Week one of the 2024 National Football League season is in the books, and it was a fascinating opening weekend for several reasons.
We had a game in Brazil, rookie quarterbacks, rookie head coaches, new kickoff rules and some surprise results.
Here are VAVEL’s winners and losers from the first week of gridiron action.
Winner: Mike Macdonald’s defense
Mike Macdonald replaced legendary Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll in the offseason after the team failed to make the playoffs.
The latter was known for being one of the best defensive minds in the game, but that had not translated onto the field in recent years, meanwhile the former led the best defense in the league with the Baltimore Ravens.
In his first game as head coach, the Seahawks defense allowed 16 points whilst registering three takeaways against the Denver Broncos and rookie signal caller Bo Nix, with two interceptions from Julian Love and Tariq Woolen and a forced fumble by K’von Wallace that was picked up by Jerome Baker.
The Hawks generated the most quarterback pressure than any other team in the league and ranked first for defensive DVOA at -55.4% in week one, allowing an offense that had initially underperformed to find its groove, an encouraging start for the new head coach.
Loser: Christian McCaffrey fantasy owners
The San Francisco 49ers won their opener against the New York Jets but it was without the presence of superstar running-back Christian McCaffrey.
The 28-year-old was widely considered as the consensus first pick when it comes to fantasy football this season, however, to most people’s surprise, he missed the week one win with an achilles injury.
Luckily for the 49ers, it did not affect their performance too much, with quarterback Brock Purdy still putting on a show and McCaffrey’s replacement, Jordan Mason rushing for 147 yards and a touchdown.
The three-time Pro Bowler is expected to miss the week two clash with the Minnesota Vikings too, and it is yet to be seen how long Achilles tendinitis keeps him out for, a huge blow to CMC owners all over the land.
Winner: Saquon Barkley
The Philadelphia Eagles made a big splash in the offseason, bringing in running-back Saquon Barkley on a three-year, $37.75 million contract.
It is safe to say that acquisition looks like it is already paying off.
In the NFL’s first-ever game played in Brazil, the 27-year-old became just the second player in franchise history to score three touchdowns in his first game, joining Terell Owens, who achieved that feat in 2004.
Overall, the former New York Giant had 24 carries for 109 yards and two receptions for 23 yards and two rushing and one receiving touchdowns. A very good debut for his new team as he propelled them to a 34-29 victory over the Green Bay Packers.
Loser: Giants offense
The New York Giants are Barkley’s former team and they could have done with him on Sunday in their 28-6 loss to the Vikings.
The offense was lacklustre, with Daniel Jones lacking confidence, ultimately completing 22 of 42 passing attempts for 186 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions, it may be time to bench the $160 million man.
If there was any hope of the running game relieving pressure on the quarterback it had soon faded, in fact, Devon Singletary had a total of ten carries for 37 yards, a total of just 3.7 yards per carry and zero touchdowns.
After a tough 2023 season, the offense needed to bounce back but if the opening weekend is anything to go off, it will be a season of struggle again.
Winner: Baker Mayfield
Baker Mayfield has successfully revived his career in recent years and it looks like that is set to continue this season.
The veteran completed 24 of 30 pass attempts, for a total of 289 yards and four touchdowns in a dominant 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders.
His chemistry with elite wideouts Mike Evans and Chris Godwin is showing no sign of slowing down, with the duo getting the brunt of the action from their signal caller, 14 targets, 13 catches, 144 yards and three touchdowns).
A victory over a Washington side that let go of its best defensive talents for draft picks last campaign will not raise his stock too much, but it was still a standout performance for a player once considered as a bust.
Loser: Deshaun Watson
Deshaun Watson came into week one with doubts surrounding his availability and his performance and quite simply, he failed to silence the naysayers.
The fully-guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract handed out to the former Texans signal caller in 2022, looks like a huge mistake in hindsight, especially considering that he has only played in 12 games in his first two seasons with the Cleveland Browns after replacing Mayfield.
The 28-year-old completed just 24 of 45 pass attempts against the Dallas Cowboys in the season opener for 169 yards, with two interceptions, and one touchdown, which came when the game was already well over.
The Clemson product was also sacked six times and it looks like he does not have the makings of an elite quarterback and the Browns are stuck with him until at least 2026.
Winner: Jayden Daniels
Three of the six quarterbacks selected at the top of the first round of the 2024 NFL draft made their debuts on Sunday and Jayden Daniels had the most encouraging start.
The Washington Commanders selected the Heisman trophy winner at pick two, and he completed 17 of his 24 passing attempts, for a total of 184 yards, and he rushed for 88 yards from 16 carries, scoring two touchdowns and averaging 5.5 yards per carry in a 37-20 loss to the Buccaneers.
The Chicago Bears did win in Caleb Williams’ debut, but that was as a result of the defense rather than the rookie, who did not break the 100 yard passing mark and looked nervous in the pocket, missing wide open receivers a few times.
Meanwhile, Bo Nix had a nightmare start against the Seahawks, throwing for a total of 138 yards, with only 26 of his 42 attempts being complete, and two interceptions with zero touchdowns.
The New England Patriots started Jacoby Brissett over Drake Maye, The Atlanta Falcons are sticking with Kirk Cousins over Michael Penix Jr and J.J McCarthy was ruled out for the season after picking up an injury in pre-season.
Loser: Bryce Young
Last year’s number one draft pick did little to shake the bust label that he was given following an abysmal debut NFL season.
The Carolina Panthers revamped their coaching staff and offensive line in the offseason as well as bringing in some new weapons to help their signal caller out.
However, the Alabama product went 13 for 30 for a total of 161 yards and zero touchdowns, with two interceptions in the opening contest of the new campaign.
It would not be a surprise if Carolina were already scouting the 2025 class of quarterbacks, given Young’s performances so far.
Winner: New kickoff rules
The league’s new kickoff rules were brought in to make kickoffs more exciting and it did just that, producing three returns of over 50 yards for the first time in an opening week since 2011.
Arizona Cardinals running-back Deejay Dallas became the first return man to take a dynamic kickoff for a touchdown.
Another aim for the rule was to increase the number of returns and that was exactly what happened, with 57 returns across the weekend compared to a total of 32 in week one of last season.
The new kickoff rule brings a lot more excitement and a lot more jeopardy than the old rules. That is a win for the league.
Loser: Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinatti Bengals are a team that have constantly been pegged as Super Bowl contenders in recent seasons, but whilst fellow contenders such as the Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles all won in week one, the orange and black suffered an embarrassing defeat to the Patriots.
It may not be such a worry, they have now lost in three consecutive opening day matches, but the fashion of the loss should put the league on notice.
Star signal caller Joe Burrow was too fussed by the Patriots’ pass rush, constantly rushing his decisions rather than staying composed in the pocket, he was not helped by his tight ends to be fair, with Mike Gesicki having a touchdown overturned and Tanner Hudson fumbling on the goal line to deny a guaranteed score.
A more worrying thing for the Bengals is that their offense does not seem to have evolved since their Super Bowl run in 2021, it is a fair question to wonder whether this offense is going in the wrong direction in what could be the final year that the big three (Burrow, Chase, Higgins) are together.
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