The Daily Briefing Wednesday, September 15, 2021

The NFL’s kickoff weekend ended up having the second-highest TV ratings for Week 1 over the past five seasons.

The 16 games averaged 17.4 million viewers on television and digital properties. That is a 7% increase over last season (16.3 million average) and nearly equal to 2019, which averaged 17.6 million and remains the highest since 2017.

The numbers were likely to increase after last season was played during the pandemic, with empty stadiums presenting a strange viewing dynamic, and many people’s viewing habits changing. The first half of the season also occurred in the midst of a presidential campaign, when some people were watching cable news channels.

NFL games ranked as the top six broadcasts for the past week. Nearly 23.2 billion minutes were viewed, making it the largest Week 1 minutes total since 2016.

ESPN and Nielsen reported that the Monday night overtime thriller between the Las Vegas Raiders and Baltimore Ravens averaged 15.3 million on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. It is the most watched Monday Night Football Week 1 game since 2013, when Philadelphia at Washington averaged 16.5 million. That included 800,000 for the Mannings Megacast featuring Peyton and Eli on ESPN2.

The most-watched game of the week was last Thursday night’s 31-29 victory by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the Dallas Cowboys. It averaged 26.4 million viewers on NBC and digital, making it the most-watched first game of the season since 2015.

NBC averaged 22.8 million for the Thursday and Sunday games, which is an 11% increase over last year.

The league’s new television deal doesn’t officially kick in until 2023, but some elements have started with the season expanding to 17 games over 18 weeks. This was the first year both CBS and Fox had doubleheaders on Week 1.

CBS reported the highest viewership of a Sunday game, with a 19.54 million average for the 4:25 p.m. ET game between the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs. It is also the network’s second-most watched opening week window since it resumed carrying games in 1998.

The CBS doubleheader averaged 16.59 million viewers, up 21% over last year. It was the first time CBS has had a Week 1 doubleheader since 2015. For many years it couldn’t air a doubleheader on the opening week because it was carrying the US Open tennis tournament.

Fox, which featured Green Bay and New Orleans, averaged 16.24 million for the 4:25 p.m. window and 13.57 million for the doubleheader.

The NFL said the two late windows on Sunday drew 6.3 billion total minutes, the highest on record for Week 1 since tracking started in 1988.

GREEN BAY

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com ponders the listless Week One Packers:

Of all the things said and not said in the aftermath of the shellacking the Packers endured in Week One, the most significant came from quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who told Pat McAfee on Tuesday that “our energy level was a little bit low” on Sunday.

While that may explain why they lost by 35 points to the Saints at a neutral site, it doesn’t explain why the energy level was a little bit low.

IT WAS WEEK ONE. How was the energy level anything other than maximum? If a team isn’t fully energized for the first game of the season, something deeper is going on.

Maybe it’s the bizarre and conspicuous tendency of the Packers to crap the bed when they travel to California or Florida (1-5 combined under Matt LaFleur), a tendency that becomes more noteworthy given how well they’ve played everywhere else (27-4 combined under Matt LaFleur). Maybe it’s the lethargy that flows from the extended drama involving Rodgers’s total disengagement from the team from January to July and/or the lingering perception that it’s his last ride. Maybe he’s partially responsible for failing to light a fire under his teammates in certain circumstances; of all the things we know about Tom Brady, we know he wouldn’t let his teammates enter the first game of the season with anything less than a full tank of give-a-damn.

So it’s alarming. It’s very alarming. While it’s fixable, it had better be fixed, quickly. To fix it, the Packers need to understand what caused it. And if they determine that the cause traces to the extra layers of distraction flowing from the tenuous status of Aaron Rodgers, that leads toward some potentially interesting outcomes — if they can’t quickly get everyone refocused for a game on Monday night against the Lions that the Packers should win, but could lose.

Fall to Detroit, and a Sunday night visit to the 49ers makes 0-3 a very likely start to a regular season following a pair of 13-3 finishes.

