1. You know what? I’m glad Pro Football Focus gave Caleb Williams a hilariously low grade for his explosive and efficient Week 1 performance against the Carolina Panthers, in which he accounted for four touchdowns. I actually love the idea of Ben Johnson walking up to him at Halas Hall and being like, “You know they gave you a ‘D’ for that, right?” Let him go ahead and think that’s a bad game he has to get better from. Because if that was just “meh” from him, I can’t wait to see what the rest of this
year looks like.
2. If there’s one thing Jacoby Brissett is going to do, it’s win a Week 1 start against a team he has absolutely no business beating. Seriously, I’ve seen him do it twice now in the last three seasons: first with the Patriots against the Joe Burrow-led Bengals in 2024 and now against the Justin Herbert-led Chargers this year as a member of the Cardinals. Now, you can count on that being one of just a handful of wins for Arizona this year. They simply do not have the horses to be good this year. But if you’re wondering why really good backup quarterbacks stay employed forever and occasionally get extended looks as starters, Brissett is a perfect example of why. For one game, he can do stuff like that.
3. Speaking of…I thought the Minnesota Vikings were completely screwed when Kyler Murray went down with a concussion against Green Bay, but Carson Wentz proved me extremely wrong. My most recent memory of Wentz is him playing (poorly) with one arm hanging from its socket by one strip of duct tape, so perhaps I just didn’t have the measure of what he can still do. But watching him lead that second-half comeback against the Packers (and hearing my Wisconsin friend being so pissed about it he could barely discuss it) was almost as satisfying as watching the U.S. Women’s FIBA team put belt to some baguette-eating ass in Berlin. Apparently, GB hasn’t left division-losing choke jobs in 2025.
4. We won’t know for a while if this iteration of the Kansas City Chiefs is truly a contender again with this version of Patrick Mahomes. (Maybe Bo Nix just felt like crapping the bed tonight. Who knows?) But something about watching Mahomes scamper to the end zone, Travis Kelce put up 71 receiving yards at age 72, and Kenneth Walker eat the Broncos defense for lunch made it feel like they’re at least ready to make the playoffs again—even if just for one week. Which…don’t know how to feel about that. Giving Mahomes a run game opponents have to respect is kind of unfair. If he gets back to completing passes again—and he will—things might get uncomfortable in that division.
5. My question of the week for y’all to answer below: how old would Derrick Henry have to be before you felt comfortable enough to step in front of him when he has a full head of steam? I’m not sure if the answer can realistically be younger than 60. Every time you think he’s lost a step, he pops out with 130 yards and three TDs to remind you who the king is. The only question is whether he plays long enough to go for all the records or not. Wouldn’t put it past him. That dude is made of vibranium. Oh yeah, his teammate is pretty good, too. One week into the Declan Doyle experience, one wonders if the Ravens’ offense with Lamar Jackson has a chance to be as electric as Chicago’s. (Did I just type that sentence?)
6. I originally thought the Cleveland Browns would give Deshaun Watson five games or so before giving way to Shedeur Sanders purely for financial reasons. And yes, Browns head coach Todd Monken has committed to Watson for Week 2 against Tampa Bay. But after that drubbing at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars, that clock is ticking. I don’t care what the counting stats (205 yards on 72% completions, 1 TD, 1 INT) say. Oh brother, this guy STINKS.
7. That Rams talk went from “super team” to “sucks to be y’all” real fast. I love Myles Garrett and respect his desire to tough things out and play through whatever was ailing him. But sometimes, you have to protect a player from himself—especially you invested that much in to bring him here. Now, Garrett’s out for at least four weeks as he gets his knee cleaned up, and you wonder how long it’ll take before he’s back to being himself. But at least you have Aaron Donald ready to turn it up in his absence, right? Well…maybe not yet. (Understandable, by the way. Don’t make the same mistake you just made with Garrett.) Also, asking a recently un-retired Donald to play a huge role on defense right off the bat wasn’t the plan. Ultimately, the Rams will likely be okay. They still have Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, and Kobie Turner, among other things. But getting washed by the 49ers in Week 1 and immediately losing their best player in the process was not the plan. Then again, that’s never the plan in the NFL.
8. Took me a while to get to this, but let’s talk about just how big an aberration the 791 points per game scored across all NFL season openers is as far as recency goes. The league hadn’t seen an opening weekend with that many points scored since 2021, the first year the season expanded to 17 games. Before then, 700+ points was a common occurrence. From 2022 to now, though? The league hasn’t seen more than 668 points in its first slate of games until Week 1 of this year. Such an interesting data point to add to the discussion about how teams handle having three preseason games, especially given that most teams don’t play their starting offenses much at all these days. Is the offensive element of surprise finally overtaking the rust? Is practice proving itself king over preseason games? Will that momentum continue once the season expands to 18 games?
9. I really hate to say. I really do. But I think the refs ultimately got the call on the overturned New Orleans Saints walk-off strip sack right. Chase Young makes contact with Jared Goff before he throws the football, but he doesn’t lose it until his arm moves forward as part of his throwing motion. By the letter of the law, that’s enough to constitute an attempted forward pass. Would’ve been great to see the Lions drop that one to the upstart Saints, but alas. Also, I respect Kellen Moore going for the win at the end rather than hoping for the tie. You’re a young team with a young quarterback against a good team. Screw going for the tie. You play to win the game. That decision gives your team more information and experience than simply trying not to lose. We’ll see if New Orleans keeps it up, but they might just have made the NFC South far more interesting.
10. His team might have won their first game of the season. But you’ll be hard-pressed to find many bigger losers in the NFL world over the past few weeks than Aaron Rodgers. I will not be elaborating. IYKYK.
