NFL Week One Review: It’s Football Season!
Well, we made it! Even though the summer had an entertaining World Cup, incredible GAA and a fascinating Commonwealth Games they never filled the void left by football! And oh, boy week one of the NFL’s regular season rewarded our patience!
Caleb Williams Sets the Tone
While it may seem incredulous to rely on your offence to overcome conceding nearly 40 points every week, if there is one team that could manage that feat, it could be this season’s Bears! Williams became the first ever NFL player to (deep breath required) throw two or more passing TDs, throw for 200+ passing yards, have 50+ rushing yards and score two rushing TDs!
Williams was magnificent: helping the Bears to a highest score since 1980! The Panthers may have pinpointed holding Bears’ threat Colston Loveland scoreless and managed that. Alas, they failed in other departments. They conceded 522 yards: 291 rushing. This is unfathomable for a team that recruited supposed upgrades in the offseason.
Bears 59 Panthers 37
Burrows Aided (For Once) By Bengals’ Defence
Cinci fans may well pinpoint this result as an example of evolution in the development of the franchise. For years, Joe Burrows had to beat the Bengals’ opponent AND his own team’s D. He looked to have trouble early on taking snaps under-center, but he looked cool and calm as he learned to deal with the Bucs’ defensive structures.
He had help this time round. The Bengals defense forced four turnovers, with Baker Mayfield having a day to forget! Indeed Myles Murphy, Jonathan Allen et al even dealt with a Burrows’ interception AND consequential Bucks’ pick six to put an exclamation mark on the win!
Bengals 33 Buccaneers 27
49ers (And Travel) Bests Rams in NFL Melbourne
The Melbourne Cricket Ground played host to the first shock of the NFL season. Over 100,000 fans witnessed the 49ers dominant victory. As other teams have done in the past, much to the disappointment of the host nation’s fans, the LA Rams arrived a mere 24 hours before kick off: and the performance reflected that the players looked stiff after the 15 hour flight. The 49ers, in contrast, looked nimble and well rested having landed in Oz the week before!!
Brock Purdy was the hero of the day. Successfully targeting Deebo Samuel Sr, Mike Evans and Demarcus Robinson, he put the highly tipped Rams on notice. McVay was adamant the result was a wake up call for the Rams coaching and playing staffs: “I make no excuses. Whether you want to say it’s about travel … We just weren’t good enough.”
49ers 49 Rams 7
To say we are delighted to have football back is an understatement! Here’s to more drama, spills, thrills and more as the weeks progress. How did your team do this week? Is the season already a bust, despite coaching changes and a decent draft? Let us know in the comments.