Photo credit: NFL.com
Last season seemed to be the season of comebacks, but it’s already looking like this season might be crazier! Record amount of 4th quarter comebacks in Week 1 already.
New Age Quarterbacks:
It’s rare that backup QB’s come in and do so well for teams. Perhaps why the stories of Tom Brady and Kurt Warner stay in people’s minds. It makes it almost more impossible that a new wave of young QB’s has seem to taken the field by storm. First time starters Trevor Siemien, Jimmy Garapolo, and Carson Wentz all won, and all looked solid! Even Brock Osweiler and Jameis Winston definitely showed up, who of course played last year but aren’t household names. Dak Prescott also had a decent first start with no real mistakes. It makes you wonder if gone are the days where you have your top 5 QB’s that everybody focuses on, and the rest are mediocre.
Going for Two:
Love, love, LOVE the call by Jack Del Rio to go for 2 at the end of the game! Coaches never want to take risks, because it’s their heads if the call is unsuccessful. So Kudos to the Raiders for taking a chance, it was the right call even if they failed. The situation was ripe for it. You’re in a shootout, so obviously your Defense wasn’t stopping the Saints (but the flipside is also true). They were on the road, so an additional period likely favors the Saints. OT is probably less than 50% chance you win the game, but a 2 pt call is right around 50-50. Don’t get me into the fact that the extra point is definitely not automatic anymore (as we saw 4 teams run into this week). The only thing I’m not a fan of is the play call itself; fade routes can be tough to execute. But either way the Raiders did it. Week 1 is never a “must win” scenario, but it could be season defining for Oakland where a precious win will pay dividends in their playoff push.
FMQB 