The Winners and Losers of NFL Week 1

Every week this NFL season, we will break down the highs and lows—and everything in between—from the most recent slate of pro football. Welcome to Winners and Losers.

Winner: The Detroit Lions’ Identity

If the Rams had any lingering hope of knocking off the Lions and avenging their loss in last year’s wild-card round, it was snuffed out by Detroit’s still-dominant offensive line in overtime. The Lions marched 70 yards in eight plays, starting with three gut-punching runs that went for 42 yards. David Montgomery’s 1-yard plunge into the end zone finished off the Rams—but their spirit had been broken much earlier in the drive.

Detroit has been winning games like this since Dan Campbell and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson got the offense up and running over the back half of the 2022 season. The Lions offense has evolved over that time, but the formula for success remains the same: use the offensive line to grind down the opposing front seven and gash an overstretched secondary with passes over the middle of the field. Defenses are forced to dedicate numbers to the box or else get mauled by the league’s most physically dominant offensive line. The Rams took the second option, and the Lions averaged 5.3 yards per rush with a league-leading 66.7 percent success rate, per TruMedia.

While it was your typical Lions win, the vertical option presented by third-year receiver Jameson Williams, who went for 121 yards and a score on five receptions, was new for this offense. The Lions already had one of the league’s best offenses, but it was missing this downfield element. Teams that could pack the middle of the field and survive in the run have given Detroit problems over the past few years, leading to some ugly results, including a 29-0 loss to New England in 2022 and a 38-6 loss to Baltimore last season. If Williams is a consistent source of explosive plays on the perimeter, the Lions will be better equipped to exploit those tactics. In the third quarter, the Rams decided to load the box and leave Tre’Davious White on an island against Williams, and this happened:

It was a good night for the Lions offense; it was not so much for the defense. While Detroit’s pass rush had a big night against a makeshift Rams offensive line, the revamped secondary did not pass its first major test. Throughout the offseason, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn has expressed his desire to play more effective man coverage. The Lions secondary played man on over 40 percent of its snaps, a big number compared to the league average. And on those snaps, Matthew Stafford, who was under siege all night, completed 12 of 19 passes for 140 yards and a score. That was good for a passer rating of 103. Considering how the pass rush was dominating, along with Puka Nacua’s game departure due to a knee injury in the second quarter, those are disappointing results for a team that invested first-, second-, and third-round picks on cornerbacks during the offseason.

It’s one game, and Stafford was quarterbacking his ass off, so we can wait a few weeks before passing any judgments on the new secondary. And if Williams is the deep playmaker this team has been missing, the offense might be good enough to overcome another mediocre season from the defense.

Loser: The 2024 QB Class

Three of the six quarterbacks drafted at the top of the first round made their NFL debuts Sunday—and they didn’t have the best starts to their careers. First pick Caleb Williams picked up a 24-17 win over Tennessee but couldn’t crack the 100-yard passing mark. Jayden Daniels, the second pick, nearly doubled Williams in passing yards and rushed for two touchdowns, but most of his production came in garbage time in a 37-20 loss to the Buccaneers. And Bo Nix averaged 3.3 yards per attempt and threw a couple of interceptions in a 26-20 loss to the Seahawks. In all, the three rookies combined for 415 passing yards, which is seven fewer than Cam Newton had in his NFL debut in 2011.

Getting the W will shield Williams from some criticism this week, but it’s difficult to put a positive spin on 93 passing yards. The 22-year-old was jittery in the pocket and missed a handful of open receivers, including a possible touchdown for Keenan Allen.

Accuracy was not an issue for Williams at USC, which makes it a little easier to overlook the issues we saw on Sunday. The lack of poise, which caused Williams to miss out on a few opportunities downfield, is more in line with what we saw from him in college. But we also saw some of the trademark out-of-structure playmaking that made him the first pick. This throw to DJ Moore exploded off of Williams’s hands.

And this cheeky scramble on third-and-long is proof that his mobility will play at the next level.

