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NFL 2018 Week 1 Recap: Heroics of Aaron Rodgers lead an action-packed week

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By: Jonathan Goad

Week 1 in the NFL is always an exciting time of year. Every team figures out their identity for the season. Sometimes that’s a good thing. Other times, it could be a bit surprising — like this season.

Here’s what we’ve learned after one week of NFL football.

Atlanta Falcons 12

Philadelphia Eagles 18

For starters, we still do not know what a catch is — so there’s that. Poor Julio.

This was not the shootout that many people expected. Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles got the win but was anything but exciting. The high-powered Falcons offense never took flight with Julio Jones being the exception.

Thanks to Jay Ajayi’s two touchdown performance the Eagles avoided the Super Bowl hangover, but just barely. Let’s hope both teams get more entertaining in Week 2.

Tennessee Titans 20

Miami Dolphins 27

The Titans couldn’t overcome Marcus Mariota’s injury or Delanie Walker’s for that matter. Ryan Tannehill continues to show flashes of what the Dolphins thought he would be when they drafted him. Can he consistently perform well? Time will tell.

The ageless Frank Gore outperformed Kenyan Drake. Kenny Stills rewarded the fantasy players who took a chance on him.

The Dolphins may have also found the running back of their future.

San Francisco 49ers 16

Minnesota Vikings 24

Jimmy Garoppolo finally lost a game, and the Vikings are still good. Kirk Cousins had a nice first game in purple and is hooked on a Thielen. Dalvin Cook made his return from a season-ending knee injury ended up with 95 total yards. Expect him to get better. The Niners didn’t have much to write home about. SKOL!

Houston Texans 20

New England Patriots 27

Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski did Brady and Gronk things. It also looks like Phillip Dorsett might be the wide receiver to own in fantasy football. The Texans made things interesting late but couldn’t fight all the way back from a 21-6 halftime deficit. Although, Lamar Miller looks like he might be a fantasy football contributor. He’s probably just getting your hopes up.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48

New Orleans Saints 40

One of the biggest surprises in Week 1 was Ryan Fitzmagic leading the Bucs to a division win over the Saints. Wasn’t New Orleans defense supposed to be better this season? Guess not. This was all Fitzpatrick vs. Drew Brees. Both threw for over 400 yards and at least three TDs (Fitz threw 4 TDs).

Mike Evans and Desean Jackson had very nice games, as did Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara of New Orleans. For the owners that started the above-mentioned names, this was a dream come true and likely a week one victory.

Jacksonville Jaguars 20

New York Giants 15

Saquon Barkley had a nice debut with 106 rushing yards on only 18 carries and scored his first career touchdown against arguably the best defense in the league. Not too shabby, kid.

Odell Beckham Jr. also won the matchup between him and Jalen Ramsey. Eleven catches for 111 yards for OBJ, yet Ramsey is still yacking his gums.

All that wasn’t enough as the Jags did just enough to come away with a win.

Keep an eye on Leonard Fournette. He’s battling a hamstring injury.

Cincinnati Bengals 34

Indianapolis Colts 23

This game came down to the wire. A late touchdown on a fumble recovery proved to be the difference. Dalton took the victory in the battle of the Andrew’s (Andy’s). Luck returned to the field after an over a year-long absence. He picked up right where he left off completing at least three passes to seven different receivers. Joe Mixon solidified his spot as the lead back in Cincinnati. A.J. Green is still A.J. Green.

Pittsburgh Steelers 21

Cleveland Browns 21

The Browns losing streak is over! Cleveland is off to their best start since 2004. Yep, with a tie. Six turnovers ruined nice days from JuJu, AB, and James Conner. Pittsburgh doesn’t need Le’Veon Bell. Josh Gordon even made an appearance. Tying in sports is still stupid, though.

Buffalo Bills 3

Baltimore Ravens 47

The Bills might be the worst team in the league. They started Nathan Peterman at quarterback. If you don’t remember him, he’s the guy who threw five first-half interceptions in his first start. Guess what he did? He threw two more and was then benched for rookie Josh Allen, who wasn’t much better.

Hot Take: Joe Flacco is elite…against bad teams.

Kansas City Chiefs 38

Los Angeles Chargers 28

Does anyone else still refer to the Chargers as the San Diego Chargers? Every time I type or say their name I start with San, then have to correct myself. It’s frustrating. But I digress…

Tyreek Hill is fast. Patrick Mahomes can sling it. Philip Rivers is still a good quarterback. Defense? Who said anything about defense?

Washington Redskins 24

Arizona Cardinals 6

The Redskins surprised me with their defeat of the Cardinals. Alex Smith proved last season wasn’t a fluke. Adrian Peterson led the team in rushing yards and receiving yards.

Apparently, he’s still outstanding. David Johnson made his highly anticipated return to the field but just had an okay day. Sixty-seven total yards and a touchdown was less than I was hoping for.

Dallas Cowboys 8

Carolina Panthers 16

Another snooze-fest. Dallas isn’t very good with Ezekiel Elliott being the exception. Cam Newton ran the ball well, and he did just enough throwing the ball (no turnovers) to win the game.

Seattle Seahawks 24

Denver Broncos 27

This Super Bowl XLVIII rematch six turnovers but also six touchdowns. Case Keenum made his Broncos debut and played fairly well except for his three picks. He chose Emmanuel Sanders as his favorite receiver, but Demaryius Thomas was a close second.

Two Denver running backs had identical numbers. Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay both rushed 15 times for 71 yards. Weird.

Chicago Bears 23

Green Bay Packers 24

Aaron Rodgers is incredible. He left with a knee injury only to return and complete an improbable comeback. Khalil Mack proved he was worth the two first-round picks that Chicago sent Oakland. He proved to be an issue for the Packers and was even involved in the Rodgers injury.

Chicago led 20-0 before Superman returned. Rodgers threw three touchdown passes on one leg. Randall Cobb played like the Randall Cobb of old. This was the game of the week and potential game of the year.

New York Jets 48

Detroit Lions 17

Sam Darnold got his career started off about as bad as you can with a pick-six…

but he later regained form and helped with the victory. Detroit tied the game at 17 early in the third quarter. The Jets answered that score with 31 straight points, all in the same quarter. J-E-T-S! JETS! JETS! JETS!

Los Angeles Rams 33

Oakland Raiders 13

The Raiders led 13-10 at halftime but forgot to come out of the locker room for the second half. Todd Gurley played like a man among boys — or “gurls.” Jared Cook had a career day for the Raiders, but I doubt he was in very many fantasy lineups.

Amari Cooper continued to disappoint everyone. I bet Khalil Mack would have helped the Raiders in the one.

So what did we learn?

Next Post: Fantasy Football: What We Know After Week 1

  1. Week 1 of the NFL regular season is an always will be unpredictable. The good teams are still good, for the most part.
  2. Zero percent of all mankind would have bet on the Jets and Buccaneers scoring the most points this week with 48.
  3. The Steelers don’t need Le’Veon Bell, but they do need to take care of the ball.
  4. Khalil Mack is worth the money.
  5. Aaron Rodgers is a superhero.
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