NEW YORK GIANTS

Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic on Coach Joe Judge who made a blunder that would have Joe Judge screaming at him if Joe Judge was a player:

There were times when Daniel Jones and the offense looked downright competent, but with New York trailing 17-7 in the third quarter, he scrambled, fumbled and turned the ball over in the red zone. Jason Garrett’s game plan once again lacked any kind of imagination or boldness. And Joe Judge, a coach who goes to the extremes to harp on discipline, cost the Giants a timeout by throwing a challenge flag on a scoring play, even though those are automatically reviewed. Here was Judge’s explanation, per The Athletic’s Dan Duggan:

“That’s completely on me,” Judge said. “I know you can’t challenge a scoring play. That was a little bit more of an emotional — I was looking for feedback from the officials. It looked to me on the Jumbotron and (from) some feedback I got from up top watching the replay that he may have stepped in the white.

“I was screaming for the officials. They’re supposed to get some feedback from what they’re hearing in New York in terms of feedback on it. I had to do something to draw their attention. I couldn’t get them to turn around, so I threw the flag.”

The Giants held up better than expected in pass protection, but their defense got picked apart in the loss to Denver. New York has a short week before facing Washington on Thursday night.

PHILADELPHIA

Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic was impressed how rookie coach Nick Sirianni positioned QB JALEN HURTS for success against Atlanta:

The Eagles put Jalen Hurts in position to succeed.

Hurts went 27-for-35 for 264 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 62 yards and was sacked just once in the Eagles’ 32-6 against the Falcons.

Nick Sirianni and the coaching staff did a brilliant job of scheming up “easy” throws for Hurts. His average pass traveled just 3.7 yards past the line of scrimmage, which was the shortest distance of any Week 1 starter, according to Next Gen Stats. Just 8.6 percent of Hurts’ throws went into tight windows, which was the fourth-lowest percentage of any starter. The Eagles dialed up a nice man-beating route concept on an early touchdown to Devonta Smith. Later, Jordan Mailata (68) delivered one of the blocks of the day on a screen that Jalen Reagor took to the house.

The Eagles’ offensive line dominated. They averaged a league-high 3.39 yards before contact on 31 rushes. Sirianni said all offseason that he wasn’t stuck on any one offensive philosophy and that he’d adapt to his personnel. It was only one game, but that’s exactly what he did in his head-coaching and play-calling debut. In terms of Expected Points Added (EPA) per play, the Eagles’ Week 1 offensive performance was better than every game but one from last season.

WASHINGTON

QB TAYLOR HEINICKE makes his first start for Washington on Thursday night – and no one seems too worried about him.  Ben Standig of The Athletic:

Chase Young’s initial reaction to the Washington Football Team’s late-season quarterback addition encapsulated the feeling for many.

“I was like, ‘Dang, who is that little guy?’” he said.

Young soon found out about the little guy as Taylor Heinicke quickly assumed a large role, one he’s set to recapture Thursday night at FedEx Field against the New York Giants. He’ll be the starting quarterback, and there’s a chance he keeps the gig for some time.

That opportunity was akin to a shotgun marriage regardless of whether Heinicke ever played. Washington needed help at the sport’s most important position for a playoff game against Tom Brady and the eventual Super Bowl champion Buccaneers, and it turned to a player who’d only recently signed a contract.

For all Heinicke knew, that was a one-off opportunity, and so, as gamers do, he let it rip. Though Washington lost the wild-card-round game, the former Old Dominion star’s impressive showing earned respect from the masses, a two-year contract from Washington and eventually the primary backup role to Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Twenty-one minutes into a new season, Heinicke, 28, with two career NFL starts on his resume, is now leading Washington’s offense after Fitzpatrick injured his right hip. Going from a 16-year veteran to Heinicke should be scary, especially with Washington coming off a 20-16 home loss to the Chargers and the potential of falling to 0-2 before a Week 3 meeting at Buffalo. And yet …

“It’s really cool playing behind a guy like that, who just seems like he’s always ready for the moment,” wide receiver Terry McLaurin said on Tuesday after Washington’s lone practice this week. “It’s never too big for him. And you know, he’s gonna give us his best each and every week.”

