2024-25 NFL (Week 1)

Games I saw (some of):

Ravens 20-27 Chiefs

Nail biter, went down to the wire, just a toe over the line kept this one from going to OT (not unlike the KD Nets going down to the on-their-way to being champion Bucks a few years back, no?). The Chiefs look like a slightly degraded version of what they were last season: an okay defense and Patrick Mahomes making magic and not much else (which was actually a slightly degraded version of what they were the season before). Is that good enough to win the Super Bowl? Well, its worked for 3 of the last 4 years, so you can't count 'em out yet. As for the Ravens, the announcers were constantly pointing out their spotty O-line play and I think I agree: the D is good, Lamar Jackson is good, the skill players are good, but that O-line could be the Achilles' heel. If they figure that out, they should probably be on pace to win this match against the Chiefs if/when they meet again in the post-season. These are clearly two of the better teams in the AFC, wouldn't be shocked if the AFC Championship was a re-match (which the Ravens really should've won, if you think back to January).

Titans 17-24 Bears

Ugh, this was not the game I wanted to sit through. Coming in I thought the Titans would be one of the worst teams in the league this year and that the Bears should be way better than last year, though still rather middle of the pack overall. Well, for most of the game the Titans looked solid on both sides and the Bears looked like they couldn't move the ball at all.  But throw in a big kick return, a blocked punt and one of the lamest pick-6's you will ever see, and the Titans are going home with an L and QB Caleb is the first #1 pick QB to win his debut since David Carr a coupla decades ago. This is a tough game, man, the Bears did not look good but they got the W and that's all that matters. As for my initial takes, well, the Titans might not be awful--but, then again, they might be--and the Bears should get better as the season goes on, so perhaps they will be middle of the pack, which would be pretty good for a rookie QB. 

Pats 16-10 Bengals

The Bengals start slow, so no need to panic over this result. But, man, if the Bengals are gonna win any games this season, the Pats are the kind of team they need to beat. The Pats ran the ball well and their pass rush wasn't bad, so they might not be a disaster, but they don't have a great deal of depth and they do have a rookie head coach and rookie QB waiting in the wings. As for the Bengals, I dunno, they seems to be way short of weapons on offense and the defense was not impressive going up against QB Brissett, so....where are they going? I still believe in QB Burrow, but he needs to step up and win the winnable games (like this one). 

Rams 20-26 (OT) Lions

Fun game! For the 1st half, Lions felt like the superior team. But in the 2nd half, the Rams pulled it together, mixed up their attack, got the right stops on D and almost stole this one on the road from the Lions. Man, I gotta say: I loved QB Stafford in this game. The way he picked his spots and knew exactly what to expect from his O-line was masterful, it was like watching prime Peyton Manning. I always thought Stafford was pretty good but he is mellowing into a really top class veteran slinger that knows how to move the ball, protect his teammates and win games. If I was a Rams fan, I'd already be in love with this team and even though they didn't pull out the W, I'd keep an eye on the Rams because they might end up winning games they're not supposed to win. As for the Lions, in the OT they ran the ball all the way down the field and into the end zone--an option that was totally available to them all through the 2nd half! They relied too heavily on QB Goff, instead of sticking with a balanced attack to run some clock and preserve the lead. So, they got the W, they played well for the most part, but they came real close to fumbling this one away for no reason. 

The rest of the slate:

Packers 29-34 Eagles. Saw none of this game, the real takeaway is that QB Love is gonna be out for several weeks with a knee sprain and that is bad bad bad bad bad news for the Packers. We'll see what their backup QB situation is like (hello, Ryan Tannehill?) but this a bad way to open the season. As for the Eagles, good win, good way to open the season. 

Steelers 18-10 Falcons. QB Cousins did not have an impressive showing in his debut with the Falcons, are we chalking that up to a vicious Steelers pass rush or Cousins just done? No idea.

