Well, week 1 of the 2024 NFL season’s in the books, and I think it happened exactly the way we all thought it would. Brady throws 4 TDs, leads Pats to 28-21 win over Steelers, Marcus Mariota has 4 Tds as well … in the first half … of his first game ever, Buffalo’s defense’s too much for Andrew Luck and the Colts new offense to handle, St.Louis defeats Seattle … in Overtime … on 4th and 1 … by stopping a Marshawn Lynch run, Peyton Manning throws as many TDs as well … me, Tony Romo leads Dez-less Cowboys to come from behind win against the Giants, Eagles amazing offense scores three points in first half of Monday Night game, and Carlos Hyde currently leads the NFL in rushing yards. Yep, we all saw all of that coming. But hey, that seems to be how Week 1 always is, and with the opening week of the NFL in rear view, here are a couple of takeaways from Week 1, and a few things I’ll be watching closely for in Week 2.
Buffalo Defense – One huge takeaway from Week 1, was the Buffalo Bills defense absolutley CRUSHING Andrew Luck, and the Indianapolis Colts very appealing offense. Buffalo’s defensive rushing attack got to Andrew Luck 5 times, and the defensive backs picked him off two times. Buffalo gave up just over 300 yards this week, which is very impressive considering who they were playing. All offseason, everyone wanted to know how good those new additions in Indianapolis would be ( Frank Gore + Andre Johnson ), and after week one, they didn’t look good. Now I don’t think it’s because Gore and Johnson stink, I just think that the Buffalo defense is REALLY good. The defense impressively pitched a shut out the entire first half, and then only gave up 14 points in the second half … to Andrew Luck! You know, the same Andrew Luck who’s already getting MVP votes in week 1. After week 1, can we give the Buffalo defense MVP votes? Seriously, as of now they’re the obvious number one defense in the NFL, and they look big time. Moving on to week 2, they get to face Tom Brady , and the New England Patriots, who’s offense looked just as impressive as the Bills defense did. And boy, we know Rex Ryan will have something up his sleeve this week against his arc rivals. This game should be a good one, as it features one of the best defenses versus one of the best offensises.
Denver Offense – Going into the season I had high hopes for the Broncos offense, while everyone else was doubting Peyton Manning and his crew. I know see why. Ugh. Denver’s offense looked terrible this week in a 19-13 win against Baltimore that was won mostly by it’s defense. Manning owes that defense a nice dinner or something. Manning threw under 150 passing yards, and zero touchdowns, something he hasn’t done in a LONG time. He overthrew, under threw, and practically did everything else with the word “threw” in it, besides touchdowns. And it’s not like the running game was anything good either. A lot of people (including myself) expected Broncos running back, C.J Anderson to have a good game this week, but he of course ran for under 50 yards, and had zero touchdowns as well. The Broncos offensive stars look tired, and physically beat, and they’ve only played one game! WARNING – SARCASM UP AHEAD : Lucky for Denver though, they get to play the Thursday night game against Kansas City this week! This does however remind me of something though. Remember last year when the world gave up on the Patriots, and TB12, and then a week later he torched the Bengals defense, then went on to torch everyone else, get the number one seed in the AFC, and then eventually win the Super Bowl??? Of course you do, and you certainly remember saying things like “Brady’s done! New England’s no more!” You know you said something on the lines of that. Well I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few weeks from now Manning and the Denver offense gets back on track, and has a similar season to the Patriots last year. For some of my Fantasy teams purposes, I certainly hope so.
Julio Jones – JULIOOOOOOOOOOO!!! A few drives later JULIOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Of course I’m talking about the great performance of Atlanta Falcons Wide Receiver, Julio Jones, who is on pace to have one of the best seasons by a Wide Receiver … EVER. If he has more performances like the one he had Week 1, he’s definitely capable of doing it. Julio dragged in 2 impressive Touchdowns, and currently is second in the NFL in receiving yards, as he racked up 141 of them last weekend. I expect a HUGE year from Julio Jones, and the rest of the Falcons offense this year, and week 1 is just a very early sign of things to come. Week 2 should be yet again another good matchup for Julio, as he’ll be facing the New York (Football) Giants, who just gave up over 350 receiving yards to the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday night. I expect Julio to have another 100+ yard day, along with 2 or 3 TDs as well.
Tight End Dominance – In week 1, tight ends Rob Gronkowski , Tyler Eifert , Austin Seferian Jenkins, and Travis Kelce all had over 90 receiving yards, and at least 2 TD’s. Gronk had the most Touchdowns (3), but surprisingly had the lowest amount of receiving yards (94), while everyone else had 2 TDs, and hit the 100 mark. I wasn’t really surprised with the performances from Gronk, Kelce, and even Eifert, but I am surprised in the day ASJ had. He had 110 receiving yards, the most of any Tight End this week, and also had 2 TD’s to go along with those yards. Jenkins is definitely the real deal, and I like him a lot this week as the Buccaneers play the Saints. As for the other guys, Gronkowski’s in a whole other world from everyone else, Eifert looks good, and Kelce looks great. I like all four guys this week, and the following weeks to come.
Carlos Hyde & the 49ers – If you told me after the Monday Night Game between the Vikings and 49ers that one player had over 160 rushing yards, and two touchdowns, I’d of course be thinking you were talking about Adrian Peterson , but if I did, then I’d be wrong. Peterson had a very unimpressive 31 yards, while the guy with 168 yards was 49ers running back, Carlos Hyde. Hyde had an AMAZING Monday Night, and now leads the NFL in rushing yards. Not only that, but he lead the San Fran offense to a 20-3 victory over Minnesota. Am I surprised Hyde had the best week 1 performance in the NFL? Yeah, I am. Am I also surprised that the Niners won? Yeah actually, a little bit. I admit I thought the 49ers were going to lose this game, and with that have a bad season, and as for Hyde, I liked him, but not as much as say guys like .. gulp .. Justin Forsett , and Lamar Miller . Wow was I wrong about this one though. I know it’s only one win, but this 49ers team looked a lot better than I, and many others expected. Kudos to you San Francisco. I’m not 109% sold on them just yet though. Good Luck with Pittsburgh.
Packers, Seahawks – Ah. Now this one should be exciting. It seems like every time the Green Bay Packers, and Seattle Seahawks face off against each other something crazy goes down. Think back to The Fail Mary, the Missed Onside kick recovery last postseason, something always seems to happen, and this week I expect the same results. Green Bay’s still angry about blowing that NFC Championship game, and Seattle’s still ticked about losing to New England in the Super Bowl, and now they’re mad about losing week 1 to St.Louis too! I mean come on Pete Carroll! Why’d you run it with Marshawn on 4th and 1? The obvious choice there would’ve been a quick slant route. Like I said though, these two always put on a show for us when they play each other, and I think this time should be another treat. I expect a big game from Marshawn Lynch, and yet again think the Seahawks will squeak by with a close win. As a matter of fact …
Week 2 Winners : Broncos, Patriots, Panthers, Chargers, Saints, Steelers, Titans, Cardinals, Vikings, Falcons, Rams, Dolphins, Ravens, Eagles, Seahawks, Colts
All Star Fantasy team of the week (No way I predict these right) :
QB – Andrew Luck, IND
RB – Marshawn Lynch, SEA
RB – Matt Forte , CHI
WR – Julio Jones, ATL
WR – Brandin Cooks , NO
FLEX – Lamar Miller, MIA (RB)
TE – Rob Gronkowski, NE
K – Steven Haushcka, SEA
DST – St. Louis Rams
Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out other great stuff on the website. Enjoy Week 2 everybody!
Alex B.