Week one of the 2021 NFL season is now in the bag and quite a start it was too! First of all, we had four Rookie QBs all scoring at least a TD which bodes well for their teams. There wear also 9 games decided by one score or less and a couple went to overtime.
The week opened with a closer than expected win for the defending Super Bowl Champions Tampa Bay which sort of ended up an areal display given neither side had any success running the ball. The weekend’s big games AFC clashes saw a couple of upsets as both Buffalo & Baltimore lost games they were expected to win.
The much-anticipated repeat of last seasons divisional game saw Kansas City prevail by the same margin of 5 points. This time they had to come back from a 10 point deficit though.
In the NFC New Orleans got the post Drew Brees off to a flying start thumping Green Bay. More surprisingly was the fact that QB Jamies Winston had 5 TD’s & didn’t throw an interception. Mind you he only passed for 148 yards!
It was a bad night for the NFC North as all four teams lost with Minnesota coming closest to a win going down in OT against Cinncinati. Detroit at least made a fist of things as they look to move on from the Matt Stafford era. They finish within 8 points of the 49ers. Speaking of Mr Stafford, he looked great behind the LA Rams O-Line as he guided them past the Bears. Chicago gave their rookie QB a couple of snaps, however, he couldn’t add to the Rookie QB tally.
Rookie Starts & TDs
It was a good night for the next generation of QBs with Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft throwing for 332 yards and 3TD;s. The gloss was taken off by this matching interception tally. Still the future look bright.
New York Jets rookie quarterback Zach Wilson (No. 2), and New England rookie quarterback Mac Jones (No. 15) each made their first career starts. They both had their first Touch Downs too as did San Francisco’s Trey Lance who made a cameo appearance.
Two Close Ones
Two games went to Over Time with the Bengals getting the win thanks to an ill-timed Vikings fumble. In the other OT tie, The Raiders recovered from an opening drive interception to win the game thanks to a Baltimore fumble which set them up with a short field.
Running up the score.
The Eagles despite leading 29-6 with just over a minute left decided to kick a field goal rather than try for it on 4th down. Nothing like making sure of the win!
Anyway so ends week one. The full results are below.
Thursday Night
Tampa Bay 31, Dallas 29
Sunday, 12 September
Philadelphia 32, Atlanta 6
Pittsburgh 23, Buffalo 16
Cincinnati 27, Minnesota 24 (OT)
San Francisco 41, Detroit 33
Arizona 38, Tennessee 13
Seattle 28, Indianapolis 16
LA Chargers 20, Washington 16
Carolina 19, NY Jets 14
Houston 37, Jacksonville 21
Kansas City 33, Cleveland 29
Miami 17, New England 16
New Orleans 38, Green Bay 3
Denver 27, NY Giants 13
LA Rams 34, Chicago 14
Monday Game
LV Raiders 33, Baltimore 27 (OT)
Check out our Week two predictions here.