| A little watercooler talk this morning – The 2024 draft has produced seven current starting QBs among the 32 member clubs They were drafted in this order 1st Round1 – Caleb Williams, Chicago2 – Jayden Daniels, Washington3 – Drake Maye, New England8 – Michael Penix, Jr, Atlanta10 – J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota12 – Bo Nix, Denver5th Round150 – Spencer Rattler, New Orleans If they were all thrown back into the draft now that we’ve had one year and one week to observe them, in what order would you draft them? Feel free to send me your order and we will compile and reveal. The DB will hazard a guess that QB CALEB WILLIAMS won’t be in the top three, much less the top five. – – -The Week 1 kickoff numbers are in – and teams voted to avoid touchbacks to the 35-yard line. Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com: The NFL’s tweak to kickoff rules this offseason was designed to increase the number of returns, and it paid off through one week of play. In 16 games during Week 1, 118 of 156 kickoffs were returned — a rate of 75.6 percent. Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com reports it was the highest rate of returns in a single week since Week 17 of the 2010 season, and the first time more than 50 percent of kicks were returned in Week 1 since that same year. The NFL implemented the dynamic kickoff after the return rate dropped to 21.8 percent in 2023. The following season saw an 11 percent increase, aided by a rule that placed touchbacks at the 30-yard line. This offseason, owners voted to move touchbacks to the 35-yard line in hopes of discouraging deep kicks and forcing teams into less favorable field position. Titans rookie Chimere Dike leads the league with an average of 36 yards per return, and Week 1’s results suggest he’ll have plenty of opportunities to add to that total in the weeks ahead. |
| NFC NORTH |
| DETROITA stat: @Sanjit__TJared Goff has had 5 different play callers in his career, under the 3 not named Sean Mcvay & Ben Johnson, he is 0-19-1. We wondered about 2021 when he was 3-10-1, but this is a clarification for Sanjit’s number: @dgmccreadyJohnson took over as passing game coordinator in wk 10 of 2021. They won 3 games and a tie after Goff is 81-34 with McVay and Johnson if you believe Sanjit’s number.- – -Should we be worried about the 2025 Lions after their Week 1 defeat at Lambeau? Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com says “Yes”: Real: There are concerns about the Lions’ offenseAs Detroit has grown into the cream of the NFC North crop over the past few years, Lions fans have dismissed the idea of being challenged by the Packers for the division title. Beginning with their fateful performance in knocking the Packers out of a playoff spot in Aaron Rodgers’ final game with the organization at the end of the 2022 season, the Lions had won four of their past five against Green Bay, including a clean sweep in 2024. The mood changed Sunday. Buoyed by the debut of new star edge rusher Micah Parsons in front of a raucous home crowd, the Packers got out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter against their rivals and didn’t really look back. It took a spectacular catch from rookie wideout Isaac TeSlaa in the final minute to earn the Lions their only touchdown of the day in a 27-13 thumping. Parsons was the story. While he played only 29 of 65 snaps in his first game with the Packers, the newly acquired defender managed one sack and three pressures. He helped create a Jared Goff interception in the red zone at the end of the second quarter by beating Penei Sewell to the inside, the second time Parsons beat his fellow perennial All-Pro to the interior. The pressure prevented Goff from seeing safety Evan Williams breaking on his throw to Amon-Ra St. Brown, costing the Lions points before halftime. Goff had a disappointing game, especially putting aside what he did in garbage time. Through three quarters, he was 21-of-25 — but those throws created only 152 yards and eight first downs. Goff turned a league-high 43.8% of his throws into first downs last season; the 32% rate he hit on against the Packers would have ranked 28th in the league a year ago. During his turnaround over the past few years in Detroit, Goff thrived by avoiding pure dropback situations, with the Lions often playing from ahead and Ben Johnson turning the play-action dial harder than any other coordinator in football. Goff was excellent as usual with play-action against the Packers, going 9-of-10 for 86 yards. Without the play fakes, though, he went 22-of-29 for just 139 yards — and that even includes the fourth quarter. And to work things all the way backward, the Lions couldn’t get their play-action game going because they weren’t a threat to run the football. The game script didn’t help matters, but David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs combined for just 44 yards on 20 carries. They