2023-09-10 12:54:00
Sep 10, 2023, 08:54 ET
The first week of the 2023 regular season continues this Sunday with exciting games and expected debuts
The NFL regular season kicked off Thursday with a surprise 21-20 victory for the Detroit Lions over the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
This Sunday the activity continues with games that promise excitement and we will also see some long-awaited debuts that no one will want to miss in Week 1.
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First, rookie quarterback Bryce Young officially presents himself with the Carolina Panthers, rookie quarterback Anthony Ricardson debuts with the Indianapolis Colts and first overall pick CJ Stroud does the same with the Houston Texans. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Green Bay Packers begin the season looking to replace Hall of Fame quarterbacks Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, respectively.
However, all eyes will be on the “Monday Night Football” duel between the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets that marks the beginning of the Rodgers era in the Big Apple.
The NFL will have its first Sunday of action in the 2023 regular season. Illustration by ESPN
These are the reasons not to miss the rest of the Week 1 games:
The Panthers are one of the most intriguing teams of the season, especially because of the potential their offense could have with rookie quarterback Bryce Young, while Atlanta remains a developing project that looks like a rival for the second pick. global draft show your talent.
As if that were not enough, it is a duel between rivals from the same division, which gives even more importance to this match.
Joe Burrow assures that his contract negotiations were not a distraction while he was preparing for the start of the season and I am sure they were not, but we must not forget that the quarterback suffered an injury that limited him throughout the offseason and preseason , so it is likely that we will not see him in sync with his receivers at least at the beginning of the game.
On the other hand, Deshaun Watson should already be completely familiar with the Browns system and it will be interesting to see if he can keep Cleveland competitive at the level expected of him.
The defending AFC South champions, the Jaguars, start the campaign with the pressure of being favorites over their rivals, something that has not been a constant in Jacksonville.
The Jaguars’ offense is enough reason to trust that they will win, but we should never rule out a local team, especially if it is a divisional duel, this works in favor of the Colts, who remain a question mark with rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson at the controls. Richardson has the potential to be a star in the NFL, but will he make an immediate impact in Indianapolis? In a few hours we will know.
Can Baker Mayfield fill the void left by Tom Brady? Obviously it is a very difficult task for the quarterback, especially considering the number of holes in the Buccaneers this season. However, Mayfield should not be worried about the shoes he must fill, but he faces in his debut a serious candidate to win the National Conference.
The question right now is not if the Vikings will win, but by how much.
Derek Carr officially reports to the Saints and it will be interesting to see the quarterback in action alongside wide receiver Michael Thomas, who should be eager to return after injuries have limited him to 10 games in the last three years, if Thomas recovers. the level he showed before leaving, New Orleans’ offense will be spectacular.
For the Titans there must be a feeling of revenge after the way they ended last season with a losing streak that ended up marginalizing them from the playoffs, Tennessee will look to get off to a quick start and start accumulating victories.
This is the type of game I would have liked to see later in the season and not in Week 1.
The 49ers will have their starting quarterback Brock Purdy back, who has been recovering from an arm injury he suffered in the last playoffs. Purdy could take time to find rhythm and behind him there is only Sam Darnold, who won the race to replace Trey Lance, one of the great busts of the draft in recent years.
The Steelers showed promise towards the end of last season and we can assume that Kenny Pickett has complete control of the offense, while the defense remains a dangerous unit loaded with talent, led by TJ Watt, which could make the situation quite difficult. day for the Niners.
Even though San Francisco is the favorite, I wouldn’t be surprised if Pittsburgh ends up taking the win at home.
Jonathan Gannon’s era at the helm of the Cardinals will begin without starting quarterback Kyler Murray, in his place will be Joshua Dobbs, whose experience is limited to 85 passes sent in his career, with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
I don’t want to say that it’s a recipe for disaster, but there really isn’t much that Arizona can do against the Commanders who little by little seem to be taking steps in the right direction no matter how many doubts there may be around quarterback Sam Howell.
