Are the Chiefs in trouble? The highs and lows of NFL Week One

There are few weekends in the year better than NFL week one and the 2023 edition was no different. With upsets aplenty and the weather playing its part there is no shortage of talking points, so let’s take a look at some of the biggest moments from the opening round of fixtures.

The Lions became every NFL insider’s favorite team at the end of last season but few expected them to go into Arrowhead Stadium and beat the defending champs. Despite the Chiefs raising their Super Bowl banner, they weren’t quite good enough, losing their home opener.

Last year, the Chiefs were able to scrape by with a mediocre selection of wide receivers, with Juju Smith-Schuster as the number one target. With Juju gone, the hodgepodge of guys catching the football was exposed on Thursday night with Kadarius Toney dropping easy catches multiple times. Travis Kelce can’t return quickly enough.

It is not often the Bengals get dismantled in recent years, with Joe Burrow and a duo of electric receivers on the outside, they’re a tough team to stop. Stop them the Browns did, with constant pressure from the defensive line, Burrow couldn’t get anything going, throwing for under 100 yards.

The Bengals were so bad (and the weather equally so), it’s tough to say how good the Browns are going to be based on that performance. Myles Garrett and the defensive front is very good, more or less what everyone was expecting and the offense did enough, even if the box score doesn’t scream dominance. Certainly a team to keep an eye on.

The Vikings are not expected to be an especially good team this year with weaknesses all over the roster but the Buccaneers were expected to be worse. In what was a very ‘Kirk Cousins’ performance, the Vikings’ signal caller threw for 344 yards and two TDs but costly turnovers led to their undoing.

The Arizona Cardinals are the least talented team in football as they rebuild (definitely don’t tank) and aim to land one of the top QBs in next year’s draft. Despite this, they nearly beat a Washington Commanders team seen by many as a relatively competitive unit. Sam Howell was seeing ghosts for most of the game, but that could be due to an awful late hit he suffered early on.

The Saints v Titans is certainly not a game we will look back on with any fondness as New Orleans ran out 16-15 winners at home. Ryan Tannehill threw three awful picks and looks to have taken a step back. Even with all of that Derek Carr could only just get his side over the line.

The Raiders are not a good team yet somehow went and beat the Broncos on the road. For the Broncos they must be sitting there regretting the day they traded for Russell Wilson. Wilson showed some signs of improvement in this game but he’s a shadow of his former self. Sean Payton has his work cut out.

Bryce Young has a long way to go before he will be even close to fulfilling his potential but each rep is a step in the right direction. The number one overall pick struggled against the Falcons throwing a couple of picks you hope he’ll learn to avoid. The Falcons are not overly exciting to watch but they could surprise a few teams this year.

For the second quarterback taken in the draft things went a little better. Despite a heavy loss to the Ravens, C.J. Stroud looked composed at times and showed off his legs at times, extending the play and trying to make something happen. The Ravens looked a bit sloppy but things will get ironed out pretty quickly.

The Jaguars were able to grind out the win against division rivals, the Indianapolis Colts despite the impressive performance of Colts’ rookie Anthony Richardson. Richardson looked the best of the rookies through week one and should give the Colts’ fanbase plenty to be excited about. Trevor Lawrence showed flashes of why many expect him to be truly elite this year.

The Steelers could be very bad or the 49ers could be very good, or perhaps a little of both. Either way the 30-7 shellacking San Fran dished out in the Steel City is certainly a marker for both sides. Brock Purdy looked composed whilst Brandon Aiyuk and CMC were dominant.

After racing out to a 16-0 lead in the first quarter, it looked like the Eagles were going to have the game wrapped up before the half. As it was, Mac Jones made some impressive throws and the Pats’ D did enough to slow down a misfiring Jalen Hurts. Philly stayed firm and got out of Foxborough 1-0.

Many assumed Seattle would continue their fine form from last year into the 2023 season, given their draft and continuity in so many key positions. Conversely, the Rams were expected to be amongst the worst teams in the league with a potential fight for the number one overall pick on their hands. The 30-13 beatdown handed to the Seahawks confounds expectations for both.

Comfortably the best game of the week, the Dolphins and Chargers traded haymakers for 60 minutes with the Dolphins eventually running out 36-34 winners in Los Angeles. Tua Tagovailoa amassed 466 passing yards with Tyreek Hill hauling in 215 of them along with a pair of TDs. The Dolphins D was a sieve in the running game but it didn’t matter in the end.

The Bears did a lot of things right in the offseason, load up on draft capital after trading down, try to rebuild their defense and offensive line, give Justin Fields another shot and so on. None of it mattered, they’re still a bad team. The Packers will be pleased with Jordan Love’s game and how comfortably they dismantled the Bears all over the field.

The Giants look to have immediately regressed to the sum of their parts in week one of 2023 after an impressive 2022 season. The Cowboys on the other hand, boast one of the best rosters in the league and showcased it with a 40-0 beatdown of their NFC East rivals.

One of the biggest games of the slate in week one certainly didn’t disappoint, despite an unfortunate injury to newly acquired Jet, Aaron Rodgers. The Jets’ D showed up big time and had Josh Allen rattled in the pocket all game before an incredibly punt return touchdown won the game for the Jets in OT.