had nearly as many stuffs for no gain or a loss (six) as they did successful rush attempts (seven), per NFL Next Gen Stats. This came against a team that lost its two best run defenders on the interior during the offseason in T.J. Slaton Jr. (who led the NFL in run stop win rate) and Kenny Clark (who was sent to the Cowboys as part of the Parsons trade). While Goff has been excellent in his role, that run game has been at the heart of what the Lions have accomplished on offense. And there are reasons to be nervous about what we saw. Detroit is rebuilding on the interior of its line after Frank Ragnow retired and Kevin Zeitler left in free agency. The Lions have moved Graham Glasgow to center and are starting Christian Mahogany and rookie Tate Ratledge — who had a combined two career starts before Sunday — at guard. While the Lions have a great offensive line coach in Hank Fraley and have been excellent talent developers, it’s just unfair to lose one of the league’s best centers and a very good veteran guard and expect everything to just keep rolling. On Sunday, that Lions ground game came to a halt. Mahogany was overpowered by Colby Wooden and beaten to the inside by Nazir Stackhouse, creating a pair of tackles for loss. Glasgow had trouble with his double-teams, including a whiff of a forearm shiver to leave Gibbs with a lineman in his face in the backfield. The execution from what often looked like such a well-oiled unit in 2023 and 2024 was lacking. The idea of establishing the run to create a basis for play-action is faulty, but the Packers weren’t afraid of Detroit’s run game yesterday. They didn’t have any reason to be. That pushes Goff into the dropback passing game, which creates problems. Over the past four years, Goff is first in the NFL in QBR when unpressured — but 28th by the same metric when pressured. The Packers overloaded Ratledge with a double A-gap pressure for one sack, while Lukas Van Ness put Mahogany on skates for another. Taylor Decker struggled with Rashan Gary. And when Sewell is struggling with Parsons, well, there’s nothing for the Lions to fall back on. They’ll face easier defenses than the Packers, but the NFC North is officially a real fight. And the Lions have a weakness other teams are going to be picking at in the weeks to come. |
| MINNESOTAThis: @speakeasytlkshwVikings running back, Aaron Jones, jumped straight into the SPEAKEASY from the locker room for the exclusive interview! “There was a moment when we were still down, J.J. McCarthy runs in the huddle and looks at us and says, ‘is there anywhere else you’d rather be.’” -Aaron Jones More on the debut of QB J.J. McCARTHY from Matt Verderame of SI.com: J.J. McCarthy could have allowed his mistake to define his night. Instead, it became a footnote to a memorable NFL debut. On the Vikings’ first drive of the third quarter and trailing 10–6, McCarthy had Minnesota in field goal range facing third-and-8 from the Chicago 32-yard line. Instead of making either a positive or safe play, McCarthy short-armed an out route to All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson, allowing former Vikings corner Nahshon Wright to nab a 74-yard pick-six. Leading 17–6, the Bears appeared on cruise control for a Week 1 win on Monday Night Football over the overwhelmed and inexperienced McCarthy at raucous Soldier Field. Not quite. Trailing by 11 points in the fourth quarter, McCarthy had done nothing to that point. The 2024 first-round pick was 7-of-12 for 56 yards with the aforementioned interception. Then, suddenly, McCarthy exploded. Over the next three drives, McCarthy went 6-of-8 for 87 yards and two touchdowns to Jefferson and Aaron Jones before punctuating a 21-point fourth quarter with a 14-yard scoring run around the right edge. For Minnesota, a night filled with frustration turned into the coming out party for McCarthy, who lost his entire rookie season to a torn meniscus. Through three quarters, the Vikings were held to 65 yards on 28 plays, a hideous 2.3 yards per play. But in the final 15 minutes, Minnesota totaled 164 yards on 18 plays (9.1 YPP) behind its young quarterback, whom Vikings fans hope can become the first homegrown, franchise quarterback since Daunte Culpepper more than 20 years ago. Last year, Minnesota won 14 games behind the resurrection of Sam Darnold. Darnold came to the Vikings as an assumed placeholder for McCarthy, but then took wing as the starter by throwing for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns under quarterback whisperer Kevin O’Connell. Still, O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah believed in McCarthy enough to let Darnold walk, allowing him to sign a three-year, $100 million contract with the Seahawks this offseason. |
| NFC EAST |
