The Ringer - Everything You Need to Know About NFL Week 12017-09-12T16:38:13-04:00http://www.theringer.com/rss/stream/160406212017-09-12T16:38:13-04:002017-09-12T16:38:13-04:00Week 1 of the NFL Was More Bad Than Good
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<figcaption>Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Robert Mays and Kevin Clark break down the action from a wild opening week, including the Seahawks’ poor play, the Ravens’ trouncing of the Bengals, and Marshawn Lynch’s effectiveness in Oakland</p> <div id="EiA23t"><iframe src="https://open.spotify.com/embed-podcast/episode/6lSZuPk2a6AeIKsmVUoUvf" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 232px;" allowfullscreen="" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe></div>
<p id="4APQql"><em>The Ringer</em>’s Robert Mays and Kevin Clark react to a wild Week 1 in the NFL, including how the Cowboys regained their NFC contender status Sunday night (03:30) and how the Seahawks may have lost theirs (08:00). Then, the guys discuss how the Raiders and Marshawn Lynch are the perfect mix of fun and force (10:00), why running backs won’t play a role in playoff races this season (20:00), and how some lesser-known Ravens exposed the bumbling Bengals (30:00). Then, Danny Kelly joins the show to explain why Le’Veon Bell struggled out of the gates against Cleveland (33:00) and Rodger Sherman helps the guys decide whether some Week 1 surprises were a fluke or not (42:30). Finally, Robert and Kevin point out some marquee matchups that we lost for this season this weekend (49:30) and how one glaring weakness could make for a long season leaguewide (51:00).</p>
https://www.theringer.com/2017/9/12/16297772/nfl-week-1-marshawn-lynch-ravens-levon-bellKevin ClarkRobert Mays2017-09-12T13:55:15-04:002017-09-12T13:55:15-04:00Ten Damning Offensive Stats From the NFL’s Opening Week
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<p>Across the league in Week 1, teams couldn’t move the ball, standout performers were scant, and scoreboards stayed stagnant. How bad was it? Well, we’ve got more stats for you than many teams had points.</p> <p id="uu51An">In between the Chiefs’ shellacking of the Patriots to start Week 1 of the NFL season and the feisty Broncos-Chargers duel to end it, what was the most exciting moment of professional football last weekend? Was it the entrance of <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/10/16284598/deshaun-watson-houston-texans-week-1">Texans quarterback savior Deshaun Watson</a>? Either of Sunday’s NFC East battles? The Packers-Seahawks clash, billed as a potential NFC championship preview?</p>
<p id="S0YET8">The answer is none of the above. It all underwhelmed, the whole lot of Week 1 football in between Thursday and Monday nights. Watson underwhelmed in his NFL debut, a blowout loss to the Jaguars. The Washington-Philadelphia and Dallas–New York games underwhelmed due to <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/11/16286132/new-york-giants-eli-manning-offensive-struggles-against-dallas-cowboys">erratic quarterback and offensive line play</a>. And the Packers-Seahawks’ Sunday afternoon matchup underwhelmed thanks to a cascade of ill-timed penalties, slogging offensive series, and <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/10/16285734/seattle-seahawks-offensive-problems-green-bay-packers">a general lack of highlights</a>. </p>
<p id="Mt9hBO">Throughout the league more broadly, teams couldn’t move the ball, standout performers were scant, and scoreboards stayed stagnant. It was just one week, and chances are good that it will prove a fluke rather than a harbinger of boring football to come. But there’s another week to go until teams can start making amends; chances are also good that Thursday night’s Bengals-Texans survival match won’t be the game to turn the 2017 season’s fortunes around. For now, then, let’s dive deeper into the muck and examine 10 stats that illustrate the giant shrug that embodied most of Week 1.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">What game was a worse way to spend 3+ hours?</p>— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/907076099552792577">September 11, 2017</a>
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<p id="FHkJBK"><strong>1.</strong> Through the first week, NFL teams are averaging 20.2 points per game. Since 2011, when the modern passing revolution hit an accelerated gear (quarterbacks have recorded 14 of the 16 4,900-yard passing seasons in league history in the past six seasons), that average is more than two points worse than any other year’s Week 1.</p>
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<p id="yHHTxK">As this graph also shows, it’s not as if Week 1 is a particularly tricky time to score, or that offenses regularly struggle to jell early; rather, first-week scoring averages over the past few seasons have tracked closely with 17-week scoring averages. Over the 2011-2016 period, teams scored 23.1 points per game in Week 1 and 22.8 points per game over the full season. NFL fans should hope this year proves an outlier in that respect, or many more low-scoring games will come over the next few months.</p>
<p id="2NpD8N"><strong>2.</strong> Last year, half the Week 1 contests saw both teams score 20-plus points. The year before, seven did. This year, that number was three—the lowest in more than a decade, and a total that befits the 1970s, when there were fewer teams and even fewer dynamic offenses, better than the 2010s.</p>
<p id="0PqVNs"><strong>3.</strong> To the detriment of viewers, that paucity of high scores was acutely concentrated when the games on television were scarcer. During Sunday’s afternoon and evening slate, for instance, there was no game with even moderately lofty point totals to turn to. That bloc featured four games, of which precisely zero involved both teams reaching double-digit point totals.</p>
<p id="qAp9Lg"><strong>4.</strong> Yet even the suppressed point totals couldn’t produce many fun finishes. Monday’s Broncos-Chargers tilt came down to the final seconds, but on Sunday, only three contests were decided by eight points or fewer, and only one was really that close in spirit. Atlanta repelled a last-minute Chicago drive to preserve a 23-17 victory, but neither Cleveland (against Pittsburgh) nor Seattle (against Green Bay) ran another offensive play after cutting their respective deficits to a single score late in the fourth quarter.</p>
<p id="gdFrBq"><strong>5.</strong> Last year, for comparison, 11 Week 1 games had margins of eight points or fewer. The year before that, there were nine; before that, eight; and before that, 12 in 2013, the most-ever such Week 1 games. The most recent year with as few close Week 1 games as this year had was 1976.</p>
<p id="BtQfY6"><strong>6.</strong> In general, teams experienced difficulties moving the ball efficiently, averaging only 5.07 yards per play—or approximately what the Vikings and Browns averaged through all of last season. The Week 1 yards-per-play average exceeded 5.33 in each of the six other years since 2011. That difference might not sound like a lot, but it’s worth an extra few first downs over the course of a typical game.</p>
<p id="VehHjw"><strong>7.</strong> Our own Danny Kelly already covered <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/12/16292544/running-back-slow-start-fantasy-football">the leaguewide rushing issues</a>: mainly, that touchdowns, yards, and yards per carry lagged compared to recent Week 1s. Unsurprisingly given the above point totals, quarterback play was also spotty throughout the league. Scoring through the air was down, for one: The league combined for 38 touchdown passes, whereas in every other Week 1 since 2011, QBs have combined for at least 48.</p>
<p id="WjVShK"><strong>8.</strong> We knew entering Sunday’s games that a frightening amount of <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/7/16263958/bad-quarterback-matchups-blake-bortles-josh-mccown">bad quarterback play was on the docket</a>, and for the most part, those fears were founded. Scott Tolzien, Tom Savage, and Josh McCown, for instance, combined to throw four interceptions without a score, leading those first two arms to the bench and yielding a 50.7 cumulative passer rating for the trio. For comparison, Ryan Leaf’s career mark was 50.0.</p>
<p id="EIIiFu"><strong>9.</strong> It wasn’t just the Tolziens and Savages, though, who <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/10/16285034/established-quarterbacks-struggle-in-week-1">sputtered in the opening weekend</a>. Andy Dalton delivered the first zero-TD, four-INT game of his uneven career; Eli Manning captained the most tepid national-TV offense imaginable; Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, and Joe Flacco all completed barely more than half their throws, each finishing well short of even 200 yards passing. And in the most surprising Week 1 stat of all, of the 33 players who threw a pass, Tom Brady had the worst completion percentage.</p>
