Patriots@Seahawks
Darnold getting hurt on the first series and not coming back in was sickening. I have zero faith in Drew Lock, although he made enough plays to give them a chance. Still, if the Maye didn’t have 3 INTS, the Hawks probably lose this game. (The last two INTs were really bad.)
The Seahawks penalties were frustrating, especially since their offense seemed pretty vanilla. Also, they had trouble getting in the play. My feeling is that this is on Brian Fleury, the new OC. Last year, the offense did a good job of playing clean and getting to the line of scrimmage quickly. I’m hoping it’s just growing pains for Fleury.
I feel very fortunate that the Hawks came away with the win.
I mentioned to Reid that I thought the Seahawks back-up QBs look much worse than the Cowboy back-up QBs because when only the back-ups were playing the Cowboys outplayed Seattle in the preseason. But now I think maybe it might be Seattle’s back up receivers, because Lock looked okay throwing to Kupp and JSN. Lock wasn’t great, but serviceable.
I liked what I saw from Price. That guy has some juice when he runs. I’m not sure why he didn’t get more attempts.
Patriots’ offense looks a lot like what they ran when Brady was there. The exception though, is there is no all-time great TE. I thought their play calling was tough to watch in last year’s playoffs and in this game. Maye was horrible in this game outside of a few runs. Even the first INT was on Maye. In the replay, you see Doubs gets away from his defender pretty early on, but Maye threw the ball on the inside where the safety could come over and help. He also threw the ball late, if I had to guess. The defender made an incredible play though.
Seattle’s run defense still looks good and their offensive line did well in the run game. Basically, they won the trenches and even without a starting QB, it gives you a good chance to win.
I have little faith in Lock. He had two nice throws–a great one to JSN on a crosser and another good one to Kupp. (He had another decent one to the sidelines, while being under heavy pressure as well.) But other than that (and a nice run), he didn’t do much and looks shaky.
I don’t think the issue is the other WRs, and I’m guessing the NE secondary is good. SEA’s playcalling seemed really conservative, which is understandable, and the offense seemed very vanilla. (It kinda reminded me of Schotty’s offense when he was in SEA.)
I’m surprised you didn’t like the NE’s play calling. They were very balanced. I think losing AJ Brown was a really big deal. Still that doesn’t excuse Maye’s decision making, which was really bad.
I agree about Price. He looked like a water bug moving through heavy traffic at times. I also agree he should have gotten more carries. Maybe they didn’t trust him to block? (Holani seemed to get more snaps in the second half, and he’s a good blocker.)
I also agree that the SEA run-blocking seemed solid for the most part. Their pass pro was a bit shaky, though. Also, the penalties were a killer.
The experts always bring up explosives or long gains on offense. The Pats don’t seem to have the ability to create that, either with their play calling or their personnel. Treyveon did not play and he is their big play guy, but I don’t recall him doing anything in last year’s playoffs. New England still likes to spread teams outs horizontally (maybe not as much as with Brady). Those plays don’t work with the speed of the guys on the outside. The only play they can count on, the same play which made Brady great, is the pass to the RB coming out of the backfield. They can run that play as well as anyone ever has.
New England played the Chargers, Texans, Broncos, and now Seahawks twice in the games I’m talking about. Outside of the Chargers who are decent, these are the best defensive teams in the NFL today. So, I get they may struggle, but Maye didn’t look great in any of those games and their offense looked like they had no answers.
In those games, I think their OL had trouble–and they were facing really good defensive fronts. Also, the Patriots WR/TE last year weren’t stellar. Having said that, outside of those games, I believe the Pats offense were fairly effective at generating explosive plays. I think Maye is a good deep ball thrower.
But in terms of the offense a few days ago, you didn’t like their balance? They mixed up the run and pass well. I’m not 100% sure, but my guess is that their offensive effectiveness declined significantly after Brown left the game. If that’s the case, I don’t think you can blame the play calling. (However, Maye deserves a lot of blame for the INTs, especially the last two.)
