What a debut for the 2024 NFL season! On the first Sunday of the campaign, we saw two blocked punts, a record number of 50-plus-yard field goals, a touchdown on the new kickoff and — wait, hang on. I’m being told I’m getting too excited about special teams again.

Every Tuesday, I’ll recap the biggest news from the previous week of NFL football. We’ll take a first look at the consequences of “Monday Night Football,” break down a major trend or two and highlight some key individual players and plays. There will be film. There will be stats (a whole section of them, in fact). And there will be fun. You can read the column all the way through or toggle through segments below.

Jump to a section:
The Big Thing: Post-Week 1 panic meter
Mailbag: Three questions from … you
Second Take: Is the new kickoff working?
Next Ben Stats: Three wild Week 1 stats
Flag-planting: My irrefutable takes
Monday Night Football: Mason’s big game

The Big Thing: Week 1 panic meter

Every week, this column will kick off with one wide look at a key game, player or trend from the previous Sunday of NFL action. To start this week’s column, I wanted to react proportionally to a few of the more surprising performances of Week 1. It was not a slate full of marquee quarterback performances, but a few stood out as particularly concerning. I’m here to provide comfort to some, hold my water for others and join the chorus of ringing alarm bells for a couple more.

Williams was not good against the Titans on Sunday, no two ways around it. The Bears’ rookie quarterback missed shallow and deep throws he should have hit, panicked in the pocket when it got a little bit messy and let mistakes compound. The game seemed too fast for him at times. It was an extremely rookie performance.

This is certainly disappointing for a No. 1 pick who had a great preseason. Excitement in Chicago was towering, and this feels like a huge letdown even after the Bears escaped with the 24-17 victory.

But because many of Williams’ mistakes were classic rookie blunders, I’m not overly concerned. In fact, when Williams wasn’t in his own head about reads, pressures and downs and distances, he had some flashy moments. I particularly liked this throw on the move to DJ Moore. You can’t teach a guy to generate this much power on the move, especially with such a lightning-fast release.

Watch Caleb rip this sucker pic.twitter.com/SsdbmNnlIL

— Good Clips (@MeshSitWheel) September 10, 2024

Nix did fewer “Holy smokes!” things than Williams, but he has always done fewer “Holy smokes!” things than Williams — that’s not his game. Nix is a quick distributor who takes what the defense gives him and relies on his playmakers to run after the catch and create explosive plays.

And that was always going to be a shaky approach considering the Broncos don’t have the league’s most dynamic pass catchers. It can work if Nix is super accurate on intermediate throws he gets within structure, but that wasn’t the case Sunday, a 26-20 loss to the Seahawks. Nix was late on most of his pass attempts, which didn’t burn him on running back swings but certainly hurt him when attacking tight windows between zones downfield. Nix was 1-of-9 throwing between 11 to 20 yards against the Seahawks for a shockingly poor minus-45.8% completion percentage over expectation, per NFL Next Gen Stats. One of those nine throws was this interception, which was so late and poorly placed that color commentator Adam Archuleta could not hide his dismay.

“OH NO”

– @AdamArchuleta before Bo Nix’s pass even landed in the Seahawks hands pic.twitter.com/8sCkVTwm17

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 8, 2024

As the game slows down for Nix, he’ll hit those throws more consistently — and he’ll give his receivers that additional half-second of time needed to turn upfield, break a tackle and create more after the catch. The ceiling in such an approach is obviously low, but that’s what Broncos coach Sean Payton wants from his hand-selected first-round quarterback. It might take a few weeks to get Nix up to speed, but I’m confident he can get there; it’s just a matter of how effective the offense will be once he does.

It is important, as always, to calibrate rookie quarterback expectations — especially after a season like the one C.J. Stroud just produced. Stroud’s success can create biases toward higher rookie expectations this season. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell did an excellent job detailing this. Most Week 1 starts for rookies are bad.

When a 36-year-old quarterback coming off an Achilles injury takes his first snaps of the season in a new offense, expectations should be tempered. I have to remind myself that I always expected Cousins and the Falcons’ offense to be flat in Week 1, then find their stride as September went on. But I did not expect Cousins to be this flat.

