By Sam Carroll
Now that week one of the NFL season is finally in the books, there are plenty of new story lines for us to follow, discuss and generally over-react to. So, here we are to talk about the five biggest from the first week of games.
Aaron Rodgers is Back
The Green Bay Packers drafted Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 draft, a shock move considering they already have Hall of Fame quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. However, it shouldn’t have been a surprise, as Rodgers is the wrong side of 35 and hasn’t looked like himself for a couple of seasons now. But drafting competition for him seems to have had the desired effect, as the two-time MVP looked like he was back in his prime in week one against the Minnesota Vikings. He threw for 364 yards and four touchdowns to secure the Packers first win of the season. If he continues to play like that, Green Bay are truly Superbowl contenders.
5 years. Best @AaronRodgers12 game in 5 years for the @packers and 1 reason stood out above all! 👇🏼 why…don’t give me just anticipation, and don’t give me just accuracy-give me both, together! @RobDemovsky @packeverywhere @PGPackersNews @ESPNNFL pic.twitter.com/1Q8bzfSrnq
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) September 16, 2020
The Patriots are Baltimore 2.0
The entire league was interested to see what the New England Patriots looked like with Cam Newton under centre. We quickly got the answer, as Bill Belichick’s team came out running the ball all over the place, in an offence very reminiscent of the Baltimore Ravens’ scheme with Lamar Jackson at the helm. Whether this system will work long term for the six-time Superbowl champions remains to be seen, but it looked remarkably good against the Miami Dolphins in week one.
The Seahawks are the Favourites in the NFC West
Going into week one it was considered a ‘hot take’ if you had anyone but the San Francisco 49ers winning the NFC West division. Now though, things have changed. 49ers quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo disappointed in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals, and the Seattle Seahawks looked incredibly against the Atlanta Falcons. Russell Wilson played lights out and new addition, Jamal Adams justified the haul the Seahawks had to give up for him with an exceptional performance. The NFC West is now the Seahawks’ division to loose.
.@DangeRussWilson wanted it all 💥
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) September 13, 2020
A perfect throw to @dkm14 for the touchdown on fourth down!
Q3: SEA 21, ATL 12 pic.twitter.com/gK6r0Nzgqk
The Jaguars will not Hold the First Overall Pick in 2021
Having let go of Jalen Ramsey, Yannick Ngakoue, Calais Campbell, Leonard Fournette and Ronnie Harrison in the last year, the narrative surrounding the Jacksonville Jaguars was that they were tanking for the number one pick in 2021. While that may still be true, they will be unsuccessful in that as long as they have Gardner Minshew starting at quarterback. Minshew is far from the best quarterback in the league, but he has just enough ‘moustache magic’ to keep the Jags winning games. He’ll win them at least four more games on his own this season, putting them out of the race for that precious number one pick.
The Cardinals are for Real
A lot of hype surrounded the Arizona Cardinals this offseason, mainly due to their ridiculously good trade with the Houston Texans to acquire one of the best wide receivers in the league, DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins was exceptional in his debut, as was second year quarterback, Kyler Murray. Not only was the offence clicking, but the defence looked much improved from last year too. The Cardinals are true playoff contenders this season.