After his long contractual dispute with the Ravens, Lamar Jackson managed to become for a few days the highest paid player in NFL history, now he has to go out on the field to prove every week that he is worth that juicy contract that Baltimore and The visit of the Texans seems like a great opportunity to do so.
Houston, which finished as the second-worst team in the league last season, has holes in all areas and facing Jackson does not bode well for a good afternoon.
Maybe rookie quarterback CJ Stroud can light up the Texans’ offense and make the game entertaining, but there’s a big difference between having fun and competing.
Of course we’re all paying attention to this game because Chicago is debuting its new logo, right?
Without a doubt one of the biggest plots this week will be to see if Jordan Love can be a legitimate heir to Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, all eyes will be on the inexperienced quarterback and I dare say that the result could go second. Term, if Love has trouble igniting the Packers’ offense, it will be a sign they are in for a very long season.
Another quarterback who begins a new era in his career this Sunday is Jimmy Garoppolo with the 49ers.
Just like in San Francisco, where he lost the job, Garoppolo has a solid running back (Josh Jacobs), an outstanding receiver (Davante Adams) and a reliable tight end (Austin Hooper), plus a head coach who knows him as Josh McDaniels.
However, both Garoppolo and McDaniels could be facing one last chance to prove they belong in the NFL, so we could see some pretty aggressive play from the Raiders.
With Denver, it’s payback time for Russell Wilson, who disappointed last year after being acquired in a multi-draft pick trade with the Seahawks.
The Eagles have a thorn in their side and will surely want to get it out soon with a win in New England, and it should also be a great motivation that they have the opportunity to ruin the return of the recently retired Tom Brady to Foxborough to receive a tribute with the Patriots.
Philadelphia has almost the entire stellar cast that took it to the Super Bowl back, so expect an explosive start to the season for the Eagles.
Dolphins and Chargers meet at SoFi Stadium for the second consecutive year. Little is said about the duel of young quarterbacks between Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert, but it will be the third time they face each other and so far they have shared victories.
The first time, in 2020, the victory went to Tagovailoa in Miami and last season Herbert won the duel in Los Angeles, however, both fell short in their production and finished with just one touchdown pass each.
We will surely see a different matchup this time and although I don’t expect a points festival, it seems to me that the numbers of the two quarterbacks will be much higher than what they gave us last time.
Another year that injuries do not leave the Rams alone, this time with wide receiver Cooper Kupp landing on the injured reserve list.
Without Kupp the explosiveness of the air attack will not be the same, if we add to this the statements of Matthew Stafford’s wife saying that the quarterback has had problems connecting with young receivers, hopes for Los Angeles should not be too high.
The Seahawks are coming off an unlikely trip to the playoffs and have most of the players who got them there back, starting with quarterback Geno Smith. Seattle may not be spectacular, but they are still a dangerous team that knows how to win and that swept the Rams last season.
The Cowboys begin another season full of enthusiasm to finally end their drought of almost three decades without winning a Super Bowl.
Although the championships are not won in Week 1, we can get an idea of what awaits us in the rest of the season with a team and Dallas has many doubts to clear up after the departure of offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, in addition that their offensive line does not seem to be as solid as in previous years, so there is nothing like a good divisional duel to know where the Cowboys stand.
The Giants, for their part, were a surprise in 2022 largely due to the play of their quarterback Daniel Jones, but now that everyone knows his weapons, can he repeat the feat of taking New York to the playoffs again?
“Monday Night Football”
Finally, Aaron Rodgers will debut as a Jets player and his first test in the Big Apple will not be easy.
The Bills have become a contender in the American Conference and are favorites to win the AFC East, the Jets became a threat thanks to the arrival of Rodgers and the trail of players that accompany him on offense, but the battle could be defined away from Rodgers’ hands.
The real duel to follow in this game will be Bills quarterback Josh Allen against Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner, the winner here will be the one who defines the direction of the game.
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