Winners & Losers NFL Week One

Week One of the NFL season is in the books, and what a wild week it was. We had high scoring games all over the place, with a couple of games having to go to overtime. Some of the rookies this year had impressive debuts, while some other veterans had come up short in the opener. There's a lot to get into so lets dive right into it. Here's some of the best and worst from week one.

Best: Joe Mixon, Running Back Cincinnati Bengals
You wanna talk about having yourself a week, that's what happened with joe Mixon on Sunday. In the Bengals 27-24 win over the Vikings, Mixon was the star of the show for the Bengals. Nothing against Joe Burrow who had a fine day, but Mixon really was the star, carrying the ball 29 times for 127 yards and a touchdown. He kept the Bengals offense going in a tight affair against Minnesota. Now its a question of can he do it again, or something close to it, next weekend in Chicago?

Worst: Green Bay Packers Offense
This was, by far and away, the toughest and most embarrassing loss for anybody in week one. I mean, you'd like to think that the Packers would have shown some effort and heart, but that wasn't the case, as the Saints rolled over the Packers to the tune of a 38-3 win. Rogers threw a couple of interceptions (in fact he threw half of his total from last season in this game alone). The defense couldn't stop a beach ball and New Orleans was all over them from start to finish. Yes it is only week one and yes the Saints are a solid team, but still its something that shows some signs of concern if you're Green Bay.

Best: Chandler Jones, Linebacker Arizona Cardinals
This was a huge statement game for the Cardinals, on both sides of the football. But what stood out most in the Cardinals 38-13 win over the Titans, was its defense. most notably the play of Chandler Jones. The big story was JJ Watt in his first game in the desert, but it turned into the Chandler Jones show. He had five sacks, to lead all defenders league wide. Oh, and that also set a franchise record for Arizona for a single game. He finished runner up for the defensive player of the year two years ago, the season in which he finished with his career high for sacks with 19. Now that he's in a new setting in Arizona, and has JJ Watt playing next to him, this could be a big season for Jones if game one was any indication.

Worst: Urban Meyer, Head Coach Jacksonville Jaguars
Making the transition from coaching in College to the pros isn't easy. Urban Meyer found out the hard way in his debut at the pro level. his Jaguars got blasted 37-21 by the Texans. Talk about a rude awakening into the league. Oh, but that's only the half of it. There have been several reports floating around that there were several issues with Meyer and his own players as early as Sunday morning. Combine that with the negativity around college coaches adjusting to the NFL and it doesn't mix well. The result of his first game wasn't helping matters for Meyer. He better get this figured out with his team, and better get it figured out quick.

Best: Tyreek Hill, Wide Receiver Kansas City Chiefs
It's been known for a long time now that Hill is one of the very best receivers to every step foot on an NFL field. In the Chiefs first game of the year on Sunday, a 33-29 win over a very game Browns team, Hill did, well, Hill things. Eleven catches for 197 yards and a touchdown. Yeah Hill is kind of good. He was able to outdo Deebo Samuel's 189 yard performance, which is saying a lot. But then again, its Tyreek Hill after all

Worst: Tennessee Titans Defense
We touched on it earlier what the Cardinals defense did against the Titans. But now here's what it looked like from the other side. Not only did they give up 38 points, but they looked horrible in doing so to boot. Shane Bowen, the Titans defensive coordinator had no answer, or adjustments for that matter, for Kyler Murray. Kyler was kinda good on Sunday, threw for 289 yards, four touchdowns, and added another on the ground. That's not to take anything away from the Arizona offense, which is good and has the potential to be very good. But this shows horrible signs on Shane Bowen's defense for not being able to adjust. Yes it's just one game, but could be possible cause for future concern in Tennessee.

Best: Las Vegas Raiders
One of the wilder games of the opening week closed out the week. Vegas pulled out a 33-27 overtime win. IT was an insane game with an amazing final drive at the end of regulation to even tie the game as time expired. Then they thought they won half way through OT, came up short. Made a huge defensive stop before finally winning the game. This game showed a lot for the Raiders, it was a statement game. It proved that they aren't going to be a pushover this year. The raiders are going to make a lot of noise.

Worst: New England Patriots Run Game

Its bad enough that the Patriots lost their season opener. It made it even worse losing to a divisional opponent. That's what happened in week one, which was a 17-16 loss to the Dolphins. Yes, Damien Harris had 100 yards on the ground on 23 carries. But he and Rhamondre Stevenson both lost fumbles. And both of those fumbles came at the worst possible times. The Harris fumble was the worst one, coming on the Patriots final drive on the nine yard line with just over three minutes left. The coaching staff won't tolerate such nonsense and if things don't shape up, expect some major changes to come in new England and quickly