<p id="w9TP2D"><strong>10.</strong> Missing most from Week 1 were the big performances we’ve come to expect in this age of high-octane offense: the stat-sheet stuffers, the electrifying multi-touchdown breakouts, the performances that swing entire fantasy destinies. But after the Chiefs and Patriots started strong in this regard, the rest of the league faltered. On Sunday, <a href="https://twitter.com/ringer/status/907054317290606593">no running back rushed</a> for multiple touchdowns, and only Matthew Stafford tossed more than two TDs. Accordingly, Stafford was the only Sunday player to reach 20 fantasy points in a standard, non-PPR league; for all of the Week 1 slate, <a href="https://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/pgl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=game&year_min=2017&year_max=2017&season_start=1&season_end=-1&pos=0&game_type=R&career_game_num_min=1&career_game_num_max=400&game_num_min=0&game_num_max=99&week_num_min=1&week_num_max=1&c1stat=fantasy_points&c1comp=gt&c1val=20&c5val=1.0&order_by=fantasy_points">only seven players</a> surpassed that benchmark. </p>
<p id="f4t76W">Even though it focuses on fantasy rather than the actual gameplay, that stat might be the most damning. It’s tied for the lowest total since—again—the mid-1970s, and it’s especially low compared to its equivalents in recent, offense-dominant years.</p>
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<p class="c-end-para" id="ckUPye">When <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottBarrettDFB/status/907302940670660609">defenses are just as likely</a> to record bulky fantasy outputs as skill-position players, the internal calculus of the sport has gone wonky. A Week 2 reset of scoring norms would represent a positive development for fantasy owners—and, after an underwhelming first week, a welcome sight for all NFL viewers craving an exciting game.</p>
https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/12/16296530/week-1-poor-offense-10-statsZach Kram2017-09-12T09:02:25-04:002017-09-12T09:02:25-04:00The Unexpected Star of ‘Monday Night Football’
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<p>ESPN has never figured out how to staff the second game of its annual opening week doubleheader—and the unexpected virality of Chargers-Broncos is the latest example</p> <p id="EMOhkm">Because there’s no <em>Monday Night Football </em>in the final week of the NFL season, ESPN gets to broadcast two games in the season’s first week, an awkward doubleheader the network has never really known what to do with. The company has only one NFL broadcast crew, and has never quite figured out how to staff its second game. The only time the network has tried to create a conventional booth was the first time it broadcast a doubleheader, in 2006, when Brad Nessler, Dick Vermeil, and Ron Jaworski called a game, a <a href="https://twitter.com/BR_DougFarrar/status/907441902655434752">trio some football heads still reminisce about</a>. After that, ESPN generally tried to shoehorn personalities from its other NFL properties into a makeshift broadcast crew. From 2007 to 2009, Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic did color commentary, turning the game into a worse version of the duo’s radio show with a football game in the middle. From 2012 until last year, Chris Berman did play-by-play for the game, making for easily the least enjoyable broadcast of the season each year. He was often joined by Trent Dilfer. I’m shuddering. </p>
<p id="bPbo3p">For Monday night’s game between the Chargers and Broncos, ESPN created a conventional booth from unconventional parts. The play-by-play commentator was Beth Mowins, <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2732311-beth-mowins-from-backyard-quarterback-to-mnfs-1st-woman-in-the-booth">the first woman to call an NFL game in 30 years</a>. Mowins has done a great job calling football for ESPN since being foisted week-after-week on the worst noon Big Ten game available. Some men, predictably, become enraged whenever she announces games, claiming she isn’t knowledgeable, or that her voice is off-putting. Those complaining about Mowins should be tied down and forced to listen to Berman’s calls of previous <em>Monday Night Football</em> games at high volume. Anyway, they’d better get used to it—<a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/beth-mowins-ready-prepared-call-nfl-games-season.html">Mowins will also be calling games for CBS this season</a>. </p>
<p id="woKH09">The color commentator for the second game was former Bills and Jets coach Rex Ryan. Coaching had been his only job since graduating college in 1986; announcing an NFL game might not be a feat—er, <em>accomplishment—</em>he’s ready for yet. The personality that’s made him one of America’s most famous coaches didn’t show through. He’s normally boisterous, but Monday night he was extremely quiet, to the point where some thought his microphone settings were off. He’s known for his sense of humor, but had few jokes, except when he compared Trevor Siemian to Michael Vick. (I <em>think</em> that was a joke.) And for a coach of 30-plus years, he didn’t really provide much insight. The highlight of his evening was a quote after Chargers kicker Younghoe Koo had a potential game-tying field goal blocked: “Some days you’re the dog, some days you’re the fire hydrant.” </p>
<p id="U5q587">But the star of the show was sideline reporter Sergio Dipp, a Mexican journalist who has mainly been a part of ESPN’s Spanish-language broadcasts, including many NFL shows. I don’t think he’d ever been asked to participate in an English broadcast before Monday night. Here was his first—and last—report.</p>
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<p id="AR0L4E">Dipp spoke like he was buffering. His speech was so strange and stilted that its defining characteristic is not even his accent—I expected Twitter to break out in xenophobic cacophony after his sideline hit, but more people assumed he was an overmatched high schooler than a foreigner. His report amounted to little but saying that he was excited and Broncos rookie coach Vance Joseph was excited too—in fact, Joseph was “HAVING THE TIME OF HIS LIFE.” He quickly became a sensation online, but as Dipp went viral, he disappeared from the broadcast.</p>
<p id="Tyvh4h">ESPN put Dipp in a really bad situation. Speaking on camera is hard enough in any language, as evidenced by Rex Ryan attempting to call a game in English. Speaking on camera in a second language is like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube that defuses a bomb. ESPN has some on-air talent who are able to do it, such as play-by-play commentator Álvaro Martín, who calls NFL and NBA games in Spanish and has called college basketball in English. John Sutcliffe, who serves as the primary sideline reporter for the Spanish-language broadcast of <em>Monday Night Football</em>,<em> </em>has worked the English version as well in the past, but he was working the first game of the night in Minnesota. Dipp, suffice it to say, is not as adept as they are.</p>
<p id="rGZIsU">So they turned to Dipp. Why? I don’t quite know. It’s a bummer that Dipp, a trained professional, is now known as a punch line for failing to do a job he wasn’t suited for. But he handled his virality with grace and humor: </p>
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<p lang="und" dir="ltr"> <a href="https://t.co/TFKqBk96iL">pic.twitter.com/TFKqBk96iL</a></p>— Sergio Dipp (@SergioADippW) <a href="https://twitter.com/SergioADippW/status/907452802808545280">September 12, 2017</a>
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<p class="c-end-para" id="ckip6L">I wanted Dipp to get another chance to talk more than I wanted to watch the rest of <em>Monday Night Football</em>. (I <a href="https://twitter.com/Sam_Vecenie/status/907444392478121984">was</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BarstoolBigCat/status/907439912554831873">not</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteBlackburn/status/907453010762240001">alone</a>.) But he never got that shot. ESPN set Dipp up for failure, then never gave him the chance to redeem himself. Dipp didn’t do a good job, but he put on a brave face and tried his best in a difficult situation, pouring more enthusiasm into his 30 seconds of glory than some NFL announcers will display in an entire season.</p>
https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/12/16294056/sergio-dipp-rex-ryan-beth-mowins-espn-mnfRodger Sherman2017-09-12T08:31:01-04:002017-09-12T08:31:01-04:00Fantasy Playbook: Will the Slow Start for NFL Running Backs Become a Season-Long Trend?
