The Best of Week 1 🎥

09/11/2023 The Best of Week 1 🎥

By: Jeff Yoder

Cowboys, 49ers, Packers, Rams, Browns & Dolphins Log Most Impressive Week 1 Victories

Week 1, you didn’t disappoint. The opening Sunday of the NFL season brought us 14 NFL games to kick things off, and I spent 12 straight hours locked in. There were seven one-score games that came down to the wire and roughly four no-contest blowouts, including the Cowboys tearing apart the Giants on Sunday Night Football (40-0). The Packers also started the Jordan Love era with a blowout against the Bears while the 49ers and Rams were big NFC winners, too. The top quarterback nod of Week 1 belonged to Tua Tagovailoa (Dolphins) with 466 yards passing in a track meet against the Chargers. There’s still one game to be played, and it’s a good one (Bills at Jets, Tonight, 8:15 pm ET). Let’s relive Week 1’s best moments and highlights from Sunday.

 

Best of Week 1

SNF Dallas Dominion: The Cowboys secured the biggest butt-kicking of Week 1, in primetime on Sunday Night Football, with a 40-0 beatdown against the Giants in a downpour at Metlife Stadium. Two defense/special teams touchdowns in the first quarter sparked the onslaught. It was the fourth-largest road shutout in a season-opener in NFL history.

 

Love in Green Bay: The Jordan Love era in Green Bay started with a bang in a division rivalry. Love threw for 245 yards and 3 TDs as the Packers throttled the Bears (38-20). Aaron who?

 

Burrow Blanked: Three days after the Bengals made QB Joe Burrow the highest-paid player in the NFL, Cincy failed to score a touchdown and got ran over by the Browns in the battle for Ohio (24-3). Burrow was 14/31 for 82 yards in the Cleveland rain.

 

Chargers-Dolphins Shootout: The best game of Week 1 was a track meet in Los Angeles between the Chargers and Dolphins. The high-powered offenses combined for 70 points, but Tua Tagovailoa (466 yards) and Miami got the last laugh (36-34).

 

Purdy Dang Good: For 49ers fans wondering if Brock Purdy would pick up where he left off, look no further. The Niners shredded the Steelers on the road (30-7) while Purdy (240 yards, 2 TDs) casually used his multitude of weapons in a rout.

 

QBs in New Places: Three veteran quarterbacks with new teams all claimed wins in their new-team debuts. Jimmy Garappolo (Raiders, +1), Derek Carr (Saints, +1), and Baker Mayfield (Bucs, +3) all won in games decided by a total of five points.

 

🎥 Sunday’s Top Highlight: Falcons Rookie RB Bijan Robinson Breaks Ankles for 1st NFL Touchdown

 

Week 1 Top Performers

Quarterbacks

QB T. Tagovailoa (MIA): 28/45, 466 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT

QB M. Jones (NE): 35/54, 316 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT

QB J. Love (GB): 15/27, 257 yards, 3 TDs

 

Running Backs

RB C. McCaffrey (SF): 25 touches, 169 yards, 1 TD

RB A. Ekeler (LAC): 20 touches, 164 yards, 1 TD

RB A. Jones (GB): 11 touches, 127 yards 2 TDs

 

Pass-Catchers

WR T. Hill (MIA): 11 receptions, 215 yards, 2 TDs

WR J. Jefferson (MIN): 9 receptions, 150 yards

WR B. Aiyuk (SF): 8 receptions, 129 yards, 2 TDs

WR C. Ridley (JAX): 8 receptions, 101 yards, 1 TD

WR J. Meyers (LVR): 9 receptions, 81 yards, 2 TDs

 

Week 1 Scoreboard & Highlights

Lions def. Chiefs (21-20)

Falcons def. Panthers (24-10)

Ravens def. Texans (25-9)

Browns def. Bengals (24-3)

Jaguars def. Colts (31-21)

Buccaneers def. Vikings (20-17)

Saints def. Titans (16-15)

49ers def. Steelers (30-7)

Commanders def. Cardinals (20-16)

Packers def. Bears (38-20)

Raiders def. Broncos (17-16)

Dolphins def. Chargers (36-34)

Eagles def. Patriots (25-20)

Rams def. Seahawks (30-13)

Cowboys def. Giants (40-0)

 

Monday Night Football

Bills at Jets (8:15 pm ET)

 

Read More

SI: Week 1 Insights: What We Learned About Every Team, Game by Game

B/R: Week 1 Didn’t Disappoint: Top Takeaways From Sunday’s Games

USA Today: Ravens RB JK Dobbins Suffers Season-Ending Torn Achilles

NFL: Notable Injury News From Week 1

 

The Sportsletter’s Top-10 Favorite NFL Teams

In yesterday’s Sunday edition, we asked for your favorite NFL teams. It helps us get to know the fan favorites before the start of each season, and it’s always fun to see how the fandom spread looks. Our community appears to be heavy on the AFC and NFC East. Here’s the breakdown of our community’s top-10 favorite teams: 1. Packers (6.3%), 2. 49ers (5.2%), 3. Bills (4.9%), 4. Jets (4.8%), 5. Giants (4.8%), 6. Patriots (4.7%), 7. Chiefs (4.4%), 8. Eagles (4.3%), 9. Dolphins (4.2%), 10. Cowboys (4.2%)

 

Photo: Mitchel Leff / Getty Images