Outside of your own team, which team are you most interested in watching this week? For me it’s the Ravens. I think a lot of pundits are having them as being the best team in the AFC with the Bills. Yes, the Ravens revamped their defense, but man their offense wasn’t all that great last year, even when Lamar wasn’t hurt. Is their defense going to be Denver, Seattle, and Houston good?
I have to look at the other games on tap, but I have interest in tonight’s game.
As for the Ravens, new HC and new OC–it’s really hard to know how good they’ll be. I’m unfamiliar with their roster as well. But their defense should be similar to the LAC, if not better. Is their personnel so good that they could be on the same level as those teams you mentioned?
I scanned the other week 1 games.
BUF@HOU and KC@DEN look like the two most intriguing games, as all four might be contenders.
I also have interest in GB@MIN and TB@CIN. I’m interested in seeing if CIN has really improved, particularly on the defensive side.
One of the things talked a lot about prior to the Rams, Niners game is the travel. Niners were in Australia for nine days, the Rams less than two. I’m going to guess that played a factor in the game, and if it did that’s not a good look for the NFL. For what it’s worth, the Rams reasoning is that they would rather take the chance for this one game rather than having to reacclimate back to US time when they travel back home, which could cost them more than one game. Basically saying “the NFL is a long season”, inferring that they shouldn’t “risk everything” for one game.
Both offenses looked good, generally speaking. However, I think most experts would have the Rams defense putting up a better fight. If this is not due to travel, I think the Rams’ D may not be as great as everyone thought. Kyle Shanahan was pulling Papa Shanahan’s stuff, making Kaelon Black look like a pro bowler. Third round rookie running as well or maybe even better than McCaffrey.
I don’t get this thinking–and I don’t completely understand the “adjusting to the time difference only once.” Were the 49ers “risking everything for one game?” If so, how so?
I want to agree with this–I definitely agree the both run games looked really good–but I hesitate saying this about the Rams offense. They kind of sputtered. We talked about McVay not running enough at times. I kind of felt this way in this game. It’s like they would run, but if the 49ers stuffed one run, they would go to the pass. The Rams OL got a good push on interior runs.
49ers run game looked good, and their passing game was effective at moving the chains. Overall, their offense and team looked really good. (Their defense is physical, and I want to say they’re one of the hardest hitting defenses–more than the Seahawks. Do you agree with that?)
I agree. The Rams better hope jet lag was the issue or maybe early season rust. Having said that, I just read that Myles Garrett is not 100% healthy (recovering from a knee issue?). The Rams better hope he fully recovers at least at some point during this season.
I put “risking everything” in quotes. I don’t think the Niners were risking everything. But I think the theory is however long you are overseas, it could take you that long to not feel the effects of jet lag. So the Niners were there nine days before the game and probably a day after so it could take a player eleven days to recover from jet lag once they come back home. Whereas the Rams never really stayed in Australia, they might not even have jet lag when they come home. If all of this is true, then the Niners could be bad for two games after coming home. This is not my theory, but that’s what I heard pundits say. Where I think the NFL could have issues with it if all I wrote is true, is the Rams didn’t put their best foot forward. Sort of like stars resting in regular season games in the NBA (ie: load management).
I didn’t get that the Niner’s defense was a hard-hitting group. Maybe because there were times they were getting runover. I know those things can be mutually exclusive, but it’s probably harder to come to that conclusion.
OK, thanks for the explanation. I’ve never heard this theory. I had heard that recovering from jetlag can take a few days, but I didn’t know that the length of recovery can vary depending on the length one stays in a different time zone.
If this theory is correct, these games are really unfair to the teams that have to play them.
This is a totally fair point. The Rams were running it down the 49ers throats at times, but when I think of physicality, I’m thinking mostly of their hits on the ball carrier, maybe especially pass-catchers. Nacua took one or two big shots.