Cards 28-34 Bills. Took the Bills a while to get going, is it a bad sign that started slow or a good sign that they finished strong? Are the Cards actually a capable offense or did they just catch the Bills hibernating?

Texans 29-27 Colts. (Seems like this was the game to see this weekend) I think both of these teams are gonna be good this year. We'll see.

Jaguars 17-20 Dolphins. Feels like the Jags let this one get away, about to build on their big lead when they fumbled in the end zone and gave it away. Feels like the Dolphins got a gift and they made it hold up. The big news was Tyreke Hill getting arrested before the game (not a good look for the Miami PD). 

Panthers 10-47 Saints. So are the Saints gonna be good? (jk) Oh, the Panthers....

Vikings 28-6 Giants. Interested to see where the post-Cousins Vikings go from here, but they won't get to play NYG every week, so the uphill climb starts now. Oh, the Giants.....

Raiders 10-22 Chargers. Raiders look spunky (if untalented), the Chargers look like...well, the Chargers: tons of talent but are they any good?

Broncos 20-26 Seahawks. Close match, the Broncos actually impressed going to a hostile stadium with a rookie QB and holding their own. Not sure about the Seahawks, another year with QB Geno, a new head coach and a schizophrenic defense. 

Cowboys 33-17 Browns. The Browns had one nice drive, otherwise this was all Cowboys. The Cowboys look like the Cowboys, the Browns gotta be pretty worried about QB Watson, if he doesn't pull it together this will be a long, awful, expensive season. 

Commanders 20-37 Bucs. I like the Commanders to be kinda good this year but they did not get off to a good start as the Bucs made their defense look pretty Swiss cheese-y. I like the Falcons to pull it together but if not, the Bucs might romp through this division. 

2022-23 NFL (Week 1)

Games I saw (some of):

Bills 31-10 Rams

As a Bills fan, I was a little nervous early on, where I thought Buffalo was the far superior team but could only muster a draw at halftime. But I was pleased to watch the Rams sputter into nothingness while the Bills moved the ball at will. Whew! The Rams looked rusty, not bad but not quite ready to play, though I assume they will pick up as the season goes on. The Bills looked good, that pass rush looked better than last year and even the running game looked to be improving (though I'm already done with watching Josh Allen stretch out for a 3 yard gain when they're up by three TD's with four minutes left--pick your spots, Josh!).  

Niners 10-19 Bears

Wow, what a slopfest of a game. Torrential rains pretty much through out that really picked up after halftime made it hard to judge the quality of the squads. Trey Lance was making his first start and the 1st half was....fine...but the 2nd half was kinda nothing. The Bears was able to scramble around and make two plays and that was the ball game. The Niners D was mostly fine but let the game get away from them while the Bears D was good enough to fustigate a rookie QB in the rain. Weird game, good W for the Bears.

Steelers 23-20 (OT) Bengals

Reminded me of last year's match when the Packers came to Cincy and the missed FGs were plentiful. Here the Bengals long snapper was injured which made for an adventure that led to a missed PAT (that would've won the game) and an OT FG (that also would've won the game). Instead, the Bengals played as bad as they've played in years and the Steelers were still insanely lucky to even be close to a W. Disappointing L for the Bengals, fluke of the year for the Steelers (who lost TJ Watt for the season, so pyrrhic victory at best). The Bengals O-line still has trouble keeping Burrow upright (which is kinda half his own fault) and the Steelers are not likely to win a lot of games this year.

Giants 21-20 Titans

Fun game! NYG going for the 2-point conversion to steal the W was a thing of beauty. The Giants might not be awful, I like that pass rush and the running game is legit, so if they can avoid turnovers, they might be better than you think. The Titans, I think, overachieved last year and that might not happen again this season (though their division is weak). 