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<p>And if it does, what does that mean for your fantasy team?</p> <p id="1B6erG">After watching the Chiefs blow out the Patriots 42–27 on Thursday night, during which Pats running back Mike Gillislee scored three touchdowns and was still outshone by Kansas City’s breakout star, Kareem Hunt (246 combined yards, one touchdown on the ground and two more through the air), no one would’ve blamed you if you expected a similar explosion of production from the rest of the league’s top running backs on Sunday. But those games were linked by a common thread: a bunch of really ugly offensive performances. <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/10/16285034/established-quarterbacks-struggle-in-week-1">Many established veteran quarterbacks were bad</a>. <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/11/16287070/week-1-recap-cowboys-giants-packers-seahawks">Most offensive lines were worse</a>. And the majority of teams forgot to bring their rushing attacks to the games entirely.</p>
<p id="y7GWew">Just seven of the 24 teams that played Sunday rushed for more than 100 yards, and on the week, only 11 teams ended up over the century mark on the ground. It wasn’t just early-game rust, either: Compare that with Week 1 last season, when 15 squads went over 100 yards in their opening games, or to 2015, when that number was 14, or 2014, it was 19. The Giants, for example, finished with just 35 yards on 12 attempts (2.9 yards per carry) against the Cowboys, and Pittsburgh was somehow even worse in Cleveland, rushing for 35 yards on 17 tries (2.1 YPC). Not to be outdone, the Browns, despite offseason free-agency upgrades to their offensive line in the form of Kevin Zeitler and J.C. Tretter, managed just 57 yards on 25 totes (2.3 YPC). But those teams are just the start; here’s a sampling of a few other feats of run-game ineptitude:</p>
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<li id="UQUGpl">The Cardinals picked up just 45 rush yards on 18 totes (2.5 YPC) against Detroit, while the Lions managed just 82 yards on 27 carries (3.0 YPC) on Arizona’s defense.</li>
<li id="1bhLeP">The Niners rushed for 51 yards on 15 carries (3.4 YPC) against the Panthers.</li>
<li id="0Fn8iA">The Bengals picked up just 77 yards on 22 attempts (3.5 YPC) against the Ravens.</li>
<li id="Hw33Jo">Take away two long Russell Wilson scrambles against the Packers, and Seattle’s trio of backs picked up just 53 yards on 15 carries (3.5 YPC).</li>
<li id="WgOpeb">The Chargers tallied just 64 yards on 22 carries (2.9 YPC) against Denver.</li>
<li id="OAn7Uc">The Saints put up 60 yards on 21 carries (2.9 YPC) in Adrian Peterson’s return to Minnesota.</li>
<li id="MmQ82K">Even the Falcons, who finished fifth last season in rushing, managed just 64 yards on 23 attempts (2.8 YPC) against Chicago.</li>
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<p id="TK7AnG">With a surprising lack of production from fantasy juggernauts like Le’Veon Bell (10 rushes, 32 yards), David Johnson (11 carries, 23 yards before leaving with a wrist injury), Devonta Freeman (12 rushes, 37 yards), and DeMarco Murray (12 rushes, 44 yards), the week’s scoring leaderboard was, well, interesting. Heading into Monday night’s doubleheader, <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottBarrettDFB/status/907302940670660609">three of the top six</a> non-quarterbacks in PPR leagues were <em>defenses</em> (the Jaguars, Ravens, and Rams). Just one of those six — Hunt, the top-scoring fantasy player on the week — plays running back. And you could have probably grabbed Hunt <a href="https://fantasyfootballcalculator.com/adp">in the late second or early third round of your fantasy draft</a>.</p>
<p id="w68JLH">In all, teams combined for just 19 rushing touchdowns this week. That’s notable because despite the declining numbers in average rush attempts and yards across the league over the last five years, the 2016 season was a renaissance of sorts for the NFL ground game. Teams scored a combined 443 rushing touchdowns last season, which was 78 more than the year prior, the most since 2008, and the third-highest total of any season this century. This year, after one week, they’re on pace for 324 scores, the fewest since 1993, when the NFL fielded only 28 teams.</p>
<p id="H6zGDc">So what the hell was going on with the NFL’s ground games? Well, it’d be easy to chalk it up to early-season rust, and for Bell, who just reported to the Steelers last week after holding out during the preseason, that’s probably a valid excuse. There’s a lot of interplay between offensive lines and running backs in the ground game — especially for a player like Bell, who runs with a <a href="https://www.theringer.com/2017/1/19/16043740/leveon-bell-running-back-style-pittsburgh-steelers-b7ecf738b64f">uniquely patient style</a>, surveying lanes at the line of scrimmage before making a cut downfield — so simply getting reps together could be enough to solve, or at least mitigate, the problems the Steelers had against the Browns.</p>
<p id="kSyJ0x">But for the rest of the teams around the league, the issues may be linked directly <a href="https://www.theringer.com/2017/6/16/16040560/greg-robinson-los-angeles-rams-detroit-lions-offensive-line-busts-dc63ea1482f6">to the league’s decline in quality offensive line play</a> — a worrying sign for the rest of the season. That seems to be the case in Cincinnati. Young left tackle Cedric Ogbuehi was a disaster, and behind a talent-deficient line, Giovani Bernard, Jeremy Hill, and Joe Mixon failed to find any traction. After looking ready for pro ball in the preseason, Mixon struggled the most, gaining 9 yards on eight carries, and per <a href="http://insider.espn.com/fantasy/football/insider/story/_/id/20668528/fantasy-football-week-1-takeaways-golladay-leveon-fournette-more">ESPN Stats and Info</a>, eight of those 9 yards came after contact — meaning he averaged just one-tenth of a yard per rush before contact.</p>
<p id="ehmOBI">For Rams running back Todd Gurley, the line was mostly to blame as well. Though Gurley finished the Rams’ encouraging 46–9 blowout of the Colts with 15.6 fantasy points in standard-scoring leagues thanks to a TD and 56 receiving yards, he finished with just 40 rushing yards on a paltry 2.1 yards per carry. It’s not like he was missing big holes to run through — he was <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/JuMosq/status/907315119826157568">tackled before or at the line on six of his 19 totes</a>, averaging just 0.4 yards before contact per carry, per <a href="https://www.profootballfocus.com/fantasy/stats/receiving/running-back">Pro Football Focus</a>. Los Angeles’s offense may have taken some major strides in Week 1, but the lack of blocking in the run game is still a concern.</p>
<p id="dk5IHo">Lions running back Ameer Abdullah, who rushed 15 times for 30 yards in the Lions’ 35–23 win over the Cardinals, suffered from a lack of open lanes to run through, too. Abdullah finished with negative-0.3 yards before contact on the day, which makes his line of 2.0 yards per carry <em>almost </em>respectable. For the Cardinals, Johnson averaged 0.1 yards before contact per carry behind a porous offensive line that <a href="https://arizonasports.com/story/1238553/d-j-humphries-knee-injury-out-weeks-cardinals/">lost left tackle D.J. Humphries to a knee sprain</a>. And now that Johnson’s <a href="http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20672326/arizona-cardinals-running-back-david-johnson-expected-miss-week-2-wrist-injury">out for some time</a> with a dislocated wrist, his miniscule yards-before-contact number from Week 1 is something for fantasy players to keep in mind when thinking about picking up backups Andre Ellington or Kerwynn Williams.</p>
<p id="WOyWPu">For Seahawks running back Eddie Lacy, who finished with 3 yards on five totes, Seattle’s offensive line is clearly <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/10/16285734/seattle-seahawks-offensive-problems-green-bay-packers">part of the issue</a> as well. But the 250-pound back just might not be a good fit either, considering the Seahawks’ lack of options up front. Lacy’s relatively slow in taking the handoff and getting to the line of scrimmage, which means his offensive line has to block for an extra half-beat or two in order to clear a lane — and he needs even more time if he’s going to bounce runs to the outside. Without an open running lane, Lacy can’t build up his speed, and without that momentum, he’s not going to be running anyone over. Going forward, Seattle may start to depend more on Thomas Rawls, C.J. Prosise, and Chris Carson for their rushing attack, as all three explode through the line of scrimmage noticeably quicker than the former Packer. But no running back should be expected to have too much success behind this line.</p>
