Today’s NFL

On one side of the field, the Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert threw for 229 yards and one touchdown. On the other, Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa threw for 466 yards and three touchdowns. The Chargers nearly had two running backs, Austin Ekeler and Joshua Kelley, rush for over 100 yards. Kelley was 9 yards shy of that mark. Ultimately what this offensive output came down to was who would put pressure on the opposing quarterback. Miami did that on the Chargers final drive when all they needed was a field goal to potentially win the game. It didn’t help that Los Angeles couldn’t cover WR Tyreek Hill who caught 11 passes for 215 yards and 2 touchdowns. It also didn’t help that the Chargers committed a stupid pass interference penalty before halftime to give Miami a bonus 3-points on a field goal. Welcome to the 2023 NFL season.

A Tale Of Two New York Teams

Both New York teams played in prime time for Week 1. First up was the New York Giants who hosted their division rivals, the Dallas Cowboys. I tune out about half way through the 3rd quarter, but truthfully the game was over before halftime. Dallas was not impressive by any stretch offensively, but they didn’t have to be when their defense caused 3 turnovers and sacked the quarterback 7 times. For the Giants sake, they are fortunate that their next opponent is the Arizona Cardinals. For the New York Jets, they played host to the Buffalo Bills on Monday night. On the fourth play of the game, QB Aaron Rodgers went down with was reported at the time as an ankle injury. It ended up being far worse as it was announced the next day as a season ending achilles injury. In stepped QB Zach Wilson, the former 2nd overall pick in 2021. The offense was being extremely cautious in their approach, but they were effective in running the ball with RB Breece Hall rushing for 127 yards on 10 carries. Wilson did make some key throws down the stretch in the 4th quarter, including the game tying touchdown pass to WR Garrett Wilson. It also helped the Jets cause when Bills QB Josh Allen committed 4 turnovers (3 INT, 1 fumble). Both New York teams didn’t have things go as they planned, but one got the victory and the other was smacked in the mouth.

A Lot Of Rust

I don’t think I’m the only one who believes that the play from Week 1 was not up to par like in years past. This isn’t to take away from what many defense’s accomplished and there were some impressive performances. Cleveland stifling Bengals QB Joe Burrow to less than 100 yards passing. San Francisco putting on a clinic in Pittsburgh. Dallas shutting out the New York Giants. Just as an observation it seemed to me that a lot of players looked like they hadn’t practiced a single rep in training camp. Put on any pads at any point in time since last season. Or participated in any meaningful preseason action of any kind. Am I the only one? Well, this is what the players collective bargained for. Less practices in pads. Pretty much less practicing altogether. We all agreed that there should be less preseason games, but combine that with less practice time and this is the result? I’m hoping this is just a fluke for the first week, but if this trend continues for the next few weeks, it’s going to start gaining a lot more traction.