Just ignore the fact that Williams had a receiver breaking open but wasn’t patient enough to wait on him before taking off on the run.

Williams’s accuracy and decision-making improved in the second half, but this was a subpar performance for the top pick. His accuracy should get better, but if Williams doesn’t find a solution for the pocket jitters, he’ll have more of these performances over the next few months.

Despite Williams’s ugly line, it was Nix who had the worst numbers of the rookies—and by a healthy margin thanks to his two interceptions. The first pick in Denver’s 26-20 loss in Seattle was a regrettable back-foot heave that Julian Love picked out of the air.

Questionable response to pressure was the theme of the day for Nix. Sean Payton called a smart game for Denver, moving the pocket on multiple occasions and dialing up quick-hitting screens that got the ball out of Nix’s hands in a hurry. But an ineffective run game—Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin combined for 50 yards on 18 carries—and a second-half deficit forced Payton out of that initial plan. That’s when we saw the worst of Nix.

On the bright side, Nix seemed to handle all of the pre-snap responsibilities Payton had put on his plate and did show something as a scrambler, picking up 35 yards on five carries to lead Denver in rushing. Going up against a Mike Macdonald defense is a tough assignment for any quarterback, much less a rookie, so Nix’s issues are completely understandable.

Daniels had the best day of the rookie quarterbacks, but it was not the debut Washington had in mind for its offense. Or maybe it was considering that this team willingly hired Kliff Kingsbury to coordinate its offense. We got a vintage Kingsbury game plan, heavy on run-pass options and the quick game. Daniels averaged 7.7 yards per attempt but had an aDOT of just 5.2 yards. His average time to throw was a lightning-quick 2.37 seconds. That allowed Daniels to pad his stats on early downs, but the rookie looked overwhelmed by Tampa’s pressure on third downs.

Daniels did have a few impressive scrambles and designed carries. He picked up eight first downs on the ground, which helped Washington’s otherwise putrid offense stay on the field. He was his offense’s best player of the day, which is not something we can say about the other debutants.

The biggest winner of all the rookie quarterbacks may have been Michael Penix Jr., who got to watch Kirk Cousins flail about in a disheartening loss to the Steelers. Given Atlanta’s financial commitment to Cousins, which will keep him in a Falcons jersey for at least two seasons, it’s unlikely that the team will make the switch barring injury, but fans are already calling for the rookie. Meanwhile, Jacoby Brissett led the Patriots to a shocking win over Cincinnati, so that should buy him some time with fans in New England who are already clamoring for Drake Maye after his flashy preseason.

Winner: The Dynamic Kickoff

The NFL’s new “dynamic kickoff” lived up to its cringey name in Week 1 and produced three returns of at least 50 yards. Per TruMedia, we haven’t seen that many returns of that length in an opening week since 2011. And Cardinals running back DeeJay Dallas became a trivia answer by becoming the first returner to take a dynamic kickoff to the house.

At 5-foot-10 and 214 pounds, Dallas does not have the typical return-man body type. The guy ran a 4.58-second 40-yard dash (39th percentile) and a 7.18-second three-cone drill (26th percentile). He’s more of a bowling ball–style runner, which makes his 96-yard return so much cooler. When the rule change was first announced, some wondered whether we’d see a different style of runner used on returns. It appears that may be the case.

The new kickoff unfolds more like a running play, so it’s not a surprise that running backs are thriving as return men. Nor is it surprising to see teams implementing some run-game blocking schemes. The Bears ran this nifty play resembling a “power” run scheme with a pulling lead blocker clearing the way for DeAndre Carter.

The Bears experienced the full range of outcomes for this new return. Carter’s slick return showed the potential for the play. Velus Jones Jr.’s comical muff showed the disaster potential.

The new kickoff will take some getting used to, but once the ball is in the hands of the returner and the action starts, it looks more like a real football play than the old kickoff returns ever did.

