NFL: Five Week One Thoughts

 I am just so excited that football is back! I was pretty locked in on the Steelers game this week as I will be most weeks. I don't want to speak too much on the other teams because I admittedly didn't lock in as hard watching their games. That being said, I am tuned in to the discourse and I was able to watch some other games in bits and pieces and gosh dang it I have some thoughts! We'll try to keep these away from the Steelers since I will likely be writing a ton about them. Wouldn't want you readers getting bored now would we?

Baker Mayfield is a Franchise QB

Oh man this one is pretty delicious. I've always liked, even feared Baker Mayfield. It was kind of annoying to watch the Browns get good again. He had his flaws with that team but he always showed up in the clutch when it mattered and played with one of the biggest chips on his shoulders I've ever seen. He went into Pittsburgh in the Browns first playoff appearance that I can even remember and delivered a WIN. He won! He plays the next season with a shoulder injury on his throwing arm, but guts it out. Obviously he wasn't as effective this season but come on the man was injured. The Browns then toss him aside, opting for an "adult" at the position instead. Absolutely nothing warms my heart more than seeing Baker make the Browns pay for that mistake. 

Baker was 24/30 on Sunday with 4 TDs and 289 yards. This was good for a nearly perfect 146.4 passer rating. I get that it was against the Commanders, not exactly the cream of the crop, but Baker absolutely delivered. Just like he did last season as well. The Buccaneers have a good one at QB. Baker has improved since his days on the Browns but still plays with that same chip on his shoulder. I will be routing for him all season not only because he's super fun to watch, but also because Browns tears are the best

Deshaun Watson is not a Franchise QB

Ah the other side of the coin. As mentioned above, this was the adult the Browns were talking about. Not only is Deshaun Watson a terrible human being, he's also a terrible football player. The Browns traded a gigantic haul of draft picks to have the right to sign Watson to a massive 5 year $230m fully guaranteed contract. This locked the team in cap hell, made him one of the highest paid QBs in the league and limited the team's flexibility to continue to build through the draft. On top of this, he's an absolute scumbag and someone who is extremely easy to hate. Something that has united fans across the league to hating what should be a scrappy fun Browns team. 

I couldn't escape my week 1 reaction without reacting to how bad Watson was. Watson went 17/33 with a TD and 2 interceptions. This was a passer rating of a putrid 51.1. Seriously the only negative thing about this entire situation from a Steeler's fan perspective is that Watson gets to keep the $230m he makes from the Browns. Warms my heart to see him struggle, it really does.

The 49ers are OP

I've got a good friend who's a 49ers fan so I watch them as a friend would, with a hateful tint in my eye. They are good though man holy smokes. Monday night they didn't even look like they were playing their best. They were missing their best player and MVP candidate Christian McCaffrey and early on it showed. In the long run of the game though it didn't end up mattering. Jordan Mason had the best game of his career running for 147 yards on 20 carries. The long list of receivers Purdy has the option to go to all showed up with Deebo Samuel having a great game in the air and on the ground. Purdy continues to look awesome consistently making the smart and correct decision. The offense flows easily with offensive mastermind Kyle Shanahan running things. They are going to be an absolute nightmare to try and beat this season. 

All of this doesn't even mention the defense who made Aaron Rodgers and the Jets look hapless last night. Their pass rush is going to be elite yet again and even on games where the offense struggles, they can surely be relied upon to keep things close. When CMC returns, hopefully for my fantasy team's sake next week, this team will hit a whole new level. I will be shocked if they don't make the Superbowl yet again.

Bengals Bungle

My mom is in a survivor pool this year at her and my dad's favorite pub near their place in Scarborough. She's been relying on me to make her picks for her. I told her for me it was a tossup between the Texans and the Bills, steering clear of the Bengals because my heart will never tell me to pick them. Good thing I am irrational. More than half of the survivor pool was eliminated on Sunday when the Patriots upset the Bengals winning 16-10. Anything can happen week 1! 

People are going to make fun of the Bengals, and I certainly was one of them, but it is just week 1 and they were coming off a weird off season with Jamar Chase' contract negotiations hanging over them. They came out of the gates slow last season as well so we really should give them a few weeks before calling them a laughing stock. But still, losing to what looks to be one of the worst teams in the league at home week 1 before having to go play the Chiefs in KC is not a good look. As a Steelers fan, I hope they continue to struggle, but I honestly wouldn't count on it unfortunately. 

The CJ Stroud Era Starts Now

Look I know it was just a 2 point win over the perpetually mid Indianapolis Colts, but I love what I see from CJ Stroud. I have spoken on here before about how much I love all the weapons the Texans added for Stroud to take advantage of and this was on full display Sunday. The Texans had over 400 yards of offense on Sunday, something that will be hard to stop them from doing every single week. CJ just plays with that "it" factor that you can't describe. I made the bold prediction earlier that this team will be in the Superbowl this season, I don't plan on straying from that pick. 

Epilogue

Ok I won't usually do epilogue's but I realized yesterday after posting my Steelers reaction that I didn't shout out Chris Boswell. Bos had 6 FGs for the win against the Falcons with multiple deep deep ones that most kickers miss. It is a luxury to have a kicker with a big leg like that. Not only that, he was asked to punt in a pinch when the Steelers punter got clobbered on a play in the 4th quarter, and he delivered a beauty. Shout out Bos man he's been one of if not the most consistent Steelers over the past decade and he didn't deserve to be left out of my summary yesterday!