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From rookies struggling in their first career starts to high-paid quarterbacks not living up to their contracts to rusty veterans coming off injuries, the passing in Week 1 of the NFL season looked to be from a different era.
More than half the starting quarterbacks in the NFL failed to reach the usually easy to achieve threshold of 200 yards passing in a game in what proved to be the least prolific week for throwing the ball since the 2007 season.
In all, teams averaged 188.3 net yards passing per game, the fewest in any week since Week 15 in 2007 when the number was 187.1 and down 28.6% from the Week 1 record average of 263.8 set five years ago.
There were 17 starting QBs who threw for fewer than 200 yards for the second time since the start of the 2011 season. There were 18 in the final week of the 2023 season when several regular starters rested before the postseason.
The three rookie QBs combined for only 415 yards passing, with Washington’s Jayden Daniels getting 184, followed by 138 for Denver’s Bo Nix and 93 for Chicago’s Caleb Williams.
Aaron Rodgers (167 yards) and Kirk Cousins (155) both were held well below their usual numbers in their first games back from Achilles tendon injuries. High-paid veterans like Daniel Jones and Deshaun Watson also struggled.
Jones threw for 186 yards with no TDs and two interceptions in the New York Giants’ 28-6 loss to Minnesota. Jones threw a pick-6 to Andrew Van Ginkel and now has thrown more touchdowns to the opposition (three) than his own teammates (two) since signing a $160 million, four-year deal before the 2023 season.
Watson threw for 165 yards on 49 attempts in Cleveland’s 33-17 loss to Dallas and struggled to complete anything downfield. He was 0 for 10 on throws at least 15 yards downfield. There have been 1,753 times a QB has had at least 10 attempts thrown 15 or more yards downfield since Sportradar began tracking air yards in 2006 and Watson was the first to have no completions.
While passing success was down, running the ball had a bit of a renaissance with the 121.5 yards rushing per game for teams ranking as the best opening week since 2008 when teams averaged 121.8 yards.
In all, 39.2% of all offense was gained on the ground in Week 1 for the second highest total of any week since the start of the 2012 season. It was at 39.7% in Week 9 in 2022.
Rare win
The Bears somehow managed to win despite a rough debut for Williams, who went 14 for 29 for 93 yards and didn’t lead the offense on a single TD drive in a 24-17 win over Tennessee.
Williams became the first QB picked first overall to win his first career start since David Carr did it for the expansion Houston Texans against Dallas in 2002. No. 1 picks had been 0-14-1 in their first starts since then, with Kyler Murray getting the tie in 2019.
Williams’ 93 yards passing were the fewest by a No. 1 pick quarterback who started the opener since John Elway had 14 for Denver against Pittsburgh in 1983.
The Bears rallied from 17 points down to win with help from a blocked punt returned for a TD, an interception returned for a score and three field goals. In the Super Bowl era, teams that scored no offensive touchdowns in a game that trailed by at least 17 points have a 3-1,225 record, with Chicago accounting for two of those wins.
The Bears rallied from 23-3 down to beat Arizona 24-23 on Oct. 16, 2006, behind two defensive TDs and a punt return score by Devin Hester. Kansas City was the other team to do it in 2016 against Carolina.
The Steelers also won their opener without scoring an offensive touchdown, getting six field goals from Chris Boswell to beat Atlanta 18-10. This was the first time since 2006 that two teams won in Week 1 without an offensive touchdown. Seattle beat Detroit 9-6 and the Rams beat Denver 18-10 that year.
Happy returns
The first week of the new kickoff rule featured fewer touchbacks, a rare return TD and far better starting field position.
The return rate on kicks in Week 1 was 33%, compared with the record low of 22% last season, which led to the change. It was the highest rate of returns on the opening weekend since 2016 when 37% of kicks were returned.
Arizona’s DeeJay Dallas had a 96-yard return against Buffalo for the first kick return touchdown in a season opener since Miami’s Jakeem Grant and Tennessee’s Darius Jennings did it in 2018. There were only four kickoff return TDs all of last season — the fewest in any season since 1993 when there also was four.
The average starting field position after kicks was the 29.5-yard line, up from the 25.5 last season. The best average start following a kickoff since 2000 was the 29-yard line in 2002, according to Sportradar.
Just for kicks
The opening week was a big one for kickers with 21 field goals made from at least 50 yards — six more than in any week in NFL history.
That doesn’t even count a 66-yarder from Dallas’ Brandon Aubrey that would have tied Justin Tucker’s record for the longest ever but was negated by a delay-of-game penalty.
Boswell and Houston’s Ka’imi Fairbairn each had three of the long field goals — the first time any player had done that in a season opener.
Boswell and San Francisco’s Jake Moody both tied an NFL record by making six field goals in an opener, with two of Moody’s kicks also coming from at least 50 yards.
Dazzling debuts
Xavier Worthy and Saquon Barkley had dazzling debuts for their new teams.
Worthy, the speedy first-round receiver for Kansas City, scored on a 21-yard run on his first touch as a pro and added a 35-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter of a 27-20 victory over Baltimore.
Worthy became just the second player in NFL history to score on a run of at least 20 yards and a catch of at least 30 yards in his first career game. The only other was James Brim, who did it as a replacement player during the 1987 strike for Minnesota at Green Bay. Worthy also joined Kareem Hunt as the only Chiefs players to score two TDs in their debut.
Barkley made a strong first impression after signing with Philadelphia in free agency. He caught a TD pass and ran for two more scores in a 34-29 win over Green Bay. He joined Terrell Owens as the only Eagles players to score at least three TDs in their first game with the team. Owens did it in 2004 against the Giants.
Barkley had just one three-touchdown game in 76 games in the regular season or playoffs with New York before doing it in his first game with the rival Eagles.
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