Chiefs 44-21 Cards

The Chiefs offense was humming throughout, the Cards D was flatly overmatched. I'm not yet ready to crown the Chiefs (is it rude to point out that they've only won 1 Super Bowl though appearing in four straight final fours? If they're so unbeatable then why did they get beaten three of the last four years?) but they definitely can still move the ball. As for the Cards, I dunno, man, this game got away from them so early that it's kinda meaningless. Chiefs are still good, Cards are still kinda sputtering. 

Bucs 19-3 Cowboys

Bo-ring! Neither team moved the ball effectively, partly because these are two good defenses but also partly because these are two not so excited offenses. The Bucs D is legit but Brady doesn't quite seem like Brady yet ("Stepford Brady"?) and the Cowboys have a nice D but I think they're offense might be terrible (oh, and Dak Prescott broke his thumb and will be out for 6-8 weeks). 

Broncos 16-17 Seahawks

Just kept waiting for the Broncos to get going and they just never did. I was more impressed with the Seahawks on both sides of the ball than I expected to be (though I'm not yet ready to say they're in the mix in the NFC West). The Broncos just kinda...meh.

The rest of the slate:

Saints 27-26 Falcons. Falcons led throughout, blew it in the 4th quarter (we'll see if that is a running theme in Atlanta this year). 

Eagles 38-35 Lions. Eagles had a big lead throughout, Lions came back and made it look close. Are the Lions a backdoor cover team again this season?

Pats 7-20 Dolphins. Feels like the Dolphins didn't even play well and still dominated the Pats. (This is the year--RIGHT?--when the Pats finally suck?)

Ravens 24-9 Jets. Yeah, sounds about right. 

Jags 22-28 Commanders. I really thought the Jags were gonna take this but the Commanders stole this one late. So the takeaway is the Jags are good but young, the Commanders are veterans but not deep on talent....yes?

Browns 26-24 Panthers. Seems like the Browns stole it late, nice W.

Colts 20-20 Texans. Yeah, feels like the Colts might be truly awful. The Texans clearly aren't good but they're gonna bust ass (the kinda team that's gonna cover spreads). 

Packers 7-23 Vikings. Early on, Rodgers hit one of his rookie WR's in the hands with a gonna-be-a-TD pass...and the dude dropped it. If he makes that catch this might've been an entirely different ball game. That said, the Vikings are probably the better team and definitely look better right now. 

Raiders 19-24 Chargers. Chargers would seem to be the better team. 

2019-20 NFL Week 1

Games I saw some of:

Packers 10-3 Bears
Man, the Bears offense was a steady stream of dumb penalties and bonehead plays, though when they weren't shooting themselves in the foot you could kinda see how it could work; Bears D was pretty tough, held Aaron Rodgers to 10 points, got no help from the offense tonight. The Packers offense didn't tear it up but they looked pretty comfortable at getting 5-10 yard chunks, could be a dangerous offense this season; the Packer D was pretty good, impressed with the secondary. Definitely came away more impressed by the Packers, if Rodgers stays healthy and this D stays together, I can see them being really good; as for the Bears, I'm already backing away from winning the division, that D will keep them in games but Trubisky has got to learn to win them (and I'm dubious of that happening).

Redskins 27-32 Eagles
Redskins rocked out in the 1st half (up 20-0 at halftime) but even when they were rolling it didn't feel real, always felt like the Eagles could still get the W if they just wanted it. And in the 2nd half, apparently, they wanted it and the pretty much pummeled Washington after halftime, started slow but rolled once they put their minds to it. Fun to see Desean Jackson back in an Eagle uni, Wentz looked good, the offense spread around nicely, defense kinda sucked in the 1st half but solid in the 2nd; decent performance from the Redskins but I reckon they're gonna be good-bad all year.

