The Cleveland Browns caused a big surprise against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 of the new NFL season. The San Francisco 49ers, on the other hand, dominated from the start. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay caused a surprise in the game after Tom Brady.
NFL: Game Reports Week 1
Atlanta Falcons (1-0) – Carolina Panthers (0-1)
Result: 24:10 (0:0, 7:7, 3:3, 14:0) BOXSCORE
- The Atlanta Falcons can still win at the start of the season! The 24:10 win against the Carolina Panthers ends the negative streak for the Falcons, who previously remained without a win in the opener five times in a row.
- And as expected, the Falcons had a lot going on with the running game. Tyler Allgeier (15 carries, 75 yards, 2 TD, 3 receptions, 19 rec. yards) and Bijan Robinson (10 carries, 56 yards, 6 receptions, 27 rec. yards, 1 rec TD)) were the two main protagonists of the Falcons offense and kept the Panthers defense on its toes.
- Desmond Ridder (15/18, 115 yards, 1 TD), who incidentally also caught his first pass of the game himself, wasn’t really challenged at all. The quarterback got a lot of short passes in his fifth NFL game, catching more than a third of his yards on a 34-yard pass to tight end Kyle Pitts late in the game. The playmaker developed into exactly the game manager the Falcons needed in this game.
- The evening was different for first overall pick Bryce Young (20/38, 1 TD, 2 INT), who had to learn the hard way in his first NFL start. The rookie found his master in Falcons safety Jessie Bates, who read Young correctly twice and was able to intercept the ball through the middle. In addition to a fumble by Miles Sanders, also caused by Jessie Bates, these turnovers were probably the reason why the Panthers could not at least make the game close to the back.
- One man’s sorrow is another man’s joy, because it’s been a long time since the Falcons defense could be described as a kind of match winner. Atlanta has had one of the worst defenses in recent years, but attacked this construction site in free agency vehemently, and not only because of the signing of this same Jessie Bates.
Baltimore Ravens (1-0) – Houston Texans (0-1)
Result: 25:9 (7:0, 0:6, 15:0, 3:3) BOXSCORE
- The Baltimore Ravens start the new NFL season with an expected win over the Houston Texans. However, not everything that glitters was gold in the Maryland men’s 25:9 win. Nevertheless, the opening win was never in jeopardy because the Texans offense around rookie CJ Stroud was very toothless, especially in the opposing half. The Texans didn’t manage a single touchdown against the usual stable Ravens defense.
- Offensively, Baltimore was once again able to rely on a good running game. All three of the Ravens’ visits to the end zone came via the ground. However, the right timing was always missing due to the air, which is why the individual quality of the receivers was particularly important. Rookie Zay Flowers particularly stood out, receiving ten targets, making nine catches and contributing 78. The youngster seemed very agile, especially after the catch.
- Quarterback Lamar Jackson (17/22, 169 yards 0 TD, 1 INT), however, struggled. In the Baltimore rain, he had multiple ball handling problems and caused two fumbles, one of which ended in a turnover. With his interception he gave up the ball twice. At least he was able to be a factor on the ground as usual and recorded a rushing touchdown in addition to his 38 yards.
- However, the Ravens’ victory was overshadowed by the injury to running back JK Dobbins. He was brought into the dressing room limping in the last quarter. The possibly momentous news leaked out quickly: Dobbins has torn his Achilles tendon and will not be on the pitch again this season.
- Of course, eyes were also on Texans rookie CJ Stroud. And the second pick of the draft got off to a historic start. The first completion of his young NFL career went straight to himself. Stroud caught a blocked pass with the presence of mind and thus created a historic moment. The last time this feat was achieved was NFL legend Brett Favre, who also recorded his first completion with a catch of his own in 1992.
Cleveland Browns (1-0) – Cincinnati Bengals (0-1)
Result: 24:3 (0:0, 10:0, 3:3, 11:0) BOXSCORE
Statement victory for the Cleveland Browns at the start against the new NFL top earner Joe Burrow and his Cincinnati Bengals! What was particularly impressive was the fact that Cleveland conceded 142 total yards and Burrow was substituted in the middle of the fourth quarter.
After a pointless first quarter in which the Browns lost a fumble in the red zone, kicker Dustin Hopkins put himself ahead in the second. A few seconds before the break, it was quarterback Deshaun Watson who set out on a designed 13-yard touchdown run with no timeouts and just 17 seconds left.
As a result, the Bengals missed another field goal attempt and Watson threw an interception, but this did not change anything at the end of the game. Meanwhile, tight end Harrison Bryant finished off the game with a 3-yard touchdown catch.
And Burrow? He only completed 14 of his 31 passes for 82 yards and received two sacks.
