Just like that, the first week of this NFL season is over! It feels amazing to have NFL Sundays back pretty much all the way until February!
Week 1 was filled with pretty good games for the most part!
Bills 31 - Rams 10
The Bills pretty much dominated the defending champion Rams in the opening game of 2022. It was pretty close into halftime, but the second half was all Bills.
The Bills confirmed a lot of people's expectations of them, that they are the team to beat in 2022. Josh Allen looked like a beast out there. Not only did he throw the ball over the field for nearly 300 yards, he was also the Bills' leading rusher with 58 rushing yards. The Bills might be Super Bowl Champs AND have an MVP in Josh Allen.
The Rams looked really rusty to say the least. The team has had weird question marks going into this season despite the fact that they're the defending champs. Matt Stafford apparently has an elbow injury, and Von Miller and OBJ aren't even on the team this season. Perhaps the Rams are about to have a tough season in 2022....
Eagles 38 - Lions 35
This was a fun battle between two dark horse teams looking to make noise in the NFC. The Lions were down pretty big for awhile there, but the kept on fighting and next thing you knew, this game was seriously close in the fourth quarter.
But in the end the Eagles chewed clock on their final drive and forced the Lions to burn timeouts which sealed the game for them. Both teams showed a lot of promise in this one.
It was star receiver A.J. Brown's first game as an Eagle and with his fat new contract, and he really balled out. 10 catches for 155 yards! QB Jalen Hurts accumulated over 300 yards of total offense himself. Jalen keeps improving.
For the Lions, running back DeAndre Swift had himself a great game, totaling 175 yards from scrimmage.
Bears 19 - 49ers 10
In a battle between two second year quarterbacks, Justin Fields and the Bears were victorious over Trey Lance's 49ers in an extremely rainy game.
The 49ers had a two score lead for a fair bit of time, but eventually the Bears started crawling back into the game.
While the rain was obviously a factor, it was obviously a factor for both teams. Still, I feel like Fields looked better than Lance overall.
This game was pretty boring for the most part though. I did predict the upset at least!
Steelers 23 - Bengals 20
Man, I wonder who saw this one coming? What a wild result. The Steelers are always a tough game but man, Burrow and the Bengals were just in the Super Bowl!
Mitch friggin' Trubisky actually played a better game than Joe Burrow, wild.
I think the story of this game was the Steelers defense vs Joe Burrow's offense. The Steelers intercepted Burrow 4 TIMES, and Burrow was sacked 7 times!!! SHEEEEEEEESH!
Maybe Burrow needed this serving of humble pie.
The AFC North might be very interesting this season.
Dolphins 20 - Patriots 7
The Dolphins surprised me in this one as they beat the Patriots pretty easily.
The Dolphins defense looked really good and newcomer Tyreek Hill actually showed up and accumulated 100 yards of total offense. Tua actually looked sharp. Interesting.
Mac Jones for the Patriots looked like the inferior QB in this matchup. Mac was good for a rookie, but he's not a rookie anymore. He looks sort of uncomfortable, like a 'meh' game manager. The Patriots are lost without Brady.
Browns 26 - Panthers 24
Dang, I was kind of hoping Baker would get some revenge on the Browns and he ALMOST did. He helped the Panthers come back from a 13 point deficit in the 4th quarter but the Browns and journeyman QB Jacoby Brissett managed to get in position for a long game-winning field goal at the very end of the game.
Colts 20 - Texans 20, TIE
Well dang, the Colts get a shiny new vet QB again in Matt Ryan and they're rewarded with a tie versus the Texans. Despite my Titans choking, this result really puts a smile on my face. I even somewhat predicted this possibility. I briefly mentioned it anyway, amazing. A tie within the division, might really come back to bite one of these teams.
Both teams' stats look decent because well, they played an extra ten minutes. Texans QB Davis Mills is no slouch though.
This was a weird game really. The Colts almost got blown out as they were down 20-3 late in the third. Props to the Colts, or were the Texans just, bad?
Saints 27 - Falcons 26
This might have been the best game of the week. The Falcons should have won I feel, they had all the momentum for like seventy-five percent of this game and were up by SIXTEEN in the fourth quarter, but they couldn't get it done.