Bengals 20-21 Seahawks
Hey, man: Andy Dalton does not suck, he's not great but he's not bad and that alone is a decent place to start for a team. Early in the season, yes, but I don't think the Seahawks are actually even this good and I think the Bengals can be better. The Seahawks kinda waffled most of the game, the defense is okay, the team around Russell Wilson is so-so and Wilson is too valuable to be allowed to do anything, I don't see where the offense is gonna come from for the Seahawks (of course, I've thought that for the last few years). I don't know that the Bengals are gonna win games but I think they're gonna cover spreads, they're gonna be in games and if they can learn to steal W's, I think they could actually be okay.

Giants 17-35 Cowboys
Dang, that Cowboys offense looks for real, defense wasn't bad either. Giants kinda suck on both sides but Saquon Barkley is an unholy badass (wasted on a crappy team), gonna be tough for the Giants to win 4 games this year, I expect Eli to long gone by Halloween. The Giants are so bad, its a little hard to tell how good the Cowboys are (they looked good, though), seems like a playoff team to me.

Steelers 3-33 Pats
This game was not as close as the score indicates--frankly I thought Brady was not that good on this night, he seemed like he was just going through the motions. The Pats D looks pretty great, the receiving corps looked good (and that's before the arrival of Antonio Bryant and their #1 draft pick), seems like they might be pretty good this year. Steelers sucked so bad tonight that I got nothing out of watching them, they can't be this bad, so hard to tell where they fit in the AFC North.


Games I saw none of:
Titans 43-13 Browns
19 penalties on the Browns, there you go. Titans can't be this good (not sure they looked good anyway); Browns probably aren't this bad but the hype has been deflated now, right?

Ravens 59-10 Dolphins
Yup: Ravens are good, Dolphins are bad. The score is eye-popping but the result isn't really much of a surprise.

Falcons 21-28 Vikings
The Falcons look pretty lackluster; feels like the Vikings might fit right in with the Bears and the Packers.

Bills 17-16 Jets
Ha! NYJ was up 16-0 late in the game, the final score crawls by and they just lost. Jets gonna Jet, man. What's up with the Bills? If their weirdo QB turns out good then they might could be good.

Rams 30-27 Panthers
This score feels about right: the Rams won on the road, scored points, made the plays down the stretch; Panthers put points on the board but got snaked by a better team. Feels like both of these squads are gonna be good.

Chiefs 40-26 Jags
The Chiefs are so good on offense and so bad on defense, this score looks right. The big story is that new Jags QB Nick Foles broke his collarbone which will take him out of action for a while (the whole season?), though fortunately their backup (already can't remember his name) played pretty well. But the Chiefs D is not good, man, so hard to tell anything about the Jags offense here.

Colts 24-30 (OT) Chargers
I dunno what to make of this. The Chargers should have advanced enough by now to actually win the easy game but they just don't do that, they don't finish off the easy wins, every game is a struggle with these guys. As a result, its hard to tell whether the Colts have seem real spunk to them or whether they just overachieved against a classic underachiever. 

Lions 27-27 Cards
Two bad teams. The Lions had this in hand and they let the rookie QB come back on them, exactly what a veteran defense with some moxy should not allow. The Cards are gonna scuffle all year long but seems like Kyler Murray is gonna be fun to watch, might even steal some W's. 

Niners 31-17 Bucs
Two bad teams. How much longer is Jameis Winston gonna last? Yeah, he's got skills but if every pass goes to the other team, then who cares how nice the spiral is? And did we learn anything about the Niners from this? A nothing game.

Texans 28-30 Saints
The Saints ought to be better but they got the W, that's all that matters (according to Parcells). The Texans...I dunno, lost a heartbreaker. I didn't see any of this (wish I had!) so got no feel for the feel of it.

Broncos 16-24 Raiders
I think both of these teams are bad. Division games are unpredictable, so don't get too excited about this. I think the Broncos are gonna be up/down all year and there's no reason at all to think the Raiders are any good.

2017-18 NBA Awards Watch (Week 1)

ROY
59 players debuted in the first week of the season (higher than last year if I'm not mistaken). I've listed them by most Minutes Played.

