NFL Week 1 Recap: New Season, Who Dis?

As the man in the photo often shouts before the ball is snapped, "HERE WE GOOOO!!!"

NFL Sunday. It's basically a holiday that comes once a week for 18 straight weeks, not counting playoffs. I've enjoyed NFL Sunday since I was a little boy, and I'm barely old enough to remember when all of the core games took place on Sunday, followed by the Monday game. The Sunday action is usually divided into three time slots; the early window (1PM EST), the late window (4:05PM/4:25PM EST), and Sunday Night Football (8:20PM EST). Usually, it's 14 Sunday games played, but in this, the first NFL Sunday of the 2024 season, it was 13 games played.

As I stated before, 15 Black QBs started on Week 1--an NFL record. 11 of them started on Sunday, and one of them received a massive payday hours before kickoff. Dak Prescott had been a topic of conversation for months, as he had yet to receive a new deal. Even when the overall season began, no deal was done. Finally, as the pregame show commenced, the news broke: a four-year deal worth $240 million. The highest paid player in the league. So the deal was done, and now, down to business.

The Dallas Cowboys began their season in Cleveland against the Browns, and, well, the game was over before it started. Dallas absolutely trounced the Browns. The final score was 33-17, but it was much worse than that beforehand. Dak threw for 179 and a TD, he didn't have to do much, mainly because of the real waste of money in this game: DeShaun Watson. Watson absolutely sucked. 169 yards, a TD, and two picks. That contract is looking worse and worse with every shitty performance.

What else took place during that game? Oh yeah, I forgot:

Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Brady, the talking head. This game marked the official debut of Tom Brady as a color analyst on the NFL on Fox. In fact, Brady's one half of Fox's A-team with Kevin Burkhardt. Now, a lot of people thought Brady's first game on the mic was, well, disastrous. As for me, well, I'll say this. Could Brady have been better? Yes. But was he as bad as people say? Honestly, no. He did his best. I mean, this is new to him. Did anyone honestly expect Brady to pick this up at the snap of a finger? I think he'll get the hang of this as the season progresses, but for his sake, he better. Remember: Fox has the Super Bowl this year, which means that Brady will be on the call with Burkhardt.

We were already treated to the first upset of the season, and it was a big one: the New England Patriots went into Cincinnati and defeated the Bengals, 16-10. Holy schnike! Bengals fans had to be excited entering this season. They were without Joe Burrow for the rest of the season, and even though they missed the playoffs, they finished at 9-8. Burrow was back, but his performance was just terrible. The Patriots shut them down, and as a result, the team who won four games last year, now has 25% of that win total already. Major congratulations to Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo, who picked up his first win as NFL head coach, and against a big time contender as well!

The Pittsburgh Steelers had to wait to start Russell Wilson, as he had a calf injury, leading to Justin Fields taking the helm. However, the game ended up not being about either of the two quarterbacks, but about their kicker, Chris Boswell, who ended up providing all of the team's offense. Six field goals, 18 points. Stunningly, that ended up being enough, as the Steelers won, 18-10 over the Atlanta Falcons, who debuted Kirk Cousins as their new QB. It was not a shining start for Cousins, and as for the Steelers, they capitalized big time, as they were the only AFC North team to win this week.

So I guess all it takes to be deemed as a top tier QB is beating a dead weight Arizona Cardinals team. That's what Josh Allen did, after trailing by a whole lot against said team. Meanwhile, his former meal ticket, I mean receiver, Stefon Diggs scored twice to help the Houston Texans win over the Indianapolis Colts. But let's throw a parade for Josh Allen, right? Let's get one thing straight: the fact that he had to come back against one of the worst teams in the league proves that Allen's a fraud. Yet he's getting put on a huge pedestal for this. I swear, if Lamar had a game exactly like this, he'd be buried for "struggling against a weak team."

The rest of the early window included Caleb Williams' coming out party; it was shaky, but he ended up getting the win over the Tennessee Titans. The Minnesota Vikings blasted the hapless New York Giants, and the same can be said regarding the New Orleans Saints' 47-10 win over the Carolina Panthers. Poor Panthers. That team really is a disaster. In Miami, the Dolphins defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars in the final seconds, though the game was marred by a very ugly occurrence prior to kickoff, as Tyreek Hill was physically harassed by racist cops over a speeding incident. Yikes.

The late window saw Bo Nix make his NFL debut, and I read all of the stories. Broncos fans were happy, they have their QB. They pumped him up from the very second he was drafted, yet all it took was Nix throwing for 138 and two interceptions for Broncos fans to turn of him. It's Week 1! I'm pretty sure it was just a case of Opening Week jitters, and nothing more. Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Chargers defeated the Las Vegas Raiders, 22-10, to give Jim Harbaugh his first win with the Bolts, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers trounced the Washington Commanders.

It didn't take long for us to receive overtime this season, and it would come on the first official Sunday Night telecast of the season. The Los Angeles Rams faced the Detroit Lions in a rematch of last year's NFC Wild Card contest, and it was hotly contested just like that playoff matchup. The Rams trailed by quite a bit, but they would catch up and take the lead late. A three point lead that was gone once the Lions tied it up with a chip shot field goal, and just like that, we had overtime. Remember, though: that overtime change is only for playoff games. Regular season overtime still ends with an opening drive touchdown, and that's what happened. Lions won the toss, got the ball, and never looked back. David Montgomery's one-yard touchdown sealed a 26-20 overtime win over the Rams.

It took an extra year, but we finally saw play #5. Aaron Rodgers received a second chance at a first impression as QB for the New York Jets, and it came on a Monday Night in Santa Clara against the San Francisco 49ers. As a Packers fan, I was hoping to see Rodgers overcome his "kryptonite"--Santa Clara--but despite a game effort, it was not to be. At least we saw Rodgers' first TD pass as a Jet, and it was the old Packers connection to Allen Lazard. The Niners had to play without Christian McCaffrey, as he was a last second injury scratch, but it didn't matter, as the Niners won 32-19.

And I have to mention this, the news regarding Jordan Love. It's an MCL sprain. Not season-ending. 3-6 weeks out, though the Packers are hopeful that he only misses no more than a month. So we'll see how that goes week-by-week. The Packers were one of three 2023 playoff teams who lost on Opening Week; the Ravens and Rams are the other two. Of the sixteen 1-0 teams, six of them missed the playoffs last year (Patriots, Bears, Vikings, Saints, Seahawks, Chargers).

Week 2 begins with the beginning of Amazon Prime's third year of Thursday Night Football, and it will be an AFC East battle between the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins. On Sunday Night Football, the Houston Texans will host the Chicago Bears, and on Monday Night Football, the Philadelphia Eagles will host the Atlanta Falcons.

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Check out my recaps about the first two games of the 2024 NFL season!