I was really pulling for Marcus Mariota and while he had a good game for the most part, he also made some key bad mistakes. He had a bad fumble in the redzone where the Falcons could have really expanded their lead. Then, with the game in control late in the game he mishandled a snap on 3rd and 1, giving the Saints one more chance and they took full advantage of it.
It wasn't just the Falcons and Mariota messing up though. The Saints persevered and stayed focused.
Oh yeah, star wide receiver Michael Thomas is BACK! He had two MASSIVE touchdown catches in the fourth quarter. That's a scary sight for the rest of the NFL....
Ravens 24 - Jets 9
The Ravens won, shocker! NOT!! LOL.
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens were in control of this game from the opening kickoff. Lamar threw the ball pretty well honestly. Only had six rush attempts too. That's pretty good to see. As long as he stays healthy, he will be getting PAID next season.
No revenge W for Joe Flacco unfortunately.
Commanders 28 - Jaguars 22
This was a game between two pretty bad teams from 2021, but man, this game was kind of awesome. Great back and forth action all game long.
Carson Wentz actually played pretty well, he aired it out a lot and had over 300 passing yards with 4 touchdown passes. The Commanders have some serious receiving weapons developing in Washington. Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel and rookie Jahan Dotson put in WORK and looked pretty dang legit. Each of those guys had a TD reception. Dotson was my favorite prospect in this year's draft, and he had TWO touchdowns in his NFL debut! I know it's just the Jags, but still. Look out NFC East.
Vikings 23 - Packers 7
I had the Vikings winning this one, but not necessarily as easily as they did. The Vikings owned the Packers man. The Packers seemed like they were really missing Davante Adams, big time. Rodgers was sacked with regularity in this game.
Vikings seemed super focused in this game, and WR Justin Jefferson is an absolute PROBLEM.
Giants 21 - Titans 20
As a Titans fan, I'm really not even going to speak on this one too much. It was a mixed bag. If it wasn't week one, I'd be way more mad.
The Giants seemed pretty well coached and kept their composure. Saquon being healthy is big for them. He must stay healthy if they want to be really successful this season.
Read my blubbering, whiny post here. LOL!
Chargers 24 - Raiders 19
This was an odd, but mostly entertaining game, the Chargers were sort of in control for like sixty percent of this game, but the Raiders did hang around a bit.
Justin Herbert did sling it around at an awesome level and his stat line looked superb, but I still feel like he can get better, somehow. I can't put my finger on it. I need to see the Chargers win more until I am COMPLETELY sold on Herbert. I'm very close but not quite there yet.
The Raiders were competitive, and the Carr-Adams connection does show some potential.
Chiefs 44 - Cardinals 21
Mahomes and the Chiefs look as good as ever as they obliterated the Cardinals. I still feel like Travis Kelce is the BEST tight end in the league. Dude is a monster.
If I am a Cardinals fan, I would not be too pumped about Kyler Murray as my QB. Kyler is a fun competitive QB, entertaining to watch, but he isn't championship caliber in my opinion.
This game really showed the massive difference between Mahomes and Murray. They aren't in the same galaxy. The Cards payed Murray all that money....
Buccaneers 19 - Cowboys 3
Well the Cowboys just ran into a really good team with the best QB ever, so I mean this result was not super shocking. The Bucs have been winning a lot with Brady because, well, it's Brady.
Unfortunately however, The Cowboys lost Dak Prescott for an extended period of time due to a broken bone in his hand. That's tough, hopefully the NFC East sucks like it has in recent years.
The game itself was really pretty boring.
Seahawks 17 - Broncos 16
This was a mildly low scoring, but intense game. Russell Wilson returned to the team he was with for a whole decade and well, it didn't go as planned as he lost to the team he left....
It's kind of wild. The Broncos might be feeling weird, Russ might be feeling weird...
The Seahawks and Geno Smith however? Probably feeling LIT!!
This game is going to be talked about a BUNCH today, that's for sure.
What are your thoughts on how Week 1 went down? What stood out the most to you?
I was 8-8 on my game picks....meh.
Game previews coming up starting today!