Ben Simmons (Sixers), De'Aaron Fox (Kings), Josh Jackson (Suns), Jaysun Tatum (Celtics), Lonzo Ball (Lakers), Mike James (Suns), Dillon Brooks (Grizzlies), Kyle Kuzma (Lakers), John Collins (Hawks), Markelle Fultz (Sixers), Justin Jackson (Kings), Lauri Markkanen (Bulls), Donovan Mitchell (Jazz), Dwayne Bacon (Hornets), Jonathon Isaac (Magic), Dennis Smith (Mavs), Malik Monk (Hornets), Luke Kennard (Pistons), OG Anunoby (Raptors), TJ Leaf (Pacers), Gian Clavell (Mavs), Milos Teodosic (Clippers), Jordan Bell (Warriors), Jarrett Allen (Nets), Caleb Swanigan (Blazers), Bogdan Bogdanovic (Kings), Terrance Ferguson (Thunder), Semi Ojeleye (Celtics), Alex Caruso (Lakers), Maxi Kleber (Mavs), Abdel Nader (Celtics), Josh Hart (Lakers), Frank Mason (Kings), Daniel Thies (Celtics), Jabari Bird (Celtics), Josh Magette (Hawks), Alec Peters (Suns), Cedi Osman (Cavs), Sindarius Thornwell (Clippers), Tyler Dorsey (Hawks), Frank Ntilikina (Knicks), Brandon Paul (Spurs), Zach Collins (Blazers), Zhou Qi (Rockets), Ante Zizic (Cavs), Bam Adebayo (Heat), Sterling Brown (Bucks), Ryan Arcidiacono (Bulls), Khem Birch (Magic), Wesley Iwundu (Magic), Damyean Dotson (Knicks), Dakari Johnson (Thunder), Guerschon Yabusele (Celtics), Ike Anigbogu (Pacers), Alfonzo McKinnie (Raptors), Royce O'Neale (Jazz), DJ Wilson (Bucks), Derrick White (Spurs)

So far Simmons (Sixers) leads all rookies in Rebounds, Assists and Free Throw Attempts. If he finishes the year first in all three categories, how do you vote for anyone else for ROY? Also, he's already looking pretty un-guardable.


MVP
Obviously its too early for this talk (although Lebron already looks awesome, no?). But with the Celtics losing Hayward, if the Bucks can sneak past the Wizards into a top 4 spot in the East, then it will be because of Giannas Atentekounpo (Bucks), who will have to get serious consideration for MVP. So far he's their best player on both ends of the court, is making crazy highlight plays all over the place and will (I think) continue to grow as everyone's favorite player to watch. He's legit.


DPOY
It's early but did you notice that Kevin Durant (Warriors) is leading the league in blocked shots? Demarcus Cousins (Pelicans) and Anthony Davis (Pelicans) are currently #2 and #3 in defensive rebounds; throw in that Jrue Holiday (Pelicans) is top 5 in steals and the Pelicans have the makings of a tough defensive squad.


6th Man
Again, it's early but PJ Tucker (Rockets) has jumped out to the early lead here, I'd say. And I expect him to keep playing important minutes off the bench, keep an eye on Tucker. I'm still in on Marcus Smart (Celtics), though Terry Rozier (Celtics) is taking his time/glory for now. Jonathon Simmons (Magic) has yet to take off but he still seems like a good candidate. De'Aaron Fox (Kings) and Allen Crabbe (Nets) are playing big minutes off the bench but I assume they'll both be regularly starters soon enough.


Most Improved
Dang, have you watched Andrew Wiggins (Wolves)? He's looking like Jimmy Butler 2.0 so far: hitting big shots, driving with ease, playing smothering D. If Wiggins keeps this up (and if Towns continues to look utterly clueless on the defensive end), it's looking like Wiggins could get himself some MVP and all-Defense consideration that would almost certainly earn him Most Improved (is that a thing, though?).