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<p id="mnAu3f">It’s still early, and we have only a one-week sample size. The first week of the season is always a little wild, and football’s a sport with an incredible amount of variance from game to game. No doubt, at least some of these lines will pick up the slack and some of these talented backs will have productive seasons.</p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="Va2pLw">But if what happened to teams’ rushing attacks in Week 1 develops into a season-long trend, it could have major implications for both fantasy football and the teams on the field. As teams struggle with the run, they’ll start passing even more than they already do, and more passing could lead to faster play, more possessions, and more points for the squads with top-tier quarterbacks and pass catchers. But for others — the teams that lack quarterbacks good enough to overcome the lack of a run game — it could also lead to an uptick in sacks, interceptions, and a deterioration in efficiency as any semblance of balance goes out the window. With fewer and fewer effective rushing offenses, the production of top-tier receivers could explode, both in reality and in fantasy football, and the gap between the teams with elite quarterbacks and those without would only get wider.</p>
<p id="2APqOD"><em>An earlier version of this piece incorrectly stated that the NFL is on pace for 304 rushing touchdowns; it’s on pace for 324.</em></p>
https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/12/16292544/running-back-slow-start-fantasy-footballDanny Kelly2017-09-12T03:42:52-04:002017-09-12T03:42:52-04:00Younghoe Koo’s Iced Kick Was a Fitting Close to a Forgettable NFL Week 1
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<p>A field goal that could have jump-started a legend was denied, which was par for the course in the opening week</p> <p id="wzP7q0">Icing a kick has never been so cold.</p>
<p id="80zEVK">Younghoe Koo, <a href="https://www.theringer.com/the-bill-simmons-podcast/2017/9/6/16264422/younghoe-koo-nfl-chargers-kicker-podcast-interview">the Los Angeles Chargers rookie who won the Chargers’ kicking job</a> to become just the fourth Korean-born NFL player, had everything break right for a legendary NFL debut. In prime time, in the final seconds of a Broncos game that capped the first week of the season, he had the opportunity to send the game to overtime on the road against a division rival on <em>Monday Night Football</em> after an astonishing Chargers comeback. No pressure.</p>
<p id="uF6lSy">Koo nailed the kick, and NFL fans still awake felt joy for the first time since the Pats lost on Thursday. The feeling didn’t last long. Cruelly, Broncos head coach Vance Joseph called a timeout to ice him, which nine times out of 10 is a strategic way to delay a loss by 30 seconds. But on the second go-round Broncos defensive end Shelby Harris blocked the kick and left Sports Authority Field celebrating a victory in what was easily the most exciting game of Week 1, even though the outcome should never have been in doubt.</p>
<p id="XVuVex">The Broncos appeared to have the game firmly in their grasp with just 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter and a 24–7 lead. But in less than four minutes, the game went topsy-turvy. Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian was intercepted on a bizarre screen in which Chargers cornerback Desmond King blatantly grabbed intended receiver Bennie Fowler III’s jersey before sending the ball flying off King’s leg and into the arms of Chargers safety Adrian Phillips. On the ensuing drive, Keenan Allen caught a touchdown. Then Jamaal Charles fumbled — perhaps because of a jinx from the ESPN broadcast, which had just put up a graphic on screen comparing him to Jim Brown. The Chargers recovered and Rivers threw a 38-yard touchdown to Travis Benjamin on the very next play. The Broncos’ lead had been cut to 24–21 with seven minutes left to play.</p>
<p id="2I0WPZ">It was particularly surprising to see the Broncos’ lead slip after Denver had looked like a well-oiled machine for much of the game. Siemian — who finished 17-of-28 for 219 yards, two touchdowns, and the aforementioned pick — played better than his critics would have imagined. Surely nobody thought he could make last season’s Defensive Rookie of the Year, Joey Bosa, collapse with a cutback.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Trevor Siemian just made Joey Bosa look silly. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MNF?src=hash">#MNF</a> <a href="https://t.co/jsBFpaznmw">pic.twitter.com/jsBFpaznmw</a></p>— Ed (@edv3n) <a href="https://twitter.com/edv3n/status/907444771559559168">September 12, 2017</a>
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<p id="JIi9L2">Part of Denver’s success Monday was their offensive line, which gave up 40 sacks and ranked 27th in pass protection last season, <a href="http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol2016">according to Football Outsiders</a>. That offensive line was revamped for 2017, including two new tackles in right tackle Menelik Watson and rookie left tackle Garett Bolles. “Rookie left tackle” is usually a three-word recipe for disaster, especially when lining up against players like Bosa and Melvin Ingram in his first career start.</p>
<p id="F5tmlg">The Broncos blockers fared relatively well for three quarters, but the wheels came off in the fourth quarter when Bosa and Ingram came alive. With two minutes to go and Los Angeles down three points, the script for Koo’s debut couldn’t have been written any better. And then his storybook finish was scrapped.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Younghoe Koo's kick BLOCKED. <a href="https://t.co/jdoRrgWlY1">pic.twitter.com/jdoRrgWlY1</a></p>— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) <a href="https://twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/status/907473720838705152">September 12, 2017</a>
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<p class="c-end-para" id="jibV8w">Koo’s disappointing blocked kick is a perfect cap to an oddly dissatisfying slate of Week 1 games. We saw just one quarterback throw more than two touchdowns on Sunday, and only one running back deliver more than one rushing touchdown on the week. Beyond the numbers, though, a lot of teams looked rusty. Whether this week’s diminished quality is due to reduced practice time in the offseason, the jettisoning of experienced veterans for younger and cheaper talent, or merely chance is tough to say. But Koo’s moment never coming to be, especially after all of the build-up, feels like Week 1 in a nutshell.</p>
https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/12/16293568/younghoe-koo-broncos-chargers-monday-night-football-week-1Danny Heifetz2017-09-11T23:07:56-04:002017-09-11T23:07:56-04:00Sam Bradford’s Early-Season Greatness Is Upon Us Again
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<p>We’ve seen this before, but if the Vikings can sustain this version of their QB for an entire season, they have the look of a playoff beast </p> <p id="zMyFdQ"><a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/8/16276580/nfl-week-1"><em>Click here for all our Week 1 coverage.</em></a></p>
<p id="PAKbVO">We didn’t want this to happen. As a collective football-consuming, quarterback-watching public, we have been burned too many times before. And yet, just shy of a year after my colleague Claire McNear <a href="https://www.theringer.com/2016/9/21/16046312/sam-bradford-minnesota-vikings-heat-check-9ddcbca39da2">wrote a post</a> entitled, “Sam Bradford, Greatest QB of All Time and Franchise Savior, Is Doing It Again,” I must follow her lead: After he shredded the Saints’ defense en route to a 29-19 Monday night victory, I can conclude that the Vikings’ oft-hailed, then oft-derided, quarterback is doing it again.</p>
<p id="46PF9t">Bradford began his season with a typical collection of Bradford throws: safe, easy, and eternally destined to gain 5 yards on a third-and-8. He completed seven of his first 10 attempts, but for only 40 yards. And then he uncorked three consecutive beauties down the field, leading the Vikings’ offense to its first touchdown of the season.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is one of the greatest passes I've ever seen and I've had the pleasure of watching Aaron Rodgers play in the league for 12 years <a href="https://t.co/aOT1kYP0dR">pic.twitter.com/aOT1kYP0dR</a></p>— Ben Cummins (@BenCumminsFF) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenCumminsFF/status/907396167046221824">September 12, 2017</a>
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<p id="VvUPI1">By night’s end, he had added two more scores, completing 27 of 32 total passes for 346 yards. In his eight-year career, he had never thrown for more yards in a win.</p>