Indianapolis Colts (0-1) – Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0)
Result: 21:31 (0:7, 7:7, 14:3, 0:14) BOXSCORE
The Jaguars had their struggles, but started the new season successfully. A big reason for this was new addition wide receiver Calvin Ridley, whose connection with Trevor Lawrence worked excellently.
The best indication of this: the first touchdown of the game! After a long scramble, Lawrence found Ridley in the end zone for an 8-yard TD pass. Overall, Ridley had eight receptions for 101 yards, leading his team.
Finally, the two running backs Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby brought the final point, although Bigsby had previously attracted attention with a strange mistake. After a fumble by Lawrence in the third quarter, Bigsby caught the ball but didn’t check that the play continued. The ball was knocked out of his hands and DeForest Buckner eventually carried it 26 yards for a touchdown that briefly gave Indy a 21-17 lead.
Meanwhile, rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson had a decent debut for the Colts. He ran for a touchdown himself and threw a 39-yard TD pass to Michael Pittman. Overall, he had 223 passing and 40 rushing yards.
Minnesota Vikings (0-1) – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0)
Result: 17:20 (ß:3, 10:7, 0:7, 7:3) BOXSCORE
- The post-Tom Brady era in Tampa Bay began with a win in the debut of quarterback Baker Mayfield, who was solid and error-free. Completely different from his counterpart, Kirk Cousins.
- Although Cousins gave his team a 7-3 lead at the start of the second quarter with a 39-yard touchdown pass to rookie Jordan Addison, he had a terrible day overall and committed three turnovers. In addition to an interception, he also lost two fumbles.
- For the Bucs, Mayfield turned things up shortly before halftime and found Mike Evans for a 28-yard touchdown pass to make it 10:10. Midway through the third quarter, he made it a 17-10 lead with his 7-yard TD pass to Trey Palmer. The home team equalized again in the fourth quarter, but kicker Chase McLaughlin finally made the decision with a 57-yard field goal with 5:10 minutes left.
- Despite the loss, Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson made history: He caught nine passes for 150 yards, passing Randy Moss for the most 150-receiving-yard games before his 25th birthday in NFL history. Jefferson did this for the ninth time, Moss had eight such games.
New Orleans Saints (1-0) – Tennessee Titans (0-1)
Result: 16:15 (3:6, 3:3, 0:10, 0:6) BOXSCORE
Anyone who likes a defensive battle got to see one in the Superdome. Until the end of the third quarter, the spectators only saw field goals, three on both sides. Only wide receiver Rashid Shaheed broke the spell with a 19-yard touchdown catch from a pass from Derek Carr.
The Titans, for whom running back Derrick Henry was the leading receiver for a long time, only managed two more field goals, which was not enough in the final tally. Above all, Ryan Tannehill and Co. cut their teeth on the tough defense: Tannehill only managed 198 yards and threw three interceptions. He collected three sacks.
Carr, in turn, threw for 305 yards (TD, INT) and Chris Olave excelled with eight receptions for 112 yards, while returnee Michael Thomas had five receptions for 61 yards.
Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1) – San Francisco 49ers (1-0)
Result: 7:30 (0:10, 7:10, 0:7, 0:3) BOXSCORE
After all the possible personnel problems during the week, both the new top earner Nick Bosa and tight end George Kittle reported fit. The story of the game, however, was the lightning start from the Niners and Brock Purdy as a whole.
In the middle of the second quarter the guests were already 20-0 ahead. Purdy found Brandon Aiyuk (8 REC, 129 YDS, 2 TD) twice for touchdown passes and kicker Jake Moody made his first two field goals in the NFL. The big highlight of the game was a 65-yard touchdown run by Christian McCaffrey at the start of the second half.
In the end, there was only one bright spot for the Steelers: Edge rusher TJ Watt was back in top form, managing three sacks and recovering a fumble from Purdy. Kenny Pickett, in turn, had two interceptions.
To make matters worse, the Steelers also lost wide receiver Diontae Johnson to a hamstring injury. Tight end Pat Freiermuth also had to be treated for an upper body injury.
Washington Commanders (1-0) – Arizona Cardinals (0-1)
Result: 20:16 (7:3, 3:10, 0:3, 10:0) BOXSCORE
Tough but successful start under the new team owners of the Washington Commanders, who had a lot of trouble against the supposedly worst team in the NFL for a long time and only got on the road to victory in the final quarter.
The Commanders’ new starting quarterback, Sam Howell, had a lot of trouble with the Cardinals’ defense. Howell conceded six sacks in the game, threw an interception and lost a fumble before the break that Cameron Thomas carried for a touchdown over 2 yards. However, Howell himself turned the game around at the start of the fourth quarter with a 6-yard touchdown run.
The fact that that was enough was mainly due to the Commanders’ defense, which also played well and gave up a whopping 210 total yards. The Commanders managed 3 sacks against quarterback Joshua Dobbs and he recovered three fumbles, two of which ended up with the home team.