NFL Week 1: Biggest takeaways
This was one of the craziest opening weeks that I can remember. Here are my five big takeaways from the first games of this NFL season:
Patrick Mahomes will be just fine
Much was made about how the Chief offense, and particularly Patrick Mahomes, would look without wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who was traded to the Dolphins. Well, this week, the Chiefs crushed the Cardinals 44-21 and Mahomes threw for 360 yards and five touchdowns, with a 77% completion rate.
Obviously, Kansas City still has tight end Travis Kelce, but look for a huge comeback year for JuJu Smith-Schuster. I think Mahomes and the Chiefs will be just fine.
Aaron Rodgers misses Devante Adams
One elite quarterback that did struggle without his top weapon was Aaron Rodgers. The Packers traded Davante Adams last year to the Raiders, and their first game without their superstar receiver didn’t go as planned. They scored only seven points in a 23-7 loss against their division rivals, the Vikings.
Rodgers threw for only 195 yards on 34 pass attempts, no touchdowns and one interception. On the first target of his career, rookie second-round pick Christian Watson dropped what would have been a game-changing 75-yard touchdown. Rodgers and the Packers have to hope that these young wide receivers can step up.
Geno Smith turns into Joe Montana
The Broncos and Seahawks played on Monday night in the Russell Wilson revenge game. Wilson and the Broncos were expected to win pretty easily against career backup quarterback Geno Smith and a rebuilding Seattle roster. But that's not exactly what happened.
Smith had 195 passing yards and two passing touchdowns with an 82% completion rate in leading the Seahawks to a crazy upset win. The Broncos had 4th-and-5 from Seattle's 46-yardline with around a minute left. But instead of keeping Wilson on the field, they decided to try a 64-yard field goal.
Spoiler: the kick was no good, and Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett starts his NFL head coaching career with a head-scratching decision.
The 49ers and Trey Lance could use some work
Last week, I said in my NFL award predictions article that Kyle Shanahan is my pick for Coach of the Year and the 49ers could maybe make the Super Bowl. Well that prediction doesn’t look great after a Week 1 loss to the lowly Bears. The 49ers took a 10-0 lead in the 3rd quarter, but got outscored 19-0 the rest of the game. And even though the game was played in monsoon-type weather, Lance was very inconsistent, completing 13 of 28 for 164 yards and an interception, as well as missing some key throws.
Joe Burrow comes back down to earth
After the Bengals made the Super Bowl last year, a lot of fans jumped on the Joe Burrow bandwagon, even though he was mediocre during the playoffs. He was getting called the next Tom Brady, and was heralded by some as a top five quarterback. Well, Sunday's 23-20 loss to the Steelers showed that he isn’t any of that yet. With five turnovers, including a pick six, Burrow was the reason a considerably more talented Bengals team lost to the Steelers. It’s only Week 1, but it might be time to slow down on the Burrow hype.
Aaron Jurkowitz is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism To contact him please email ahj5136@psu.edu.
