Future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers returns from his Achilles’ tear after only four snaps last season, superstar wide receiver Stefon Diggs dominates on a new team and number one overall pick Caleb Williams is off to a rough start, but these are only a few of the many things that have happened in an eventful week one of the NFL season.
Going against the Colts with his new team, the Houston Texans, Diggs had six catches on six targets with 33 receiving yards, but with a pair of touchdowns which played a crucial role in the Texans win over the Colts. Diggs wasn’t the only one that dominated week one either, as his teammate Joe Mixon played one of the best games of his career! The acclaimed running back had 30 rushing attempts with a monster 159 yards rushing on the ground. The cherry on top is that he also had a rushing touchdown with three catches for 19 yards. You must have won your fantasy matchup if you had Mixon on your roster!
Let’s move to teams that dominated in this first week with no other than the New Orleans Saints. If you want to talk about domination, then what the Saints did to the Panthers should definitely fit the bill. The Saints absolutely blew out the Panthers with a 47-10 statement win.
It wasn’t surprising that Diggs and Mixon dominated week one, as they were Pro Bowl-caliber players. So let’s talk about week one surprise performances. The biggest shocker had to be 49ers running back Jordan Mason’s performance against the Jets on Monday Night Football. Everyone was coming into this game expecting star player Christian McCafrey to start, but all of a sudden before kickoff we heard news that he would be out for the night’s game, which meant Mason, the backup running back, was next up. The Georgia Tech alumnus came into the game and dominated the Jets. He had 147 rushing yards on a wild 28 carries. He also rushed for a touchdown and had a catch for five yards. Nobody was expecting a backup running back to come in to fill in for a superstar running back in McCaffrey.
Another surprising performance would be the Ravens’ tight end, Isaiah Likely. In the season opener, he had nine receptions with 111 receiving yards. He also had a touchdown to cap it off. This was surprising because he’s second on the team to one of the league’s best tight ends: Mark Andrews. Not only did Likely outperform Andrews, but he almost had the game’s winning touchdown, which was overruled due to a toe being on the line.
“The Vikings’ Sam Darnold is off to a surprisingly good start,” St. Anthony High School student Jalue Dorjee (12) said. “The Saints with Derek Carr also shocked us with their blowout win against the Carolina Panthers.”
Unfortunately, the NFL did face a lot of injuries that occurred in week one. Some of the major injuries included Jordan Love, Puka Nacua, Jake Ferguson and Jordan Addison, just to name a few. Love has a medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprain which will take 3-6 weeks to recover. Nacua got a posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) sprain which landed him on injured reserve. Ferguson also suffered an MCL sprain, which means he’s expected to be out for a few weeks. Lastly, Addison has an ankle injury which is considered week to week.
Now, let’s talk about the off-the-field drama that has taken place during week one. Superstar wide receiver Ja’marr Chase is still seeking a record-breaking contract but decided to close his holdout and ended up playing against the Patriots. Chase was offered a deal that would make him tied with Justin Jefferson for the highest-paid wide receiver ever but ultimately declined the deal. Standout edge rusher Haason Reddick is still holding out ever since he got traded to the Jets as he is seeking a new contract. He ended up not playing against the 49ers, and for every game he doesn’t play he loses about $800,000 in game checks.
Week one was full of disappointing performances from players and teams too. Many fans believe that the biggest disappointment had to be Joe Burrow and his Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals’ offense led by Burrow only amassed 10 points against a Patriots defense, which would ultimately give them the loss. This was disappointing because the Patriots were heavy underdogs but traveled to Cincinnati and beat them on their home turf. Other major disappointments include the Browns’ offense, Amon Ra St. Brown, Marvin Harrison, Kirk Cousins, the Jets’ defense and many more.
“My week one disappointment is Deshaun Watson,” Ali Mohamoud (12) said. “When the Browns traded for him, they hoped that Watson was going to be that guy that would make them a serious Super Bowl contender. However, against the Cowboys, the Browns’ offense wasn’t able to do much as he threw two interceptions and had a completion percentage around 53%.”
After an amazing week one of the NFL, the rest of the season is looking to shape into one of the best seasons so far. How will the Ravens respond after their tough week one loss? Will the Packers collapse due to the loss of their quarterback Jordan Love? Will the Saints prove that week one wasn’t a fraud? Is Josh Allen able to keep the Bills’ offense alive? These are all questions that fans have and look forward to getting answers to going into the rest of the 2024 NFL Season!
