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Santiago Leon and Dan Madden recap Week 1 of the 2024 NFL Season.
Contributors
Santiago Leon – @sleon
Dan Madden – @danimal2478
Top Headlines Dak Prescott had a pretty decent Sunday, starting the day by becoming the highest-paid player in NFL history (four-year, $240 million extension) and ending it by leading the Cowboys to a blowout win over the Browns.
Madness in Miami: Tyreek Hill was briefly detained by police outside of Hard Rock Stadium. Hours later, he hit the handcuff celebration after an 80-yard TD and the Fins kicked a walk-off field goal.
Primetime delivers: Thursday’s Chiefs-Ravens thriller was the most-watched kickoff game ever (28.9 million viewers), Friday’s Eagles-Packers game in Brazil was a slugfest, and “Sunday Night Football” went to overtime, with the Lions beating the Rams.
WEEK 1 RECAP
CAR 10 NO 47
— Derek Carr passed for three touchdowns and the New Orleans Saints scored on their first nine possessions in a 47-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday
Alvin Kamara and Jamaal Williams each ran for touchdowns and Blake Grupe kicked four field goals — two from beyond 50 yards — in an extraordinary debut for new Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
The Panthers, who went 2-15 last season, made front office, coaching and key roster changes in hopes of showing more promise this season. But this season opener could not have gone much worse for new coach Dave Canales and second-year quarterback Bryce Young.
MIN 28 NYG 6
— Sam Darnold threw two touchdown passes in a highly efficient performance and Andrew Van Ginkel scored on a spectacular one-handed 10-yard interception return to lead the Minnesota Vikings to an easy 28-6 victory over the woeful New York Giants on Sunday.
Darnold, who played his home games at MetLife Stadium for three seasons after being taken No. 3 overall by the Jets in 2018, had touchdown passes of 3 yards to Justin Jefferson and 21 to Jalen Nailor in his Vikings debut.
Darnold also had a 22-yard pass to Josh Oliver to help set up Aaron Jones’ 3-yard TD run that put Minnesota ahead 7-3 late in the first quarter and got Kevin O’Connell’s team off to a good start as it looks to rebound from a disappointing 7-10 season.
There’s something with Sam Darnold
NE 16 CIN 10
Rhamondre Stevenson rushed for 120 yards and a first-quarter touchdown, Joey Slye kicked three field goals and the New England Patriots won Jerod Mayo’s debut as coach, beating the mistake-prone Cincinnati Bengals 16-10 on Sunday.
Quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who got the starting nod for the Patriots over first-round draft pick Drake Maye, was not exceptional, but he held onto the ball and kept the Patriots moving well enough against slow-starting Cincinnati.
The nine-year veteran directed a methodical 80-yard drive in the first quarter that included six first downs was capped by a 3-yard TD run by Stevenson.
BENGALS HAVE SLOW STARTS.
MAYO GOT A GATORADE BATH
PIT 18 ATL 10
— With Russell Wilson’s Pittsburgh debut put on hold by a calf injury, Justin Fields stepped in to lead the Steelers to a 18-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday — with a big assist from Chris Boswell’s strong right leg.
Boswell booted six field goals, three of them longer than 50 yards, and the Steelers made life miserable for Kirk Cousins in his first game as Atlanta’s big-money quarterback.
Boswell connected from 57, 56, 51, 44, 40 and 25 yards to account for all the Steelers’ scoring.
HOU 29 IND 27
— Stefon Diggs caught two touchdown passes and Joe Mixon rushed for 159 yards and another score Sunday to help the Houston Texans close out a 29-27 victory against the Indianapolis Colts.
Houston (1-0) won its second straight road game in the series for the first time in franchise history and its ninth straight road game in division play.
The Colts (0-1), meanwhile, extended the NFL’s longest active opening day winless streak to 11 despite getting two TD passes of more than 50 yards from Anthony Richardson, who also ran for a late score.
AZ 28 BUF 34
— Josh Allen had three of his four touchdowns in the second half and the Buffalo Bills overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat the Arizona Cardinals 34-28 on Sunday.
Greg Rousseau had a career-best three sacks, including one that forced a fumble. The defense preserved the Bills’ win when Damar Hamlin and Ja’Marcus Ingram broke up Kyler Murray’s pass attempt to Greg Dortch near the goal line on fourth-and-7 from Buffalo’s 29 with 26 seconds remaining.
This was a thrilling back-and-forth affair between two non-conference rivals on a blustery day with temperatures in the low 60s and heavy winds gusting up to 30 mph (45kph) from the west off of nearby Lake Erie.
