NFL Week 1 Sunday Winners and Losers: Sam Darnold and Josh Allen Shine, Bryce Young and Deshaun Watson Fall

NFL Week 1 Sunday Winners and Losers: Sam Darnold and Josh Allen Shine, Bryce Young and Deshaun Watson Fall originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The NFL season has begun.

After a few exciting matches on Thursday and Friday to kick off the season, the rest of the competition got underway on the first football Sunday of 2024.

The opening matches produced exciting action, with six of the eight matches being decided by one score.

The later games were mostly one-sided, except when the Denver Broncos gave the Seattle Seahawks a last-minute scare.

These are the winners and losers of Sunday’s matches:

Loser: Bill Belichick

The New England Patriots seemed like they couldn’t do anything right in 2023. In Week 1 of 2024, the script was flipped.

Under new head coach Jerod Mayo, the Patriots went on the road to Cincinnati and defeated Joe Burrow’s Bengals 16-10. New England’s defense was the story, holding the Bengals to just 224 total yards and forcing two turnovers.

Though it’s only one game, Belichick will certainly be criticized after watching his former team perform so well without him. The roster is largely unchanged from last season, aside from a change at quarterback to Jacoby Brissett. The veteran went 15 of 24 for 121 yards in Sunday’s win, while primarily taking care of the ball.

In his return to MetLife Stadium, the former New York Jets first-round pick made short work of the New York Giants.

Darnold led the Minnesota Vikings to an easy 28-6 victory, completing 19 of 24 passes for 208 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

It’s been a tough career so far for the 27-year-old quarterback, who has been with four teams since his draft in 2018. But now that he’s in the best situation of his career with head coach Kevin O’Connell and star receiver Justin Jefferson, 2024 might be the year he gets it all together.

The second year of the Bryce Young era looked a lot like the first on Sunday.

Last year’s No. 1 overall pick struggled in Week 1, completing 13 of 30 passes for 161 yards and two interceptions in a stunning 47-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

The Carolina Panthers entered the 2024 season with renewed hope that a revamped coaching staff and offensive line could help Young turn things around. So far, albeit in a one-game sample, it appears that nothing has changed.

Winner: The NFL’s Dynamic Kickoff

The NFL has completely changed the way kickoffs are conducted in 2024 and the results are already being felt.

Cardinals running back DeeJay Dallas returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the second half of Sunday’s loss to the Bills. While one touchdown isn’t crazy, there were only four kick return touchdowns in all 18 weeks last season.

Winner: Simone Biles

The gymnastics GOAT keeps on winning.

Her husband had just finished a busy Olympics in Paris, where he won three gold medals for Biles, and now he was making a thrilling debut for the Chicago Bears.

Jonathan Owens recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown in the third quarter of Chicago’s XX-XX win/loss, the first score of the safety’s career. Owens, who has now played for four teams since going undrafted in 2018, has gotten off to a hot start in the Windy City after spending last year with the rival Packers.

Loser: Falcons fans

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons played in Georgia on Sunday, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the game.

Terrible Towels infiltrated Mercedes-Benz Stadium and took over the Falcons’ home ballpark. Pittsburgh fans helped their team to an 18-10 victory over the Falcons in a sloppy defensive battle.

New Falcons QB Kirk Cousins ​​was rusty in his debut, with just 155 passing yards and two interceptions. For the Steelers, Justin Fields stepped in for the injured Russell Wilson. He took good care of the ball and let his kicker and defense do the heavy lifting as the Steelers secured an opening day victory.

The Buccaneers got off to a great start to the year, with Baker Mayfield at the center. In Tampa Bay’s 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders, Mayfield dominated, completing 24 of 30 completions for 289 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. It was his fifth career game with at least four passing touchdowns.

Chris Godwin led the way with eight catches for 83 yards and a score, while star forward Mike Evans had five catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns.

On the other end, Commanders produced rookie QB Jayden Daniels on the ground, but couldn’t overcome the defense’s inability to get stops. Daniels rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns on 16 attempts, while completing 17 of 24 passes for 184 yards, zero touchdowns, and zero picks.

The Browns may have a quarterback problem… and an expensive one at that. Watson struggled in a crushing 33-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, completing 24 of 45 passes for 169 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Most disturbing, however, were Watson’s split stats in the first half:

While the Cowboys have a strong defense and it didn’t help that Cleveland’s ground game lacked balance, Watson’s streak of inconsistent or poor performances dates back to when he joined the team.

He’s under contract through 2026 at $46 million per year in base pay, but it’s going to get more expensive in his final two seasons. There’s still plenty of work to be done if Watson ever wants to return to his Houston form.

While Justin Herbert didn’t light up the stat line with passing yards, he didn’t really need to. With JK Dobbins moving into the backfield, Herbert got some much-needed help in sharing the offensive load. Dobbins, who had dealt with multiple major injuries while with the Baltimore Ravens, delivered a performance of 10 carries and 135 rushing yards, along with a touchdown in a 22-10 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Los Angeles Chargers still lack depth at receiver, but it will be important for Dobbins to stay healthy and perform like this.