NFL Week 1 recap: Reaction & analysis (2024)

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Remember those run-defense concerns from the preseason?

They ought to be a distant memory after the San Francisco 49ers held the Pittsburgh Steelers, who averaged 122 rushing yards last season, to 41 yards on Sunday.

That’s largely due to the 20-0 lead the 49ers built in the first half. But like last season when no opposing rusher reached 100 yards, Pittsburgh also had little room to run. Najee Harris, for example, had a 24-yard gain in the second quarter. He averaged 1.4 yards on his five other attempts.

The 49ers played 68 snaps on offense and 63 on defense. And as they did for most of last season, they dominated the clock, holding onto the ball more than 15 minutes — more than a quarter — longer than the Steelers.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said cornerback Ambry Thomas was checked and cleared of a concussion, which meant the 49ers reported no injuries coming out of the game.

Here are the snap counts and other minutia from the 30-7 win.

Among the concerns for the Seattle Seahawks coming out of their 30-13 loss Sunday to the Los Angeles Rams is whether their defensive showing suggests the team is headed down a familiar path.

In recent years, Seattle’s defense has had a fatal flaw each season. In 2019, the passing defense was so troubling that Seattle had to swing a midseason trade for safety Quandre Diggs. In 2020, the pass rush was so rough that it necessitated a midseason trade for defensive end Carlos Dunlap. In 2021, it took about a month and a few personnel changes — inserting Ryan Neal, cutting Tre Flowers and promoting Tre Brown — before the pass defense came around. Defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. and secondary coach Andre Curtis were still fired after that season. Last season, the run defense was one of the worst in the league. There was no drastic midseason personnel move made, but the defensive line was overhauled in the offseason.

Basically, when it comes to Seattle’s defense recently, there’s always something drastically wrong. Players are shuffled in and out. The scheme shifts. Coaches are hired and fired. Still, there’s almost always something.

This was the type of game the Las Vegas Raiders let slip away far too often last year.

“We were just talking about that,” receiver Davante Adams said. “This type of game was the difference in our season last year.”

It was clear the Raiders belonged in their 17-16 win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday — neither team ever led by more than six points — but they weren’t able to take control of the game. That was largely due to a litany of avoidable errors that allowed the Broncos to hang around. Coming off a season where the Raiders lost nine games by one score or less, it felt like an eerily familiar sequence of events.

The Raiders committed 10 penalties for 97 yards. All six penalties committed on defense and special teams gave the Broncos automatic first downs. Of the four penalties on offense, three came in the red zone, which contributed to them scoring just 10 points on their first three trips inside the Denver 20.

“We were fighting through adversity the whole time,” running back Josh Jacobs said. “We were saying, ‘We’re playing this bad, but we’re still in the game.’ … That’s all we were trying to drive home, like, ‘Man, just finish it.'”

Rather than get bogged down by the missed opportunities, the Raiders ultimately seized the moment, displaying levels of composure and resiliency that were absent in Year 1 under coach Josh McDaniels.

Read more here.

Week 1 wraps up with the Jets hosting the Bills on Monday Night Football.

You can follow along with The Athletic's team of experts and insiders here for all the latest highlights, analysis and more.

“Return of the Mack” blared over the speakers of the Philadelphia Eagles’ locker room following their Week 1 victory, greeting the assembled media with the sound of a party. That’s pretty much how the season began, too, as a long, opening-drive field goal was followed by a Darius Slay pick six, then a forced turnover on the next New England Patriots play from scrimmage and a DeVonta Smith touchdown four plays later. With a 16-0 lead in the first quarter of the first game, the team that dominated the regular season in 2022 and came achingly close to a Super Bowl title looked very much back to run the show.

But just as it took about two minutes for an Eagles staffer to turn the volume way down on the speakers, the season-opening party on the field was quickly muted. The last three quarters of Sunday’s 25-20 win served as a reminder that these are not last year’s Eagles.

Read more here.

Andrew Thomas was one of the last Giants left in the locker room as an abysmal Sunday night nearly ticked into Monday morning.

The Giants’ highly paid left tackle, along with his fellow offensive linemen and anyone else who spoke this night, were tasked with trying to explain what had just happened. No easy task after the Giants were shut out by the Cowboys, 40-0, in the franchise’s worst loss in 50 years.

“It’s embarrassing to lose like that at home,” Thomas said.

Right tackle Neal offered the same sentiment minutes earlier.

“I feel horrible,” he said. “I feel embarrassed. I mean what do you expect, losing by 40 points?”

The collapse of the offensive line became the focal point in a game that was initially billed as one that would demonstrate the progress the Giants had made in closing the gap to their division rival, who had beaten the Giants twice last year. In particular, Neal was under the microscope with the idea that his offseason spent making necessary changes to his game would lead to better results against a Cowboys front that embarrassed him last season. Instead, over the course of four rainy, miserable quarters, the Cowboys made it abundantly clear the gap between the two teams had, if anything, grown larger.