| PHILADELPHIAThe NFL has not ruled out a suspension for spitter DL JALEN CARTER. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com: On Monday, the NFL did not suspend Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter for spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott very early in the regular-season opener. It led to a reasonable assumption that Carter won’t be suspended, given the appeal process that would need to be resolved quickly. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, however, a suspension is still on the table. We’re also told that the decision is currently being finalized. Carter essentially served a one-game suspension because he was ejected before he played a single snap. That points to a fine, perhaps in the amount of a check for the game he didn’t play — $57,222. And so, for now, the league watches and waits. Especially the Chiefs, who host the Eagles in five days.– – -RB TANK BIGSBY was suddenly the fourth back in JAX, so the Jaguars have shipped him to the Eagles for two tangible draft picks. The Philadelphia Eagles have acquired running back Tank Bigsby from the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for 2026 fifth- and sixth-round picks. The deal for Bigsby marks the fifth trade the Eagles have made since mid-August. The flurry of roster moves also brought receiver John Metchie III, quarterback Sam Howell and offensive lineman Fred Johnson to the defending Super Bowl champions. The Eagles were scheduled to have four 2026 fifth-round picks and still have three remaining after the Bigsby trade. Bigsby, 24, rushed for 766 yards and seven touchdowns last season and also averaged 32.5 yards per kick return. The Eagles see Bigsby as a kick returner and remain high on their running back room, which is led by Saquon Barkley and also features AJ Dillon and second-year player Will Shipley. In Jacksonville, Bigsby shared first-team carries with Travis Etienne Jr., who is playing on the fifth-year option, in the first half of training camp. Etienne won the job as the Jaguars’ primary ball carrier by the end of camp and delivered in their season opener — 143 yards on 16 carries in a 26-10 victory over Carolina. Bigsby, who carried five times for 12 yards against the Panthers, became expendable when the Jaguars in April drafted two running backs: Bhayshul Tuten out of Virginia Tech in the third round and LeQuint Allen Jr. out of Syracuse in the seventh. They combined for four carries against the Panthers. The Jaguars selected Bigsby in the third round of the 2023 draft out of Auburn. He had 910 yards and nine rushing touchdowns in 34 games with the Jaguars. From a Jacksonville standpoint, Seth Walder of ESPN.com approves: Eagles get: RB Tank BigsbyJaguars get: 2026 fifth-round pick, 2026 sixth-round pick Eagles grade: C-Jaguars grade: A Eagles general manager Howie Roseman wins more trades than anyone, but he doesn’t win ’em all. In Bigsby, the Eagles acquire a very solid runner. The 2023 third-round pick accumulated an impressive 124 rush yards over expectation last season, per NFL Next Gen Stats, after a disappointing rookie campaign. But that’s all he is, which is his downside. Bigsby offers almost nothing in the receiving game; he has only eight career receptions. He has pass blocked on only 33 snaps in his pro career. And he evidently didn’t win the starting job in Jacksonville this season despite not facing particularly stiff competition in Travis Etienne Jr. and fourth-round rookie Bhayshul Tuten. This trade makes it clear that the Eagles felt they needed running back depth behind Saquon Barkley. They have Will Shipley, who figures to be more of a receiving complement and backup — very different from Bigsby. But my first reaction was, wow, that’s a lot for a backup at a nonpremium position who doesn’t catch passes, especially considering how much Philadelphia has already invested at running back with Barkley. Even with Bigsby under control for another rookie contract year in 2026, this is a bit much for my liking. Bigsby could also partner with Shipley on kick returns after having returned 11 kicks in his career. It’s a more important role now than before given the precipitous drop in touchbacks, but it doesn’t change that the Eagles gave up a lot for Bigsby. This is a nice result for Jacksonville, though. It seemed likely that one of Etienne or Bigsby would be dealt after the addition of Tuten in this year’s draft. That it happened now is an upset. But in exchange for their second- or third-string running back, the Jaguars are receiving a fifth- and sixth-round pick. That’s great value, and it hardly leaves Jacksonville short-handed considering Bigsby didn’t start. |
| NFC WEST |
