What a first Sunday of the NFL’s new regular season! In Cincinnati, despite numerous errors from Joe Burrow, the Bengals had the win on their hands, but they lost in a curious way. In Chicago, the Bears and 49ers basically went “swimming in the pool.” On top of that, there were crazy races to catch up – for example in Atlanta.
While his brother Amon-Ra St. Brown lost despite a touchdown, Equanimeous St. Brown celebrated.
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Water Baths in Chicago – and St. Brown begins to win
Even the warm-up routine before the Bears vs. 49ers comparison gave a hint that the circumstances weren’t normal. And indeed: After rainfall in the “Windy City” Chicago, the ground was completely soaked, which of course made football very difficult for the players – including an early fumble by San Francisco’s all-rounder Deebo Samuel, as well as an immediately following interception by Bears- Hopeful Justin Fields as well as rows of punts in this water fight.
But there were also points: Samuel, for example, made up for his initial mistake with a strong TD rush to make it 7-0, while the home bears in particular continued to stumble and hardly managed to collect anything countable “in their own paddling pool”. In the meantime, it was 10:0 for the Californians, who, however, let the butter be taken off their bread – or better: their seahorse was denied again that day. First, a wild touchdown pass from Fields was allowed to make it 7:10, before the German-American Equanimeous “EQ” St. Brown (25) created the 13:10 lead for Chicago out of nowhere. The Niners, who were traded in the direction of the playoffs, could not recover from this – including a weak interception by playmaker Trey Lance, Jimmy Garoppolo’s successor. In the end, San Fran recorded a used 10:19 – and a successful Bears comeback.
“I’m very happy. It was a bit difficult because of the rain, but we won the game and I did a touchdown,” St. Brown told the German Press Agency. “That was very important. That way I can get momentum and benefit from it.”
Field-Goal-Drama in Cincinnati
The Pittsburgh Steelers scored the first touchdown on this packed Sunday – or to put it another way: they owed quarterback Joe Burrow, who started the season extremely badly with his Cincinnati Bengals. Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick sensed a wide pass to the right from the top quarterback, who was still in the Super Bowl months ago, and immediately bagged the “Pick Six” by “walking” into the end zone without an opponent after the caught interception – 7:0. But that’s not all about the dreaded defense from “Steel City”, which maltreated Burrow and his offensive line and bagged more interceptions (TJ Watt and Cameron Sutton). On top of that there were several “sacks” and a fumble from Burrow, who had caught an extremely used week 1 day.
Barely had time to breathe, kept his Bengals in the game despite mistakes – and yet lost: Joe Burrow.
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In the end, the 25-year-old, who was brought down seven times, made four interceptions and a lost fumble as well as other inaccurate passes – but also two TD passes and gained space for a total of 338 yards. Because there were not enough points from the other side, the game was always open – and went after a touchdown catch from the Bengals receiver
Ja’Marr Chase ended up going into overtime with 20:20 two seconds before the clock was up. Kicker Evan McPherson should have made everything clear beforehand, but his extra point after the 20:20 was blocked by Fitzpatrick.
It then went wild – also because the referee team had previously overlooked a clear TD from Chase (the line to the end zone had already been reached): McPherson awarded Cincy the preliminary decision in overtime, while his opponent Chris Boswell only hit the post – and less than was allowed to play again one minute before the end: Now Boswell scored the acclaimed 23:20 for Pittsburgh, which, however, was possibly paid dearly. Because top star TJ Watt probably tore his chest muscle in the final phase of the game.
Rubdown for New England
Adapt, that was the motto of the New England Patriots long before the guest appearance with direct AFC East rivals Miami Dolphins for speedster Tyreek Hill, brought from Kansas City. Legendary coach Bill Belichick’s team had traveled from the windy north-east of the USA five days earlier to get used to the 30+ degree Celsius temperatures in Florida. With little success…
At 7:20 the Pats went away empty-handed at the Dolphins. New England’s attack for playmaker Mac Jones (213 yards, a TD, an INT, a fumble) didn’t do enough. On the other side, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who was under observation, impressed with 270 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. Receiver Hill went for almost 100 yards and a fumble return to the TD did the rest.
Jackson & Co. too strong – and jets without propulsion
In the “Big Apple” when comparing the New York Jets and the Baltimore Ravens, it was initially highly emotional – goosebumps included. Because in addition to a prayer for the recently deceased Queen Elizabeth II, the many victims of September 11, 2001 in the attack on the World Trade Center were also remembered on September 11, 2022.
From a sporting point of view, it was particularly interesting that the Jets played veteran, ex-Raven and Super Bowl winner Joe Flacco against his former team instead of the injured Zach Wilson – and allowed himself a faux pas: In the first quarter, the 37- year-old an interception. But because it only resulted in a field goal from star kicker Justin Tucker, it remained exciting at first. And that for a fairly long time. Only a touchdown pass from Ravens star Lamar Jackson to Devin Duvernay to make it 10:0 set the course clearly for the victory of the favorites. That’s how it happened, even if Flacco (307 yards, a TD shortly before the end) fought back. Jackson didn’t run much this time (only 17 yards) and was more convincing with throws (213 yards, three TDs, one int.) – especially to double packer Duvernay and Rashod Bateman with a bomb over 55 yards.
What else was going on? St. Brown the Second – Mayfield’s ex
All in all, the focus at the start was of course particularly on the many new head coaches in the league – after all, there were ten in total, while there was no rookie quarterback as a starter. Hence the special focus on the new coaches, such as Lovie Smith. The 64-year-old oldie led his Houston Texans around quarterback Davis Mills (240 yards, two TDs, one fumble) to a 20:3 lead – and then saw the slump against the Colts around the playmaker Matt Ryan (352 yards, a TD, an int., four fumbles, but only one loss of the ball). Indianapolis actually came back in the end and secured a 20-20 draw in overtime. Not without drama: Colts kicker Rodrigo Blankenship even had victory on his feet, but failed from 42 yards.
The New Orleans Saints also put on a catch-up race, a big one at the same time: QB Jameis Winston (two TDs) and his colleagues came back impressively after a clear 10:26 at the Atlanta Falcons, kicker Wil Lutz recorded the celebrated 27th goal with 19 seconds to go :26 from a whopping 51 yards.
Touchdown “Yes”, victory “No”: Lions receiver and German-American Amon-Ra St. Brown.
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Meanwhile, the comeback of the Detroit Lions, who played the game with the most points this early Sunday in the home game against the Philadelphia Eagles, did not have a happy ending. Despite a touchdown by the German-American Amon-Ra St. Brown (22), who cheered like his brother “EQ” (and at the same time within two minutes), the lions had to give in at the end with 35:38.
What was also special was the reunion of Baker Mayfield with his former team from Cleveland, which, as is well known, will have to do without the suspended star player Deshaun Watson for a long time. The Carolina Panthers’ new starting quarterback also had a decent day, although a few feasible passes missed and mixed with an interception. But Mayfield himself – like hopefuls and running back Christian McCaffrey – successfully ran into the end zone once and threw a touchdown grenade for 75 yards at receiver Robbie Anderson. But none of that worked because Browns kicker Cade York scored the celebrated field goal from 58 yards eight seconds before the end to win the game 26:24.
And the Washington Commanders around the brought playmaker Carson Wentz, who performed well with 313 yards and four touchdowns despite two interceptions, still won 28:22 against the Jacksonville Jaguars – also because Wentz missed his 22- year-old rookie receiver Jahan Dotson found the decisive score for 24 yards.