NFL Week 1 Winners and Losers: Good Times for Tua Tagovailoa, Tough Times for the Jets

The Dolphins’ quarterback was leading the league in passer rating before suffering concussions in 2022. Brandon Aiyuk and Myles Garrett also starred, while the Jets will have to regroup without Aaron Rodgers.

Week 1 in the NFL is complete. There’s plenty to digest, from Tua Tagovailoa’s majestic performance in Los Angeles to Joe Burrow’s forgettable outing in Cleveland.

But the biggest storyline from the opening week was Aaron Rodgers suffering a torn Achilles on the opening drive of his regular-season Jets debut. Without Rodgers, the Jets aren’t on the level of the Bengals and the Bills, even though New York beat Buffalo and those teams have 0–1 records.

But let’s not overreact when it comes to the big picture. I have no regrets about picking the Bengals as my Super Bowl champion after one bad game, but I might be telling you I told you so about the 49ers, my pick to win the NFC. Brock Purdy put on a show during the 49ers’ dominant win in Pittsburgh.

Tagovailoa passed for a career-high 466 yards against the Chargers :: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Instead, let’s focus on one game. Here are our winners and losers from Week 1 in the NFL.

Winners

Tua Tagovailoa: The Dolphins’ signal-caller throwing for nearly 500 passing yards against the Chargers was his best career outing, but it wasn’t a breakout performance. Many overlooked Tagovailoa’s breakout 2022 season because of his injuries, which cost him the final three games, including the postseason loss to the Bills. (Tagovailoa had a league-high passer rating of 105.5 among quarterbacks with at least 13 starts last season.)

There should no longer be a debate about whether Tagovailoa is a top quarterback. And let’s not diminish what he’s done the past year with a talented offensive play-caller in Mike McDaniel and two stud wideouts in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Every quarterback needs help, including Patrick Mahomes, who missed Travis Kelce last week against Detroit.

But, yes, it’s fair to have concerns about Tagovailoa’s durability. That’s probably the primary reason the Dolphins haven’t given him a contract extension. But Tagovailoa might benefit from waiting to get paid, especially if he continues to outplay top quarterbacks. He got the best of Justin Herbert in Week 1, and perhaps in the offseason he’ll top Herbert’s contract extension of five years, $262.5 million.

Rams’ offensive line: Matthew Stafford could have been singled out as a winner, but I’m sure he wants his offensive line to be praised for not allowing a sack in the upset win in Seattle.

Injuries to the offensive line quickly derailed the Rams’ 2022 season, but they also had personnel issues. Credit to the Rams for not expecting health to fix all their offensive line problems and not being afraid to tinker with players’ positions.

Joe Noteboom was moved to right guard next to right tackle Rob Havenstein after Noteboom lost the left tackle job to Alaric Jackson, a 2021 undrafted free agent. Coleman Shelton replaced Brian Allen as the full-time starting center, and the team invested a second-round pick in Steve Avila, the new starting left guard.

It seems the Rams might have found their ideal offensive line combination after one game. Last season they had 12 offensive line combinations in the first 13 games.

Falcons’ defense: Atlanta’s spending money on the defensive side during free agency quickly paid off with Jessie Bates’s two interceptions and a forced fumble against the Panthers.

The Falcons’ defense made the Panthers one dimensional with solid coverage from Bates and cornerback A.J. Terrell. They also put plenty of pressure on rookie quarterback Bryce Young with a defensive line featuring Grady Jarrett and newcomers Calais Campbell and David Onyemata.

It was only one game against a rookie quarterback in his regular-season debut, but the Falcons might have more to offer defensively than just Terrell and Jarrett.

Brandon Aiyuk: I singled out Purdy for my Five Things We Learned story, but Aiyuk deserves the spotlight for himself after his sensational two-touchdown performance against the Steelers.

Aiyuk gets overlooked at times playing with a star-studded group of skill players, including Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle. But Aiyuk doesn’t get carried by those star players. He does his part and makes the 49ers better as a team.