“Taylor, he’s just a winner,” Young said. “You know, he’s just gonna go hard.”

Moxie alone won’t win games in the NFL, and Heinicke lost both of his career starts, including a 2018 appearance with the Panthers. But the 6-foot-1 quarterback who went undrafted in 2015 has shown the bright lights don’t faze him, and the key is for Washington to find comfort in his trademark spontaneity within offensive coordinator Scott Turner’s system.

Part of Fitzpatrick’s preseason narrative involved blending his know-how with Turner’s approach and the coaching staff trusting his insight. Heinicke doesn’t have those NFL miles, but his relationship with Turner dates to their time together with Carolina.

“He knows what I’m comfortable with and what I’m not,” Heinicke said. “We have good communication within us, too. I feel like we’re going to have a good relationship and hopefully, we can get the ball rolling and get the ball moving and score some points.”

Heinicke previously said he’s had issues throwing to his left. Perhaps that’s something Turner considers, and the majority of Heinicke’s throws against the Chargers went in other directions. Yet according to Pro Football Focus, Heinicke completed all five of his throws to the left for 85 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Logan Thomas.

Fitzpatrick and Heinicke are gunslingers, but Fitzpatrick is more willing to fire long passes and more adept at throwing them. Beyond his mobility, Heinicke’s strength is his ability to seek targets underneath; against the Bucs, 88.6 percent of his 40 attempts were inside of 20 yards. His lone deep pass against Los Angeles, which went for 34 yards, was completed thanks to McLaurin’s spectacular concentration and Chargers cornerback Nasir Adderly letting a possible interception slip through his hands.

“The throw could have been a lot better — but it was a hell of a catch,” Heinicke said.

The throws that stand out most are the ones that are least expected, including an impromptu shovel pass to McLaurin, who caught all four of his passes for 62 yards after Heinicke entered.

“(Taylor’s) advantage is his anticipation,” McLaurin said. “He’s really smart. … He knows where he’s going with the ball pre-snap, and he confirms that post-snap. And if it’s not there, then he’ll create a scramble drill situation and then everybody’s live to get the ball.”

TAMPA BAY

Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times offers this tweet:

#Bucs will seek ninth consecutive win while scoring 30+ points on Sunday, which would establish an NFL record. Team currently tied with 2007, 2010 Patriots. Guess who has been QB for all 3 streaks.

The Buccaneers will be playing the Falcons for the 3^rd time in the streak referenced above.  It began in Week 15 last year with a 31-27 win at Atlanta.  In Week 17, in Tampa, the Buccaneers won 44-27.

It should be noted that Tampa Bay’s two-season, postseason included win streak is one game longer.  Currently at nine and seeking 10, the first win over Minnesota did not hit the 30-point threshold (26-14) mentioned in the note.

CBS Boston is among those noticing a weird “coincidence” in QB TOM BRADY’s weekly hype video:

Tom Brady likes his social media. Whether he’s pushing some products, making fun of himself, or sharing a good hype video, the man’s got all the channels working at all times.

Yet when he posted his weekly victory video on Monday, it was a little weird. The Bucs won their game several days earlier, having opened the season on Thursday night. Surely, a video would have worked on Friday … or Saturday, or Sunday.

In any event, Brady posted his normal video, celebrating the Bucs and their 31-29 win over the Cowboys. And that was that.

Until … a closer look was taken.

And that closer look revealed a clock sitting behind Brady’s right shoulder. And that clock displayed a time. And that time? Well, it was 3:28.

Three. Twenty-eight.

Sound familiar?

That is … that is something.

Of course, since the historic comeback by Brady and the Patriots in Super Bowl LI against Atlanta, “28-3” has become an entity unto itself. It’s on T-shirts, flags, stickers, and other memorabilia. It’s become an annual celebration in Boston every March 28 — Brady has partaken in the celebration himself. It’s a constant source of pain for the Falcons organization, and a source of great joy for everyone who was involved with that win from the Patriots. It’s also been used by fans of other NFC South rivals — like the Saints — as a way to torment the Falcons.

