Ten Thoughts on the NFL

1) I’m not sure if the hangover for the Super Bowl runner-up is real or if the Arizona Cardinals are the real deal. The San Francisco 49ers were a 6.5 point favorite at home, but the defending NFC champs dropped one to the Cardinals, 24 to 20.

Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray is one of the most exciting players in the game today, and getting him a stud receiver in DeAndre Hopkins was a steal that will take that offense to another level.

I expect the ‘Niners to bounce back and challenge for the NFC West again, but if the Cardinals’ defense can improve in Vance Joseph’s second year as coordinator, they’ll make things interesting in that division.

2) It was good to see coach Ron Rivera lead Washington to a win, but did you catch what he did at halftime? Rivera, who revealed last month that he was diagnosed with cancer, got a precautionary IV at halftime before watching his Football Team score 20 unanswered points to beat the Eagles 27 to 17. His defense picked up 8 sacks, 2 interceptions, and a fumble recovery.

3) The Ravens rolled the Browns 38 to 6 behind reigning MVP Lamar Jackson’s efficiently dynamic play. Nothing seems to rattle him while he’s in the pocket or when he’s out scrambling around, so how do you defend him?

4) Baker Mayfield should probably stop filming commercials for a while.

5) Gardner Minshew out here making history with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

6) The Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson went off as well by completing 31 of 35 attempts for 322 yards, four touchdowns, and a 143.1 rating in their 38-25 win against the Atlanta Falcons. Wilson also ran for 29 yards, which put him over 4,000 rushing yards in his career, and when coupled with his 30,000 plus passing yards, he became only the second player in NFL history to hit both of those marks joining Hall Of Famer Steve Young.

7) After one week it’s Bill Belichick 1, Tom Brady 0.

8) Trent Williams.

9) I haven’t seen the total, but it sure seems like there were more injuries than usual during opening weekend this year, which was probably expected with teams having no camps, OTAs, or preseason this year.

The Chicago Bears were one of the few teams that escaped their week 1 game unscathed.

Here’s a full list of all the week 1 injuries.

10) If you thought you were going to escape my Thoughts this week without a mention of Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson then you were wrong!