The NFL Roundup 2018: Week 1 - What We Learned

Written by John edward Betancourt

​There are few weekends as explosive as Kickoff Weekend in the NFL and this year’s festivities certainly did not disappoint. Because we were treated to a weekend filled to the brim with exciting games and incredible moments that left us in awe, to the point where I know I was texting up a storm over everything I just witnessed, and as is always the case, this opening weekend of games gave us a true understanding of what our favorite teams are all about and what they’re made of and now that Week 1 is in the books, it’s time to discuss what we learned about our favorite teams as we reflect upon the wonder of Kickoff Weekend.
 
The Shawn Williams ejection sent a solid message to the rest of the league.
There’s been a lot of wonder surrounding just how the NFL is going to handle the new helmet rule that was introduced this offseason, specifically whether or not the referees would be as flag happy as they were in preseason when it came to the rule, and it would seem that judging from Sunday’s Bengals/Colts game that we finally have an understanding of how the rule is going to be enforced, which is the right way. Because Shawn Williams clearly made a point to lower the boom on Andrew Luck, so seeing the flag and seeing him get ejected was a satisfying moment indeed because it shows the refs have figured out how to call this properly and this disqualification should serve as a fine and solid message to every other player out there to keep it clean or forget about seeing the field. 
 
The Cleveland Browns…played…a game on Sunday. 
I’m honestly not sure what to think of the Browns performance on Sunday. On one hand, they looked like the Browns of old at times, making foolish mistake after foolish mistake and at other times, they looked like the rough and tumble team we came to know on Hard Knocks. But while it is nice to see a little fight in this team, all that matters are wins and losses and unfortunately, the Browns were unable to accomplish either feat on Sunday and well, that’s a shame because this should have been a win for Cleveland. They had the Steelers right where they wanted them on several occasions and could have locked up the win no problem, but once again, the Browns simply didn’t get the job done. Granted, many see this as progress, but if Cleveland wants to transform themselves into a winning franchise, they have to start finishing games rather than settling for mediocrity. 
 
It’s early, but it might be time to hit the panic button in Detroit. 
While I fully understand it’s a sixteen-week season and that first-year coaches are going to stumble before they find their groove, I have some serious concerns with what I saw from the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football. After all, this is a team that fired Jim Caldwell as their Head Coach because it was widely believed that Caldwell couldn’t get this team over the hump, so they brought in defensive dynamo Matt Patricia from New England to skipper the squad and well…they looked like they took quite the step back last night. At no point did this team look organized or prepared in the slightest when it comes to the mistakes they made and all of that falls upon the Head Coach and the fact that his team was blown out in embarrassing fashion by the Jets and that Coach Patricia looked disengaged and out of sorts himself as his team was manhandled on national television, means that Detroit fans may be in for a long season and it may be time to hit the panic button up north, since there’s a fair chance the Lions made a terrible mistake in making a coaching change this offseason. 
The Dallas Cowboys are in dire need of a quality wide receiver. 
It is inherently obvious that the Dallas Cowboys have some serious talent on their roster offensively, since we’ve seen this squad decimate defenses by air and by land with their passing and rushing games respectively. But, it became painfully clear on Sunday afternoon that the loss of Dez Bryant and Jason Witten turned out to be quite the big deal after all because this dynamic offense quickly became one dimensional without a potent passing attack. The Panthers simply knew that if they covered the unremarkable Dallas receiving corps that they would force Dallas into run heavy situations, something they could handle as well, and their plan paid off since Dak and the boys were unable to do much with the ball. Which means, this team needs a talented wide receiver and quickly and I’m hoping that the Cowboys front office is going to be scrambling in the next few weeks to find their all-star quarterback a quality wide out that can stretch the field and bring back the dynamic feel to Jason Garrett’s offense. 
 
Aaron Rodgers once again demonstrated the value of leadership at the quarterback position. 
It goes without saying that Aaron Rodgers has been known to accomplish miracles on the field, and he did just that on Sunday night with some incredible throws and quality play once again. But, his ability to lead his team to an amazing comeback victory goes beyond his ability to throw the ball the length of the field with a flick of his wrist, he inspired his teammates to play better and come together and that’s a huge deal. Because the Packers did not play well during the first half of this game, but whatever Rodgers said to his boys in the huddle clearly took care of any nerves or any worries on their part because they were working together as one past that point and the offense’s play in turn influenced the defense as well and once again, #12 reminded the league of how important it is to have a QB under center who knows how to lead his team in a time of crisis and let’s be honest, watching him launch the ball without planting his feet was pretty darn awesome as well.  

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