Last year, Brady joined the Falcons division and beat them twice. The first time, he and the Bucs fell behind 17-0 … before winning 31-27. It likely stirred some feelings in Atlanta.

Anyways … Brady and the Bucs host the Falcons in Week 2.

Trolling: complete.

SEATTLE

Will the Seahawks take another chance on oft-troubled WR JOSH GORDON?  He is on the cusp of being available.  Colby Patnode of SI.com:

There are very few tragic figures in the NFL that conjure up as much sympathy as former Seahawks receiver Josh Gordon. His promising young career was derailed by a drug addiction that he’s ultimately been unable to keep at bay.

He’s beloved by his teammates and is, by all accounts, a good man who is struggling with an addiction—something many can relate with. But the NFL is primarily focused on winning and if availability is the best ability, should a team like the Seahawks consider taking another flyer on Gordon?

Everybody is going to have their opinion on Gordon. After the Seahawks took a chance on him in 2019, he appeared in five games and made some solid contributions along the way, including two key third-down conversions in an overtime win against the rival 49ers.

But after the unfortunate passing of his brother, Gordon relapsed and was subsequently suspended for violating the league’s substance abuse policy—the fifth suspension of his career and fourth of its kind. He stayed in the Seattle area that following offseason, maintaining a line of contact with Seahawks players and coaches.

In September of 2020, he signed with the team once it appeared he was on the brink of reinstatement. Weeks and months went by without word on his reinstatement, however.

On December 21, the NFL finally ruled him eligible to return. But just a day later, the league would reverse its ruling after determining that Gordon violated the conditions of his reinstatement and his indefinite suspension went back into effect.

Once the Seahawks’ season ended, they granted Gordon his release so he could participate in Fan Controlled Football. When his respective team was eliminated from FCF’s postseason, he shifted his attention towards getting back on the NFL gridiron and looks to be on the verge of doing just that. Last Friday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Gordon has submitted his request for reinstatement and has undergone a series of random league-ordered drug tests over the past three months, passing all of them.

Rooting for Gordon is easy for anybody with a shred of compassion, but at this stage, it’s quite reasonable for fans to wish him well somewhere else. Gordon has been given multiple chances by the NFL and two chances by the Seahawks themselves. Trusting Gordon a third time might be a step too far for some to take, and that is understandable.

But Gordon reportedly made quite an impact on his teammates in his short time with the Seahawks and bought into the team’s unique culture immediately. They also don’t need to trust Gordon to take a flyer on him. DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett are established stars. They spent their first pick in the 2021 NFL Draft on second-rounder Dee Eskridge and are quite fond of Freddie Swain, Cade Johnson and Connor Wedington, among others.

Gordon would be guaranteed nothing, forcing him to earn a spot on the active roster. He’ll likely make the veteran minimum, is still just 30 years old and his size and speed combo are still valuable on the football field.

All signs point to Seattle knowing he’s a fit in the locker room and isn’t a culture destroyer. And Pete Carroll doesn’t give up on people. He honestly believes he can get the best out of anybody, and this belief—albeit with a few hiccups—has been a boon to the Seahawks’ organization.

Some will never trust Gordon again and so long as those people understand that he’s dealing with an illness, they are entitled to feel that way and have a strong case to make for that opinion. They’re not wrong.

But neither are those who dream of Gordon’s value on the field. He can help the Seahawks and maybe, just maybe, the Seahawks can help him. Carroll believes the best way to help somebody is not to change them but to help them become the best version of themselves. And by all accounts, the best version of Gordon is a darn good football player and a quality human being.

If the best version of Gordon on and off the field can meet in the middle as a member of the Seahawks, he’s well worth taking a risk on.

DENVER

The Broncos chances of surprising have increased with the return of a dominating EDGE VON MILLER.  Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com:

This season is a lot of things for Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller. He’s 32, the most tenured Broncos player by three seasons, and he’s in the last year of the six-year megadeal he signed in July 2016, a little more than five months after earning Super Bowl 50 MVP.