There are two wildly concerning stats from the Falcons’ 18-10 loss to the Steelers on Sunday. The first is from ESPN Stats & Information, via NFL Next Gen Stats: The Falcons were in pistol or shotgun on 96% of their snaps Sunday. On 22 snaps from shotgun, they had 0 designed runs. On 26 snaps out of the pistol, they ran the ball 21 times (81%).

It is unacceptable to have an offense this siloed. You are tipping your hand to the defense so clearly that there’s no way to recover. Check out this pistol snap and keep an eye on Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen.

they know what you’re doing! pic.twitter.com/fa1f8VSXrj

— Good Clips (@MeshSitWheel) September 10, 2024

Queen is stepping down into the B-gap even as the ball is snapped because he’s supremely confident that a handoff is coming. Even the behavior of edge rusher T.J. Watt (who was knifing inside against pistol all game to blow up run plays) and linebacker Payton Wilson (not as fast to step down as Queen but still pretty fast) tells you that the Steelers knew what they were getting from the Falcons’ offense.

But why were the Falcons so siloed? If I had to guess, it’s because Cousins’ mobility is still drastically limited. Here’s the other concerning stat, from NFL Next Gen Stats: Cousins moved an average of 3.1 yards per dropback in this game, which is the least dropback movement he has had in a single game of his career by more than a full yard. That’s beyond “pocket passer.” That’s statuesque. That’s petrified.

This is why the Falcons were in pistol instead of under center — because the path to the handoff on under-center dropbacks is far longer. The play-action dropbacks are correspondingly longer as well, and the Falcons did not want to (or could not) ask Cousins to take those paths.

Pistol isn’t inherently bad, of course. Offenses have been wrinkling in pistol snaps for the past few years, with the Rams leading the charge in 2023 while now-Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson was on staff. But while pistol can provide new angles in the run game, it is not meant to fully replace under-center runs and play-action passes. The timing of runs is different and less effective, and the play-action menu is much smaller, too. (In this case, the play-action menu was as small as possible. For the first time in his career, Cousins did not attempt a single play-action pass.)

But that’s exactly what the Falcons tried to do in Week 1. Look at the percentage of Cousins’ passes that came from under center and pistol alignments in his career, along with the percentage of throws that came on the move.

There is another concern with Cousins’ Achilles besides dropback movement and quarterback alignment, and it’s far simpler and more glaring: Cousins doesn’t look comfortable driving the football just yet. Watch the mechanics of this throw on third-and-15. See how Cousins’ back foot isn’t connected to the ground at all and is just drifting forward as he tries to generate enough velocity to hit this tight window? That’s the leg on which he popped the Achilles, and this sort of rep indicates to me he doesn’t trust it just yet.

worried about kirk pic.twitter.com/JdOQqECYMA

— Good Clips (@MeshSitWheel) September 10, 2024

I’m confident this can and will get better for the Falcons and Cousins. The question is, how much better?

The first improvements are easy and come from the running game. Atlanta was dominated in the run game by the Steelers’ interior defensive line, achieving a success rate of only 38.4% on runs between the tackles. When the Falcons started getting outside the tackle box, that number jumped to 75%. So long as they’re a pistol and shotgun team, their running game should probably look more like the 49ers’ run game (which is very good from the gun/into the boundary) than the Rams’ run game this coaching staff left behind (which wants to live between the tackles). The Steelers are one of the best run-defending fronts Atlanta will face all season, too. Things will get easier, especially as this team starts to integrate some shotgun runs.

An improved running game will lift the onus from Cousins to carry the team early and hopefully keep the Falcons’ offense afloat until he gets his sea legs under him. The problem is the early hole the Falcons dig for themselves might be too tough to escape. Atlanta faces Philadelphia and Kansas City in its next two games, and of the 247 teams to start 0-3 since 1966, exactly six have made the playoffs. Atlanta better find a way to make its offense work … fast.

