Derrick Henry looks washed in Baltimore: OVERREACTION
If you want to put Henry’s usage in the BAD OMEN category, that’s fine. It probably depends on your expectations for the bulldozing back. If you thought he was still going to get 25 carries per game, you’re sorely disappointed. My vision entering the campaign was closer to the expectation John Harbaugh verbalized this week: Henry will be a complementary piece in this Lamar Jackson-led offense, not the engine.
The Ravens are better when Jackson has the ball in his hands. Plain and simple. Henry’s presence should help keep defenses honest, and he’ll likely have a few games in which Baltimore rides him heavily. But not most weeks. The presence of Justice Hill as a pass-catching back and questions along the offensive line will cap Henry’s ceiling. But he should still get the bulk of the red-zone carries as a goal-line battering ram. Henry’s $8 million-per-year contract told us in the offseason how the Ravens view him: as an important piece, but not an every-down bell cow like those making $5-10 million more. Calibrating expectations is important.
Packers are toast after Jordan Love‘s injury: OVERREACTION
Interestingly, some of the same people who cringed at Love’s massive new contract also declared Green Bay’s season over after he crumbled to the turf at Arena Corinthians. Doublethink is a heck of a drug. Yes, the Packers were the only NFC North team to lose Week 1, and they don’t have a proven backup to lean on in Love’s stead. Those are facts. They tell an incomplete story.
First of all, the Packers’ optimism — keeping Love off injured reserve — means he should be back on the earlier side of the reported 3-to-6-week window for recovery from an MCL sprain. Secondly, the easier early-season schedule might no longer be as advantageous with Malik Willis under center, but Matt LaFleur is one of the top coaches in the NFL. He can prove it during this run. Third, Green Bay’s roster isn’t some slop-fest outside of the quarterback and should be able to buoy the operation until Love returns. If Jeff Hafley’s new defense is what we thought it could be entering the year, the Packers should stay in ballgames. And lastly, lest we forget, Green Bay got off to a slow start last season and still found its way to the postseason.
Writing off the Pack after Week 1 because Love might miss a few games is folly. As one Packer Backer is fond of saying, lotta ballgame left.
Rookies quarterbacks can’t play: OVERREACTION
It isn’t a new phenomenon for young-buck quarterbacks to come out of the gate with issues. Frankly, it’s more of a surprise when they don’t. Reminder: Some of the best Week 1 performances by rookie signal-callers in the past decade have come from the likes of Gardner Minshew and Carson Wentz. Let’s slow our roll before judging young players off one game. Caleb Williams had issues, missing throws and bailing backward behind a porous interior, but still flashed a cannon on the move. He also didn’t make the boneheaded mistake like his second-year counterpart did on Sunday. Jayden Daniels was the best of the bunch, flashing dynamic ability with his legs, but he needs to trust his reads better moving forward. And, sure, Bo Nix looked closer to Nathan Peterman than Drew Brees, but what did you expect from a quarterback making his NFL debut in a road game at Seattle against a Mike Macdonald defense?
Bad days are going to happen, particularly for newbies. Have we forgotten this lesson just because C.J. Stroud authored an historic rookie campaign last year? The key for this first-round trio — and every rookie who got off to a wobbly start — is learning from errors and not repeating them. Mistakes can turn into a good thing if the lessons are properly digested. To steal a quote from the ever-wise Gabby’s Dollhouse: “Whoopies, I made a mistake, and it’s OK. Whoopsies are what it takes to get better and better every day.” (Yes, I have a 2- and 4-year-old).
Kirk Cousins doesn’t look healthy: BAD OMEN
Raheem Morris didn’t sound worried about Cousins’ health following the quarterback’s lackluster Falcons debut in Atlanta’s 18-10 loss to Pittsburgh. I’m going to respectfully disagree with the esteemed coach. The Falcons can insist the 36-year-old is recovered from his Achilles tear all they want, but they tell on themselves when they run zero play-action passes over an entire game and just one non-spike snap from under center. Those are staples of the Sean McVay offense. Unless Zac Robinson brought a completely foreign offense than the one he spent the past five years coaching in, what else could be the reason for those play-decision oddities other than Cousins being hindered?
It wasn’t just the lack of mobility, either. At times, Cousins wasn’t pushing off his back foot, leaving passes lacking zip. Jets QB Aaron Rodgers is also coming off an Achilles tear from last season, but he suffered the injury about seven weeks before Cousins, inherently giving him a jump-start on rehab. Rodgers, at 40, also didn’t appear as mobile as in the past in Week 1, but didn’t seem to have the same trouble stepping into his throws as Cousins. Perhaps Cousins will get to that place as he gets further from the injury, but most players get more worn down as the season goes, not the other way around.
If this is Cousins healthy, as Morris said, that performance is an ominous sign to start the season. Reminder: While Tom Brady has the world’s belief that QBs can age gracefully, most of history tells us they hit a cliff and fall off. That Michael Penix Jr. pick could prove more prescient than expected in Year 1.
Amon-Ra St. Brown gets paid … and disappears: OVERREACTION
Maybe St. Brown needs Netflix to start following him around again — kidding! The star receiver put up three catches for 13 yards in the Lions’ overtime defeat of the Rams. Not a career-worst outing, but it was his least-productive game since Week 7 of 2022 — and in that contest, he played just 10 snaps. Sunday night, he played 60. It certainly wasn’t the kind of performance Detroit expected after giving him $30 million per year, but we’ll likely look back at it as an outlier. The Rams did an excellent job smothering the in-breaking routes that Jared Goff loves to throw. As such, St. Brown was quieted. Detroit also struggled to extend drives for long stretches, negating chances.
More importantly for the Lions, all that attention on the Sun God opened up one-on-one matchups for Jameson Williams, who exploded with five catches for 121 yards and a touchdown in Week 1. That’s precisely the type of complementary role Brad Holmes envisioned when drafting Jamo. The WR duo can be lethal together. Some weeks, it will be St. Brown feasting over the middle. Others: bombs to Williams. Pick your elixir.
And St. Brown wasn’t the only member of the Lions’ offense to struggle on Sunday. The entire operation looked off. Chalk it up to zero preseason action and presume Ben Johnson’s unit will get back on track. That the Lions came out with a victory despite less-than-stellar play is a turnabout. It used to be the other way around in Detroit.