He has spent much of the offseason, when asked, explaining how he is “at peace” with how he’s approached things on the field and off the field. And when Miller is asked about his age these days, there is routinely a smile and a you’re-asking-me-about-my-age shake of the head.

“I’ve seen my picture with my shirt off,” Miller said. “I feel like it’s the same Von. I just think it’s a different mindset.”

There may be no better way to take the defensive temperature of the Broncos than to see how Miller is doing. If Miller is healthy, disruptive and celebrating after sacks, life is usually pretty good. If not, there usually isn’t much going on by the time December rolls around.

Score one for happy, healthy and get-after-it Von Miller. He was one of the brightest spots in the Broncos’ season-opening win over the Giants with two sacks and three tackles for loss. Sunday was his first game with at least two sacks and at least three tackles for loss since the 2018 season opener.

“It was probably important for him just to get something like that going,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said.

“It’s good to see his face again in the huddle when we’re breaking it down and everything,” linebacker Josey Jewell said. “He’s definitely a great player. It’s just fun to see him go out there and kick people’s butt.”

Miller missed the 2020 season with an ankle injury and spent much of the 2019 season battling his frustrations with the team’s struggles on the field.

While the Broncos are waiting for the return of the Miller-Bradley Chubb combo on defense — Chubb missed the opener with an ankle injury and the two haven’t played together in a regular-season game since Week 4 of 2019 — Miller’s Week 1 launch into the season bodes well.

LAS VEGAS

Injuries in Vegas, including a Good one.  Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com:

Las Vegas Raiders right guard Denzelle Good suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in Monday night’s 33-27 overtime victory over the Baltimore Ravens and is out for the season, a source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Good, 30, signed a two-year contract worth $8.4 million with $3.2 million guaranteed this offseason. He played in 15 games last season, including a career-best 14 starts (two at right tackle and 12 at left guard), and was lauded as the team’s MVP by coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Derek Carr.

Earlier Tuesday, Gruden said the Raiders were concerned about potential long-term injuries to Good, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy (right knee) and backup quarterback Marcus Mariota (quad), as well as defensive end Yannick Ngakoue (hamstring).

And this from The Athletic:

Raiders defensive tackle Gerald McCoy suffered a season-ending injury on Monday night, a source confirmed to The Athletic. NFL Network first reported the news.

The multi-year Pro Bowler was carted off with a knee injury in the fourth quarter of Las Vegas’ 33-27 overtime win against the Baltimore Ravens. On the play in which McCoy went down, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson completed a 49-yard pass to Sammy Watkins to set up an 8-yard touchdown run by Latavius Murray.

CLEVELAND

Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic liked what he saw from the Browns in defeat at KC:

The Browns nailed the right approach to beat the Chiefs.

Ok, so they didn’t finish the job. But let’s talk process over results here.

I loved the way Kevin Stefanski approached that game. First quarter, fourth-and-3 from the Chiefs’ 15, he went for it and converted. Two plays later, the Browns scored a touchdown. After a Chiefs penalty, Cleveland went for two and got it. Next drive, fourth-and-1 from the Kansas City 5, Stefanski went for it again, and Jarvis Landry scored. The aggressive approach paid off again.

That’s how you have to play the Chiefs. They’re not just any other opponent. Smart coaches acknowledge that you’re probably not going to keep Patrick Mahomes in check for four quarters, so you have to maximize every scoring opportunity. That’s what Stefanski did. In the end, Mahomes did Mahomes things, and the Chiefs won, 33-29. That’s why they’re the Super Bowl favorites.

But if the two teams face off in the playoffs, the Browns should employ the same approach. They lost because Nick Chubb fumbled, they had a costly special-teams turnover, and Baker Mayfield couldn’t put together one last scoring drive. But the Browns showed that they can score and that they’re not going to play scared against Kansas City. It might sound ridiculous, but I feel even better about them now than I did before Week 1.

PITTSBURGH

Sheil Kapadia on Mike Tomlin in an underdog role:

Mike Tomlin in an underdog role is terrifying.

