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NFL Week 1 Sunday Winners and Losers: Sam Darnold, Josh Allen Shine, Bryce Young, Deshaun Watson Fall

JamesMcGheeBy No Comments5 Mins Read
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NFL Week 1 Sunday Winners and Losers: Sam Darnold, Josh Allen Shine, Bryce Young, Deshaun Watson Fall originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The NFL season is underway.

After a pair of exciting games Thursday and Friday to kick off the season, the rest of the league kicked off the first Sunday of football in 2024.

The opening games were very exciting, with six of the eight games decided by a single score.

Later games were mostly one-sided, with the exception of Denver Broncos giving the The Seattle Seahawks a late scare.

Here are the winners and losers of Sunday’s matches:

Loser: Bill Belichick

THE New England Patriots didn’t seem capable of doing anything right in 2023. In the first week of 2024, the scenario was reversed.

Led by new head coach Jerod Mayo, the Patriots traveled to Cincinnati and pulled off an upset Joe Burrow‘s Bengals 16-10. New EnglandThe Bengals’ defense was the star of the show, holding the Bengals to just 224 total yards and forcing two turnovers.

Although it’s only one game, Belichick will certainly be criticized after seeing his former team perform so well without him. The roster is largely unchanged from last season, save for a quarterback change to Jacoby BrissettThe veteran completed 15 of 24 passes for 121 yards in Sunday’s victory, while mostly taking care of the ball.

Upon his return to MetLife Stadium, the former New York Jets first-round pick dismantled the New York Giants.

Darnold led the Minnesota Vikings to an easy 28-6 victory, completing 19 of 24 passes for 208 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

The 27-year-old quarterback’s career has been rocky so far, having played for four teams since being drafted in 2018. But he now finds himself in the best situation of his career with head coach Kevin O’Connell and the star receiver. Justin JeffersonMaybe 2024 will be the year he pulls it all out.

The second year of the Bryce Young era looked a lot like the first on Sunday.

Last year’s first overall pick struggled mightily in Week 1, completing 13 of 30 passes for 161 yards and two interceptions in a 47-10 blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints.

THE Carolina Panthers The Red Sox entered the 2024 season with renewed hope that a revamped coaching staff and offensive line could help Young turn things around. So far, even based on a single-game sample, it doesn’t appear that anything has changed.

Winner: NFL Dynamic Kickoff

The NFL has completely changed the way it schedules kickoffs in 2024, and the results are already showing.

Cardinals running back DeeJay Dallas returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the second half of Sunday’s loss to the Invoices. While one touchdown isn’t crazy, there were only four kick return touchdowns in total 18 weeks last season.

Winner: Simone Biles

The GOAT of gymnastics keeps winning.

Fresh out of a busy day Paris Olympic Games With three gold medals for Biles, her husband had exciting beginnings for the The Chicago Bears.

Jonathan Owens Owens recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown in the third quarter of Chicago’s XX-XX win-loss, the first score of the safety’s career. Owens, who has now played for four teams since going undrafted in 2018, is off to a strong start in the Windy City after spending last year with the rival Packers.

Losers: Falcons fans

THE Pittsburgh Steelers And Atlanta Falcons The game was in Georgia on Sunday, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the game.

Terrible bath towels infiltrated Mercedes-Benz Stadium and took over the home of the Falcons. Pittsburgh fans helped their team to an 18-10 victory over the Falcons after a sloppy defensive battle.

Falcons’ New QB Kirk Cousins was rusty in his debut, finishing with just 155 passing yards and two interceptions. For the Steelers, Justin Fields Replacing the injured Russell WilsonHe took care of the ball and let his kicker and defense do the heavy lifting as the Steelers cruised to an opening-day victory.

The Buccaneers have had a blazing start to the year, with Baker Mayfield at the heart of it. In Tampa Bay’s 37-20 win over the Washington CommandersMayfield led the way with 24 of 30 completions for 289 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. It was his fifth career game with at least four passing touchdowns.

Chris Godwin led the way with eight receptions for 83 yards and a score while the star Mike Evans He had five receptions for 61 yards and two touchdowns.

On the other hand, the Commanders’ rookie QB Jayden Daniels Daniels rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns on 16 attempts while completing 17 of 24 passes for 184 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions.

The Browns may have a quarterback problem…and a costly one at that. Watson struggled mightily in a tough 33-17 loss at Dallas Cowboyscompleting 24 of 45 passes for 169 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

But what’s most worrying are some stats Watson shared in the first half alone:

The Cowboys have a solid defense and it hasn’t helped ClevelandWatson’s running game didn’t provide balance, but Watson’s streak of inconsistent or mediocre performances dates back to when he joined the team.

He’s still under contract through 2026 and makes $46 million a year in base salary, but it gets more expensive over his final two seasons. There’s a lot of work to do if Watson ever wants to get his job back. Houston form.

However Justin Herbert didn’t shine on the stat sheet with passing yards, he didn’t really need to. With JK Dobbins moving into the backfield, Herbert got some much-needed help spreading the offensive load. Dobbins, who dealt with multiple serious injuries while with the Baltimore Ravenshad a 10-carry, 135-yard rushing performance with a touchdown in a 22-10 victory over the The Las Vegas Raiders.

THE Los Angeles Chargers He still lacks depth at receiver, but it will be important for Dobbins to stay healthy and play like that.

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