NFL Week 1 winners, losers: Ex-49er Darnold stars in Vikings’ win

NFL Week 1 winners, losers: Ex-49er Darnold stars in Vikings’ win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The 2024 NFL season is off and running.

After two exciting games Thursday and Friday to kick off the season, the rest of the league got things going on the first football Sunday of the campaign.

The early games delivered some thrilling action, with six of eightdecided by one score. The later games mostly were one-sided except for the Denver Broncos giving the Seattle Seahawks a late scare.

Here are the winners and losers from the Sunday games, with the 49ers set to host the New York Jets on Monday night:

Loser: Bill Belichick

The New England Patriots couldn’t seem to do anything right in 2023. The script was flipped in Week 1 of 2024.

Led by new coach Jerod Mayo, the Patriots went to Cincinnati and upset the Bengals 16-10. New England‘s defense was the story, holding Cincinnati to just 224 total yards and forcing two turnovers.

While it’s only one game, Belichick certainly will be criticized after his former team performed so well without him. The Patriots’ roster largely is similar to last season’s, aside from a change at quarterback to Jacoby Brissett. The veteran went 15-of-24 passing for 121 yards and most importantly took care of the ball.

In his return to MetLife Stadium, the former New York Jets first-round draft pick dismantled the New York Giants.

Darnold led the Minnesota Vikings to an easy 28-6 win, completing 19 of 24 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

It’s been a rough career so far for the 27-year-old quarterback, who has bounced around to four teams, including the 49ers and Carolina Panthers, since being drafted in 2018. Now he’s in the best situation of his career with coach Kevin O’Connell and star wide receiver Justin Jefferson, so perhaps 2024 will be the year Darnold puts it all together.

The second year of the Young era in Carolina already looks a lot like the first.

Last year’s No. 1 overall pick struggled mightily in Week 1, going 13-of-30 passing for 161 yards with two interceptions in a blowout 47-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

The Panthers entered the 2024 season with some renewed hope that a revamped coaching staff and offensive line could help Young turn around things. So far, albeit in a one-game sample size, it doesn’t appear anything has changed.

Winner: NFL’s dynamic kickoff

The NFL completely changed the way it does kickoffs in 2024, and the results already are noticeable.

Arizona Cardinals running back DeeJay Dallas returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the second half of Sunday’s 34-28 loss to the Buffalo Bills. While one touchdown isn’t crazy, just four kick-return TDs were scored in all 18 weeks last season.

Winner: Simone Biles

The gymnastics GOAT stays winning.

Fresh off a busy Paris Olympics with three gold medals for Biles, her husband had an exciting debut for the Chicago Bears.

Jonathan Owens returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in the third quarter of the Bears’ 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans. Owens, who now has played for four teams since going undrafted in 2018, is off to a great start in the Windy City after spending last year with the rival Green Bay Packers, and it was the first score of the safety’s career.

Loser: Falcons fans

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons played in Georgia, but you wouldn’t know it by watching the game.

Terrible Towels infiltrated Mercedes-Benz Stadium and took over the Falcons’ home. Steelers fans helped will their team to a 18-10 win over the Falcons in a sloppy defensive battle.

New Falcons QB Kirk Cousins was rusty in his debut, finishing with just 155 passing yards and two interceptions. Justin Fields filled in for injured Steelers starter Russell Wilson, took care of the ball and let his kicker and defense do the heavy lifting.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got off to a stellar start, with Mayfield at the heart of it.

In Tampa Bay‘s 37-20 rout of the Washington Commanders, Mayfield dominated with 24 of 30 completions for 289 yards, four touchdowns and no picks. It marked his fifth career game with at least four passing touchdowns.

Chris Godwin led the way with eight catches for 83 yards and a score while star Mike Evans had five catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns.

On the other hand, Commanders rookie QB Jayden Daniels delivered on the ground but couldn’t overcome the defense’s inability to get stops. Daniels rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns on 16 attempts while completing 17 of 24 passes for 184 yards, zero touchdowns and zero picks.

The Browns might have a quarterback problem…and an expensive one. Watson struggled mightily in a rough 33-17 loss at the Dallas Cowboys, completing 24 of 45 passes for 169 yards, one touchdown and two picks.

Most concerning, though, were some of Watson’s split statistics in just the first half:

The Cowboys do have a strong defense and it didn’t help that Cleveland‘s run game didn’t provide balance, but Watson’s run of inconsistent or poor performances date back to when he first joined the team.

He’s still under contract until 2026 and makes $46 million base salary a year, but it gets more costly during his last two seasons. There’s plenty of work to be done if Watson is ever to return to his Houston form.

Though Justin Herbert didn’t light up the stat sheet with passing yards, he didn’t really need to. With J.K. Dobbins entering the backfield, Herbert received sorely needed help in distributing the offensive burden. Dobbins, who dealt with multiple rough injuries while with the Baltimore Ravens, turned in a 10-carry, 135-rushing yard performance to go with a touchdown in a 22-10 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Los Angeles Chargers still have a lack of receiving depth, but Dobbins staying healthy and performing like this will be significant.

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