The Steelers’ win against the Bills was precisely the type of game Tomlin will be remembered for long after he eventually retires. The Steelers had three first downs in the first half and punted on all five of their possessions. But they hung around. Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt, Melvin Ingram, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Cam Sutton made play after play on defense. Ben Roethlisberger started taking more chances, trusting Chase Claypool and others to win their matchups and make plays. And Pittsburgh changed the game with a blocked punt returned for a touchdown.

For all the talk about the Steelers’ offseason changes, the Week 1 version looked a lot like the 2020 version. They struggled to run it (Najee Harris had 45 yards on 16 carries). And Roethlisberger’s focus was on getting rid of the ball quickly; his average release time of 2.3 seconds was the fastest of any starter. The offense still has a lot to prove.

But as Tomlin’s teams have done so many times over the years, the Steelers found a way to grind out an ugly win. His teams have been an underdog 58 times in the regular season. They’ve covered the spread in 66.1 percent of those games and won more than half of them (30) outright.

HOUSTON

James Palmer of NFL.com on the strange situation of QB DESHAUN WATSON:

The expectation throughout the facility at NRG Stadium — from the top levels on down — is Deshaun Watson will never take another snap for the Texans. The fifth-year pro is still demanding a trade dating back to January, and is facing 22 civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct and sexual assault. There are ongoing investigations by the FBI, Houston Police and NFL. Watson has denied any wrongdoing.

With no resolution pertaining to any of the above, the Texans and Watson have taken a day-by-day approach to his situation. Watson hasn’t missed a day of work since the start of training camp. He still holds a spot on Houston’s 53-man roster and is currently listed as the third-string quarterback on the team’s depth chart. He’s not exiled, but rather has been at the facility interacting with his teammates. General manager Nick Caserio publicly stated recently that he has talked with Watson, and the quarterback has not been a distraction.

“I’ve had multiple conversations with Deshaun in training camp,” Caserio told reporters. “Like I said, his attitude has been good, he hasn’t been a problem, he hasn’t been a disruption. So, we’re going to take it one day at a time.”

Teammates I spoke with in the lead-up to Houston’s season opener have said the same of how Watson has handled the situation. Almost a dozen players, some emphatically, have stated to me that Watson is not a distraction. The situation isn’t uncomfortable behind closed doors, I’m told. Veteran safety Justin Reid told me last week it’s “become the new normal” within the building. Watson comes in, gets his workouts in, attends meetings and works with starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor (who led the way in Houston’s win over Jacksonville, with 291 yards and two touchdowns through the air, as well as 40 yards on the ground). There is the thought that Watson, one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, sees things in defenses and in film sessions most don’t. He provides an extra set of eyes in meetings.

Last week, Watson wasn’t seen during the portions of practice that were open to the media; the team listed him as a Did Not Participate, with a non-injury designation, each day. On Friday, the Texans ruled Watson out against the Jaguars, listing him with a non-injury designation. This could be the standard operating procedure throughout the season, unless Watson is moved before the Nov. 2 trade deadline, a possibility NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Sunday morning. The quarterback wasn’t seen during the Texans’ home preseason game and did not travel with the team to its two road preseason games. Watson was not present Sunday at NRG Stadium during Houston’s win over Jacksonville. So, with the 2021 season now officially underway, nothing has changed — and nothing will likely change for at least several weeks.

For now, Watson is a member of the Texans, and he is not their starting quarterback. That job has been Taylor’s since the start of training camp. As it was recently put to me by Reid, “We get the question every day. I don’t think the answer is really ever going to change much.”

TENNESSEE

At NFL.com, ex-QB David Carr is concerned about what he saw with the Titans in Week 1:

While the quarterback is my main concern in Green Bay, there are several issues that give me pause in Tennessee. First, let’s look at two key offseason losses in former offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and tight end Jonnu Smith.