<p id="tgtpbi">Bradford enjoyed a similar, if less statistically resplendent, start last year after joining Minnesota in a trade just a week before the season in the wake of Teddy Bridgewater’s calamitous knee injury. He beat the Packers on a Sunday night, throwing for 286 yards and two TDs, but that start, like his whole 2016 season, was deceiving: The Vikings won their first five games before missing the playoffs, and Bradford simultaneously set the NFL record for single-season completion percentage while recording the second-fewest yards per completion among qualifying quarterbacks, ahead of only Brock Osweiler.</p>
<p id="uqoagh">If there’s reason to hesitate before proclaiming Bradford a franchise savior once again, it’s that very recent history. There’s also the matter of his opposition on Monday night. It’s difficult to disentangle Minnesota’s dominance from the Saints’ incompetence, in the same way the <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/10/16285420/los-angeles-rams-indianapolis-colts-sean-mcvay-jared-goff">Rams’ 46-9 win on Sunday</a> could be equally about their rise and the Colts’ Andrew Luck–less fall. After one week, it’s impossible to tell. </p>
<p id="yB6RmS">Despite what New Orleans coach <a href="https://twitter.com/billbarnwell/status/907401428016263173">Sean Payton might hope</a>, his team’s defensive issues are rampant, particularly in the secondary. The Saints last year allowed 4,380 passing yards (most in the NFL) on 7.9 yards per attempt (second-most), and a 98.1 passer rating, essentially turning opposing QBs into healthy Andrew Lucks. In the last three seasons, New Orleans’s defense hasn’t finished better than 31st in defensive DVOA overall, or better than 27th in defensive DVOA against the pass, and as <em>The Ringer</em>’s Robert Mays <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/5/16250962/preseason-power-rankings-part-two-saints-ravens-dolphins">wrote in his Saints season preview</a>, that side of the ball might be a lost cause at this point: “Based on New Orleans’s track record the past few years, there is no reason to believe that it can find and develop talent on defense.”</p>
<p id="zkXDSw">Bradford certainly benefited from a share of wide-open targets on Monday night. On his first touchdown, Stefon Diggs had half an end zone all to himself, and Adam Thielen frequently found himself uncovered near the hashes down the field. But the Vikings QB also made his share of impressive, pinpoint throws; he rarely missed a target’s hands and slotted balls through tight windows when such openings were all he had available. Last year, Bradford <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/8/31/16225408/10-weird-nfl-stats">led the league</a> in adjusted completion percentage on passes thrown 20 or more yards downfield, per Pro Football Focus, and he showcased that skill with a variety of throws—lofted back-shoulder tosses, lasers between defenders’ arms, last-second releases against pressure—on Monday. </p>
<p id="1AVyFw">His top receiver, Diggs, also excelled. The third-year breakout candidate, whose <a href="https://twitter.com/SInow/status/907320472886562816">cleats paid homage to Randy Moss</a>, resembled the Vikings legend at points: He hauled in an acrobatic touchdown grab just before halftime, tap-danced for a sideline grab in the third quarter, and posted a final stat line of seven catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Thielen joined him with nine grabs for 157 yards—the second-most, behind only Antonio Brown, of any receiver in Week 1.</p>
<p id="OFjkV0">Given the strengths lining the rest of Minnesota’s roster, these glimpses of an aggressive and dangerous passing attack inspire broader, January-oriented dreams for the Vikings. Even in last year’s 5-0 start, the Vikings tallied <a href="https://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/play_finder.cgi?request=1&match=summary_all&year_min=2016&year_max=2016&team_id=min&game_type=R&game_num_min=0&game_num_max=99&week_num_min=1&week_num_max=5&quarter%5B%5D=1&quarter%5B%5D=2&quarter%5B%5D=3&quarter%5B%5D=4&quarter%5B%5D=5&tr_gtlt=lt&minutes=15&seconds=0&down%5B%5D=0&down%5B%5D=1&down%5B%5D=2&down%5B%5D=3&down%5B%5D=4&yg_gtlt=gt&yards=20&field_pos_min_field=team&field_pos_max_field=team&end_field_pos_min_field=team&end_field_pos_max_field=team&type%5B%5D=PASS&type%5B%5D=RUSH&no_play=N&turnover_type%5B%5D=interception&turnover_type%5B%5D=fumble&score_type%5B%5D=touchdown&score_type%5B%5D=field_goal&score_type%5B%5D=safety&rush_direction%5B%5D=LE&rush_direction%5B%5D=LT&rush_direction%5B%5D=LG&rush_direction%5B%5D=M&rush_direction%5B%5D=RG&rush_direction%5B%5D=RT&rush_direction%5B%5D=RE&pass_location%5B%5D=SL&pass_location%5B%5D=SM&pass_location%5B%5D=SR&pass_location%5B%5D=DL&pass_location%5B%5D=DM&pass_location%5B%5D=DR&order_by=yards">only 16 total plays of 20-plus yards</a>; they reached 10 such gains on Monday alone. Imagine that brand of vertical offense appearing in U.S. Bank Stadium every week, complementing rookie running back Dalvin Cook, who took time to find his NFL legs but started churning yardage in the second half, ending the night with 127 yards on 22 carries. And imagine that kind of points output every Sunday, propping up a defense that simply overpowered New Orleans’s injury-riddled and inexperienced offensive line. Adrian Peterson ran for just 18 yards on six touches in his muted return to Minnesota, and Drew Brees didn’t find the end zone until the last two minutes.</p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="YCQHSc">The caliber of opponent couldn’t be more disparate, but Minnesota on Monday looked a lot like Kansas City on opening night. Both teams boast stingy defenses, a stable of young playmakers, and a traditionally conservative quarterback in the “game manager” mold, with all the baggage that descriptor entails. But Alex Smith threw circles around the Patriots’ defense, and Sam Bradford did the same to New Orleans. The two game managers managed the two best QB performances of Week 1, and it’s hard not to feel some excitement. There we go—Sam Bradford is doing it again.</p>
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https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/11/16292968/sam-bradford-vikings-saints-week-1Zach Kram2017-09-11T18:42:43-04:002017-09-11T18:42:43-04:00Tony Romo Plays ‘Madden’ Like Only a Former Pro Quarterback Can
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<p>And then he brings that expertise to the broadcast booth</p> <p id="cRQyzh">Tony Romo is receiving rave reviews after his first NFL Sunday in the broadcast booth, where he called the Raiders’ 26-16 win over the Titans. During the game, he made a habit of predicting plays, putting to use his 14 years of experience as a pro football player to let viewers know what was coming. Take a look:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tony Romo predicts plays. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Raiders?src=hash">#Raiders</a> <a href="https://t.co/aEyHNebEaH">pic.twitter.com/aEyHNebEaH</a></p>— Peter Joe (@RaiderPosts) <a href="https://twitter.com/RaiderPosts/status/907327094929055744">September 11, 2017</a>
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<p id="zbkkMw">On the latest episode of <em>The Bill Simmons Podcast</em>, Simmons and Cousin Sal talked about Romo’s excellent debut, and Sal relayed a story about how he watched Romo play <em>Madden</em> this summer. And yes, all of the expertise that comes through on his broadcasts helps him beat teenagers in the video game.</p>
<p id="Ul4lGw"><em>Listen to the full podcast </em><a href="https://art19.com/shows/the-bill-simmons-podcast/episodes/6c47a42d-09f2-449f-9707-d5abc0c57e8c"><em>here</em></a><em>. This transcript has been edited and condensed.</em></p>
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<p id="IRZFGh"><strong>Sal:</strong> We were over at Tony Romo's house, Jimmy Kimmel and I, and he's talking about broadcasting. It was this summer, and he showed us [a tape of him calling] the Chiefs-Falcons game. That was the one <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2016/12/4/13836352/eric-berry-2-point-conversion-attempt-interception">where [Eric] Berry ran [a two-point conversion] back</a>. So he called that again and showed us. And I said, "You know what you should do, you should watch <em>Madden</em> and see what the play-by-play is and the color commentary. Then you can see what's marketable, you can see what you want to stay away from or go with." And he's like, "That's a great idea." So he puts <em>Madden </em>on, and he plays. And we end up watching him play all afternoon, beating up on these 12-year-olds. He's not listening for a second to the color commentary, and Jimmy's like, "Did you realize you didn't listen at all to what they're saying?" He's like, "I know, I've got to beat this guy." And he was changing every play at the line, because he would see what the defense is, and he'd go for 13 yards on an offensive play. It was spectacular. </p>
