1 week Ago
live Updated 33s ago What to know about Week 1 in the NFL The Kansas City Chiefs o pened their quest for a three-peat with a win , while the Philadelphia Eagles held off the Green Bay Packers in Brazil to start the 2024 NFL season. Now comes Sunday's Week 1 slate, where rookie QBs debut, the Dallas Cowboys meet the Browns, Matthew Stafford returns to Detroit again and more. Stay tuned into this live experience for all coverage, analysis, scores, observations and more during Sunday's games from The Athletic 's NFL beat reporters.
Subscribe to The Athletic on an exclusive offer here . Watch today's games on Fubo . Required reading Week 1 schedule and scores Week 1 power rankings QB stock report Roundtable previewing Week 1 Packers' Love to miss weeks with MCL sprain: Sources (Getty Images) Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love sustained an injury with five seconds left in the Friday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles as he was under duress while trying to throw a Hail Mary.
Malik Willis is in line to take over for Love. GO FURTHER Packers QB Jordan Love to miss weeks with MCL sprain sustained vs. Eagles: Sources Advertisement What makes a successful season for the Bears? The following question is part of the latest Chicago Bears mailbag , where fans submit questions for The Athletic 's Bears beat writer Kevin Fishbain to answer.
How do you define success for this season? Nine wins? Beat the Packers? — Jason W. I’ll let general manager Ryan Poles answer first. He was asked earlier this summer about the importance of making the postseason this season.
“Obviously, getting into the playoffs and winning playoff games would be outstanding, but I think the biggest thing is can we take that big jump from where we were last year to this year, and I think we’re capable of doing that,” Poles said. What does that jump look like? It could be nine wins. It could be beating the Green Bay Packers.
A playoff berth would be the clearest indicator of progress and success. That’s attainable. But it might not be statistical or in the standings; it’ll be something we can see and feel.
Is Williams everything the Bears hoped for? Is Matt Eberflus making the right decisions in games as the head coach and looking like the respected leader we saw on “Hard Knocks”? Is new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron the answer at play caller? It’s possible, albeit unlikely, to answer all of those in the affirmative and have the Bears miss the playoffs. It’s possible the Bears will make the postseason and there will still be questions about the quarterback (see: 2018 Bears, among others). Whatever the record is, and whatever Williams’ statistics are, the season will be successful if, come January, we’re talking about a team that in 2025 should compete for a deep playoff run, the way the Texans have been thought of this offseason.
How optimistic are Titans fans this season? The Tennessee Titans ranked 22nd in The Athletic 's Hope-O-Meter poll , which uses fan input to gage how optimistic (or pessimistic) fanbases are about their favorite teams heading into 2024. The Titans garnered 69.9 percent optimism from the poll's results.
Some fan comments below: Optimist Turner: A roster makeover was needed almost as much as the coaching staff (and I am a huge fan of Mike Vrabel). If the offensive line can come together, then playoffs are highly possible. Optimist Art: Even if none of it works, we’re swinging.
And we’ll keep swinging moving forward. It’s time for an updated offensive system, and we’re implementing one. Pessimist JT: I’m optimistic about the long-term success of this club, but I think this season will be frustrating.
Will Levis has yet to show that he knows anything other than YOLO ball, which could be fun if the receiver corps pans out! I think this will be a fun season full of frustrating losses. Pessimist Mark: The Titans have improved, but they still lag behind the Texans. I’m hopeful Levis takes a big leap forward in his second year, but I’m still not convinced the offensive line will be able to adequately protect him or open running lanes for the backs.
GO FURTHER Ran Carthon’s Titans vision is coming together, but the true test is still to come Watching for the rookie QB debuts on Sunday Which non-Caleb Williams rookie QB debut are you most looking forward to Sunday? Are the Patriots making the right decision in starting Jacoby Brissett over Drake Maye? Three of our NFL writers discussed. Mike Sando: Jayden Daniels because he’s a dynamic dual-threat quarterback and the ceiling is higher than the ceiling is for Bo Nix. If Nix plays well, the Denver offense might run efficiently.
If Daniels plays well, there could be highlights. Jeff Howe: Daniels is electric, and I’d expect him to make some big-time improvisational plays because I’m not sure how much help he’s got around him. I’m not sure about the Maye decision.
I would’ve started him because I think he would’ve eventually shown that he was ready for the chance. But if the offensive line proves as worrisome as we all believe, there’s value in the longer runway for Maye. At this point, the decision has been made, so now it’s time for the Patriots coaching staff to figure out the best way to get Maye — and the players around him — ready for his debut as soon as it makes sense.
Zak Keefer: Sean Payton’s bet on Nix fascinates me — he’s clearly seen something in the rookie that gives him confidence to throw him in from the jump, which runs counter to the thinking around the league, at least before this season, that Payton strongly prefers a veteran quarterback. But if I’m being totally honest, I can’t wait to see what Williams does in Chicago, especially with a fairly light early season schedule. The Bears will see only two playoff teams from 2023 across their first nine games.
In New England, I like the approach of sitting Maye to start the season. That roster isn’t any good, especially on offense, and throwing in a rookie quarterback would be setting him up to struggle. GO FURTHER NFL Week 1 roundtable: Patriots starting QB, Dak Prescott’s contract and Aaron Rodgers returns.
