In NFL’s week one prime time games there was so much to talk about, whether it was unsportsmanlike conduct, upsets or injuries. So let’s get into the prime time take away.
The prime time games included Cowboys Vs. Eagles on Thursday, Chiefs Vs. Chargers on Friday, Bills Vs. Ravens on Sunday and Vikings Vs. Bears on Monday.
To kickoff the NFL season were the Cowboys and the Eagles, reigning Superbowl champions. This game was really surprising and said a lot about both teams and specific players. The biggest incident this game, and probably the whole week, was Jalen Carter, a defensive tackle for the Eagles, spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. This caused him to be ejected from the game and then consequently be fined. This made it easier for the Cowboys to compete with the Eagles, making for a surprisingly close game. When it came down to the final moments, the Cowboys’ starting wide receiver couldn’t capitalize and dropped a pass on fourth down, giving the Eagles the win.
To kickoff the international series, the Chiefs and Chargers played in São Paulo’s Corinthians Arena. This game was nowhere near what most expected it to be, including myself. Three plays into the game, the Chiefs’ starting wide receiver, one Xavier Worthy, collided with Travis Kelce in the middle of his route, causing Worthy to dislocate his shoulder. This took him out of the game and most likely will for many weeks going forward. A surprise to many came from Quentin Johnston, who very infamously has trouble catching the ball. He popped off with 5 receptions, 79 yards and 2 touchdowns. Something that came as no surprise to me was Justin Herbert putting on a show by putting up 3 passing touchdowns on the Chiefs whilst completing 73% of his passes, which lead the Chargers to the upset win.
If you asked me to describe the Sunday night Bills versus Ravens game in one word, I would say shootout. The final score was 41-40 for the Bills. Josh Allen proved why he won that MVP last year by putting up nearly 400 passing yards on the runner up’s team. Both offenses were elite, but the defenses could not keep up with them, and in the case of the Bills, they could not stop the run game. They let Derrick Henry put up 169 rushing yards at his old age of 31. In the Ravens case, they couldn’t stop the pass for their lives and I think they have one of the better secondaries, so I’m almost positive that Allen is just a really good quarterback. Overall, it was a great game and the highlight of it was probably Deandre Hopkins’ one hand touch down catch.
The last prime time game of week one was the Chicago Bears versus the Minnesota Vikings and, honestly, this was the most unexpected game I’ve ever seen. To start, the Bears were able to somewhat compete with the Vikings. Early into the third quarter, the Bears got a pick six from cornerback Nashon Wright. To say the fourth quarter was a shock is to say nothing at all, because words could not describe how good JJ McCarthy played in the fourth quarter. While, frankly, not carrying his weight the first three quarters of the game, he showed up in the fourth, putting up 87 yards, 2 passing touchdowns, and a rushing touchdown to give the Vikings the lead, which eventually won them the game.