Arthur Smith, now head coach of the Falcons, elevated the Titans’ offense in every way, routinely getting the most out of quarterback Ryan Tannehill. In Smith’s first year as Titans OC in 2019, Tannehill led the league in passing yards per attempt (9.6) and passer rating (117.5), before posting another 100-plus rating and a career-high 33 passing TDs in 2020. Tannehill never finished a season with a passer rating higher than 93.5 during six years in Miami. As for Jonnu Smith (now with the Patriots), he was an essential part of the Titans’ success in the run game and play-action last season. His absence was certainly felt on Sunday, as the Titans accumulated a measly 86 rushing yards and used play-action on just 7.3 percent of dropbacks against the Cardinals, per Next Gen Stats, after utilizing it on an NFL-high 34.4 percent of dropbacks in 2020.

There are some concerns about first-year coordinator Todd Downing’s system and the entire unit looking slow. It’s very old-school and more traditional now — Smith’s system was old-school but had more creative flare in the passing game with play-action — with a bruising running back and a one-two punch at wide receiver in A.J. Brown and Julio Jones. You’d expect defenses to load the box against Derrick Henry and leave either Brown or Jones in a one-on-one situation downfield, which feels like an extremely promising situation for the Titans. This is the approach the Cardinals took Sunday, but their defensive front absolutely wrecked Tennessee’s O-line. They won at the line of scrimmage and completely took away Henry, who had 58 yards on 17 carries. In the passing game, they pressured Tannehill on 41.5 percent of dropbacks, with Chandler Jones torching Taylor Lewan all game long, racking up five sacks and two forced fumbles by game’s end. And when Titans receivers were in favorable matchups, they didn’t often win them. Julio Jones showed us what the Falcons most likely already knew before trading him this offseason — he’s lost a step in his 11th season.

The issues along the offensive line, an aging Julio and a system that looked stale leads me to think these offensive woes could linger deep into the season.

BUFFALO

After letting the unvaccinated in for Week 1, the Bills (apparently at the behest of Erie County) now won’t let you watch them play in person unless you are vaccinated.  Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com:

Buffalo Bills ownership has announced a new policy that will require all fans to be vaccinated to attend games at Highmark Stadium and KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, this season.

Pegula Sports & Entertainment, along with Erie County, announced Tuesday afternoon that beginning with the Sept. 26 game against the Washington Football Team, all fans ages 12 and up must have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot in order to attend. That rule will expand to requiring all attendees over the age requirement to be fully vaccinated starting with the October 31 game vs. the Miami Dolphins.

Masks will no longer be required for those above the age of 12 once the new policy is in place.

“If you do not want to get vaccinated … that does not give you a right to go to a football game or a hockey game,” Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz said. “If you want to go to the games, get vaccinated.”

Poloncarz cited that this past week the county saw the highest number of positive COVID-19 cases since April.

While evidence of fans failing to comply with the indoor mask policy at the stadium during the Week 1 game against Pittsburgh circulated, that is not the direct reason why the new policy is being implemented. Poloncarz said that it did, however, make it “necessary,” and that this decision would hopefully prevent the county from having to limit attendance numbers, as they did last year.

There will be a number of ways for fans to prove they are vaccinated, but photos or copies of vaccine cards will not be accepted. The physical vaccination card, New York state Excelsior Pass, clear digital vaccine cards and government digital vaccine proof from outside New York state will all be accepted.

The Bills become the fourth NFL team to ask fans to be fully vaccinated if they want to attend, joining three other teams: New Orleans, Seattle and Las Vegas. The Saints and Seahawks also recognize a negative test for admittance, while the Raiders do not.

THIS AND THAT

REPLAY UPDATE

Walt Anderson is now in charge of the replay reviews, and the early returns show he is inclined to let the call on the field stand.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Although there were no major controversies from the NFL’s new instant replay system in Week One, there was a case in which a head coach got conflicting information as the New York replay command center reviewed a play.

That coach was Denver’s Vic Fangio, who says he was first told that the Broncos would be getting the ball back because a replay appeared to show the Giants did not recover a Broncos fumble, but then told that the final decision would be to let the call on the field of a Giants recovery stand.