| SAN FRANCISCOIt’s the end of the line (in SF anyway) for PK JAKE MOODY, as TE GEORGE KITTLE heads to IR. Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com: – With four games scheduled in the next 23 days, the San Francisco 49ers are placing tight end George Kittle on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday. Kittle, who suffered the injury in the first half of Sunday’s victory against the Seattle Seahawks, will miss games at New Orleans, home against Arizona and Jacksonville and at the Los Angeles Rams. The last of those games is set for “Thursday Night Football,” which made the decision to place Kittle on IR a bit more academic. The Niners also are making a change at kicker, as they are set to waive Jake Moody, a source told ESPN on Tuesday. The decision comes after Moody missed a 27-yard field goal and had a 36-yard attempt blocked against Seattle. Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday that a stay on IR for Kittle was under consideration. “When they tell me a few weeks, it’s always a possibility,” Shanahan said. “In order to do that, it’s got to be a four-week injury.” Under league guidelines for players returning from injured reserve, the earliest Kittle could return would be for the Oct. 12 game at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Coming off a Thursday night game against the Rams, Kittle would also have some additional time to rest and recover. Shanahan also hinted Monday that a move with Moody could be in the offing. “There’s options, just whether it’s stay the status quo, bringing in guys for workouts, practice squad, but we’re going through all that stuff right now,” Shanahan said. “I know the personnel department is going to look into all that stuff and give us those options.” With Kittle out, the 49ers have two tight ends — Luke Farrell and Jake Tonges — on the roster and could use fullback Kyle Juszczyk at tight end a bit more. Juszczyk has been taking part in tight end meetings for most of training camp and the preseason. The Niners also have Brayden Willis on the practice squad. He is an option to be elevated with Kittle out with Shanahan saying the Niners “wouldn’t hesitate” to bring him up if needed. Kittle left Sunday’s game with 10:06 left in the second quarter with the hamstring injury after running a route deep down Seattle’s sideline on a play that ended with Seahawks safety Julian Love sacking quarterback Brock Purdy. Kittle slowly hobbled back to the Niners’ sideline and was soon ruled out after making four catches for 25 yards and a touchdown to open the game. The Niners selected Moody in the third round (No. 99 overall) in the 2023 draft. At the time, the Niners hoped they had found a long-term replacement for accomplished kicker Robbie Gould. But Moody’s tenure in San Francisco was rocky at best. He made 84% of his field goals and missed one of his 61 extra points as a rookie, then had a roller coaster of a performance in Super Bowl LVIII. In the narrow loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Moody briefly held the record for the longest made field goal in a Super Bowl (55 yards) and hit another 50-plus-yarder later in the game. But he also had an extra point blocked in regulation in a game the Niners lost in overtime. After a positive start to 2024 in which he made 13 of 14 to open the season, things went south when he suffered a high right ankle sprain that kept him out until Week 10. When Moody returned, he never found any consistency, converting on 11 of his final 20 attempts. His 70.6% overall conversion rate ranked 35th in the NFL. The Niners brought in veteran kicker Greg Joseph in the offseason, but they released him early in training camp because of injuries at other positions. Joseph remains a free agent. |
| AFC WEST |
| DENVERThe Broncos say they will be in a new stadium in 2031, and it won’t be on the mile high spot of their two other stadiums west of downtown. Nick Kosmider of The Athletic: The Denver Broncos announced Tuesday that they have chosen Burnham Yard, a historic railyard district outside the city’s downtown area, as the preferred site for a new stadium. The Broncos are planning to build a “world-class retractable roof stadium” on the site with a targeted completion date of 2031, according to a joint statement released by owners Greg Penner and Carrie Walton Penner, Denver mayor Mike Johnston and Colorado governor Jared Polis. The decision to choose the 58-acre Burnham Yard site as the future home of a stadium and mixed-use district followed the Broncos’ exploration of potential stadium sites in the Denver suburbs of Lone Tree and Aurora. “Denver has been the proud home of the Broncos since Day 1,” Walton and Walton Penner, who have run the team since 2022, said in the statement. “This community-inspired vision will allow our city and team to continue to grow and thrive together at Burnham Yard.” The Walton-Penner Family Ownership group will privately fund the investment, the group stated, “and work with the community, city and state to reconnect historic neighborhoods — with no new taxes.” The Broncos have been at their current stadium, located outside downtown Denver, Empower Field at Mile High, since 2001. The Walton-Penner group bought the franchise just before the start of the 2022 season at a then-record price of $4.65 billion. Questions about a future