The NFL is Back!
Image courtesy of USA Today.
By Griffin Cappiello
This past weekend, the National Football League (NFL) returned to action and it did not disappoint.
On Thursday night, the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, hosted the Dallas Cowboys in a fiery divisional matchup. Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter was ejected on the very first drive of the game for spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, but the Eagles were able to squeak out a narrow 24-20 win.
On Friday night, the Los Angeles Chargers faced division rivals and Super Bowl runners-up, the Kansas City Chiefs, in the NFL’s São Paulo Game. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert threw for three touchdowns in a 27-24 win over Patrick Mahomes’s Chiefs.
During Sunday’s early slate of games, the Las Vegas Raiders beat the New England Patriots 20-13 in Pete Carroll and Mike Vrabel’s first game in charge of their respective teams. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 23-20, and the Cincinnati Bengals defeated division rivals the Cleveland Browns 17-16. The Indianapolis Colts thrashed the Miami Dolphins 33-8, and the New Orleans Saints fell to the Arizona Cardinals 13-20. Aaron Rodgers threw for four touchdowns against his former team, the New York Jets, in his debut for the Pittsburgh Steelers, a 34-32 victory.
Close to campus, the Washington Commanders hosted division rivals the New York Giants and came out victorious with a 21-6 win. The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Carolina Panthers, and the Tennessee Titans, led by first overall draft pick Cam Ward, fell to the Denver Broncos. The afternoon slate of games continued with two divisional matchups: the Seattle Seahawks hosted the San Francisco 49ers and fell 13-17, and the Green Bay Packers hosted the Detroit Lions and won 27-13. The Houston Texans fell 9-14 on the road against the Los Angeles Rams to round out the afternoon games.
On Sunday night, the Buffalo Bills hosted the Baltimore Ravens in a shootout between the two most recent NFL MVPs: Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Each quarterback threw for two touchdowns, with Jackson rushing for an additional touchdown and Allen rushing for two. Down 19-34 entering the fourth quarter, the Bills put up twenty-two points to win the game 41-40.
Week One of the NFL season wrapped up with a divisional matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears. Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy threw for two touchdowns and rushed for a third in his NFL debut following his season-ending injury in last year’s preseason. Despite first-year head coach Ben Johnson’s best efforts, the Bears fell 24-27 to the Vikings.
Some key Week Two matchups to look forward to include Ben Johnson and the Bears returning to Detroit to face off against his former team, the Lions, and the Eagles traveling to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs in a Super Bowl LIX rematch.
