Buffalo 36, Houston 31 - Josh Allen and the Bills offense made that Houston defense look anything but the record-setting unit that they were last year. Buffalo scored often and produced over eight yards per play. The Texans defense allowed the most points they had in years in a back and forth affair. Luck may have had some part to play in it. However, the Bills managed to earn a big win to start the season off right. A huge victory for the Bills, a disappointing, but hardly crushing, loss for the Texans. As close to a playoff atmosphere as you are apt to get in a season opening contest. My pick: Accurate
Detroit 31, New Orleans 30 (OT) - This wound up being one of the most exciting, unpredictable games of this opening weekend in the NFL. The Saints played better than expected. It was the first game of this new season to go into overtime. The Lions scored a touchdown in OT, and then the Saints came all the way back and scored a touchdown themselves in answer. But they went for the win with a two-point conversion, which is conventional wisdom to go for the win when playing on the road. However, it was not successful, cementing the win for the hometown Lions. What a game! My pick: Accurate
Cincinnati 33, Tampa Bay 27 - This one was a little more back and forth than expected. When the Bengals took a massive lead, admittedly my assumption was that they would cruise to an easy victory. Instead, the Bucs battled back, making this one far more exciting and unpredictable than it seemed it would be. Still in the end, the Bengals win off a huge mistake by Tampa QB Baker Mayfield. A big win to open the season right for Cincy, a disappointing loss for the Bucs. My pick: Accurate
Baltimore 41, Indianapolis 23 - When making these predictions, sometimes I have too much credit to teams I thought would come out swinging a little harder. But the Ravens took it to Indianapolis in this one. It never even seemed like there was a questions as to which was the better team. Thought it would take Baltimore a little longer to gel with a new offense and coaching staff. Apparently not. An impressive win for the Ravens, an alarming loss for the Colts, not so much because it was a loss, but how badly they were dominated - at home - in this one. My pick: Inaccurate
Chicago 59, Carolina 37 - My assumption was that this would be a good season for the Bears. But man, they looked like world beaters in this game, shredding a pretty decent Panthers defense. The Bears scored 59 points, tied for the second most ever by any team for opening day weekend. It was also the most point that Chicago has scored since the 1980 season. Chicago had more than 250 yards passing and 250 yards running. All of this on the road, at Carolina. Unbelievable numbers, all of which seem to suggest that this Bears team will have a very powerful, dangerous, explosive offense this season. Meanwhile, the Panthers almost assuredly have nowhere to go after this one but up, right? My pick: Accurate
Pittsburgh 20, Atlanta 13 - Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers enjoyed a solid day. On his way to earning a first down, Pittsburgh tight end Darnell Washington made all the highlight reels by stiff-arming Falcons safety Xavier Watts, almost bouncing him off the turf. An impressive, albeit predictable, win for the Steelers over the Falcons. My pick: Accurate
Jacksonville 34, Cleveland 10 - You see the final score of 34-10, and it is clear that the Jaguars won this one very comfortably. Yet here's the crazy thing: the game was not even as close as the final score would indicate. Indeed, Jax enjoyed a 24-0 lead by halftime, and scored another touchdown early in the third to go up 31-0. They seemed to take the foot off the gas after that, at least on offense. Yet, Cleveland only scored their first - and only - touchdown of the game with less than two minutes left. Hollow points, since the game had long before been decided. An awful game for the Browns, who sure look, at least after one game, like they are headed for yet another forgettable season. As for the Jaguars, they put a solid game plan together and then executed it very efficiently, earning a solid, blowout win to open up this promising season right. My pick: Accurate
Minnesota 39, Green Bay 22 - I was actually watching this game for most of it. And at the time that I tuned it off, it seemed like the Packers were dominating and bound for a comfortable win. So I turned it off, assuming - wrongly - that the game was heading towards a predictable outcome. Then I later heard that the Vikings came roaring to life late, scoring the final 29 points in this game, and specifically outscoring Green Bay 22-0 in the fourth quarter. Green Bay went from enjoying a double-digit lead to losing by a serious margin. Also, this was the sixth straight defeat for the Packers dating back to last season. That qualifies as the longest losing streak for the franchise since way back in the 1991 season, back when I was still in high school. Yikes. A solid win for the Vikings. My pick: Accurate
Arizona 26, LA Chargers 14 - Admittedly, this probably was the most shocking results from this opening weekend. I just did not expect the Cardinals to play as well as they did here. They raced out to a sizable lead and held on against a playoff team from last year. A very big win for Arizona, and a very alarming loss for the Chargers. They still have plenty of time to recover, as this obviously comes early enough for them to bounce back. Still, you definitely do not want to open up a new, promising season with a loss like this one. Frankly, the Chargers should have come out playing better, and just seemed flat throughout in this one. My pick: Inaccurate
Las Vegas 27, Miami 13 - Another game which did not quite go the way that I expected it to. The Raiders came ready, determined not to get off to the disastrous start they had last season. The Fins never really got anything going. The offense looked anemic, and the Raiders for the most part were dominant, leaving no doubt that they were the better team in this one. My pick: Inaccurate
Philadelphia 24, Washington 22 - Honestly, I thought that the Eagles would win this one more convincingly, more solidly, than they wound up doing. But a win is a win, and it is especially well-earned as a divisional game this early in the season. Washington played well and had some positives to take away from this one, despite the loss. As for Philly, again, it could have been a better overall performance, but at least they earn the win to start the season off right. My pick: Accurate
Sunday Night Football: NY Giants 28, Dallas 20 - As a fan of the G-Men, I just did not want to see them open up the season again with a game against the Cowboys. They always seem to lose to the 'Boys, but especially in season openers. Other than a largely meaningless win in the regular season finale last year, I could not even remember the last time Big Blue actually beat the Cowboys in a meaningful game. Then came last night, and the G-Men looked awesome against Dallas. The revamped defense for the Cowboys looked like they had the same issues with miscommunication and confusion as they had last season. The Giants offense looked solid, scoring 28 points in a game that was not as close as the final score would suggest. It was the first time in a long time that the G-Men actually won a season opener, and a promising sign. As for Dallas fans, this might be reason for concern even earlier than the 'Boys and their fans usually have to face these things. But I was glad to see Big Blue win this one, even if I predicted otherwise. My pick: Inaccurate
Monday Night Football: Kansas City 31, Denver 10 - The Chiefs had dominated the AFC West on a level rarely seen prior to last year. Nine straight division titles, seven straight AFC title game appearances. And of course, five Super Bowl appearances, and three Super Bowl titles. Then it caught up with them last year in a disastrous season. Denver wound up being the dominant team, behind a solid defense. However, there were some concerns regarding their offense. The question, then, was how real were the Broncos? And would Patrick Mahomes be back to elite form in this one? Well, if this game is any indication, it sure does seem like the Chiefs are back to being those same Chiefs we have grown used to. Patrick Mahomes was killing Denver's defense with both his legs and his arms. KC appears to have a strong running game. And the defense kept that Broncos offense from being much of a threat for the vast majority of the game. In short, this likely was a warning to the rest of the league that the Kansas City Chiefs are back, like it or not. My pick: Accurate
No comments:
Post a Comment