<p id="jmoMyK"><strong>Simmons: </strong>And he's playing like the top-50 <em>Madden </em>guys in the world.</p>
<p id="rFqBO5"><strong>Sal: </strong>And the kids are taunting him because you could hear it over the audio. He never says anything back; they have no idea they're playing Tony Romo. But it was a great thing, and finally he lost to some kid who was playing the Vikings who had the hit stick, fumble button down. </p>
<p id="Jy6uPu"><strong>Simmons: </strong>So Romo is just going to the line in <em>Madden</em>, seeing what the defense was, and every time audibling for 13 yards.</p>
<p id="Q3NU5m"><strong>Sal: </strong>Yeah, he's like, "He's not smart enough to cheat the safety here so I'm going to come back with this." It was spectacular.</p>
<p id="J7fqnd"><strong>Simmons: </strong>He might be the best analyst since early Cris Collinsworth. … He was predicting stuff. Poor Phil Simms took more of a beating yesterday just because Romo was good. But Phil Simms, something would happen and then after showing the replay Simms would be like, "you know, we talked about it with the coach last night." And it's like, "Well, why didn't you tell us?" Romo, they're going to the line and Romo's like, "It's third down, they just ran on this play, that means they're going to go for it on fourth because you wouldn't run for it on third." He's actually explaining shit to me. He's looking at the line, he's guessing plays. "This is going to be a run, I bet they run again. Watch the receiver on the right." I felt like I was watching the game with him. I mean, he's raw, he's got to work on when the crowd gets loud to yell more and stuff like that, but if the goal was, “I'm watching a game with Tony Romo,” mission accomplished. I felt like we were watching the game with him.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lots of Romo clips going around of him callings things out during the broadcast but this is also why he's gonna be great in the booth. <a href="https://t.co/FiG7Zd3Pij">pic.twitter.com/FiG7Zd3Pij</a></p>— John Barchard (@JohnBarchard) <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnBarchard/status/907351367530008576">September 11, 2017</a>
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<p id="dsARC7"><strong>Sal: </strong>Absolutely. A little slow start, I think he tried to take everything in, and then the analysis was super and I love the predicting. And why not predict? No one is going to think that football is fixed if you make a prediction and get it right. It's great. I think he adds a nice, boyish enthusiasm to the game.</p>
<p id="eFkNpD"><strong>Simmons:</strong> I think he's going to be the most popular color guy we've had for football since Madden. I really do, from what I saw yesterday I was like, “This guy is going to be the best at this job.”</p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="xyp1sh"><strong>Sal: </strong>I thought that, too, and then I also thought that, as I saw [Texans quarterback] Tom Savage fall apart, I'm like, "How quick a flight is it from Tennessee to Houston?" </p>
https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/11/16291480/tony-romo-madden-broadcastBill Simmons2017-09-11T11:34:24-04:002017-09-11T11:34:24-04:00NFL Week 1 Recap: The Cowboys and Packers Picked Up Right Where They Left Off
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<p>Several NFC favorites showed familiar flaws on Sunday—and that could bode well for Dallas and Green Bay. Plus, Jared Goff breaks through, Carson Palmer looks lost, and more thoughts from the league’s opening slate of games. </p> <p id="RuMcQo"><a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/8/16276580/nfl-week-1"><em>Click here for all our Week 1 coverage.</em></a></p>
<p class="p--has-dropcap" id="waihw4">Week 1 of the NFL season traditionally provides a glimpse at how the teams we saw last season have changed. It’s often full of surprises, like when Alex Smith and the Chiefs went into Foxborough on Thursday night and <a href="https://www.theringer.com/2017/9/8/16272868/chiefs-win-patriots-alex-smith-kareem-hunt">stomped the defending champion Patriots 42-27</a> with a deep-strike offense that rained fire from the sky. For the projected contenders in the NFC, though, Sunday’s season-opening performances were mostly worthy of a looped audiotape of the late Denny Green: They are who we thought they were. </p>
<p id="xDF91r">The Seahawks offensive line basically ceased to exist in a 17-9 loss to the Packers. The Giants defense looked formidable for most of a 19-3 loss to the Cowboys, but their offense failed to get anything going without injured wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. And while the Falcons showed flashes of their 2016 form in a 23-17 victory over the Bears, they also hinted at offensive regression in the way that many predicted.</p>
<p id="kvJdeX">The two teams that showed continuity in the right areas and inspired cause for optimism in others were the Packers and Cowboys. Not coincidentally, they notched what could go down as the two most critical wins of Week 1.</p>
<p id="Hg6f4S">Let’s start with Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers finished 28-of-42 passing for 311 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and the Packers offense shook off a sluggish start to score on three of their five second-half possessions and improve to 1-0. Yet the more significant development may have been the showing of the defense, which finished 20th in <a href="http://www.footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratings/2017/final-2016-dvoa-ratings">Football Outsiders’ DVOA</a> last fall—one spot above the lowly Jets. It pressured Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson on a ridiculous 39.4 percent of his dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus, as defensive end Mike Daniels and edge rusher Nick Perry terrorized Seattle left tackle Rees Odhiambo and left guard Luke Joeckel. Wilson was barely given a chance to operate, and he largely flailed even in the rare moments when he did have time to work. </p>
<p id="nS4LjH">Seattle’s pervasive issue is that its offensive and defensive lines exist in diametric opposition to each other. It feels like the universe’s method of balancing the scales. The defense adding Sheldon Richardson in a recent trade and allowing Cliff Avril to become an even more terrifying presence meant that the offensive line had to get even worse. And Sunday, the same flaw that doomed this team in January’s playoff loss to the Falcons was on full display. Playing against the Seahawks offensive line can have a similar effect as looking in a fun-house mirror: it distorts reality, to the point where it was hard to tell where that group’s deficiencies ended and Green Bay’s strengths began. Still, defense was the Packers’ downfall last season, and this was a good first step toward addressing that problem.</p>
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<cite>Dylan Buell/Getty Images</cite>
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<p id="MqYAH1">The Cowboys’ effort Sunday was equally encouraging. This squad went 13-3 and won the NFC East last season primarily because of its offense, and that unit’s upside was apparent once again: Running back Ezekiel Elliott, who remains on the field for now after a <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/8/16279256/dallas-cowboys-nfc-contenders-ezekiel-elliott-could-play-all-season-after-tro-injunction-ruling">temporary restraining order handed down Friday</a> lifted his six-game suspension, carried 24 times for 104 yards, while quarterback Dak Prescott was solid against a foe that gave him fits as a rookie. Yet it was the defense’s showing that could turn out to be more notable. Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence wreaked havoc on the Giants offensive line, and for at least one week a Dallas group lined with question marks appeared up to the task. It helped that linebacker Sean Lee played like he could see into the future; I mean, just <a href="https://twitter.com/_joeyhayden/status/907071497780568064">look at this</a>.</p>
<p id="pFTEg1">The Giants offense, much like Seattle’s, may not offer the best measuring stick, though. While the New York front office added pieces like tight end Evan Engram and wide receiver Brandon Marshall this offseason to give Eli Manning’s crew another dimension, the unit looked lost in Dallas. The 2016 Giants finished 26th in the league in scoring offense (19.4 points per game); with superstar receiver Beckham out with an ankle injury, the Giants looked … well, like last season’s team would’ve looked without Beckham. They generated 13 first downs and six punts. Marshall’s only catch came on the final play of the fourth quarter.</p>