Read more here.

Jonathan Taylor is on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform List due to a right ankle injury, so the star running back couldn't play in the Colts’ season-opening loss to the Jaguars on Sunday. But with a chance to watch his teammate and rookie QB Anthony Richardson make his NFL debut at Lucas Oil Stadium, Taylor was not visible on the sideline.

Colts head coach Shane Steichen confirmed Monday that Taylor wasn’t in the building.

“He wasn’t there,” Steichen said.

Second-year tight end Jelani Woods, who is on the Injured Reserve list due to a hamstring injury, was in attendance. He and Taylor will miss at least the first four games of the season as they rehab.

Taylor, 24, requested a trade in July after not being offered a contract extension as he enters the final season of his four-year rookie deal. Colts general manager Chris Ballard said the team allowed Taylor to seek a trade prior to the 53-man roster cut deadline Aug. 29, but he felt Indianapolis didn’t receive a suitable offer to part ways with the 2021 first-team All-Pro. Ballard left the door open for Taylor and the team to put their differences aside with the hope of Taylor resuming his career in Indianapolis, though Taylor has given no public indication that he’d be willing to do so without an extension.

The former rushing champ was plagued by a right ankle injury last season and underwent surgery in January. Taylor called the procedure a "perfect success," but he has not participated in an on-field team activity since the Colts lost at Minnesota last December.

Take all the other mistakes and push them aside.

The blocking gaffe that got a punt blocked and gave the New Orleans Saints a field goal. The false starts and pass protection mix-ups. The big plays the Tennessee Titans gave up on defense, and the 11-yard Jamaal Williams run right into the teeth of that gap-unsound defense on a third-and-4 — punishing Mike Vrabel’s decision to trust it with the game and sealing a 16-15 Saints victory Sunday at the Superdome.

Take the three Ryan Tannehill interceptions away, too. They looked awful and they awarded 10 more points to the Saints, but there was some chatter after the game that made it sound like miscommunications could have been involved. That’s a handy excuse for those who want to defend a quarterback. I’m not sure many folks outside the Titans facility want to do that right now, but whatever. Forget the picks.

If Tannehill makes just one throw that any professional quarterback must make on three gift-wrapped touchdowns, the Titans probably win. Hit a couple of them and there’s no doubt. I believe this performance — 16-for-34, 198 yards, the trifecta of giveaways, on a day of 2-for-12 on third down and 0-for-3 in the red zone, with a QB rating of 28.8 that’s as ugly as Bourbon Street after 3 a.m. — was his worst in a Titans uniform.

Read more here.

This day is historic for NFL overreactions, so we will temper any long-term projections but, dear lord, the Cowboys looked phenomenal on Sunday night in a 40-0 rout of the New York Giants. They played fast, scored fast and their defense looked like the grandchild of the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers. The rain pounding on NBC’s audio matched the pounding New York took in the swamps of New Jersey. The scary thing is the offense has room to grow.

We already know the NFL is a viewership machine every year. But it’s an interesting thought exercise to consider: What kind of viewership numbers will we see if Dallas is a legit juggernaut?

Here are 12 additional media thoughts (we’ll have some more on Tuesday) from the first weekend of the NFL season.

The worst-case scenario for the Chicago Bears in 2023 is not having an answer on their quarterback.

That answer wasn’t going to come in the season opener, but Sunday’s 38-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers had to be exactly what general manager Ryan Poles did not want.

It wasn’t what anyone connected with the Bears wanted, to lose that badly to their archrival after so much build-up. If quarterback Justin Fields had played well despite the loss, maybe there would be a different sentiment around town, similar to the 2022 losses.

Or heck, maybe if he was awful, fans would start circling USC and North Carolina games to watch this fall.

Instead, it was not good but not terrible — not ideal.

The Bears believe in Fields right now. They also will have the opportunity to take a quarterback in 2024 if they don’t have that same belief in four months.

Read more here.

Only one player drew praise from Bears head coach Matt Eberflus on Monday — rookie running back Roschon Johnson.

The fourth-round pick out of Texas wound up leading Bears running backs in snaps. He scored a rushing touchdown, had a punishing, 11-yard run, and led the team with six catches for 35 yards.

Eberflus was understandably frustrated Monday afternoon after going through the film of the 38-20 loss to the Packers with his team. A question about Johnson elicited a change in his tone of voice, as he was proud of how the rookie performed.

“Yeah I think he did a good job,” Eberflus said. “… He was in there at the very end and he was catching checkdowns and had a couple nice runs, but I certainly like his style. His style was really good, and that's what he is. He's a downhill, north(-south) guy, and he showed that yesterday. And he showed his physicality. He did that several times.”

