Week 1
Week one is in the books.
Contrary to popular opinion, we don’t really learn much after one week of play in the NFL. It is going to take a lot more to convince me that the New England Patriots are as bad as they looked on Thursday night against the Kansas City Chiefs. Similarly, it will take a lot to convince me that the Los Angeles Rams are as good as they looked against the hapless Indianapolis Colts.
Game one is never the strongest indicator of future performance. You just have to look at the two years Ken Whisenhunt coached the Tennessee Titans. If you only saw game one in those two years, you would have thought the Titans were a juggernaut of a team. Unfortunately for fans of the team, those two games were far and away the highlights of each season.
The point is, game one is not the be-all, end-all. Yes, it is important to start the season with a win. Yes, that one loss can come back to haunt a team at the end of the season as they fight for a playoff spot. But, many times game one will be viewed as an aberration by the end of the season. So, if your team won this weekend, congrats. If your team lost this weekend, there are still fifteen more games to get things on track. Of course, all of this is completely out the window for a team like the New York Jets. They are just the worst.
Old faces in new places
For this week, I want to spotlight three faces that found themselves in new environments. Three players that have excelled at their various positions that are now in different homes, with very different supporting casts. We will look at them in ascending order, from the most underwhelming debut in a new place to the most impressive. Let’s start with Adrian Peterson.
Adrian Peterson
Adrian Peterson is a bad fit for the New Orleans Saints. They are a pass first team, with very little desire to establish a consistent run game. Unless they have a big lead, Peterson is never going to be a 20 to 25 carry-a-game back in that offense. Peterson has been an above-average receiver in his career, but it is not his biggest strength. So, his chances will be limited in New Orleans and with that, his career is going to come to an ignominious end. He looks old and slow.
Marshawn Lynch
There is another veteran running back who has found a new home. Marshawn Lynch had been out of football for over 600 days. He returned this Sunday against the Tennessee Titans and looked very close to his old self. He ran hard, and he ran aggressive. Lynch made good defensive players look bad on more than one occasion. As a Titans’ fan, it pains me to even mention this, but you can see below that Beastmode is still going strong.
Lynch is not going to lead the league in rushing. He is never going to be a top 5 running back again. But, in that Oakland Raiders’ offense, he is a perfect fit for what they need: a big, bruising back that can pick up tough yards when needed. He gives Derek Carr a much needed cushion to bolster the passing game, by taking some of the pressure off of it.
Tony Romo
And finally, we have Tony Romo. I was the first to question the decision of CBS Sports to hire him and place him with their number one NFL commentary team. He has no experience in the booth. This is all new to him. Now, I was fine with Phil Simms being replaced as Jim Nance’s partner. I like Simms and think he works much better in the studio – as he has proven with his work for Showtime’s Inside the NFL. In the booth, Simms was just too dry and uninteresting for me. And teaming him up with Nance, one of the least exciting play-by-play guys in the business meant that their games were always more boring than they needed to be. But replacing a known commodity like Simms with someone that had never even worked in the business was risky and felt a little desperate.
Evidently, CBS knew what it was doing. Or they just got really lucky. Romo was fantastic. He brought so much energy, intelligence, and passion to the broadcast. He added plenty of technical knowledge while still maintaining a sense of fun and excitement for the game. Romo sounded like a fan that happened to have played for over a decade in the league and knew the game better than any fan you have ever met. He was a little hyper at times, but as he said from the start, with a huge grin on his face, he was nervous and had butterflies. I won’t fault him for his exuberance. It was a much-needed improvement to the CBS A-Team.
Titans’ fans, calm down.
You never want to start 0-1 but the Titans lost to a better team on Sunday. It hurts to have that loss at home, but in the grand scheme, if this team plays to its potential, it won’t affect them too much down the stretch. Just a few thoughts about the game – positives and negatives:
Positive
Corey Davis’ first catch was something the Titans haven’t had in years. He went up and snatched that ball out of the air, came down hard and held on. He was not perfect in the game – running the wrong route a few times down the stretch, and he ran out of gas at the end, but overall, it was a very solid first game for the rookie. It is even more impressive when you consider he didn’t even play a single snap during the preseason. This kid is going to be special.
Negative
Running game/Offensive Line. This has to be fixed. Period. If it is not, this will be a very disappointing season. The O-Line was fine in pass protection, but they struggled to consistently open up lanes for the running backs. If the Titans are going to go where they want to go, they will get there behind this offensive line. We need to see some nastiness from this unit on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Positive
Adoree’ Jackson’s hurdle. He struggled early in the pass game but quickly made adjustments. He is a physical phenom the likes we haven’t seen in Tennessee in a long time. His late kick-off return where he hurdled a few Raiders and somehow ended up 25 feet down the field in one jump is staggering in its athleticism. This kid is going to be special as well. (Do yourself a favor and click that link to watch the video. It’s impressive.)
Negative
Missed opportunities. The Titans had chances to win this game. The Raiders are a very good team who I fully expect to be in the conversation for the Super Bowl all season. But the Titans could have beaten them if they had made a handful of plays. The onside kick is a perfect example. I don’t love the call, but if Tye Smith gets his head turned around and moves a little, he makes that recovery. It was little things like that all game long. Eric Decker slipped on his cut late in the game for a 3rd down conversion, which meant the pass sailed a little outside. The poor tackling at times on defense cost valuable yards and time. Fix those little things and this team is right there with a chance to win at the end.
That’s it for today. What did you guys think about Week One? Which teams stood out? Who do you think is fool’s gold? Who is the real deal? Let us know in the comments section below.
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You’re not kidding…that hurdle was insane! Wow!
And I like your take on week 1. Fans don’t need to over-react after 1 game. Of course, my 49ers are in trouble; but I knew that before the season started. I was expecting more than 3 points in week 1, though. Man, I’m really glad we got rid of Kaepernick. There’s no way he would’ve been able to match Hoyer’s impressive stat line and 3 points.
Also, I really like Corey Davis, too. He’s not the fastest guy in the world, but he is big and physical. Even though he played at WMU in college, you could still tell that he’d be really good. Better yet, I think he will be an exceptional NFL player if he can stay out of trouble and keep his head on straight.
Yeah, I like Davis a lot. I think he has good enough NFL speed. And he seems to be able to high-point the ball, which is huge for a receiver of his size because it gives him such an advantage over smaller corners.
Most people didn’t think Jerry Rice had NFL-speed. Look how his career turned out.