<p id="uYZrw1">It’s worth mentioning last season’s NFC Super Bowl representative here, too, as the Falcons beat the Bears in a game in which reigning MVP Matt Ryan passed for 321 yards. Yet the offense that laid waste to opponents in 2016 seemed out of rhythm in spurts. An 88-yard touchdown toss to tight end Austin Hooper on a play with busted coverage provided a cosmetic upgrade to Ryan’s stats, and Atlanta ended the game with two fewer first downs than the Bears (20 to 18). Kinks should be expected as the team transitions from coordinator Kyle Shanahan to successor Steve Sarkisian, but it’s nonetheless noteworthy that the Falcons had six three-and-outs after recording 24 all of last season. New right guard Wes Schweitzer had a nightmarish debut against Bears stud defensive lineman Akiem Hicks (two sacks and three quarterback hits), and if Chicago’s Jordan Howard hadn’t dropped a pass near the goal line, this might’ve gone the other way. </p>
<p id="01A4Bx">Week 1 brought more chalk than chaos, although the carryover from the 2016 season manifested itself in different ways among the likely class of the NFC. Plenty can and will change in the coming weeks, but for now Green Bay and Dallas should be content with their initial impressions. Both teams would love for Denny Green’s words to ring true, because in both cases, what we thought they were was NFL heavyweights.</p>
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<img alt="Jared Goff" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/I0hJA86tVXMjUJsqokZWZdm94mk=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9219035/goff_colts.jpg">
<cite>Jeff Gross/Getty Images</cite>
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<h3 id="e87gTz"><strong>The Starting 11</strong></h3>
<p id="dNtV82"><em>A look at 11 big story lines, key developments, and interesting tidbits from this week in the NFL.</em></p>
<p id="7RJ4L4"><strong>1. Jared Goff looked like an entirely different person under new Rams head coach Sean McVay. </strong>When the 31-year-old McVay took the top job in Los Angeles in January, his first, second, and third priorities immediately became fixing Goff. One game in, the pairing seems to be on the right track. Goff, who had a disastrous rookie campaign, turned in his best day as a pro (21-of-29 passing for 306 yards with a touchdown) in a 46-9 rout of a Colts team that looked hapless on both sides of the ball. Even taking Indianapolis’s floundering into account, Goff was strikingly competent. He could have put together this type of day against Lawrence Central High School, and it still would have been more impressive than any of his showings from 2016. </p>
<p id="7baxwP">What stood out most was how comfortable Goff looked—both with his decision-making and with this offense. He had no qualms pushing the ball down the field, and, in receivers Sammy Watkins and rookie Cooper Kupp, L.A. has found two useful weapons to bring along the new and improved version of Goff. There’s a chance that this Colts season will go south in a hurry (with or without Andrew Luck), but that shouldn’t take away from Goff’s improvement. The Rams’ hopes hinge on what McVay gets from a passer the front office traded years’ worth of draft assets for; he’s one for one. </p>
<p id="tU5KTj"><strong>2. Tom Savage lasted all of two quarters in Houston; Deshaun Watson’s time has begun. </strong>Or maybe not. Who the hell knows with Houston head coach Bill O’Brien? During the four and a half months since the Texans traded up to take Watson in the first round of this year’s draft, O’Brien told anyone who would listen that Savage was his quarterback. It took the coach 30 minutes of action to change his mind. I’ve spent more time deciding whether to buy a pair of jeans.</p>
<aside id="4nlxtp"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"The Deshaun Watson Era Is Here","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/10/16284598/deshaun-watson-houston-texans-week-1"}]}'></div></aside><p id="EqbcOO">Savage went 7-of-13 passing for 62 yards before he was yanked, although the larger concern is that he was sacked six times in two quarters. He didn’t stand a chance behind an overmatched offensive line. Watson didn’t fare much better once he came in; the Clemson product was dropped four times. The Texans’ lone touchdown drive (on Watson’s first possession) in a 29-7 loss to Jacksonville was made possible only because a roughing the passer call wiped out a third-and-20. Three plays later, an interception was called off because of an illegal hands to the face penalty. </p>
<p id="pfwozb">Watson entered this fall as the 2017 first-round quarterback most likely to see early snaps, as Houston isn’t invested in Savage in the same way that Chicago is in Mike Glennon. But it looks as if Watson is walking into a snake pit. The Texans’ front seemed lost without left tackle Duane Brown, whose holdout continued into Week 1. While the Jaguars have spent a modest fortune bolstering their defensive line, their double-digit sack total was a three-hour argument for why Houston needs Brown back in the fold.</p>
<p id="dHgnkT"><strong>3.</strong> <strong>Welcome to Sacksonville, where the Jags’ offseason plan was on full display. </strong>The Jaguars gave former Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell a four-year, $60 million deal in March with the hope that he’d finally lift their front four to the next level. Boy, did it look like that move paid off Sunday. The 31-year-old racked up four sacks <em>in the first half </em>as the Jags piled up 10 against the Texans.</p>
<p id="bnb9wV">Campbell had the best day of anyone on Jacksonville’s defensive line, but he was far from the only standout. The combination of Campbell, Malik Jackson, and second-year defensive end Yannick Ngakoue has some serious game-wrecking potential. And it’s just part of the formula the Jags want to use this season. By drafting LSU running back Leonard Fournette fourth overall and grabbing Alabama left tackle Cam Robinson in Round 2, this team made a clear pivot to embracing a more physical brand of offense. It showed in Week 1’s win over Houston, as Fournette carried 26 times for 100 yards with a touchdown. Fournette and Chris Ivory combined for 35 rushes; quarterback Blake Bortles attempted just 21 passes. </p>
<p id="67ED7d">Jacksonville’s 19-point halftime lead played a role in that split, but it’s obvious that the offense’s plan (especially with receiver Allen Robinson lost for the season to an ACL injury) is to mitigate Bortles’s impact. Through one week, that looks like it’s the right approach.</p>
<aside id="WbnCYk"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Don’t Look Now, but the Jaguars Are Exciting","url":"https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/11/16286990/jacksonville-jaguars-houston-texans-leonard-fournette-calais-campbell"}]}'></div></aside><p id="lJRP7c"><strong>4.</strong> <strong>The Raiders offense picked up right where it left off—and now it has Marshawn Lynch. </strong>Oakland’s passing game looked potent against a revamped Titans secondary, as wide receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree both finished with at least five catches in a 26-16 win. Crabtree came down with a pair of absurd grabs along the sideline, and with the offensive line dominating Tennessee’s solid front four, Sunday offered a reminder of how complete Oakland’s attack really is.</p>
<p id="eIVJdO">Holding onto a one-score lead late in the game, the Raiders turned to Lynch, who hammered his way down the field to get the team in field goal range and put the game out of reach. Even the staunchest Lynch fans among us had to temper expectations for the running back coming into the season, as the 31-year-old was set to take the field after a full year out of the league. If Sunday’s 18-carry, 76-yard performance is any indication, though, he can provide Oakland with a ground-game dynamic that it’s lacked in years past. For the first time since the Raiders’ game-changing offensive line has been together, it feels like that unit has a backfield counterpart that shares its trademark nastiness.</p>
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<img alt="Carson Palmer" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/aorlAce2E3NrRSSQ6SrJDfZ9qNI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9219119/palmer_sacked.jpg">
<cite>Gregory Shamus/Getty Images</cite>
