Thoughts On Opening Night

The Lions just upset the Chiefs 21-20 in the NFL’s season opener. That was a fun game for those of us who didn’t have a rooting interest. The game went right down to the wire and there were some dramatic moments along the way.

Good start to the season.

The Lions will be ecstatic about the win. They’re 1-0, which is big for a team that started 0-10-1 in 2021 and 1-6 last year. Beating the Chiefs in KC isn’t easy. Detroit made critical plays and did enough to win. Their rookie class looked good and free agentc CJ Gardner-Johnson had a strong game. Lots to be happy about.

At the same time, they beat a KC team without Chris Jones and Travis Kelce. They needed Kadarius Toney to drop multiple passes, including one that led to an easy pick-six. Detroit benefited from some questionable coaching decisions by Andy Reid and his staff. I have no idea why they used trick plays on 4th and short or went for it on 4th and 25. That decision felt oddly desperate.

The Chiefs won the Super Bowl last year despite losing Tyreek Hill. Patrick Mahomes is the ultimate cheat code in today’s league. But he can’t do it all. The Chiefs receivers did not have a good night. Getting Kelce back will change a lot, but the Chiefs are still counting on young guys to step up. That worked last year, but there will come a time when the young guys don’t get the job done. Maybe this was just one game. Or maybe this is going to be a more challenging season than anyone expected.

Got the game takeaways coming soon at @thelionswire but here's a teaser… pic.twitter.com/SAYfdrsr9m

— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) September 8, 2023

It was easy to see which team came up big in crunch time. Felt weird to see the Chiefs struggle down the stretch while the Lions made big plays.

This game made me feel better about the Eagles.

Better QB than Detroit.

Better OL than both KC and Detroit.

Better DL than both teams.

Better skill players than both teams.

Better CBs than both teams.

That doesn’t mean the Eagles are going undefeated or anything crazy, but this is a loaded roster with a good coaching staff. And they are hungry after finishing last year on a sour note.

I’m starting to get more and more excited about this Eagles team. We could be in for a great season.

*****

We probably don’t talk enough about how good Josh Sweat is.

For context, among players with at least 100 pass rushes last year the top four players were:

Bryce Huff 0.67s
Myles Garrett 0.69s
Josh Sweat 0.75s
T.J. Watt 0.75s

— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) September 8, 2023

That is a lot of burst for a guy with good size. Sweat had a great year for the Eagles, finishing second in sacks, first in TFLs and second in QB hits, despite going against LTs all year long. He was facing the best blocker and still made a lot of plays. It will be fun to see if he can build off that and have an even better year.

*****

Patriots CB Jack Jones is expected to miss some time with the hamstring injury that he suffered yesterday in practice, according to a source. @TheAthletic

— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) September 7, 2023

The Pats secondary will have some new faces on Sunday. I’m guessing the Eagles come out throwing the ball and trying to build a lead. DeVonta Smitha and AJ Brown could have big games.

*****

This is wild.

Fun fact: Former #Eagles WR Todd Pinkston will be making his debut as KC’s RB coach.

— Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) September 7, 2023

That’s like having me teach people about healthy eating. Or Jimmy Bama teaching a journalism class.

Pinky is one of the least physical players I’ve ever seen. Having him teach RBs is just bizarre.

Now go chug your PBR-Funyun smoothie!!!

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