16 games kicked off another exciting season of the NFL

Contributor / Lukas Blankenstein 

The National Football League (NFL) officially returned on Thursday, Sept. 7 with all 32 teams in action for the first time since last season. Hope springs eternal, as teams envision themselves winning the Super Bowl at the end of the season. 

Action began on Thursday night, as last year’s Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, took on the up-and-coming Detroit Lions. The Lions barely squeaked out a win, with a final score of 21-20. 

During the Sunday games, the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons played a  game that featured the NFL debut of last year’s first overall pick, Bryce Young. Young would have to wait longer for his first win, as the Falcons won 24-10.

The Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns battled it out in the 100th Battle of Ohio, an old rivalry. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow recently became the highest-paid player in NFL history. The Bengals lost 3-24 with Burrow only completing 45.2 percent of his passes for 82 yards with two interceptions. 

Natalie Brooks, a Bengals fan and USD Student had choice words for her team. “Disappointing,” Brooks stated. She still holds out hope for the team in the long run, stating “they made the playoffs last year, I don’t see why they can’t again.” 

The Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts played in an exciting game, with the final score being a 31-21 victory for the Jags. 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings played a close 20-17 win for the Buccaneers. 

The New Orleans Saints scratched out a nail-biting 16-15 victory over the Tennessee Titans.

“I was surprised to see we won our first game, as I do not believe it is in modern saints fashion to win the first week,” a pessimistic USD sophomore Nick Crozat reported. “The highest record I see for us is 9-8, hopefully the seven seed.”

The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers with a final score of 30-7. 

“I thought they played extremely well,” 49ers fan and USD sophomore Lucca Sebastiani stated. “I expect them to go 15-2 this season and win the Super Bowl.”

Second overall pick CJ Stroud (QB) made his debut for the Houston Texans against the Baltimore Ravens. They were probably hoping for a better debut, but they fell to the Ravens 25-9.

The Arizona Cardinals traveled to Washington D.C. to face the Commanders. The Commanders were sold for a record-breaking $6.05 billion this offseason. The new ownership was greeted with a close 20-16 win over the Cardinals.

The Green Bay Packers faced their biggest rivals, the Chicago Bears. The Bears would end up falling  38-20 to their arch rivals. 

The Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos competed in an AFC West divisional match. The Raiders were victorious 17-16.

The Seattle Seahawks took on the Los Angeles Rams in an NFC West showdown. The Rams managed to fly to a 30-13 win over the Seahawks.

Last year’s runners up, the Philadelphia Eagles, were in action against the New England Patriots. The Eagles were able to hold off a fierce comeback, winning 25-20.

The matchup between the Los Angeles Chargers and Miami Dolphins looked to be an incredible clash between two offenses that could really light up the scoreboard For the Chargers, Justin Herbert built upon a historic rookie season in 2020 with two successive fantastic campaigns, making himself must-watch television with his incredible deep balls. Unfortunately, a nail-biting barnburner ended 36-34 in favor of the Dolphins.

Sunday Night Football was supposed to be a hotly contested game between two bitter rivals: the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. Instead of the close game that was promised, fans witnessed one of the biggest  defeats seen in many years, as the Cowboys walloped the Giants 40-0. To put into perspective the depths of ineptitude the Giants displayed on Sunday, The Athletic reported that “no team has ever: Lost 40-0 or worse, lost the sack battle 7-0 or worse, lost the turnover battle 3-0 (or worse), had a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown and threw a pick six in the same season. The Giants did that all in one game.”

The Buffalo Bills and New York Jets battled in a New York rivalry on Monday Sept. 11,. The Jets, meanwhile, have the longest playoff drought in the NFL, not making the playoffs since 2010. The Jets made a blockbuster trade for multi-time MVP Aaron Rodgers. The Aaron Rodgers experience in New York only lasted four  plays, as he was helped off the field with an injury that was later determined to be a torn Achilles that will put him out for most of the year. While he was able to guide the Jets to a shocking 22-16 overtime win, thanks to a game winning 65 yard punt return touchdown by undrafted rookie in Xavier Gipson, neither team was happy with the events that transpired.

The whole first week of the NFL was filled with action and stories. This season looks to be another  with many contenders, and fans are interested to see all the twists and turns the season will have.