stadium project were among the first the group fielded after taking over the team. The first step was determining whether the Broncos would actually need a new venue. A decision that was made “after careful evaluation and extensive research over several years,” the team said. The Broncos have been at their current stadium outside of downtown Denver, Empower Field at Mile High, since 2001. “When the Broncos’ lease at Empower Field at Mile High expires with the Metropolitan Football Stadium District after the 2030 season, the facility will be 30 years old, which is a common inflection point for professional sports venues to undergo a complete replacement or extensive renovation,” the team said. “With the evolution of fan expectations and the year-round opportunity created by a stadium-anchored mixed-use district, Burnham Yard was identified as the preferred site to drive lasting economic impact, growth and connection for the community.” Burnham Yard ceased operations as a railyard in 2016, and its land was sold to the state five years later. The Colorado Department of Transportation initially planned to use the land to expand the city’s main thoroughfare, Interstate 25, or enhance light rail options in the city. Denver officials ultimately determined the site was not feasible for those expansion projects and began the process of putting it up for sale. In addition to buying the 58-acre site from the state, the Broncos also have “an agreement in concept” to purchase another 25 acres from Denver Water, which has a headquarters near Burnham Yard. The Broncos do not yet have a timeline established for breaking ground on a new stadium project, though they said on Tuesday that a retractable roof and a natural grass field are two of the visions for the future project. Burnham Yard is about a mile east of the current stadium on the east side of I-25. |
| KANSAS CITYThe Chiefs may want WR TYREEK HILL back. But this is the guy now playing for the Dolphins: @MySportsUpdateToday marks exactly one year (365 days) since Tyreek Hill’s last reception of over 30 yards. It came in Week 1 last season on September 8 vs. the Jaguars. |
| AFC NORTH |
| BALTIMOREIn a 41-40 game, the biggest mistake was choosing to punt. Bill Barnwell of ESPN.comis among those chiding Ravens Coach John Harbaugh from backing off from a “Get 2 Yards and Win The Game” opportunity: The Ravens made a brutal mistake on fourth down Sunday nightThere are a million things to say about the game, but I’m going to focus on one that ended up playing a critical role in deciding who won. After the Bills failed on a 2-point try that would have tied the game at 40 with two minutes to go, the Ravens took back the ball with a chance to seal up a huge victory. After two runs produced 1 yard, a crosser to DeAndre Hopkins forced the Bills to use their last timeout with 1:33 remaining. The Ravens faced a fourth down with exactly 2.6 yards to go, per NFL Next Gen Stats. You know what happened, but let’s consider what coach John Harbaugh was facing in this moment. On one hand, a first down wins the game. While the Ravens had not picked up significant yardage on the first two runs of this series, they had Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry in their backfield, two players who had combined to run for 239 yards on 24 carries. Jackson said after the game that he was dealing with cramps, but the Ravens had three timeouts and could have used one of them to give Jackson some time before that fateful final snap. They also could have given the ball directly to Henry, who has plenty of experience in the Wildcat, if Jackson was unavailable. On the other hand, the alternative was punting to Josh Allen, who would have just over 90 seconds and no timeouts. The Bills would need a field goal, but that kick would win them the game — not just push it to overtime. They were dealing with a kicker new to the organization in Matt Prater, but the 41-year-old is known for his booming leg, having gone 9-of-12 from 50-plus yards as recently as 2023 with the Cardinals. And with the game on the line, the Ravens were going to need to force a turnover, have a missed field goal or stop Allen with all four downs in play. The Ravens are one of the most analytics-friendly organizations in the league, and that extends down to Harbaugh, who is certainly open to data and unconventional thinking in his decision-making. They have been comfortably making aggressive calls in the past, even when they’re unpopular. They haven’t shied away from those decisions, even when the results have turned out poorly. I can’t speak to what Baltimore’s model said in that moment, but ESPN’s model had this as a major mistake: And again, consider the context. What’s the strength of the Ravens? Where are their best players? What about the Bills? What do they do best? How confident is Baltimore that its defense, which had already been chasing Allen all over the field for 68 snaps, was going to have the gas it needed to come up with four consecutive stops? I don’t want to be outcome-driven and base criticism on what happened, but it’s difficult to imagine that the Ravens weren’t in better shape keeping their offense on the field and trusting one of their two future Hall of Famers to get 2.6 yards and end the game. Every team makes mistakes. (The Bills threw a fade to Keon Coleman on their 2-point try to tie the game at 40.) Perhaps Harbaugh would have felt differently if Jackson hadn’t been cramping up. Maybe the Ravens go for it on fourth-and-1 instead of fourth-and-2.6. Instead of leaning into what they do best, though, Harbaugh let Buffalo’s best player decide the game. And he did. |