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<p id="kSSqaT"><strong>5.</strong> <strong>The Cardinals might have been the most disappointing team in Week 1, and their path doesn’t figure to any get easier from here. </strong>Arizona’s offense struggled to get anything clicking in a 35-23 loss to the Lions. While the Cards kept the game close for most of the afternoon, that happened only because Matthew Stafford threw an awful pick-six and Detroit made some horrendous special teams miscues.</p>
<p id="MGduO7">Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer had a miserable outing, going 27-of-48 passing with three picks and a slew of head-scratching throws. Typically, the Cardinals could offset Palmer struggling with a game plan centered on David Johnson, but that wasn’t an option either in this case. Johnson had just 23 yards on 11 carries before exiting the game with a wrist injury. Initial reports suggest that <a href="https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/10/16285572/david-johnson-arizona-cardinals-wrist-injury">he could miss significant time</a> with a sprain, which is the sort of news that could sink this Arizona season before it really begins. No running back is more vital to his team’s success; without Johnson, the Cardinals’ ability to manufacture yards when operating at less than full capacity goes completely out the window.</p>
<p id="RZmOr2">Arizona’s other big problem was an ineffective offensive line, as it showed many of the same issues that plagued it in 2016, especially after former first-round pick D.J. Humphries went down with a knee injury and was replaced by John Wetzel. Wetzel had his hands full with career backup Cornelius Washington—which doesn’t bode well for a team in a division that features Michael Bennett and Robert Quinn. Several factors that could help the Cardinals bounce back from a disheartening 2016 campaign just went the wrong direction in a hurry.</p>
<p id="sk9pwk"><strong>6.</strong> <strong>The Bengals offensive line looks as putrid as expected. </strong>Funny how this works: A group that was actively bad last season loses its two best blockers; in a shocking twist, that unit gets even worse! Cincinnati was decimated up front Sunday, as the Ravens rolled to a 20-0 win behind a pass rush that should give opponents fits all season. Baltimore’s trio of Brandon Williams, Terrell Suggs, and Michael Pierce controlled the entire game. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton finished 16-of-31 passing for 170 yards with four interceptions and a lost fumble. His outing was about as gruesome as those numbers suggest. </p>
<p id="fUFwCp">Unlike in places like Houston, Arizona, or even Green Bay (where Bryan Bulaga’s absence allowed Cliff Avril to have a nice afternoon), Cincy’s woes aren’t the byproduct of injuries or holdouts. The Bengals fielded this line on purpose. It looks as if they’ll reap the horrors of that decision all season. </p>
<p id="DJPDlW"><strong>7.</strong> <strong>Tarik Cohen brought a much-needed jolt of energy to the Bears offense. </strong>The fourth-round pick out of North Carolina A&T was the talk of training camp, and he showed why Sunday. Damn, is he fun. Cohen finished his debut with 13 touches, 113 total yards, and a touchdown.</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bears?src=hash">#Bears</a> rookie RB Tarik ‘Chicken Salad’ Cohen has the MOVES!<a href="https://t.co/dYHE3ZIXBZ">pic.twitter.com/dYHE3ZIXBZ</a></p>— Def Pen Sports (@DefPenSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/DefPenSports/status/906943294546038786">September 10, 2017</a>
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<p id="ykuhbh">Cohen came into this fall billed as a suitable complement to workhorse back Jordan Howard. If his Week 1 usage is a sign of things to come, the 5-foot-6 playmaker will take on a featured role in Chicago’s offense. And with wide receiver Kevin White likely done for the season with a broken collarbone, the team is going to need him. Cohen tallied 12 targets against Atlanta—twice as many as any other Bears pass catcher. With 2016 breakout star Cam Meredith already lost for the season to a torn ACL, Cohen might be the most dangerous receiving option Chicago has. </p>
<p id="GUHnvr"><strong>8. 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster’s ankle injury is a depressing blow for San Francisco. </strong>The 2017 first-round pick was everywhere early in Sunday’s 23-3 loss to the Panthers, flying around the ball and diagnosing route concepts in impressive fashion. Then he had to be carted off the field with 3:47 left in the first quarter. New head coach Kyle Shanahan’s team is a work in progress, and wins and losses this season are likely less important than progress from its young core. That latter goal would take a major hit if Foster were forced to miss extended time.</p>
<p id="uWEhVu"><strong>9.</strong> <strong>This week’s line-play moment that made me hit rewind: Timmy Jernigan’s third-quarter burial of Washington’s Kirk Cousins.</strong> By adding Jernigan, Chris Long, and Derek Barnett to an already stacked Eagles defensive line this offseason, coordinator Jim Schwartz now has a stable of pass-rushing talent that can stack up to any in football. And in Week 1’s 30-17 win, those players came out like men possessed.</p>
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<img alt="Timmy Jernigan" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9zk5c5sDot2rhbUSXvJZ7QbeO30=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9218819/ezgif.com_video_to_gif__3_.gif">
</figure>
<p id="LnFPte">Philadelphia piled up four sacks and eight quarterback hits, and even those numbers don’t do justice to just how much the Eagles got to Cousins throughout Sunday’s game. One of the reasons that Philly’s pass rush stalled at times last season was that opponents were able to slide their protection toward star defensive tackle Fletcher Cox and dare run-stuffing nose tackle Bennie Logan to beat them. With Jernigan in the fold, the Eagles boast a penetrating skill set at that second defensive tackle spot. Just ask Washington left guard Shawn Lauvao.</p>
<p id="BEP5P6"><strong>10.</strong> <strong>This week in</strong><em><strong> tales of the tape</strong></em><strong>: Christian McCaffrey’s usage and influence are going to extend beyond the plays on which he touches the ball.</strong></p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The press box view of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Panthers?src=hash">#Panthers</a>' nine-yard touchdown catch by Jonathan Stewart. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CARvsSF?src=hash">#CARvsSF</a> <a href="https://t.co/OtGZbuVvVG">pic.twitter.com/OtGZbuVvVG</a></p>— Rob Lowder (@Rob_Lowder) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rob_Lowder/status/907003992089038848">September 10, 2017</a>
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<p id="f3ABYU">On this first-and-goal from San Francisco’s 9-yard line, the Panthers lined up with two tight ends to the right side and McCaffrey offset as a fullback in front of veteran running back Jonathan Stewart. At the snap, McCaffrey tears into the flat, taking a linebacker with him and opening up space for Stewart to corral an easy throw from Cam Newton and turn upfield. With room to work and McCaffrey already in place to deliver a key block, Stewart is able to squeeze his way into the end zone.</p>
<p id="hKD1HL">McCaffrey’s production in his debut—18 touches for 85 total yards—was buoyed by his late work with a Carolina victory already in hand. As this play showed, though, it’ll be fascinating to see how the Panthers take advantage of his unique skill set all season long.</p>
<p id="fsZFmK"><strong>11.</strong> <strong>This week in </strong><em><strong>NFL players, they’re absolutely nothing like us</strong></em><strong>: T.J. Watt caps off his debut by levitating for an interception.</strong></p>
<div id="xYgn7o">
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">WHAT A PLAY!<a href="https://twitter.com/_TJWatt">@_TJWatt</a> with the INT!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HereWeGo?src=hash">#HereWeGo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PITvsCLE?src=hash">#PITvsCLE</a> <a href="https://t.co/XE6JyXswcK">pic.twitter.com/XE6JyXswcK</a></p>— NFL (@NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/906959551425003520">September 10, 2017</a>
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<p class="c-end-para" id="qqE4g1">Watt’s two-sack outing generated plenty of excitement in Pittsburgh, as the rookie’s presence was felt throughout the Steelers’ 21-18 victory over the Browns. The team should lean on him even more going forward now that Stephon Tuitt—who looked excellent with a pressure on the first play of the game and who recorded a tackle for loss on the next snap—could possibly miss the remainder of the season with a biceps injury.</p>
https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/11/16287070/week-1-recap-cowboys-giants-packers-seahawksRobert Mays