The other aim for this new rule was to increase the number of returns, and that happened. Last season there were 32 kickoff returns in Week 1; this season there were 54 (with another game coming on Monday).

I was skeptical about this rule change, but the league nailed this one. These plays are genuinely exciting and more strategically interesting. It’s a perfect bite of football.

Losers: Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals

Burrow and the Bengals tripping out of the gate is becoming a September tradition after Cincinnati dropped a 16-10 stinker against the Patriots—the team’s third consecutive loss in Week 1. Burrow completed 72.4 percent of his passes but averaged 4.8 yards per dropback, failed to throw a touchdown, and heard a chorus of boos from Bengals fans after a failed fourth-down attempt. Somehow, that was a major improvement over last year’s opener.

In the 2022 opener, Burrow tossed four interceptions and ended with identical total expected points added (negative-11.4). That shows you how feckless his performance was on Sunday against the Patriots. The Bengals star averaged 5.6 air yards per attempt and rarely pushed the ball downfield. This is the early favorite for the saddest passing heat map of 2024.

To be fair, Burrow’s stat line would look a hell of a lot better if his tight ends didn’t let him down. Mike Gesicki appeared to hold on to a perfectly weighted pass in the back corner of the end zone, but the catch was eventually overturned.

On the next play, Tanner Hudson fumbled right in front of the goal line, taking another potential touchdown off the board.

But Burrow didn’t play well. He was bothered by the Patriots’ pass rush and responded by hurrying up his process. Far too often, he settled for inefficient options underneath, culminating with a surrender checkdown to Zack Moss on third-and-long.

Cincinnati didn’t get the ball back after that play. The Patriots finished the game the same way they started it: running the damn football. New England racked up 170 yards on 39 carries and won the time-of-possession battle by nearly nine minutes. The Bengals’ revamped secondary did play well if you’re a Cincinnati fan looking for a silver lining from the game, but that may say more about Jacoby Brissett than it does about the pass defense.

The Bengals can take solace in the fact that they’ve been in this hole before. But that’s also the concerning part: We haven’t seen this offense evolve since that magical Super Bowl run in 2021. It remains a disjointed mess with a run game that operates best from under-center formations and a quarterback who prefers to be in shotgun full time. Burrow had it his way against the Pats. Cincinnati was in the gun for over 90 percent of its offensive snaps. Burrow used play-action on only 17 percent of his dropbacks. Without Tee Higgins and a full workload for Ja’Marr Chase, it’s just not a sustainable approach against a well-coached defense.

It’s too early to panic about Cincinnati. Higgins will eventually return, and Chase will ramp things up, so this offense will play better football. Burrow will play better, too. But after another slow start, it’s fair to ask whether the Bengals offense—in what could be the last dance for its Big Three—is headed in the wrong direction.

Winner: Dak Prescott

Prescott locked down his spot in the winner’s circle long before the Cowboys dismantled the Browns in a 33-17 opening win. About an hour before Sunday’s early slate kicked off, Dallas made Prescott the highest-paid player in the league with a four-year, $240 million contract, including $231 million in guarantees. That narrowly beats out Deshaun Watson’s $230 million for the most guaranteed money in NFL history. So Dak earned two wins over the Browns quarterback on Sunday.

While Cleveland’s front office was feeling some buyer’s remorse as it watched Watson flail for 169 yards on 45 attempts, including a pair of ugly picks, Prescott did not give Jerry Jones a reason to regret cutting such a big check. The Cowboys quarterback, who finished second in the MVP race last season, didn’t do anything spectacular but put in a solid shift against 2023’s top defense. He managed pressure, threw the ball with precision, and avoided costly mistakes while pushing the ball downfield. It was the sort of professional display we’ve come to expect from Prescott.

