Five Things to Watch for in Week 1 of the NFL Season

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I think the NFL picked the perfect game to open the season tonight. I can’t wait for the Chiefs-Ravens rematch for the conference title.

In today’s SI:AM:

🏈 NFL Week 1 Picks
📺 Top 10 Games to Watch
🐅 Trouble for Memphis Hoops

If you, like me, haven’t watched a single second of the NFL preseason, this is the day you’ve been waiting for since February. The NFL is finally back in action with games that really matter. Here are a few things I’ll be paying attention to in Week 1.

New look for Chiefs receiving corps

Sure, the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl last season, but they still had their flaws. While previous Chiefs teams rode to victory on the back of high-powered offenses, last year’s team was fueled by an elite defense that made up for a surprisingly average offense. Kansas City ranked 15th in points scored but second in points surrendered. The main offensive issue was a lack of quality targets for Patrick Mahomes to throw to, and the Chiefs made improving their receiving corps a priority this offseason.

Kansas City spent its first-round draft pick on receiver Xavier Worthy from Texas and also signed Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to a one-year, $7 million contract. They will join last year’s rookie Rashee Rice as wideouts in the Chiefs’ starting 11. Brown will miss Thursday’s opener against the Baltimore Ravens after injuring his shoulder in the team’s first preseason game, but the opener will still be a chance to see Worthy in his first real NFL action. The Chiefs also brought back JuJu Smith-Schuster, their top receiver in 2022, who spent last year with the New England Patriots but was waived by the team at the end of training camp.

It will be interesting to see how much Smith-Schuster has left (being cut from a team that won four games last season is not a glowing endorsement of his abilities) and how long Brown is sidelined with a shoulder injury, but the Chiefs’ receivers need to be better than they were last year. Rice was the only Kansas City wideout with more than 27 receptions last season. Backup tight end Noah Gray was fourth on the team in catches. This year will certainly be better. And with a defense that looks as formidable as it did last season — especially after re-signing star defensive end Chris Jones — the Chiefs should be in a position to contend for an unprecedented three-time Super Bowl title.

Damar Hamlin starts

The best feel-good story of Week 1 isn’t even a contest. When the Buffalo Bills open their season at home against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon, Damar Hamlin he will start the game as a free defenderThis will be Hamlin’s first significant game action since suffering an on-field heart attack against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17 of the 2022 season.

Hamlin played in five games last season, mostly on special teams, and saw action for just 17 defensive plays. But he was Buffalo’s starting free agent in 2022 before suffering a heart attack. Now, two years later, he’ll regain that starting spot.

“It’s one thing to come back from a torn ACL or a broken bone. It’s quite another to come back from what he came back from.” Bills coach Sean McDermott said“Not to mention the fact that I decided to play American football, full-contact football at the NFL level. I don’t think I need to say anything more. It’s amazing.

“I think the hands of God have been on Damar and his family and will continue to be. We are just incredibly proud and grateful to have him go through what he has gone through and where he is now.”

Rookie quarterbacks make their debut

One of the biggest storylines in every NFL season is the play of the rookie quarterbacks, and we’ll get a chance to see three of them in action in Week 1: Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears (No. 1 overall), Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders (No. 2 overall), and Bo Nix of the Denver Broncos (No. 12 overall). We’ve seen a lot of rookie quarterbacks start their teams’ seasons in recent years, so this may seem routine. But make no mistake, having so many rookies under center in Week 1 is pretty unusual. This is just the fourth time Since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, at least three rookie quarterbacks have started the season in Week 1. Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson did it last year, Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson and Mac Jones did it in 2021, and five rookies started the season in 2012.

Three other rookies will have to wait to make their debuts. Drake Maye, drafted by the New England Patriots, may not have to wait long. The quarterback position has been hotly contested in training camp between him and veteran Jacoby Brissett, and coach Jerod Mayo has given Brissett the green light for now. The wait will be long for Minnesota Vikings tight end JJ McCarthy. He was placed on the injured reserve list after knee surgery and is not expected to return until next year. The biggest question mark is how long Atlanta Falcons rookie Michael Penix Jr. will have to wait before he sees the field. The Falcons selected him with the 8th pick. just one month after signing Kirk Cousins ​​to a four-year, $180 million contract extension, Penix will certainly see some playing time this season, but he’ll have to sit behind Cousins ​​for a while before he takes over as a regular starter.

The Old Quarterback’s Debut (Sort of)

Speaking of Cousins, he’s one of a handful of veteran quarterbacks who will debut with a new team in Week 1. Russell Wilson was named the starting quarterback by Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin after a disastrous season in Denver last year. And we might as well consider Aaron Rodgers’ second start for the New York Jets a debut, considering how brief his first appearance was.

While there’s reason to question the Falcons’ team-building strategy — signing Cousins ​​to a long-term deal and then immediately drafting a quarterback with a top-10 pick — there’s no question the team’s offense should be significantly improved with Cousins ​​under center. Atlanta finished 26th in scoring last season, with Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke running the show. But the Falcons have a wealth of talented players at the position — including two-headed running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier, receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts — so an improved quarterback could unlock the offense.

The same can be said for Rodgers and the Jets. New York has struggled on offense since Rodgers went down, finishing 29th in scoring while draft bust Zach Wilson started most games at quarterback. But with promising young quarterback Breece Hall and receiver Garrett Wilson, the 2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year, Rodgers should get a lot more out of the Jets offense than Wilson did. That, combined with New York’s already excellent defense, should be a recipe for success.

Wilson’s situation is the most interesting of the three. He’s trying to salvage his career with the Steelers after a difficult stint in Denver. His first season with the Broncos was a complete disaster, but at least some of the blame can be placed on failed coach Nathaniel Hackett. He improved a bit last year but still averaged a career-low 10.3 yards per pass attempt. And he’ll enter a potentially tense situation in Pittsburgh with former first-round pick Justin Fields waiting in line.

ESPN/Disney’s Ongoing Dispute with DirecTV

If you are a DirecTV customer and want to watch everyone If you can’t make it to the game this weekend, you might not be able to make it. (I’m not going to tell you that.) DirecTV users have lost access to all Disney-owned stations (ESPN and ABC, especially for sports fans) on Sunday, moments before the LSU-USC college football game kicked off, as the two sides bickered over a new carrier deal. The negotiations between Disney and DirecTV were marked by a slew of accusations, with each side blaming the other for the loss of service.

“DirecTV has chosen to deny millions of subscribers access to our content,” ESPN said in a statement, while DirecTV accused Disney of “taking an anti-consumer approach by demanding that DIRECTV and other television distributor customers be forced to pay for channels they do not watch.”

If this sounds familiar, that’s because the same thing happened on the eve of last season’s NFL season, when Charter Communications customers lost access to Disney-owned channels in a carriage dispute. This time, the situation was resolved just before the first Monday Night Football game of the season. We’ll see if the same thing happens this time. Otherwise, a lot of people will miss the Jets-49ers game on Monday night.

…things I saw last night:

5. Shota Imanagi’s Seven Hitless Innings against the Pirates. Reserves Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge finished the game together without a hit. Imanaga was not aware of this He failed to register a single goal until manager Craig Counell pulled him from the game.
4. Olympic gymnast Hezly Rivera acrobatic first throw.
3. Wyatt Langford game ending grab against the wall.
2. Single promoting Fernando Tatis Jr in the second match after returning from injury.
1. Ludacris’ first throw at Braves game with giant arms from the “Get Back” music video.