Texans@Bills
I thought both offenses looked good, especially in the first half, and particularly in terms of being balanced. The run game seemed to dry up in the second half, especially for the Bills.
Two decisive elements that decided this game: Lassiter couldn’t secure the INT at the end, which he should have. Stroud’s ball security in the pocket.
Buccaneers@Bengals
The story of the game: the Bucs turn the ball over 4 times, which overshadowed anything positive they did, including a pick 6 of their own.
Dolphins@Raiders
The Dolphins might be the worst team in the league, but the Raiders may be in the bottom third. Still, this was a promising start. Except for two of Cousins’s INTs, the offense looked like a fairly well-oiled machine, at least in the first half. (Also, only one offensive penalty, if I recall correctly.)
The Raiders defense was solid, but they look soft in the interior DL. I would run the ball against this defense, and my concern is that that’s what opponents will do. I’m worried the defense might be hard to watch.
The other concern I have is the Raider receiving room. Against the better defenses, the offense could really struggle. They didn’t have Bowers today, so hopefully he’ll make a huge difference.
Before I write comments on some of the other games I saw, I want to say that I really don’t know how much stock I should put into what I saw. One of the Athletic Football Show guys said, “Week 1 is a liar,” and that captures my uncertainty.
BAL@IND
There were several games where one team came out flat–or they just aren’t very good, or not as good as some thought. Offensively and defensively, I would put Indy in this category.
This is not to suggest that BAL is not that good. Maybe they’re really good, but my sense is that part of the reason BAL looked good was that IND either came out a little flat, or they’re not that good this year.
CLE@JAX
Along with MIA, CLE looked like (or will be) one of the worst teams in the league.
Similar to the BAL situation, I have a hard time telling if JAX is good or they looked better because CLE is bad.
ARI@LAC
LAC is another flat or mediocre team.
Some fans talk as if ARI will be a terrible team, but I’m not sure of that. It wouldn’t completely surprise me if they’re a solid team. Still, I tend to think they looked better than the are because of the way the LAC played.
NO@DET
DET was in command of this game, but to be honest, they didn’t look that great. I think this is because NO didn’t look that great for much of the game as well.
DET will have to play a lot better if they want to be a true contender, especially on both side of the ball.
NYJ@TEN
TEN looked bad, contending for one of the worst teams in the league. Their OL looked overwhelmed at times, and Ward doesn’t look that great (not that he has a great supporting cast).
DAL@NYG
The less negative take is that the DAL defense is going through growing pains. Hopefully, they can improve their communication and gel during the course of the season.
The NYG looked solid, especially Dart and Skattebo ran hard. (#44 suits him.)
I’m not keen on DAL’s offense, even though they can move the ball and score.
DEN@KC
When KC spent considerable money on signing Ken Walker, I wondered if Andy Reid might shift to a more run-based approach, similar to what he ran with Jamaal Charles. I had serious doubts about this, given that Mahomes is the QB. At least for this game, they shifted to a more run-heavy approach.
My sense is that DEN’s defense was not prepared for this, and that contributed to the KC’s run game success. Still, even if they were ready, I’m not sure their defense would have been a lot better. Their run game doesn’t seem like a strong suit. I get the sense that they hate do defend this type of offense.
In terms of DEN’s offense, I have had a negative impression of Nix. I thought he would be significantly better in year 2, but he wasn’t and maybe he got worse. My sense was that if you don’t allow him to run, he’s far less effective. But it’s week 1 so a lot can change.
Speaking of QBs, Mahomes didn’t look all that great, either. Also, I didn’t think they married the run game with the pass game. I would think with the way they ran, that should’ve opened up the passing game, especially the deep ball. But maybe DEN dared them to run?
Edit:
I forgot to comment on the Commanders-Eagles game.
The Commanders looked a little better than I thought, but I would be surprised if they’re better than a middling team.
The Eagles offense looked the same as it did last year, in terms of effectiveness. The run game doesn’t look very good as well. It’s only week one and they have a new, first time OC, so things can improve.