There was some well-earned skepticism surrounding this Cowboys team coming into the season after a concerningly quiet offseason, in which the team pretty much sat out of free agency after Jones claimed it would be “all in.” Dallas lost Tyron Smith, Tony Pollard, Michael Gallup, and Leighton Vander Esch but didn’t have the cap space to reload the roster because CeeDee Lamb and Prescott needed new deals. With Mike McCarthy coming back in what feels like a make-or-break year, and his decision to bring in a potentially washed-up Mike Zimmer to replace Dan Quinn as defensive coordinator, it was fair to wonder whether this team had any shot at replicating last year’s success. Improving upon 2023 appeared far-fetched.

But Sunday’s game shows why you pay a quarterback like Prescott. As long as he’s running this offense, it will be one of the better units in the league. And it appears that Zimmer still has some juice as a defensive play caller after he toyed with Watson and Kevin Stefanski for 60 minutes, generating six sacks and 17 quarterback hits.

Dallas still looks like one of the better teams in the conference. Prescott got his money and a win this weekend, but getting to see that this team still has a viable chance of winning a Lombardi may have been the biggest win of Prescott’s day.

Loser: Drake

Four months have passed since Kendrick Lamar dropped “Not Like Us,” and Drake is still collecting Ls. In the middle of a classic NFL content storm—Tyreek Hill was handcuffed by police and Dak signed his new deal in the span of an hour—Kendrick announced he’d be headlining the Super Bowl halftime show.

I’m no rap historian, but I believe this makes the Drake-Kendrick beef the most lopsided in the history of the genre. I’m positive it’s the first time a diss track will be played at the Super Bowl, meaning hundreds of millions of people around the world will hear the song. Can you imagine Apple sponsoring your global embarrassment? This is an unprecedented loss.

Maybe it won’t be too bad. Kendrick has a deep catalog outside of “Not Like Us,” so it might not be the focal point of the performance. And I assume the NFL will ask Kendrick to skip over some of the more inflammatory lines from the song. On the other hand, the L.A. rapper has already started dropping subliminal shots at his Canadian rival.

I’m not even sure what Drake could do to respond. Then again, foolishly responding is what got him into this mess.

Winners: Tom Brady’s Haters

Consider me underwhelmed. Brady’s broadcasting debut wasn’t nearly as bad as the reviews on social media would have you believe, but his trademark poise in the pocket clearly did not carry over to the commentary booth. Especially early on in the broadcast of Browns-Cowboys, when Brady stumbled over his words a few times and spent too much time making uninteresting or straight up confusing points. At one point in the first half, Brady spent about 30 seconds explaining how gaining 20 yards is much harder than gaining 10 or 15 yards. That’s the kind of analysis you get for $375 million.

Some also complained that Brady didn’t have a good broadcasting voice. Others were disappointed that he didn’t criticize Deshaun Watson’s woeful performance nearly enough. Brady even commended the Browns quarterback on his performance under duress while Watson finished with a 14.3 percent success rate on pressured dropbacks. There were plenty of nits to pick in Brady’s opener, and it’s clear this is a work in progress.

It just wasn’t a very natural performance and a far cry from the debuts of Tony Romo and Greg Olsen, the latter of whom Brady is replacing after Olsen’s successful stint as Fox’s lead color commentator last season. There was a distinct absence of chemistry with his partner, Kevin Burkhardt, which was never a problem with Olsen. Brady didn’t pick up on the spots where Burkhardt was setting him up for an easy joke, and some of his long-windedness prevented Burkhardt from setting up a play before the snap. It was a clear downgrade for Fox’s A team.

It wasn’t all bad, though. Brady settled down a bit in the second half. He spoke more confidently and broke down replays with more clarity. He also didn’t step on Burkhardt’s toes nearly as much. Brady also did a good job of explaining the themes of the game. His explanations for why the Browns were having so much trouble protecting Watson from the Cowboys’ pass rush throughout the game stood out as bright spots. Brady’s explanation for why Zimmer gave him so many issues as a player is exactly what football nerds would want to hear from the league’s greatest quarterback ever.