The Bears rotated running backs pretty frequently. Johnson had the longest consecutive stretch thanks to being the two-minute back. Starter Khalil Herbert said “it’s different, but it’s something we’re still working on, trying to figure out.”

Among many issues the Bears had on offense on Sunday, it was apparent that they have to run the ball well to support Fields. Maybe Johnson will earn more reps in Week 2 in Tampa.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh confirmed shortly after his team's 25-9 win over the Houston Texans Sunday that J.K. Dobbins sustained a season-ending Achilles tear in the game. He said at the time that three other key starters, left tackle Ronnie Stanley, center Tyler Linderbaum and safety Marcus Williams would need MRIs to determine the severity of their injuries.

A day later, Harbaugh announced that Williams will be out "a while" with a pectoral tear and characterized both Stanley (knee sprain) and Linderbaum (ankle sprain) as "week-to-week." Harbaugh did sound skeptical that Stanley and Linderbaum will be ready for Sunday's road game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Williams, meanwhile, is consulting his options to determine the best course of action.

"It may not be a season-ender," Harbaugh said. "There are different options that he has."

The injuries come at a time when the Ravens are preparing to play three of their next four games on the road against divisional teams. Against the Texans, the Ravens were already without Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews (quad), top cornerback Marlon Humphrey (foot surgery on Aug. 16) and starting strong-side linebacker Tyus Bowser (knee). Bowser is on the reserve/non-football injury list and he's not eligible to return until Week 5. Harbaugh said that Andrews and Humphrey have a chance to return this week.

The price is only going up from here for Justin Jefferson.

Even before the Minnesota Vikings dropped their season opener to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, the typically euphoric first weekend of football in these parts was muted just a little when word spread that the Vikings and Jefferson had not agreed on a contract extension.

There wasn’t panic. There wasn’t dread. There wasn’t despair. There should not be any of those things for a team and player who have, by all accounts, had a respectful and open dialogue as they try to work through what is sure to be a record-breaking deal.

But, and there is always a but in situations like this, there was a justifiable curiosity hanging in the air at U.S. Bank Stadium all day. The Vikings organization has time and again come through with big-money deals for the core players it wants to keep around for the long term. There is even a bit of tradition around here that the opening week of a season is used to trumpet new contracts with the team’s most popular and important players. Tight end T.J. Hockenson essentially joined this group with his market-setting extension 10 days ago. That deal only seemed to increase the optimism that Jefferson would soon be getting his, tying an immensely popular player to the franchise for the long haul. It felt like a foregone conclusion.

And then, poof! Saturday, it was reported that the sides could not find enough common ground to complete the deal and that Jefferson would likely wait until after the season to resume negotiations.

Read more here.

Raiders WR Jakobi Meyers is in the concussion protocol after taking a big hit at the end of Sunday's game, coach Josh McDaniels said.

Jimmy Garoppolo wasn't sacked and was only hit three times in the pocket in the win over the Broncos. McDaniels praised the O-line and added, "People have always asked me over the years what my offensive philosophy is ...

"Protect the quarterback and give him a chance to make plays down the field."

Brian Daboll didn't get much sleep following the Giants' 40-0 season-opening loss to the Cowboys. After watching the tape, the coach said, "It's about what I expected. ... It's a lot of work that needs to be done."

Daboll highlighted the team's ball security and third down in the red zone, while also noting how things spiraled with each failed offensive possession. The coach didn't give any firm injury updates, saying he'd have them Wednesday.

The biggest question mark of the injured players is how Andrew Thomas fared. He injured his hamstring on the blocked FG but stayed in the game, only coming out in the fourth quarter. After the game, Thomas wasn't sure of the severity and added it was sore but stuck it out as long as he could. Daboll also didn't provide an update on kicker Graham Gano. The team is waiting on the results of Thomas and Gano as well as tackle Matt Peart.

Here are three interesting nuggets from TruMedia from the Bears’ ugly 38-20 loss against the Packers on Sunday.

1. The Packers defense was in zone coverage on 94 percent of its snaps against quarterback Justin Fields. Green Bay played man coverage on only one play.
2. The Packers defense also went after Fields. He was blitzed on 31.3 percent of his dropbacks. Green Bay totaled 26 pressures on Fields – or 54.2 percent of his dropbacks.
3. The Bears defense, on the other hand, generated only six pressures on Packers quarterback Jordan Love. The Bears blitzed Love on only 16.7 percent of his dropbacks.

Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins will not negotiate an extension with the franchise during the season and is expected to become a free agent this offseason, according to a league source. Here’s what you need to know:

• Cincinnati made Higgins an offer during the offseason but he declined the deal that a source described as “low.”
• Higgins, the Bengals’ 2020 second-round pick, has recorded two 1,000-yard receiving seasons and 19 touchdowns in three seasons.
• He finished Sunday’s loss to the Cleveland Browns with no catches on eight targets.

Read more here.