Final NFL 2023 Week 1 Observations ... With Dolphins Angles
The Miami Dolphins' road victory against fellow 2022 playoff team Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium, impressive as it was, didn't do as much for their AFC East outlook as what happened in the final game of Week 1 on Monday night.
That game between the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets actually might have stamped the Dolphins as front-runners to win their first AFC East title since 2008.
Yes, it's one week and this might be a classic case of overreaction, but it should be completely understandable for Dolphins fans to feel like the division title drought is coming to an end after what happened in Week 1.
The quick Monday night summary, for those not aware, was a 22-16 overtime victory by the Jets at MetLife Stadium with the real stories being the Achilles injury sustained by Aaron Rodgers, which Coach Robert Saleh described afterward as "not good" and was confirmed Tuesday morning as a season-ending tear, and a sloppy performance by Josh Allen that featured four turnovers and harsh self-criticism afterward.
The bigger story clearly was Rodgers, whose acquisition had put the Jets in legitimate title contention after they managed to win seven games in 2022 despite having the lowest team passer rating in the NFL.
Now the Jets are looking at facing a very challenging schedule with Zach Wilson, whose struggles as the second overall pick in 2021 were significant enough to convince the Jets they needed to get Rodgers in the first place.
Of course, the Jets always could try to land someone outside the organization via trade — Matthew Stafford has been mentioned — or maybe even place a call to a certain former Patriots QB who dominated the division for so long, though Tom Brady being a new minority owner of the Raiders would complicate things.
The Jets still have the makings of a very good team with a lot of playmakers on offense and one of the best defenses in the NFL, but Wilson has shown nothing in his time in the NFL to suggest he's got the ability to drive the team far into the playoffs — or maybe even into the playoffs at all.
For the Bills, the game was a frustrating repeat for Allen, who had turnover issues in 2022, including a three-interception game in the playoff game the Dolphins almost won at Buffalo last January.
"I hurt our team tonight," Allen said. "I cost our team tonight."
The problem for the Bills, who also have a very good defense, is that their offense continues to be too Allen-centric and the 2018 first-round pick often is guilty of trying to do too much.
At least, though, Allen will get more chances to correct the mistakes and the Bills still figure to be a factor in the AFC East — not a big stretch to suggest considering they've won the division title the past three seasons.
Rodgers likely is done for the season and — given his age and the nature of the injury— it's also possible he's played his last game in the NFL.
PATRIOTS PUT UP A FIGHT
It's weird to talk about New England as the forgotten team in the AFC East, but that's just the reality these days as they try to return to the playoffs after missing the postseason twice in the past three years.
While the Patriots did lose their opener, there actually were some positive signs in what actually could be considered a good loss (for those who believe in such things).
First and foremost, New England kept the vaunted Philadelphia Eagles running game in check to the tune of 97 yards and a 3.9 per-carry average. For another, the passing game actually looked functional in this game — unlike last year — with Mac Jones passing for 316 yards and three touchdowns.
So, yes, the Patriots should present a good test for the Dolphins on Sunday night.
One final note on the Pats, former Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki had three catches for 36 yards in his first game with his new team. He played 33 offensive snaps, more than he did in any of his final six regular season games with Miami.
CHIEFS CONCERNS
It's a shame the Dolphins didn't get the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs for the NFL kickoff game because that might be the most out of sync their offense will look all season.
Of course, it started with Travis Kelce having to miss the game because of a knee injury, but the bigger issue was a wide receiver corps — particularly Kadarius Toney — that just couldn't catch the ball.
If you didn't see the game and saw Patrick Mahomes' 77.5 passer rating, you might make the wrong assumption that the 2022 MVP struggled when he really didn't.
Like the Bills, the likelihood is that the Chiefs will be just fine and they'll still be a handful for the Dolphins in Germany in Week 9, particulary now that they've settled their contract dispute with star defensive tackle Chris Jones.
QUICK HITTERS
-- In light of the Dolphins struggling on defense against the Chargers, we should mention that former Miami linebacker Elandon Roberts had seven tackles and two tackles for loss in his Pittsburgh Steelers debut, though it came in a humbling 30-7 loss against the loaded San Francisco 49ers.
-- Speaking of former Dolphins players, cool to see 2020 first-round pick Noah Igbinoghene scoring the first touchdown of the season for the Dallas Cowboys (on a 58-yard blocked field goal return). The big story in the Sunday night game, though, was the Cowboys defense (Dallas comes to Hard Rock Stadium on Dec. 24) holding the New York Giants to 171 total yards with seven sacks in a 40-0 victory.
-- A week after that Dallas game in December, the Dolphins will be facing the Baltimore Ravens on the road, but they won't have to deal with starting running back J.K. Dobbins, who's out for the season after tearing an Achilles tendon in the 25-9 win over the Houston Texans.
-- The Dolphins will face the Tennessee Titans in a Monday night game in December, but they won't be going up against Ryan Tannehill if he keeps having many more games like he had in their opener at New Orleans. Tannehill threw three picks and had a 28.8 passer rating in a 16-15 loss that featured the highly questionable — OK, we'll say it, bad — decision by head coach Mike Vrabel to kick a field goal on fourth-and-11 from the Saints 11-yard line down 16-12 with 2:20 left in the game.
-- Finally, first overall pick Bryce Young, who the Dolphins will face at Hard Rock Stadium on Oct. 15, had an NFL debut that's pretty common for young quarterbacks, which is to say it didn't go smoothly. The successor to Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones at Alabama, Young was 20-for-38 for 146 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions plus 17 yards rushing in a 24-10 loss against the Atlanta Falcons.
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