One final note on Cousins’ recovery and subsequent play style: I have been very critical of the Michael Penix Jr. pick in Atlanta. I thought it showed hubris and short-sightedness rather than foresight. Many of the justifications that the Falcons’ brass have made for the selection have failed to change my read on the situation. But let me draw a hypothetical universe for you — one in which, somewhere between the mid-March signing of Cousins and late-April drafting of Penix, the Falcons became a lot more concerned about Cousins’ long-term health than they had been previously.

In that universe, I would find the Penix pick remarkably more defensible, even though I didn’t and still don’t like the prospect that much. Of course, there would be new questions to ask about the process of courting, signing and evaluating Cousins, and we’re not even sure that this hypothetical universe is the real universe. But if the Falcons were seeing then what we’re seeing now, I could start to understand the Penix pick a little better.

Panthers offense: Panic! Flee to the exits! Women and children first!

I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to kick Panthers fans while they’re down (30 points at halftime to the Derek Carr-led Saints in what ultimately was a 47-10 loss), but this was the worst film I’ve watched from Week 1 and some of the worst Bryce Young film I can remember seeing.

Young has yet to prove he is capable of making plays from NFL pockets. In order to throw the ball to any intermediate or downfield route, a quarterback must be comfortable stepping up in tighter pockets and delivering throws over offensive linemen. For whatever reason, Young cannot and will not do this. I believe it is a product of his 5-foot-10 height (it’s hard for him to see and deliver throws over linemen who are 7-plus inches taller than him) and his 204-pound weight (he takes particularly punishing blows when hit in the pocket). But you just have to be able to make throws like this one in the NFL:

The first interception is a perfect example of exactly the issue with Bryce’s height + size.

This is an NFL pocket. It’s far from a perfect one, but an NFL starter should be able to stand in this pocket long enough + tall enough to deliver the ball accurately to Diontae. pic.twitter.com/hvPkXQhlZc

— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) September 9, 2024

This is the first play of the game, receiver Diontae Johnson has inside leverage, and there is no sinking linebacker. Ripping a five-step in-cut off under-center play-action is a fundamental skill for an NFL quarterback, and Young sails this into a pick, his first of two on the day.

For the entire first half of the game against the Saints (I had to stop watching before the garbage time scores, I was so upset), Young faded away from phantom pressure, airmailed throws that should have been dropped into buckets and refused to deliver from anything less than optimal pockets. That is a recipe for disaster behind an excellent offensive line, but on a unit that is still experiencing major struggles from left tackle Ikem Ekwonu, it’s simply not viable.

I don’t know what coach Dave Canales is supposed to do about this. Short of running the Mike McDaniel offense (which is also not viable in Carolina because this team does not have one of Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle or De’Von Achane, let alone all three of them), there is no way to make this style of quarterbacking work in the NFL. Super spread quick game? That’s what Frank Reich tried last season. All rollouts and boots? You can’t cut the field in half that often against NFL defenses.

Young has to be willing to stand in the pocket and make throws, or this plane will never get off the ground.

Daniel Jones: I don’t know what you expected

Can one truly panic when there was no hope remaining to lose?

From y’all

The best part of writing this column is hearing from all of you. Hit me on X (@BenjaminSolak) or by email (benjamin.solak@espn.com) anytime — but especially on Monday each week — to ask a question and potentially get it answered here.

From Tyson: “Against the Cardinals, the Bills passing game was very distributed — eight different players were targeted at least twice, but no player received more than five targets. Do you think this ‘everybody eats’ approach can be sustainable against better defenses, or will the Bills need someone like Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir or Dalton Kincaid to step in to a more ball-dominant role to maintain a successful passing game?”

I do think it’s sustainable, so long as all of those players are legitimately talented. Is Shakir just a solid slot receiver, or can he continue his penchant for explosive plays by breaking tackles at a near-elite rate? Can Kincaid keep his preposterous catch rate from his rookie season as he gets more targets downfield? And how many of those beautiful contested catches can Coleman produce?

The top offenses always have multiple targets who are “game-plan worthy.” Right now, none of the Bills’ targets are that, but Buffalo is trusting the development of the youth and riding what has really become quite an underrated running game in the meantime. (The Bills should probably prioritize getting Kincaid a target or two next week, though.)

