Sky Sports' Neil Reynolds has the final word on Week One in the NFL; join Neil and guests for a brand new, two-hour NFL Review show as they take a look back on the best of the weekend's action - every Tuesday from 9pm, Sky Sports NFL
Tuesday 13 September 2022 16:01, UK
Week One in the NFL always tends to be unpredictable, but this one was truly crazy. It was one dramatic finish after another, even right up to Monday Night Football.
The Seattle Seahawks haven't been given much of a chance this year, it was all about Russell Wilson and his return to Seattle, but the Seahawks got the win.
From start to finish, Week One was the NFL at its very best - pure entertainment - and here are my five major takeaways from the weekend...
This group was a concern last year. Joe Burrow was sacked 70 times (including the playoffs) and seven times in the Super Bowl - which cost them their chance to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy, I think.
It wasn't supposed to be this way this year. They brought in four new starters for the O-line, but they allowed seven more sacks in the Cincinnati Bengals' 23-20 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Burrow threw four interceptions and also had one lost fumble, but that almost shows just how special he is because even with all of that, they should have won the game, Cincinnati - but for a blocked extra point attempt at the end of regulation.
If they can fix their offensive line, the Bengals will be in good shape. But, obviously, it's still a problem area at this point.
The Philadelphia Eagles looked very balanced on offense in their 38-35 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
They are a team that really commits to the run - they have the most productive running quarterback in the NFL form last season in Jalen Hurts. They averaged 160 yards per game on the ground last year, and had 216 and four touchdowns against Detroit.
But, what was interesting as well was that they were able to throw the ball too, with their big-name offseason acquisition from the Tennessee Titans, receiver A.J. Brown, having 10 catches for 155 yards.
They needed all of their 38 points ultimately, with the Lions hanging around in the game, but the offensive performance bodes well for them in their quest to win the NFC East this season.
Staying with the NFC East, the very last thing the Dallas Cowboys needed was an injury to their star quarterback Dak Prescott, especially when looking to break younger, new wide receivers into the team.
They do have a good defense and they'll have to lean on that over the next several weeks, find a way to win and ride this out.
It's an obvious statement, but losing your franchise quarterback in Week One is very damaging. It's early in the season, but it is still significant - the Eagles won, the Washington Commanders won, the New York Giants won... they'll all be circling.
It was really pleasing to see how well Saquon Barkley played for the Giants on Sunday.
He has missed 21 games over the last three seasons to various injuries, and New York have missed what he provided in their Week One win over the Tennessee Titans.
Explosiveness. Consistency. Playmaking. Everything that he was supposed to be, supposed to bring when he was drafted with the number two overall pick in the 2018 Draft, he brought on Sunday - 164 rushing yards, another 30 receiver, along with a touchdown and two-point conversion to win it.
I thought he was outstanding. But the big thing for him is to stay healthy this season, so let's see how it goes.
We always look at quarterbacks, that's only natural in the NFL. And Josh Allen is one of the best of them, a real star, but Buffalo's defense was very, very good in their season-opening win over the Los Angeles Rams last Thursday night.
They had seven sacks, three interceptions. We won't know until we get a bit further down the road exactly how much of that was down to the Rams' offensive line issues, but Buffalo's defense looks pretty complete right out of the gate.
The Rams didn't look on the same level as the Bills. Buffalo turned the ball over four times, which is normally the great equaliser, and yet they still won by 21 on the road - against the Super Bowl champs!
I thought Jefferson was uncoverable in the Minnesota Vikings' 23-7 beating of the Green Bay Packers - nine catches, 184 yards, two touchdowns.
He has made a historic start to his life in the NFL, but I actually think he is only going to get better this year.
Also, what makes stand out as the player of the week from this week is the quality of the opposition he came up against. One of Green Bay's biggest strengths is meant to be their secondary and yet he absolutely shredded them.
He is really special. And he now also has a head coach in Kevin O'Connell who is coming off a year as offensive coordinator with the Rams in which he had a triple crown winner at receiver in Cooper Kupp.
It's a fantastic marriage and I think Vikings fans should be very excited about what lies ahead this season. I certainly can't wait to see what he does the rest of the way.
It has to be the Josh Allen stiff arm.
There is part of me that worries every time he takes off running. He is such a fun player to watch and I don't want to see him get injured.
But he is like a kid in the playground, like Ben Roethlisberger at the height of his powers. Big Ben would make stuff up off the fly, throw defenders off of him... Allen is the same.
It was one of those plays that energised the Bills and powered them across the line against the Rams. They were probably going to win the game anyway, but it was one of those plays that would have lifted all 52 players on the roster.
Allen was my pick to be MVP this year. I know it's only one game, but I saw everything from him on Thursday night I needed to.
Two rookies win this week, Mike McDaniel (Miami Dolphins) and Brian Daboll (New York Giants).
These coaches showed me that they're not just going to run the ball and play defense. They're the perfect example of the new breed of NFL coaches, they're going to be aggressive.
With McDaniel, how many times have we seen coaches go into themselves or overthink things when they play against Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots? I would suggest it was Belichick doing the overthinking on Sunday.
McDaniel had the 4th-and-7 near midfield that resulted in the 42-yard touchdown to Jalen Waddle, while Daboll's Giants, against the Titans, came from 13 down on the road, they had a bit of momentum and they went for the win rather than taking the extra point to tie the game.
Both of those coaches showed huge bravery early in their NFL careers. If you do the unconventional and it fails, you're going to hear about it. So they obviously have a lot of confidence in themselves.
I'm going to monitoring the form going forward of New Orleans Saints receiver Michael Thomas.
He missed all of 2021 for the Saints and he played only half of the season before that one. His career has been derailed since he had a league-high 149 catches in 2019.
But he was unstoppable towards the end of the Saints' come-from-behind win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. He had five catches for 57 yards, with two touchdowns.
If he is back near to the level of two years ago, it's very good news for Jameis Winston and the Saints.
Join Neil Reynolds and guests for a brand new, two-hour NFL Review show as they take a look back on the best of the weekend's action - every Tuesday from 9pm on Sky Sports NFL.
