Two games have already been played ahead of the first Sunday of the season: the annual Thursday night game featuring the defending Super Bowl Champions and the inaugural Friday night game played for the first time in Brazil. The two games featured four teams with real Super Bowl aspirations, and all were in the top 10. The Chiefs faced off against the Ravens, while the Packers played the Eagles in South America.
Many headlines emerged from each game and the ones emerging in tomorrow’s games. But before discussing any of them, the first headline that needs to be mentioned is the tragic and senseless shooting of San Francisco rookie WR Ricky Pearsall. He was shot in the chest by a 17-year-old trying to rob him.
Thankfully, he is well and should be back playing this year. After five days, he was back at practice with the team. He was placed on the non-football injury list, which will keep Pearsall off the field for at least the first four games of the year. This is a situation where real life intersected with sports, and if not for the tremendous luck that the bullet landed where it did, this could have been a much more tragic situation.
In the shadow of that, back to football, the new national pastime and ultimate diversion from real life:
- Jordan Love was injured late: In the last minute of the game between the Packers and Eagles, with the Eagles up 34-29, Love was hit high and low on a play, twisting his body and bending him back. His leg was planted in the subpar field, and he was forced to leave with what is being reported as a lower leg injury. Hopefully, it won’t be anything major for Green Bay fans and the Packers’ hopes for the playoffs.
- Saquon Barkley is a beast: Welcome to Philadelphia, Saquon…Giants fans must have been watching that performance, throwing stuff at their TVs. All Barkley did was gain 132 total yards and score three touchdowns.
- Still questions for Philly: Although the Eagles won convincingly, especially after their 1-6 final seven games last season, there are still questions in Philadelphia. QB Jalen Hurts had a solid game, going 20-34 with 278 passing yards and two TD passes. But he contributed to three turnovers, throwing two interceptions and a fumble…which, in fairness, wasn’t his fault. After 14 seasons of Jason Kelce at center, Hurts has new center Cam Jurgens hiking him the ball. And on one play from the shotgun, he hiked it too soon, causing the fumble.
- Jayden Reed has a monster game in a loss: One of the bright spots for the Packers was Reed’s performance. With one rush and four catches, Reed had 171 total yards and two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving.
- The X-Factor in Kansas City: Andy Reid and Kansas City have done it again. In his first game, rookie Xavier Worthy caught two passes, ran the ball once and scored two TDs. He had 68 total yards. A few weeks ago, I wrote that I felt Worthy would be the best WR to come out of this year’s draft but worried whether he’d get enough touches with all their stars on offense. Three touches aren’t much, but if he is a difference-maker. As I said in that article, if he gains Patrick Mahomes’s trust, his playing time will go up. Based on opening night, Worthy will get more involved in Kansas City’s offense.
- Lamar Jackson; same old, same old: In another article I wrote, previewing the Ravens, I said that with the addition of RB Derrick Henry, Jackson wouldn’t have to play hero ball anymore. Yet, in crunch time, Jackson just kept calling his won number. And when the smoke settled, he had more carries than King Henry did. He had 16 to Henry’s 13. This model has proven to fail every year for Baltimore. HC John Harbaugh has to reign in his MVP QB, but I doubt he will.
- Lamar Jackson, just not good enough: Going back to Jackson, Thursday night proved yet again that Jackson isn’t good enough to win it all. He’s not accurate enough to lead a team to the promised land. In the final drive he nearly got TE Isaiah Likely killed on an overthrow on a pass I’ve seen Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers make a million times to the corner of the endzone. And then on the next play, he badly, (and that’s an understatement), missed WR Zay Flowers in the back of the endzone. Jackson threw the ball high and behind Flowers, giving him no chance at catching the pass…and Flowers could not have been more wide-open. Everyone will talk about the final play, where Likely was out of the endzone by a centimeter…but the game was lost on the play before when he missed Flowers.
- Isaiah Likely, Likely very good: And speaking of that final play…WOW! It was reminiscent of basketball star Kevin Durant losing a pivotal playoff game because his toe was on the 3-point line. TE Likely had already had a monster game with nine catches for 111 yards and a TD. If not for having a shoe size one size too big, he would have had his second TD of the game. TE Mark Andrews is still listed as the team’s TE1, but after what Likely did last season when Andrews was hurt and what he did on Thursday, there could be a changing of the guard at TE in Baltimore. Likely looks like he has the potential to be a top-five TE in the league.
- Russell Wilson’s back: In another article I wrote previewing the Steelers, I said that Russell would likely be the team’s starting quarterback to begin the year but that quarterback Justin Fields was well suited to start if needed. That may be the case in Week 1 with Wilson having a balky back. At this moment, it’s still up in the air as to who will start. This is the benefit of having a serviceable backup quarterback.
- Ja’Marr Chase’s contract: We are in the 11th hour of the Chase contract saga. He still does not have a contract, and it remains to be seen if he’ll play on opening day against the Patriots. The Bengals probably don’t need him, but fellow WR Tee Higgins is listed as doubtful, and without either of them, the task will be a tad more difficult for QB Joe Burrow. Chase has missed time this preseason due to his contract squabble, but he is returning this week with no contract. He’s looking for Cee Dee Lamb money, or even a smidge more, and there are reports that there’s still a chance a deal gets done before game-time. And there’s still a chance he’ll play without a new deal, but it seems like it will be a game-time decision.