I’m not willing to write off Brady’s broadcasting career just yet. This wasn’t a Jason Witten–style disaster, where it was obvious from the jump that the former Cowboys tight end wasn’t cut out for the gig. Brady still has a chance to grow into a solid broadcaster—even if there’s nothing he can do about that voice.

Loser: The Panthers

Speaking of running up the score, the Saints beat the hapless Panthers by 37 on Sunday, and the game wasn’t as competitive as the 47-10 score line might imply. Carolina’s lone touchdown came deep into garbage time on a fourth-down scramble in which Bryce Young nearly fumbled away the ball after stumbling past a defender. I couldn’t think of a more fitting way for this team to score:

That was Carolina’s first touchdown since last Christmas Eve, and it snapped a 10-quarter touchdown drought. That was just one of many sad stats that came out of this game. Pick your favorite:

It was the worst performance of Young’s career, which is a high bar to clear after his crappy rookie season:

The defense made Derek Carr look like Patrick Mahomes:

It was the fourth-worst loss in the history of the franchise:

And this might be the saddest stat of all: If the Panthers lose to the Chargers and the Bears beat the Texans, Caleb Williams will tie Bryce Young with two career wins.

Carolina’s issues extend far beyond the quarterback position—look in the owner’s box—but the complete absence of hope from the fan base is tied directly to Young’s shortcomings. Typically, a fan base will rally around a highly drafted quarterback. There’s always something to latch on to, whether it’s a flashy arm or highlight-worthy scrambles. With Young, though, there’s nothing. He’s undersized. His arm is just fine. He doesn’t protect the football under pressure, and the playmaking that helped him win a Heisman at Alabama has not translated to the pro game. All of these issues were on display on his second interception against the Saints.

At least the Panthers didn’t provide the fan base with false hope. They let us all know how this season would go on the first play of the game, when Young sailed a play-action pass over his receiver’s head.

That’s a staple throw in Dave Canales’s offense. If Young can’t make it routinely, this marriage is destined to fail. Sunday’s loss provided no evidence that it will eventually sort itself out. He completed 43.3 percent of his passes and averaged 3.9 yards per dropback before Canales finally pulled him for Andy Dalton. If this continues, it won’t be the last time Young gets the hook for Dalton.

Winner: Jim Harbaugh and Bailing at the Right Time

Harbaugh knows when to exit a bad situation. He bolted (with some encouragement from the 49ers, to be fair) from San Francisco right when the stacked 49ers roster of the early 2010s started to break down. He left Michigan shortly after winning a national title and just months before the NCAA issued a four-year show cause order against Harbaugh for impermissible contact with recruits and players during the pandemic, leaving his replacement, Sherrone Moore, to deal with those problems while trying to rebuild the roster. The Wolverines just got blown out by Texas in the Big House.

Michigan’s loss is the NFL’s gain. Harbaugh is back doing Harbaugh things, like saying he was jealous of the Chargers players who were stuck in an elevator for a few hours and pumping up his quarterback via a pregame pummeling.

After beating up on Justin Herbert, Harbaugh watched his Chargers beat up the Raiders in a way we haven’t seen from this team in ages. Los Angeles controlled the game on the ground, rushing for 176 yards on 27 carries, while Herbert just had to manage the game.

The defense was physically dominant as well, limiting the Raiders to 71 rushing yards on 22 carries and forcing Gardner Minshew into a pass-first script. That went about as well as you’d expect, with the journeyman quarterback taking four sacks and tossing an interception.

Under previous coach Brandon Staley, the Chargers had one of the league’s worst run games and one of its softest run defenses. Harbaugh needed exactly one offseason to turn that around and did it without making major personnel changes. And, sure, it may not feel significant for Los Angeles to beat up on a mediocre Raiders team, but this same Las Vegas squad scored 63 points in the last matchup between the two teams.

This Chargers team isn’t nearly as deep as it was the past few seasons. It’s not nearly as talented, either. But physicality and toughness can go a long way in this sport, and those two things always seem to travel with Harbaugh wherever he goes.