Broncos tight end Albert Okwuegbunam fumbled and Giants safety Logan Ryan recovered along the sideline. Replay appeared to show that Ryan was already out of bounds, however, before he had possession of the ball, which would have meant the ball stayed with the Broncos.

Fangio says the officials first told him that he could send the Broncos’ offense back on the field because the replay showed the Giants had not recovered the ball inbounds. But the officials then informed him that the final verdict from New York was to let the play stand.

“They first told me — and you guys probably saw that they were talking to me the whole way — they first told me it’s going be our ball,” Fangio said, via the Broncos’ website. “They were just figuring out where to exactly place it and the timing element of it, and then he came back and said, ‘You’re not going to like this.’ The head guy in New York came in and said, ‘Let it stand,’ and the head guy overruled the first guy’s verdict on it.”

The “head guy in New York” Fangio referenced is former NFL referee Walt Anderson. Although others in the officiating office work on replay reviews, especially when multiple games are going on at once, Anderson is the head guy.

Anderson’s decision to let the ruling on the field stand — as well as his decision to let the ruling on the field stand on a crucial Dalvin Cook fumble in the Vikings’ loss to the Bengals — suggests that Anderson is going to defer to the call on the field unless there’s clear and obvious evidence that the call was wrong. That’s what the replay standard is supposed to be, even if Fangio wasn’t a fan of the way it was communicated to him in one particular case.

And why is Anderson in charge with the assistance of a former coach?  Because the NFL was willing to sacrifice 20 or years of replay experience in order to comply with a vaccine mandate/because the vice president of replay was unwilling to take one for the league team.

Ben Austro of Pro Football Zebras:

The offseason turmoil in the replay area of the officiating department continues, as vice president of replay Russell Yurk has formally taken an elective administrative leave. Yurk has been away from replay during the preseason, and apparently was reassigned “within the officiating group.” It follows last month’s announcement that Al Riveron retired from senior vice president of officiating (with sole focus on the replay area) just hours before the first preseason game.

Seven officiating sources have told Football Zebras that Yurk has declined to be vaccinated for covid-19, with one source characterizing the fact as “widely known among the officiating staff.” The league has mandated vaccination of all employees and game staff (players and coaching staff excepted). While some clock operators and chain crew personnel have decided to resign over the vaccine mandate — technically, they are hired on one-year contracts — Yurk is apparently stepping aside for the season with a path to return to work.

None of those sources could say whether Yurk’s leave of absence is correlated to whether or not Yurk was vaccinated. But all believed it was the reason why he was not present in the centralized replay center during preseason games in the first place.

The replay officiating staff was informed of Yurk’s status Saturday in a memo from senior vice president of officiating administration Perry Fewell, which Football Zebras obtained a copy.

Good afternoon,

As of September 11, 2021 Russell Yurk has elected to take administrative leave until further notice. The Officiating Department will utilize Eugene Cunningham, Ernie Frantz, Frank Szczepanik, and Sean McKee as points of contact for replay administrative issues until further notice. The Officiating department has distributed Russell’s responsibilities appropriately. Walt [Anderson], Wayne [Mackie], and Perry [Fewell] are available to answer questions regarding scheduling, replay related plays, training, rule interpretations, and work related inquiries.

We look forward to a successful 2021 season and appreciate all the work you do.

Perry Fewell

Cunningham is a former replay assistant and Frantz is a retired replay official and have been working as trainers in the replay area. Szczepanik is in charge of the on-site game day assistants that are hired by the officiating department, such as replay communicators and clock operators. McKee has worked for years as a technical operator in the centralized replay area, but now works in the football data and analytics area. Judging by this memo, McKee is temporarily returning to the officiating department and according to one source has been in the centralized replay command center during preseason. Mackie was the former vice president of officiating development, and since Anderson has been hired to a broader development role as senior vice president, Mackie has been working as a supervisor and trainer.

With the manpower being assigned, including three former employees, and a vacuum in the replay leadership, there is obviously some scrambling going on in the officiating department immediately before the first Sunday of regular season football.