These Guys Are Pretty Good

Take away the fact that the Buffalo Bills committed 4 turnovers, they forced 3 via interception against the Los Angeles Rams. If you cut the turnovers in half to only two, the Bills absolutely dominated this matchup. The Rams had moments in the first half where they could have pulled away and taken command of the game. Buffalo was relentless in their pass rush though and totaled 7 sacks for the game. LA was shutout for the second half and Josh Allen might not have needed to make a statement in the first game, but his play sure seemed like he wanted to. What looked to be a good opening game matchup ended up being rather one-sided.

Now Is Not The Time To Panic. Yet

San Francisco, Cincinnati, New England, Arizona, Dallas and Green Bay were all playoff teams last season that suffered losses in Week 1. After only one game it is not time to panic for any of them. But that’s not to say that if you lose the next game or two that it will call for some concern at minimum. Green Bay is near the top of that list as they are considered the best team in the NFC North going into this season. Even with the loss of WR Davante Adams, they have QB Aaron Rodgers coming off a fourth MVP season. If rookie WR Christian Watson catches that wide open throw from Rodgers early in the game against Minnesota, that game changes dramatically. The Vikings were consistent on offense and the defense put Rodgers on the ground four times. The Packers don’t need to panic, but that wasn’t a good sign going forward.

Worst Final Drive, Ever

The Denver Broncos new head coach Nathaniel Hackett hasn’t been a head coach in the NFL until now. What he showed in the Broncos final drive on Monday night in Seattle has me wondering how he got the job? Denver had all three of their timeouts with a little under a minute to go in the game. It was 4th and 5 at Seattle’s own 46-yard line. Denver is down by one point and all they need is a field goal. Their kicker, Brandon McManus does have a career long made field goal of 61-yards. That was converted last year indoors against the LA Chargers. This was in Seattle outdoors in the elements. The clock is ticking and ticking and ticking. You traded away a fair amount of assets to get QB Russell Wilson, but yet you decide to try a 64-yard field goal with McManus? Name me one other head coach who would do this? Again they had all 3 of their timeouts and finally took one with 20 seconds left in the game. Seattle calls a timeout to ‘ice’ McManus who had the distance, but missed it to the left. I get that if you don’t convert the 4th down play, the game is over right then and there without getting a chance to win it when you’re only down by one point. But in that moment, 100 times out of 100 you have a much better chance of converting on 4th and 5 than you do a 64-yard field goal. I’m not a Denver fan, but good grief that is how you end the first game of the season? Yikes.