there's zero excuses for him this time) and Kaepernick was fantastic. Early gem on the Niners team? Carlos Hyde. Really like his physical style, is the perfect back to replace Frank Gore.
Indianapolis @ Denver
Stop me if this sounds familiar. The Broncos jumped out to a huge lead early only to find they couldn't run the ball to take time off the clock and allowed their opponent to come back late because of it. That's the theme for this Broncos team and really for any Peyton Manning team. They'll be good again but don't be surprised if they allow a few opponent comeback wins. As for Indy, I was legitimately surprised when Andrew Luck couldn't pull off the comeback. That's the kind of player he is. I can't turn off the game no matter what the score.
New York Giants @ Detroit
The Giants are still a mess after transitioning to a new offense, the line looks bad, the receivers gave Eli no help and the pass rush looked old. Did I miss anything? The Lions new look offense was impressive. Still yet to be seen whether Matt Stafford will revert to his old "eyes for Calvin and Calvin only" ways later in the season.
San Diego @ Arizona
Slow 1st half, great 2nd half. Ryan Matthews seemed to have a little more pep in his step and Phillip Rivers seemed more comfortable. Arizona is very unfortunate to play in the NFC West because that defense in any other division would easily get them into the playoffs.
That's all I've got for Week 1, I'll have Week 2 picks for you in the coming days.
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