| CLEVELANDPoint-counterpoint: @RealSkipBaylessIf Shedeur had started yesterday for the Browns, they would’ve beaten the Bengals. Josh VanBibber@vanbibber_joshI didn’t realize shedeur could kick field goals. Brandon Little of AZSports.com: The Cleveland Browns held the Cincinnati Bengals to just 141 total yards and still lost their season opener at home on Sunday afternoon. Despite outgaining Cincinnati with 327 yards, Cleveland fell 17-16. Joe Flacco made his return as the Browns’ quarterback, finishing 31-of-45 for 290 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. The turnovers, along with two missed kicks, proved to be the difference. Flacco’s interceptions weren’t entirely on him, even if the stat line says otherwise. In the second half, he hit Jerry Jeudy on a low but catchable pass that popped into the air as Jeudy went to the ground and was intercepted. Later, the Browns’ final legitimate chance to win ended when a pass went off Cedric Tillman’s hands and into the arms of Bengals cornerback DJ Turner. “It felt like we did a lot of good things, but we also did a lot of things that get you beat,” Flacco said after the game. “I just felt like we kind of played like an inexperienced team a little bit today. We did so many good things; we were able to move the ball. But to ultimately come up short, it definitely hurts to feel like you could start the season 1-0 and not do that.” An “inexperienced team” is exactly what the Browns looked like with their miscues. Still, their young players provided some of the brightest moments outside of Myles Garrett’s dominance. Rookie running back Dylan Sampson earned the start and, while the ground game never found traction, he made an impact with eight receptions for 64 yards. Tight end Harold Fannin Jr. also impressed with seven catches for 63 yards, though his tough third-down drop late in Bengals territory proved costly. Veteran players make mistakes, too, but when they happen in crucial moments, it reinforces Flacco’s point about inexperience. Cleveland will soon get rookie running back Quinshon Judkins back, adding another young playmaker to the offense. Jeudy and David Njoku were both effective, though Jeudy’s drop was notable after leading the league in that category last season. Zac Jackson on how kickers have sabotaged two-time NFL Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski’s legacy: @AkronJacksonSome numbers from @TruMediaSports – Stefanski is 15-6 in 1-score games with no missed kicks – Stefanski is 8-15 in 1-score games with 1+ points lost to missed kicks – In 1-score losses under Stefanski, missed kicks have cost the Browns 2.2 pts per game (most in NFL) |
| PITTSBURGHBuoyed by the opening win, the Steelers sign another veteran per Ian Rapoport ofNFL.com: @RapSheetFormer #Patriots S Jabrill Peppers, a surprise release after cut-down day, is expected to sign with the #Steelers per me and @MikeGarafolo. They’ve agreed to terms. |
| AFC SOUTH |
| TENNESSEEBen Solak of ESPN.com critiques the debut of QB CAM WARD: The stat sheet was not kind to Ward on Sunday. He had a dropback success rate of 17.7%. That ranks 1,101st out of 1,105 QB games since the start of the 2023 season. The film is far kinder. Ward just missed on a couple, including an overturned bobble to tight end and fellow rookie Gunnar Helm on the right sideline and a pair of third-down completions that each ended a yard short of the sticks. That’s not to mention two drops by leading receiver Calvin Ridley (who arguably should have been given a third); both would have been first downs. That said, Ward has plenty to clean up — not surprising after a rookie quarterback’s first start against a defense like that of the Broncos. Inexcusable consecutive sacks in the fourth quarter knocked Tennessee out of field goal range in a one-point game, and both were avoidable if Ward had thrown the ball away or played with more urgency. Ward also left seven points on the table in the red zone when wide receiver Van Jefferson got open as expected on a pseudo rub route — but Ward already had dropped his eyes and entered scramble mode. This play is designed for Jefferson, and the ball should have been thrown. Overall, I remain bullish on Ward’s NFL