Power Rankings: Miami Dolphins moving after week one victory?

Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings offense looked good, but the defense could not back them up in overtime loss. The real killer was that the defense gave up 127 rushing yards to Joe Mixon. No matter what they did, they just could not slow him down. The Vikings offense was off to a slow start, but eventually did get going. Cousins had 351 yards and 2 touchdowns, but the struggles came from Dalvin Cook who only had 61 yards on the day. The Vikings were in a very close game, but losing to the Bengals was not in their plans.

A new era begins with the Indianapolis Colts as Carson Wentz made his first start. It was not an easy day at all for Wentz as the Seahawks defense caused more problems than expected. For the first time in a long time, the Colts offensive line was struggling to protect. Wentz did not have much protection, and he even fumbled the ball once. Jonathan Taylor also never got going behind the struggling line. Of course the Colts defense could only do so much against Russell Wilson and those receivers. Look for the Colts to get better as the season goes on, but the offensive line is what needs to get healthy and improve the most.

It was a great season opening win for this very young Cincinnati Bengals team. It was the first game for Joe Burrow coming back off of a torn ACL which cut his rookie season short. Burrow had to be so ready to reunite and connect with his former LSU teammate Jamarr Chase and they did exactly that. Along with Burrow and Chase leading the offense, running back Joe Mixon helped out a lot as well with 127 yards and 1 touchdown. The Bengals defensive line did a really good job of containing Dalvin Cook and doing just enough to get to Kirk Cousins. The offense is there, but it will be interesting to see how the Bengals do as a whole moving forward.

Sam Darnold got his revenge against his former team. It was not the best performance but Darnold played well enough in his Carolina Panthers debut. He got some help from Christian McCaffrey who finally looks healthy and like his normal self again. McCaffrey racked up a total of 187 scrimmage yards. The Panthers defense was the key difference, as they had 6 sacks and 1 interception. They were not making life easy at all for rookie Zach Wilson. The Panthers had a solid all around win Week 1, but let’s see how they look going up against the Saints next.

The Philadelphia Eagles are arguably one of the biggest surprises from Week 1. It looked like it was between them and the Giants for last in the NFC East, but the Eagles came out and wanted to make a statement. It all started with Jalen Hurts and the dynamic offense. Hurts easily had the best game he has had as starter, throwing for 264 yards and 3 touchdowns, while rushing for 62 yards as well. The defense helped out as well as they did a great job of containing Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense. It was a very good opening week win for the Eagles as Hurts looks to seal that franchise quarterback spot.

Let’s be honest, as long as Andy Dalton remains the starting quarterback, the Chicago Bears are going to be towards the bottom of the league. Yes, he was going up against a tough Rams defense but the Bears pass game just could never really get it going. Rushing was not a problem though as David Montgomery put up 108 yards and 1 touchdown. The regressing Bears defense did not play well at all either, but they were up against one of the most dangerous offenses. Nonetheless, nothing is going to go well for the Bears until they make the switch to Justin Fields at quarterback.

It was quite the letdown from the Atlanta Falcons in their season opener. Nothing went well at all on either side of the ball but especially on the offense. To put it into perspective, the Eagles had more passing yards than the Falcons total yards. The defense did just as bad, allowing 32 points to a very young Eagles offense that has not had much experience together. The Falcons have a lot to clean up moving forward.

Entering his 3rd season with the New York Giants, this is a huge year that Daniel Jones needs to prove he is capable of being the franchise quarterback. Well it is not off to a good start for him. Despite not turning the ball over, he continued to struggle with accuracy which is his biggest problem. He did get some help from his receivers which is a positive. But the Giants defense did not help the cause, giving up 26 points and not being able to contain Teddy Bridgewater or the run game. The Giants have work to do all over the place but they are an interesting team to see if they can get it together.

The Houston Texans were coming into the season being talked about as the worst team in the league. Well they surprised everyone in the beatdown that they put on the Jaguars. Tyrod Taylor and the Texans did much better than expected. Taylor put up nearly 300 yards and 2 touchdowns while he had a lot of help from Mark Ingram in the run game as well. The Texans defense were the big factor though, intercepting rookie Trevor Lawrence 3 times. It was a great all around win for this young Texans team.

After trailing 38-17 heading into the 4th quarter, the Detroit Lions almost made a heck of a comeback. But before that, Jared Goff was struggling big time in trying to get going. The brightest areas of the game from the Lions two young playmakers, T.J. Hockenson and D’Andre Swift. They both had a huge part in why Goff and the offense were finally starting to pick things up in their comeback. There is not much to say about the Lions defense, giving up 38 points in the first 3 quarters should say enough. Let’s see if these playmakers on offense can help the Lions get some wins this season.

In what was supposed to be an anticipating NFL debut for Urban Meyer and Trevor Lawrence, quickly turned the opposite way. The Jaguars got absolutely embarrassed by the Texans. Lawrence was off to a sluggish start, and he turned the ball over 3 times. But once he started to slowly get going, he was able to pull off 3 touchdowns as well. The big question for the Jaguars is why James Robinson was not involved more in the run game. After losing Travis Etienne for the season, it was assumed that Robinson would be the main back after his amazing rookie season. But it was Carlos Hyde who got most of the reps. Will Lawrence and Meyer be able to adjust and get ready for a tough Broncos defense?

The New York Jets can easily be flipped with the Jaguars here for who owns the spot as the worst team after Week 1. But the Jets looked pretty bad once again, especially in the beginning of the game. They may even arguably have a worst offensive line than the Bengals which is saying something. Rookie Zach Wilson was being pressured all day long, and he even got sacked 6 times. The rookie and the Jets may have a long season ahead.