The 6'0", 200-pound Aiyuk is a savvy route runner and has the size to haul in contested catches—Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson can attest to that after giving up the two scores to Aiyuk.

The 49ers could have a tough time finding money to pay Aiyuk, a 2020 first-round pick, but it’s feasible with Purdy on a rookie contract.

Myles Garrett: The Browns’ elite edge rusher finally has help on the defensive front.

Garrett recorded a sack and four quarterback hits against the Bengals, and did it with ease thanks to the arrivals of Za’Darius Smith, who also had four quarterback hits; Ogbonnia Okoronkwo; and Dalvin Tomlinson.

Garrett might be the early front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year, especially if the Browns’ defense turns out to be the real deal this season.

Losers

Jets: Unfortunately for the Jets, the injury to Rodgers won’t just impact one game. They quickly went from Super Bowl contenders to perhaps scrappy wild-card hopefuls. And the postseason still appears to be a realistic option because of the Jets’ ferocious defense, but they might struggle at quarterback if Wilson doesn’t improve throughout the season.

Last season, the Jets lost six consecutive games to end the season because the offense rarely found a rhythm due to poor quarterback play and many injuries to key players. The loss of Rodgers will hurt, but maybe the star players such as Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson can lift the team to the postseason for the first time since 2010.

Bengals’ offense: Ja’Marr Chase doubled down by referring to the Browns as elves after his Bengals’ offense was held to three points in the embarrassing Week 1 loss in Cleveland.

That’s somewhat of a sign that the brash Bengals aren’t panicking after one game. Burrow & Co. were in a similar situation last year after dropping the season opener to the Steelers, and starting with an 0–2 record before winning 12 of their final 14 games.

Perhaps the Bengals will avoid an 0–2 record this year with a bounce-back home win against the Ravens. But it’s still surprising that Cincinnati’s high-octane offense was held out of the end zone and that Burrow threw for a career-low 82 yards.

Vikings for not paying Justin Jefferson: It’s unfathomable that the Vikings didn’t lock down Jefferson before Week 1.

He was visibly frustrated about the upset loss to the Buccaneers, but he continued raising the price tag on his pending contract extension by recording nine catches for 150 yards.

I’m sure the two sides will eventually come to an agreement, but if the Vikings endure a losing season, they’ll risk the possibility of Jefferson wondering whether he wants to remain in Minnesota.

Barkley and the Giants were blown out by the Cowboys in Week 1 :: Ed Mulholland/USA TODAY Sports

Saquon Barkley: If the Giants continue to struggle offensively, Barkley might question whether he made the right decision to pass on the team’s long-term contract offer in the offseason.

There’s nothing wrong with Barkley betting on himself, but he also put his money on Daniel Jones continuing to ascend as a quarterback. Jones and Barkley were throttled by the Cowboys’ defense during the 40–0 blowout loss last week.

It’s only one bad game, but Barkley might need to carry this offense, and that could hurt him when it comes to getting a lucrative contract because he would be adding more mileage to his body.

Kenny Pickett: So, yeah, turns out the preseason doesn’t matter.

Pickett’s improvements in the preseason didn’t continue in the regular-season opener against the mighty 49ers defense. It’s easy to say that San Francisco stifles many offenses, but to be held to seven points and 239 total yards at home is not a good look for a Steelers offense with plenty of talent.

Perhaps it’s unfair to put the blame on Pickett with how poor the Steelers were on the ground, but the good quarterbacks tend to find ways to lift their offense during rough days. Pittsburgh didn’t put up a fight in Week 1.

Kadarius Toney: I might be in the minority here, but I’m not too concerned about the Chiefs’ receivings corps, especially when Kelce returns.

The Chiefs do have an issue with relying on Kadarius Toney to make plays and stay healthy. The Giants quickly gave up on the 2021 first-round pick because he was unreliable. And, yes, Toney had his moments in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win over the Eagles. But the Chiefs might have beaten the Lions by double digits if he didn’t have costly drops.

Mahomes might be better off throwing more to wide receivers Rashee Rice, Justin Watson and Justyn Ross, and maybe even Skyy Moore, who had a few drops in Week 1.