future. At Miami, Ward was an instinctive passer. He remains so in the NFL, where he is throwing with anticipation. And an understanding of how coverages will develop. He made multiple plays against pressure in this game that demonstrated preposterous poise for a veteran, let alone a rookie. He is almost too chill at times. He was sacked — very nearly for a safety — because he snapped the ball on a diminishing play clock without alerting his offensive line of the urgency. Right tackle JC Latham was late out of his stance, and while that’s more on Latham, Ward is the leader of the offense and will learn to account for those things. The high-difficulty throws were abundant Sunday, and the easy arm talent was apparent. The Titans are a young team with plenty of issues to rectify, including pre-snap alignment confusions and blown assignments in the running game. As that improves over the course of the season, the team will catch up to Ward’s talent and look more put together in the passing game. |
| AFC EAST |
| NEW ENGLANDThis: @thepatriotsbeatThe #Patriots have now failed to reach 30 points in 46 consecutive games, going all the way back to October 16, 2022 when they scored 38 against the Cleveland Browns. That is the longest streak in the NFL. They do play Carolina in Week 4. |
| THIS AND THAT |
| DEBUTS OF NEW QBsMike Sando of The Athletic ranks the debuts of new QBs this week – from Jones to Wilson. • Daniel Jones, Colts: Led a 33-8 victory over the Miami Dolphins, helping the offense score on all seven possessions. I wondered whether dropping the charade that Anthony Richardson was prepared to lead the Colts might free Indianapolis’ other offensive players from the obligation to propagate it, giving the team an emotional boost. Never was there any reason to think Jones would lead Indy to points on every drive during a game, which neither Manning nor Luck ever accomplished. Only once in 227 total Colts starts did Manning lead Indy to points on its first seven drives of a game, during a wild-card playoff game against Denver after the 2003 season. Luck led six scoring drives to open a game in 2014. What happened Sunday is obviously not sustainable for Jones and the Colts, but there’s no question they can become more consistent with this quarterback in the lineup instead of Richardson. As one NFL team exec put it before the season in assessing the shift from Richardson to Jones: “(Coach Shane Steichen) is probably like, ‘Dude, just give me a guy who’s not going to give me the one bad play that’s going to blow up the drive, and just get me on schedule so I could keep dialing it up.’” Steichen was dialing it up Sunday, finding creative ways to get the ball to his rookie first-round tight end, Tyler Warren, and getting Michael Pittman wide open for Indy’s first touchdown. One example: Steichen used three tight ends to keep Miami in base defense during the first drive, then called a dropback pass from the shotgun formation, with one tight end (Drew Ogletree) helping free another (Warren) for a 21-yard gain. Jones’ limitations aren’t going away, but his can be schemed around, which was less the case with Richardson. • Aaron Rodgers, Steelers: Tossed four touchdown passes without a turnover in the Steelers’ 34-32 victory over his former team, the Jets. It’s no shock seeing Rodgers play well, even at his age. There are signs he’ll struggle to produce consistently well over the course of a season. “He cannot get away from the rush anymore, but he can move in the pocket and deliver those wrist flicks accurately, with or without his feet on the ground,” a coach who caught the Jets-Steelers game on TV said. Late in the second quarter, facing second-and-10 from the Pittsburgh 35, Rodgers led receiver Calvin Austin III perfectly with one of those off-balance wrist-flick throws 14 yards past the line of scrimmage from the far hash, for a 30-yard gain. It was brilliant, but less sustainable for Rodgers than it used to be. “What he has to watch out for is those wrist flicks turn into interceptions later in the year,” the coach said. “The four (TDs) is what everyone sees. Nobody pays attention to the two dropped interceptions or the fact that, just four or five years ago, he’d go five games without one of those.” Rodgers took four sacks and three other hits, including multiple heavy blows. What also stood out Sunday was the complementary nature of this Steelers victory. That part can be sustainable, even though the run defense obviously struggled. Think how many times during Rodgers’ Green Bay tenure that the quarterback played well, only to have the Packers’ star-crossed special teams betray him. Those days could be far less frequent in Pittsburgh. On Sunday, Rodgers celebrated when the Steelers forced and recovered a fumble during a fourth-quarter kickoff return. Rodgers celebrated again when kicker Chris Boswell booted the winning 60-yard field goal. The Steelers finished the game +9.8 in