Tuesday 12 September 2017 11:39, UK
Week One of the 2017 NFL season is all done and dusted, but who were the top-performing teams and who must do better?
The Kansas City Chiefs get top marks for their opening-night upset of the New England Patriots, while the Los Angeles Rams were also impressive in earning a first win under quarterback Jared Goff.
Here's a look at our weekly team grades...
Dallas Cowboys (W 19-3 v New York Giants)
Ezekiel Elliott made the most of his suspension reprieve by rushing for 104 yards in the win over the Giants.
Dak Prescott, meanwhile, looked just as accomplished as his fellow sophomore in throwing for 268 and tight end Jason Witten passed Michael Irvin as the Cowboys all-time leading receiver.
But, it was the Dallas defence that really impressed, limiting New York to only three points on offence. Grade A
Philadelphia Eagles (W 30-17 @ Washington)
Carson Wentz started his rookie season strong before tailing off somewhat towards the end of the campaign.
Well, if his first effort out of this season is anything to go by, then he's on way to further early-season success - 307 yards, two touchdowns and one interception clocked in the win over Washington. Grade A
Washington Redskins (L 17-30 v Philadelphia)
The chemistry seemed missing in the Redskins' opening day defeat. Having lost two 1,000 yard receivers in Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson during the offseason, Kirk Cousins wasn't quite his usual self at quarterback . Grade C-
New York Giants (L 3-19 @ Dallas)
How much did the Giants miss Odell Beckham Jr? A lot, basically. Their offence couldn't get anything going in Dallas, and while the defence backed up their impressive displays of 2016 with a solid showing on opening night, this NFC East clash was never close. Grade D
Green Bay Packers (W 17-9 v Seattle)
By no means vintage Aaron Rodgers or Green Bay football, but it got the job done, plus, you imagine that their offence is only going to improve as the weeks go by. The fact, therefore, that their defence - their Achilles heel the past few years - was so dominant is particularly good news for those hopeful of another deep run in the postseason. Grade A
Minnesota Vikings (W 29-19 v New Orleans)
Rookie running back Dalvin Cook upstaged Adrian Peterson on his return to Minnesota, running for 127 yards on 22 carries. He still wasn't the star of the show, however… What about that Sam Bradford 346-yard and three-TD performance? Is this the year the quarterback finally delivers on his undoubted promise? Grade A
Detroit Lions (W 35-23 v Arizona)
Matthew Stafford only recently became the highest-paid player in the NFL and so, when serving up a pick six early in the first quarter to hand Arizona the lead, he must have momentarily glimpsed ahead to the negative headlines at his expense the next day. Rather than be fazed by the added scrutiny that comes with being paid, however, he then proceeded to amass 292 yards passing and four TDs to guide Detroit to a comeback win and silence some doubters. Grade A
Chicago Bears (L 17-23 v Atlanta)
A valiant effort from a Bears outfit not given much of a prayer against Atlanta's explosive offence prior to kick-off. Shows how much us 'experts' now, as this one wasn't iced by Atlanta until late in the fourth quarter. Mike Glennon was solid if not spectacular 213 yards passing and one TD, while rookie running back Tarik Cohen sparkled on his five carries for 66 yards. Grade C
Carolina Panthers (W 23-3 @ San Francisco)
Cam Newton and Carolina barely had to move up into second gear to see off the 49ers in San Francisco - just the 171 yards passing for Cam. Jonathan Stewart and rookie Christian McCaffrey worked nicely as a tandem in both the run and passing game. Grade A
Atlanta Falcons (W 23-17 @ Chicago)
An important win for Atlanta to tick off considering this side's last competitive action was their humiliating Super Bowl capitulation to New England. They were rusty, sure, but they will get better, and now have a home opener at their new Mercedes-Benz stadium against Green Bay next week. Grade A-
New Orleans Saints (L 19-29 @ Minnesota)
Adrian Peterson's return to Minnesota didn't exactly go to plan - held to 18 yards off only six carries, though he denies his light workload was the spark for a seemingly frosty exchange with head coach Sean Payton on the sidelines late on in the game. Oh, and the Saints defence once again didn't look up to much. Grade D
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Bye (Week One game against Miami postponed due to Hurricane Irma)
Los Angeles Rams (W 46-9 v Indianapolis)
Congratulations to Jared Goff! After a long, hard, winless rookie year, he has finally tasted victory in the NFL. And what a victory too; an utterly convincing trouncing of a sorry Indianapolis team hurting badly without their star man Andrew Luck under centre. Grade A+
Seattle Seahawks (L 9-17 @ Green Bay)
A soporific display on offence by Seattle saw them score only three field goals against the Packers On the plus side, the defence did well to keep them in the contest longer than they really deserved. The continuously shaky play of their offensive line is a big concern. Grade C-
Arizona Cardinals (L 23-35 @ Detroit)
The Cardinals bounced into an early lead over the Lions, but an injury to superstar running back David Johnson derailed them. Carson Palmer, left to carry the offense on his shoulders, couldn't cope and threw three interceptions on the day. More worrying still is that Palmer will likely be without Johnson for a fair few weeks, with the early prognosis on his injury not looking good. Grade D
San Francisco 49ers (L 3-23 v Carolina)
