I have been missing for a few weeks on this sports blog mainly due to a vacation we took the week of Labor Day. That being said I am back in the writers chair and have some opinions about some NFL teams and performances we saw during Week 1. I am not going to sit here and analyze every team/player from week one because lets be honest nobody would want to read it. We have a few opinions to get into so without further ado here we go!

Let’s start out by saying Welcome Back NFL! The season finally kicked off this past weekend with quite a few key matchups of divisions rivals and conference games. I want to start out with giving Justin Herbert his flowers, the man came out against the Kansas City Chiefs and absolutely took over the game. He ended the game with 318 passing yards and three touchdowns during Friday night’s game. Personally I think the Chiefs looked slow and just lackadaisical on both offense and defense. I know it is week one but usually Andy Reid and the Chiefs come out ready to start the season strong but I did not see that during the game. I fully expect them to bounce back but I do believe this could be the year the Chiefs take a huge step back. Now the Chargers looked damn good not only Herbert but Keenan Allen had a monster game his first game back with the Chargers and everything just seemed to be clicking on both sides of the ball. I like the Chargers have a great season this year and possibly make a run at winning the division. I also have a bold prediction that Justin Herbert is competing for the league MVP this season. 

My second big takeaway from week one is that Josh Allen is that guy! If you did not see the Buffalo Bills vs the Baltimore Ravens game Sunday night you really missed an absolute show. The Ravens had the game all but locked up but Josh Allen and the Bills said hold our beer. Allen ended the game with 394 passing yards and two passing touchdowns along with 30 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns which is an absolute absurd stat line especially for week one against a top tier team. I feel the Bills and Ravens will meet again in the AFC Championship game because they are clearly the two favorites and it is not even close. However, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens were no slouches in this game. We saw Derrick Henry continue his dominance of running the football with 169 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns. Lamar Jackson ended up having 209 passing yards with two passing touchdowns and 70 rushing yards with one rushing touchdown. The final score of the game ended up being 41-40 with the Bills taking the victory after being down pretty much the entire game. I have full confidence in both of these teams throughout this season but I do like the Buffalo Bills reaching the Super Bowl this year and maybe even bringing the Lombardi trophy to Buffalo. 

I want to talk about a couple other headlines that I have opinions on before ending with my last main point about my team (Chicago Bears). Daniel Jones and the Indianapolis Colts decided to absolutely dominate the Miami Dolphins this past Sunday. Jones ended the game with 272 passing yards with one passing touchdown and 26 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Can we say comeback player of the year? I mean I did not see this coming at all but happy for Daniel Jones and the Colts and hopefully it continues for the rest of the season. Imagine Jones takes the Colts to a winning season and competes for a playoff spot? I bet they would get rid of Anthony Richardson in a heartbeat. Colts could be one of this biggest surprises in the NFL season, the development/resurgence of Daniel Jones, great running game with Jonathan Taylor, decent receivers/tight end in Pittman and Warren, and a solid defense. 

Next I want to talk about the Cincinnati Bengals who played the Cleveland Browns Sunday. New year, same story of the Bengals starting out slow with barely getting the victory over the Browns. Joe Burrow only threw for 113 yards and one passing touchdown with Jamar Chase having only 26 receiving yards and zero receiving touchdowns and Tee Higgins only having 33 receiving yards with no receiving touchdowns. The Browns started Joe Flacco who ended up having 290 passing yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. The Browns are a mess of an organization and I do not have much to say on them at all, I expect them to be bottom feeders of the NFL with maybe having some excitement when the decide to start Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel. The Bengals on the other hand I have a lot of hope for this season. They have one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in Joe Burrow, one of the best wide receivers in the league in Jamar Chase, and a great coach. I have the Bengals making some noise and getting a wildcard spot in the playoffs and maybe making a deep playoff run. 

Lastly I would like to touch on the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packer game. The Lions should be one of (if not the) best team in the league this year. Jared Goff is a top ten quarterback in the league with an absolute stacked absurd receiving core in Amon Ra-St. Brown and Jameson Williams, a dominant two headed monster running game in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, and a great player at the tight end position in Sam LaPorta. Also, the Lions have an awesome defense and getting back their leader and dominant pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson. Sunday’s game was a bad one for the Lions that’s for sure, Goff only had 225 passing yards with one passing touchdown and one interception, Gibbs only had 19 ruching yards with zero touchdowns and Montgomery leading the rushing attack with only 25 rushing yards and zero touchdowns, St.Brown only had 45 receiving yards with zero touchdowns and Williams only had 23 receiving yards with zero touchdowns, leaving LaPorta leading in receiving yards with 79 and again zero touchdowns. 

The Packers on the other hand as much as it pains me to say this looked great against the Lions. Jordan Love ended the game with 188 passing yards and two passing touchdowns, the receivers included Doubs having 68 receiving yards, Reed with 48 receiving yards and Wicks with 30 receiving yards, and Jacobs in the running game got 66 rushing yards with one touchdown. Overall, the Packers had a solid offense in week one but their defense looked outstanding and yes, Micah Parsons did get a sack, of course. I may have underestimated this team coming into the season but it is only week one so hopefully it was just week one luck on the Packers part. 

Lastly I would like to talk about my Chicago Bears who played the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football. I do not even know where to start in the disappointment I have we ended up losing this game to the Vikings 27-24. The Bears definitely won the offseason this year once again, we landed our coach Ben Johnson who brought in a stacked coaching staff, we signed a couple lineman to help protect Caleb Williams, and we drafted another couple weapons in Luther Burden and Colton Loveland. All of these have to add up for something special for the Chicago Bears and us fans right? Week one started off so strong with Williams having an absolute laser of a throw on the move to Rome Odense for a big gain and a couple key scrambles eventually leading to Caleb’s first NFL rushing touchdown of his career (I thought the same thing you did when reading that there is no way it was his first but I assure you it was). The defense was dominant in the first half against J.J. McCarthy with getting an interception returned for a 70+ yard touchdown. We had the McCarthy and the Vikings on their heels and yet after halftime something clicked for J.J and the Vikings which started the total collapse from the Bears leading to a loss. 

Williams ended the game with only 210 passing yards and one passing touchdown also led the rushing attach with 58 rushing yards and one touchdown, Swift had a decent game with 53 rushing yards but had zero touchdowns, the receivers like Moore ended up with 68 receiving yards and zero touchdowns Zaccheaus had 42 receiving yards and zero touchdowns and Odunze had only 37 receiving yards and zero touchdowns. 

I have to remind myself it is only week one and I do think the Bears have the right people in place from the general manager, the coaching staff, and the players. I know it is going to take some time and the signs are there that we have talent in the right positions. I think this year at most we sneak in with a wildcard spot in the playoffs but it may be another painful year while we figure all the new coaches and system out. However, that all being said the NFL needs to look out once it all starts clicking because it could be absolutely dangerous! Ben Johnson is our guy he brings the right attitude and toughness we need, Caleb Williams is our quarterback of the future especially with the QB guru Johnson seems to be, and our defense is top notch it may not be this year but it will not be long before you see Da Bears winning the NFC North and making deep playoff pushes, until that time comes I will be satisfied being competitive in every game and beating that damn team up north (Green Bay Packers) any chance we get! Go Bears!