Week One of the NFL season is in the books. Here are five takeaways from all of the action.
1. The Washington Redskins picked up right where they left off dropping a winnable game at home to the Miami Dolphins. They’re 5-11 at FedEx Field over the past two seasons. Washington out-gained the Dolphins by 93 yards total and compiled 161 rushing yards to only 74. The Redskins gave the game away with two Kirk Cousins’ interceptions, allowing a special teams touchdown, multiple drops by wide receivers on catchable passes and defensive players with chances for interceptions not taking advantage. This was the type of game the Skins could have stole at home against a team most considered better than them, but they weren’t able to get it done.
2. I don’t get why some are making a big deal out of DeMarco Murray’s workload in the Philadelphia Eagles first game against the Atlanta Falcons. Last year Jason Garrett was criticized for playing him too much, now Chip Kelly is catching heat for too little. A lot of the criticism is coming from Kelly going with Ryan Matthews over Murray on a key third and one that resulted in a stop during the fourth quarter. Murray struggled all game rushing for nine yards on eight carries, plus Matthews had a beastly one-yard TD run earlier in the half bulling his way through two Atlanta defenders. There are many reasons the Eagles lost, but the usage of Murray in this game isn’t near the top of the list.
3. One of the tells of a contender is beating up on bad opponents. The New York Jets did this in their 31-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns at MetLife Stadium. I need to see more to believe in the Jets. The five Cleveland turnovers seemed more fluky and to blame on the Browns versus the Jets making great plays. The one exception would be the Marcus Williams interception. The Jets struggled getting the Browns off the field on third down, didn’t generate a good pass rush and allowed both Johnny Manziel and Josh McCown to have success using their legs. New York’s skill position players looked promising and the offensive line gave Ryan Fitzpatrick plenty of time to throw, but in the times he was pressured you can already see potential problems creeping up. We’ll learn a lot more about Gang Green on Monday night when they have to play the Indianapolis Colts on the road.
4. I thought the Oakland Raiders would be halfway decent this season. I’m already giving myself an “L” on that prediction. Reminder to self — never, ever trust the Raiders again. The Bengals abused them up and down the field and Adam “Pacman” Jones took that a little too literally in a confrontation with Oakland rookie wide receiver Amari Cooper. This was an extremely disappointing performance from the Silver and Black in their home opener.
5. Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston and Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt playing on the same field was a sight to see. Houston only had one sack and wasn’t credited for any quarterback hits, but that doesn’t give his performance enough justice — he ate Derek Newton alive the entire game. Watt was his typical self and his performance did show up on the box score. He had nine solo tackles, two sacks, six tackles for a loss and three QB hits. Watt is absurd human or just not human at all.