Not a huge amount was expected from the 49ers in their home opener, with a new GM, new head coach and a much changed roster. Still, registering only three points under offensive mastermind Kyle Shanahan will be a disappointment. Back to the drawing board. Grade D-
Buffalo Bills (W 21-12 v New York Jets)
With New England's shock defeat in the season opener (more on that in a second…) the Bills and Jets were left surprisingly battling it out for early AFC East supremacy. Buffalo quite convincingly won out, largely on the strength of strong performances from quarterback Tyrod Taylor (224 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT) and running back LeSean McCoy (110 yards). Grade B+
New York Jets (L 12-21 v Buffalo)
What's likely to be a long season for the Jets starts with, as was expected, a defeat. While the game never truly got away from them, the gulf between the two teams wasn't quite as close as the scoreline suggests. Grade D
New England Patriots (L 27-42 v Kansas City)
Wow! Well, who saw that coming? Not even the most ardent of Chiefs fans could surely have conceived of such a convincing demolition of the defending Super Bowl champs on opening night. Kansas City's 42-point tally is the joint-highest ever conceded by a Bill Belichick coached team and, more worrying still, was the shaky performance from 40-year-old QB Tom Brady. Is he done? Or should everyone just take a step back and calm down? Grade: D-
Miami Dolphins - Bye (Week One game against Tampa Bay postponed due to Hurricane Irma)
Baltimore Ravens (W 20-0 @ Cincinnati)
A better Baltimore outfit would, on another day, have comfortably scored a fair few more points than the 20 they racked up in Cincinnati. But Joe Flacco, with little recent football under his belt completed only nine passes for 121 years (1 TD, 1 INT). The Ravens QB relied on the run game - Terrence West, 80 yards and a score, and Javorius Allen, 71 yards - plus a dominant display by the defence. Grade A
Pittsburgh Steelers (W 21-18 @ Cleveland)
Pittsburgh roll into Cleveland and come away with the 'W'. We've heard those words before but, this had a different feel to their usual routine road wins over the Browns - Cleveland were competitive, keeping the game close and limiting Le'Veon Bell to 32 yards on 10 carries. Antonio Brown wasn't kept as quiet, however, as he earned 182 yards on 11 catches. Grade B+
Cleveland Browns (L 18-21 v Pittsburgh)
DeShone Kizer (222 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) showed glimpses on his Browns debut, certainly enough for the long-suffering Cleveland fan base to be encouraged for the future. In fact, forget the future - this Browns team showed enough to win now and will surely register more than the solitary success they managed in 2016. Grade C-
Cincinnati Bengals (L 0-20 v Baltimore)
'E' for embarrassing. Shut out against divisional rivals. Andy Dalton's four interceptions will, quite rightly, be highlighted but the running game killed the Bengals too: their lack of it compared to Baltimore's success on the ground. Rookie Joe Mixon had only nine yards on eight carries. Grade E
Jacksonville Jaguars (W 29-7 @ Houston)
What a start to Leonard Fournette's NFL career, tallying exactly a century on the ground, including a first touchdown for the rookie, rumbling in from a yard out. The Jags 'D' impressed too, with Dante Fowler returning a fumble for a score. Grade A
Tennessee Titans (L 16-26 v Oakland)
The Titans were unfortunate to come out on the wrong side of a really good game against the Raiders, both young, talented offences trading blow for blow before Oakland stretched ahead in the fourth quarter. Grade C
Houston Texans (L 7-29 v Jacksonville)
That Fowler fumble recovery for a TD was off one of two from starting Texans QB Tom Savage before he was ruthlessly benched only a half of football into the season for rookie Deshaun Watson, who fared only ever-so-slightly better but still gave up a turnover. Other than J.J. Watt's emotional entrance, a game to forget for Houston. Grade D
Indianapolis Colts (L 9-46 v Los Angeles Rams)
Poor old Scott Tolzien. The veteran back-up QB threw two pick-sixes in the Colts' blowout loss to the Rams before being benched late on for recently-acquired third-stringer Jacoby Brissett. The sooner this team gets Andrew Lunch back fit and firing, the better. Grade E
Kansas City Chiefs (W 42-27 @ New England)
Where to start? What a statement win from Kansas City! Here's the headlines; 42 points against the Patriots, the final 21 of which unanswered in the fourth quarter, Alex Smith threw for 368 yards and four TDs, while rookie runner Kareem Hunt rushed for 148 yards and a score, as well as hauling in 98 yards and two TDs through the air. And that's not even mentioning Tyreek Hill's 133 yards receiving and touchdown… Grade: A+
Oakland Raiders (W 26-16 @ Tennessee)
It's good to have Derek Carr back - oh, and Oakland native, Marshawn Lynch - if you're a Raider. This team looked good in 2016, but they appear to have taken yet another step forward if this impressive Week One showing is anything to go by. Carr threw for 262 yards and two TDs in his first game back from injury, and Lynch ran for 76 off 18 carries. Grade: A
Denver Broncos (W 24-21 v Los Angeles Chargers)
The Denver 'no fly zone' defence was back in full force in their Monday night season opener against the Chargers. Philip Rivers was limited to just 115 yards through the first three quarters, and while Los Angeles rallied late on, Denver held on - just! - for the win. Grade A-
Los Angeles Chargers (L 21-24 v Denver)
Maybe the Chargers' slow start was down to such a late kick-off time as part of the Monday Night Football double-header? Who knows. But by the time they did finally wake up, the game was all but over. Yet, they ended only a missed field goal away from forcing overtime. Missed opportunity. Grade C