TEN 17 CHI 24
— Caleb Williams had a rough debut for Chicago but got bailed out by his defense, with Tyrique Stevenson returning an interception 43 yards for the go-ahead touchdown to give the Bears a 24-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
The Bears, who have their sights set on a playoff spot after going 10-24 over the previous two seasons, trailed 17-0 in the first half. They shut down the Titans from there and spoiled the debut of Tennessee coach Brian Callahan.
Williams, the No. 1 overall pick, finished 14 of 29 for 93 yards with a 55.7 passer rating. The former Heisman Trophy winner at Southern California still became the first quarterback drafted first overall to win his debut start since 2002, when David Carr led Houston past Dallas. The past 15 No. 1 picks were a combined 0-14-1 in initial starts, beginning with Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer in 2003.
JAX 17 MIA 20
— Jason Sanders nailed a 52-yard field goal as time expired, and the Miami Dolphins rallied past the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-17 on Sunday to win their fourth straight season opener.
Fresh off a big offseason payday, Tua Tagovailoa threw for 336 yards and a touchdown and led Miami on an 8-play, 31-yard drive over the final 2:09.
Tyreek Hill started the comeback with 80-yard touchdown catch that sparked Miami’s sluggish offense in the third quarter and got the Dolphins within 17-14. After the score, Hill placed his hands behind his back as if to simulate being handcuffed, hours after he was placed facedown and handcuffed on a street by Miami-Dade Police officers after being stopped for a traffic violation near Hard Rock Stadium.
DEN 20 SEA 26
Kenneth Walker III rushed for 84 of his 103 yards and a touchdown in the second half and the Seattle Seahawks overcame a mistake-filled first half to beat the Denver Broncos 26-20 on Sunday in the debut of new coach Mike Macdonald.
Walker sparked a second-half rally after an unsightly performance by Seattle’s offense over the first 30 minutes littered with sloppy miscues. The Broncos led 13-9 at the half thanks in part to two safeties.
Walker changed the momentum in the third quarter as Seattle recommitted to the ground game. He gained 53 yards on five carries on Seattle’s first drive of the second half, capped by a 23-yard touchdown run. Walker had another TD called back on a penalty, but he still produced the seventh 100-yard rushing game of his career.
LV 10 LAC 22
— J.K. Dobbins rushed for 135 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown, and the Los Angeles Chargers had a successful debut under Jim Harbaugh as they rallied in the second half for a 22-10 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
All 10 of Dobbins’ carries came in the second half. It was the fifth 100-yard rushing game for Dobbins, who signed a one-year deal with the Chargers during the offseason after beginning his career in Baltimore.
Dobbins played in only one game last year when he tore his Achilles tendon during the second half of Baltimore’s opener against Houston.
DAL 33 CLE 17
— Dak Prescott threw a touchdown pass hours after agreeing to a four-year, $240 million contract with Dallas and the Cowboys’ defense roughed up Deshaun Watsonin his return, throttling the Cleveland Browns33-17 in their opener Sunday.
Prescott’s deal makes him the first player to average $60 million per season and ends months of speculation about his future with the Cowboys, who have won 12 games in each of the past three years with him.
WAS 20 TB 37
— Baker Mayfield threw for 289 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 37-20 rout of the new-look Washington Commanders, spoiling the NFL debut of No. 2 overall draft pick Jayden Danielson Sunday.
Daniels was more effective running the ball than passing, scoring a pair of rushing TDs for Washington, which is aiming for a fresh start with the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback, Dan Quinn as the coach and Kliff Kingsbury and Joe Whitt Jr. running the offense and defense, respectively.
LAR 20 DET 26
David Montgomery’s 1-yard touchdown run in overtime lifted the Detroit Lions to a 26-20 win over the Matthew Stafford-led Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night in a rematch of their NFC wild-card game.
“Early in the season, a lot of games come down to who makes the fewest mistakes,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “We made one less than they did.”
The Lions lost a two-touchdown lead in the third quarter, but extended the game with Jake Bates’ tying 32-yard field goal in the final minute of regulation.
Detroit won the coin flip and took advantage of having the ball, gaining at least 9 yards on its first four plays in overtime to set up Montgomery’s winning score.
The Rams were in a position to spoil Detroit’s season-opening party when Stafford threw a go-ahead, 9-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp with 4:30 left in the fourth quarter.
Santiago Leon is the Founder and CEO of the Sports Cast. He covers NFL, NBA, and world soccer. He’s also founder of sleon productions, which he specializes in technology and serves clients with solutions to make their business grow.