From Troy: “Last year, the Eagles almost exclusively ran inside zone and Barkley was considered to be bad at running inside zone while in New York. How did the Eagles’ running play calls change under Moore and with Barkley? Also, did Barkley look better running inside zone while running behind the Eagles’ O-line compared to his time in New York?”

Great question, Troy. The Eagles’ running game remained largely the same (though probably a bit less complex in terms of pullers than it was with center Jason Kelce at the helm). Despite the addition of Kellen Moore as the offensive coordinator, O-line coach Jeff Stoutland is the true author of the run game there, and the form of that running game is dictated by the run-pass options the team runs with Jalen Hurts. I was, however, quite impressed by the work new center Cam Jurgens did on the move in Week 1. He wasn’t exactly Kelce-esque, but he held his own.

Saquon Barkley looked great running inside zone in Philadelphia simply because the line behind which he was playing was so much better. His mistakes in New York came from hunting big plays when the line gave him no daylight. But in Philadelphia, he hit the holes that were given to him.

The Eagles did a lot of two-TE stuff early in the 34-29 win against Green Bay that wasn’t great. I wouldn’t be surprised if you see the Eagles work with lighter personnel and more spread sets in future games, which will even further unlock Barkley against lighter defensive backs.

From Johnny: “It feels like Week 1 of the regular season is quickly becoming the de facto preseason Week 4: QB passing yards down horrendously, O-line play very sloppy, no rhythm in anything, etc. My question is, does Week 1 really matter that much in the grand scheme of team/talent evaluation? How many truly amazing or truly awful performances from Week 1 of any given season from the past five years told us that much about a team/player?”

Johnny, you’re absolutely right. With that said, please continue reading the column, and take everything within as gospel.

Second Take: The new kickoff is doing what the league wanted

ESPN’s “First Take” is known for, well, providing the first take on things — the instant reactions. Second Take is not a place for instant reactions, but rather the spot where I’ll let the dust settle before taking perhaps a bit of a contrarian view on something. Today, I’m taking another look at the NFL’s new kickoff format.

I, like many Americans, had to spend a few minutes Thursday night explaining to my parents how the new kickoff rules worked. They still don’t really get it and think it looks weird, but they’ll get over it quickly, so long as it produces plenty of big returns. The preseason debut of the new “dynamic” kickoff was promising — 78% of kickoffs were returned — but ended up a bit of a red herring. Teams used the exhibition games to pilot a bunch of stuff, but once they got to the regular season, they turtled. Only 36% of kickoffs in Week 1 were returned, as more teams opted for long kickoffs and forced touchbacks than they had in the preseason.

It’s worth noting that the 36% return rate is a big leap from the 27% we saw in 2023, but is it enough? If two of every three kickoffs was a touchback — even after the touchback moved up to the 30-yard line to discourage booting the ball out the back of the end zone — then isn’t the dynamic kickoff failing to, you know, produce dynamism? Would the league need to adjust the kickoff rules and punish touchbacks with a 35-yard line or 40-yard line field position?

I’d argue that while the dynamic kickoff was meant to increase return rate, it was not intended to achieve a 100% return rate. To achieve that, you wouldn’t be moving the touchback further forward; you’d be moving the placement of the ball on kickoff further back. Make kickers boom that thing from the 20, and I promise you there’d be no touchbacks (maybe Dallas kicker Brandon Aubrey can do it, I don’t know).

What interests me far more is what happens when the ball is returned. In Week 1, returns averaged 27.2 yards, which is the biggest number since 2000 by a good 4 yards. Eleven of the 54 returns went for at least 30 yards, which is the first time that one out of five returns has gone for 30-plus yards since 2015. And three of the 54 returns went for 50-plus yards, which would almost quadruple the 2023 rate.

Now, 54 returns is an extremely small sample, and coverage teams might get better at stopping long returns. But blocking teams might get better, too. And of those 50-plus-yard returns, only one was a touchdown. The other two were just huge returns to set up short fields for the offense.

