Football is back, and so are the long Sundays in front of the TV. With so many games, you can’t see everything from NFL Week 1. Even I missed some of the games, due to doing a play by play of the Baltimore Ravens game.
For this reason, we need something to compile the most important things to know. With that in mind, here are the 10 most important things of note from Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season.
10 Things to Note From NFL Week 1
1. Washington Pulls the Upset
The Washington Football Team snapped off 27 unanswered points to beat the Eagles. I don’t have the space or patience to break down every play and explain how and why they lost, but this Washington defense is a problem. They played great run defense in the second half, limiting the Eagles to 37 yards on 15 carries. Dwayne Haskins went 10-of-15 passing in the second half, during the comeback.
2. Mack Goes Down
The biggest injury of the day came in the Colts-Jaguars game. Marlon Mack went down with an Achilles injury. He is going for an MRI tomorrow, but it it is feared that he tore it, which would end his season. The Colts will now be relying on Nyheim Hines and Jonathan Taylor in their running game.
3. “Minshew Mania” Continues
It wasn’t just the Mack injury, but the Indianapolis Colts were upset by the Jaguars. Gardner Minshew had a phenomenal day, going completing 19-of-20 passes with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Philip Rivers’ two picks didn’t help either. Is this the return of the Jaguars? No, but the Jaguars are better than we think.
4. Aaron Rodgers Has a Field Day
The Jordan Love-Aaron Rodgers saga should be swept to the side for awhile — Rodgers isn’t going anywhere. He dominated, completing 32-of-44 passes for 364 yards and four touchdowns. The Minnesota Vikings came up with a couple of red-zone stops, which kept the score down to only 43 points. It could easily have been 50.
5. Lamar Jackson Impresses with His Arm
There was another great quarterback showing in Baltimore. Lamar Jackson diced up the Cleveland Browns defense with his arm. Jackson easily completed passes outside the numbers, an area in which he struggled in 2019. On the other side of the ball, the Browns are still the Browns. They kept figuring out new ways to beat themselves.
6. Two Quarterbacks Dominated in Atlanta
Russell Wilson was one of the top performers in Week 1, leading his team to a big win. He completed 31-of-35 passes for 322 yards and four touchdowns. For the Atlanta Falcons, Matt Ryan was impressive. On 54 pass attempts, he completed 37 passes for 450 yards.
7. Brees Takes the First Matchup Against Brady
In the most anticipated matchup this week, Drew Brees and Tom Brady battled it out in New Orleans. Brady tossed two interceptions, which ended up being the difference-maker. Brady and his receivers struggled with chemistry. Michael Thomas was a non-factor, as he totaled three receptions for 17 yards. On a side note, this is the first time the Patriots won and Tom Brady lost in the same weekend since October 23rd and 24th of 1999.
8. NFC Champions Fall
The Cardinals knocked off the 49ers on the road. This was an impressive victory for the Cardinals. However, this team still has a lot to prove. The difference in the game was the Cardinals run defense which held Raheem Mostert to 56 yards on 15 carries. It’s not often they get to play a team with no wide receivers.
9. Joe Burrow Played Like a… Rookie
While Joe Burrow had terrific moments in his game against the Los Angeles Chargers, we saw plenty of rookie mistakes in the game. Despite this mistakes, he kept the Bengals in the game and brought them into field goal range for a game-extending attempt by Randy Bullock. Of course, he missed the field goal and Burrow fell to 0-1 in the NFL.
10. Lack of Preseason has Minimal Affect
I would be derelict to not mention the lack of the preseason. Different teams had different issues. The Ravens struggled with their run defense, Brady didn’t have good chemistry with his receivers and the Packers didn’t finish all of their drives. But, not every team struggled. Thankfully, we weren’t subjected to un-entertaining, sloppy football.
Since it is Week 1 of the NFL season, we still have two Monday Night Football games tonight. Make sure to tune in so you are up to date for the week ahead!
More Articles
Packers vs. Vikings Week 1 Betting Preview
