Week 1: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Boy am I happier than I was a week ago! Football is back and Week 1 did not disappoint. The only thing better than the NFL season is the best weekly article that comes with it. For the few of you out there that do not know, this is where we at The Upside Play like to commend players and teams that have performed well and expose those that did not.

After a crazy offseason, things are more or less the same in the NFL; Tom Brady is still winning games and the Jets are still losing them. With that said, there were some statements and surprise performances this week that may have foreshadowed what is to come this season. Without further adieu, let's kick off Week 1’s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

THE GOOD

• Matt Stafford and the Rams. It was clear Matt Stafford was a great quarterback, but is he a Superbowl quarterback? It was clear the Rams were a quality team, but are they a Superbowl team? After a strong performance against an improved Bears team, answering “yes” to both of these questions can be as true as ever. Now I know it is too soon to crown anyone a Superbowl champ, but Matt Stafford looks to be the piece that will take the Rams to the next level. He controlled this offense, made big plays, and spread the ball around with ease. Look for the Rams to start running away with games early.

• Jameis Winston. It is never easy to predict what a team’s future will look like when losing a Hall of Fame quarterback. Even the Packers had concerns when Brett Favre contemplated retirement ten times. After losing Drew Brees, it was hard to believe that Jameis Winston could come remotely close to filling his shoes especially after not being named the starter until the latter half of preseason. Winston looked like a polished guy compared to the 55 attempt, 300 yards, 2 touchdown, 2 interception performance that we are used to. Winston was safe with the football and controlled the field throwing a touchdown one of every 5 throws. Winston will not be the reason why the Saints win all their games, but the Saints will be a strong team with the right pieces around him.

• Eagles Young Core. After a disappointing season last year, the Eagles are looking to their young core to prove the doubters wrong and show that they are a team that can compete now. There were a lot of question marks heading into the season around the playmakers of the Philadelphia Eagles.This young core looked dangerous against the Falcons. Jalen Hurts played efficiently while comfortably sitting in the pocket completing 77% of his passes throwing touchdowns to rookie receiver Devonta Smith, young tight end Dallas Goedert, and sophomore receiver Jalen Reagor who caught everything that was thrown to him. Look for the Eagles to light it up on the offensive end this year.

THE BAD

• Baltimore Ravens. Now I know the Ravens recently lost their two starting running backs and star cornerback recently, but this team looked to have much more trouble than warranted in this Monday Night Thriller against the Raiders. These guys could not beat a team that did not want to win. Lamar was making bad reads, the receivers could not get open, and the defense looked out of shape and unprepared. The Ravens need to get all these new pieces in sync as a few more back weeks can really take them out of contention given the strong division that they are in.

• Bills Offense. The 2020 surprise could turn into the 2021 disappointment. Yeah they were going against a tough defense, but the Bills cannot get away with putting up one touchdown at home, especially when your quarterback is throwing the ball 50 times. To credit the Steelers, they had a solid game plan to stop Josh Allen and the Bills, but if the Bills want to be a deep playoff team they are going to have to scheme up some plays for someone other than Allen.

• New York Giants. I know what you are thinking. “Why are the Giants here? We know they are bad.” Yes we do, but they are looking like they will be REALLY bad. First off, Daniel Jones was throwing the ball like 50 Cent throwing out the first pitch. Secondly, their “strong defense” looked like it was poorly coached and showed major holes. Lastly, the offensive play calling gave Saquon Barkley the ball on only obvious rushing plays, making it impossible for him to produce. These Giants need to get clever and creative before they end up being the worst team in football.

THE UGLY

• Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars. Now I am not only talking about these guys because they were the only losing leg of my six team parlay, but I am sure that has something to do with it. After being favorites for the first time in 20 years (probably), it only made sense that Urban Meyer would start his NFL coaching career with a win against the college football team that is the Houston Texans; but football doesn’t always make sense. This team looked horrible from all aspects of the game, failing to score much against a defense of no names and failing to record any turnovers against an offense full of guys who wouldn’t make it in the XFL. It’ll be interesting to see how Trevor Lawrence bounces back from the first loss in his football career. It is looking like it is something he will have to get used to.

• Tennessee Titans. The Titans had one of the more surprising losses of the week. After their strong offense last year and the addition of Julio Jones in the offseason, it was expected that they would be in the endzone more often than they were against the Cardinals. The offensive play for the Titans looked vanilla as they had trouble getting everything going. With that said, it doesn’t help that your star offensive lineman gives up five sacks. You know it is ugly when you congratulate the guy that man handled you for four quarters on social media immediately after the game. It looked like all you have to do this season to stop the Titans is play the run and rush three.

• Packers. You would think after the way the season ended last year the Packers would play like they had something to prove, right? All the Packers proved this weekend was that they should have just traded Aaron Rodgers and started a rebuild. This team looked like the worst team in the NFL Week 1. The defense did not look like they could not stop my grandma backpedaling towards the end zone. On the other side of this, unless they can get the run game going, it's looking like the Packers offense will look like Aaron Rodgers looking for Devonta Adams every play. This team looked ugly and exposed.

Now I know there are some other performances that should be highlighted, but the Jaguars are having open tryouts and I don’t want to be late. Catch us next week for the Upside Play’s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!