special teams EPA. It was the third-most support on special teams Rodgers has received in 263 career starts, per TruMedia. The No. 1 game on that list: last season against Seattle, when Rodgers was with the Jets. Put another way, two of Rodgers’ 19 starts since leaving Green Bay produced special teams performances surpassing the Packers’ special teams output in 242 of his 243 starts with the team. • Justin Fields, Jets: Three total touchdowns and the best EPA/pass play for any Jets starter since 2022. A different veteran coach who watched Steelers-Jets on TV thought Fields, who ranked 27th in QB Tiers this offseason, had never looked better than he did in this game. The numbers agree. Fields, making his 45th career start and first since signing a two-year, $40 million deal with New York, posted a career-best EPA per pass play (.536). The Jets posted their fourth-best EPA per offensive play (.264) in 229 games over the past 15 seasons. Fields is a known quantity with known limitations. Teams willing and able to commit to a Fields-friendly offensive scheme could succeed more than his previous teams succeeded. The Jets could be one such team. Offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand is the unknown variable. This season could establish whether the Detroit Lions should have prioritized keeping Engstrand to replace Ben Johnson instead of hiring John Morton and letting Engstrand follow Aaron Glenn to the Jets. Week 1 was hugely encouraging for the Jets on that front. No one thought they’d score 32 points on offense. • Geno Smith, Raiders: 362 yards passing in a 20-13 victory over New England, posting the best yards per attempt (10.6) for a Raiders starter since 2022. This was a classic Smith performance with tons of yardage and some risky throws with both good and bad results. It was enough to beat a Patriots team lacking in talent. And it’s very much sustainable for Smith. This was his fourth game over the past three seasons with 300-plus yards, no more than one touchdown pass and at least one interception. No player has more of those games than Smith over that period. • Joe Flacco, Browns: Completed 31 of 45 passes for 290 yards with one touchdown and two picks in a 17-16 defeat to Cincinnati. Flacco was far from perfect in his first game back with Cleveland, but he deserved better results. Early in the fourth quarter, he had back-to-back passes dropped on third and fourth down in Bengals territory. He had the Browns in position to take the lead with 2:22 left, but kicker Andre Szmyt missed wide right from 36 yards. Both of Flacco’s interceptions went off his own receivers’ hands, including a drop by Cedric Tillman that DJ Turner grabbed to all but seal the game for the Bengals with 1:24 to play. As a whole, though, this seems pretty indicative of what the Browns can expect from Flacco. • Sam Darnold, Seahawks: Passed for 150 yards and no touchdowns in a 17-13 defeat to San Francisco as Seattle gained 230 yards, its second-lowest total since Mike Macdonald became coach. The Seahawks traded Smith to Las Vegas and signed Darnold to replace him at a lower price. Which quarterback would you rather have leading your team downfield in the final minutes of a close game against the 49ers? I posed that question to an offensive coach during the offseason. “I think Geno operates at a higher level, especially in critical moments,” the coach said. “Sam’s two-minute stuff versus Geno’s two-minute stuff, that is where Geno separates himself.” Darnold’s EPA per pass play (-0.36) was worse than all but two of the single-game performances by Smith in his 53 total starts with Seattle. But he still had Seattle in scoring position late. His 40-yard strike to Jaxon Smith-Njigba gave Seattle first-and-10 from the San Francisco 14 with 1:06 remaining Sunday. The rally ended with Nick Bosa pushing Seattle offensive tackle Abe Lucas into Darnold, forcing a fumble, which Bosa recovered. Seattle got just 26 combined receiving yards from players not named Smith-Njigba — including Cooper Kupp’s two catches for 15 yards — in its first game since trading DK Metcalf. It was a disappointing start for Darnold and the Seahawks’ offense. • Russell Wilson, Giants: Completed 46 percent of his passes (17 of 37) and averaged 4.5 yards per attempt in a 21-6 loss to Washington. It’s obvious where this is headed, but when? The Giants will not sit through many more games such as this one before switching to Jaxson Dart. Wilson, who has fallen in QB Tiers balloting every year since 2020, is one of 14 quarterbacks with at least 40 starts since 2022. He ranks last among them in team offensive points per game (19.3) over that stretch. Coach Brian Daboll did not immediately commit to Wilson as his starter next week. Making a change now would seem premature if the Giants did not feel Dart was ready to start the full season. But we all saw Dart shine in preseason. The clock is ticking a little louder today. |