Of course, as more teams rip off explosive returns, we might see more intentional touchbacks, and that touchback might indeed need to move up to the 35 (or the kickoff might need to move back to the 30). But by the same token, I might tell my return specialist to start taking the ball out when he’s a couple yards deep in the end zone, especially if I’m trailing and good field position could get me back into the game. The strategic push-and-pull between return teams and kickoff teams is nowhere near settled, and as such, I don’t think the kickoff has failed to do what it was billed to do. Returns and explosive returns are up, and until I see 80% of kickoffs sailed through the back of the end zone, I don’t think that trend will fall off.

Next Ben Stats

NFL Next Gen Stats are unique and insightful nuggets of data that are gleaned from tracking chips and massive databases. Next Ben Stats are usually numbers I made up. Both are below.

65 air yards: That’s how far Anthony Richardson‘s touchdown pass to Alec Pierce traveled in the Colts’ 29-27 loss to the Texans. It is the third-longest throw in the NGS database, which goes back to 2016.

Here’s what’s truly preposterous about the Richardson moonball … he could not even step into it. Richardson made this throw falling to his left. He could not hitch up into the throw, nor was he running toward the line of scrimmage while he uncorked it. This was all arm.

A 60-yard drop in a bucket.

📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/7hI0hGDQfm

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) September 8, 2024

The two throws longer than Richardson’s pass to Pierce were both Hail Mary heaves: Baker Mayfield in 2021 and PJ Walker in 2022, both of whom escaped the pocket and had a free runway to hitch into their throws. So Richardson’s throw is not only the longest throw in regular game play that we’ve seen since 2016, but it was also achieved under more difficult circumstances.

0: That’s how many offensive touchdowns the Steelers scored in their 18-10 win over the Falcons. They’ve now won five games without scoring an offensive touchdown under Mike Tomlin, second most in the league since he became their coach in 2007.

I didn’t fact-check this, but I’m so positive it’s true that I’m just going to say it: The Steelers are probably the first team in NFL history to be the sole leader of its division without having yet scored any touchdowns on the season.

0.23: That’s Trevor Lawrence‘s EPA per dropback in the first half against the Dolphins. It would have been the third best in the league over the full game.

Second half? Minus-0.10. No quarterback was worse over a full game.

Why is this so interesting? Because Jaguars coach Doug Pederson will not reveal to reporters how the playcalling is divided for the Jaguars’ offense between himself and offensive coordinator Press Taylor, on whom many of Jacksonville’s offensive woes have been blamed. In 2023, Taylor called all the plays. But in 2022, it was divided. Pederson had the first half, and Taylor had the second. Food for thought.

Flag-planting, shot-calling

I’m mostly writing these takes to screenshot and share them later.

The Jaguars’ defense was great against the Dolphins in Week 1. I think this defensive line, which features Josh Hines-Allen but is buttressed by the recently acquired Arik Armstead and still-improving Travon Walker, is going to be a handful for much of the season. New defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen, who impressed me last season with the Falcons, was on top of the Dolphins’ challenging scheme for much of the game.

The Jaguars’ offense fell apart in the second half, and the Pederson Jaguars (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) let a winnable game slip through their fingers. But holding the Dolphins’ offense to 20 points and a 43.8% success rate is a great day in the office. I’m buying stock in the Jacksonville defense.

The Cardinals’ offense is going to be good. It wasn’t a perfect day for Arizona, which was 20th in success rate and 13th in EPA per play while losing 34-28 to Buffalo. But the vision is so easy to see. The Cards’ highly diverse run game gave the Bills fits, averaging 3.8 yards before contact per rush and gaining at least 10 yards on four of their 25 rushes. While the passing game largely operated underneath, Kyler Murray looked as comfortable from the pocket operating with timing as I can remember him looking.

The downfield reps will come, as will success for Marvin Harrison Jr. as their chemistry grows. I don’t trust this defense to stop anyone, but I trust this running game to keep good offenses on the sideline. And as the passing attack matures, the Cardinals will win a shootout or two.

Out of the Patriots’ 16-10 win against the Bengals, the New England defense is the biggest story, not Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati offense. I was buying all sorts of Patriots stock this offseason. Being a big Drake Maye believer is part of it, but this roster was actually much healthier than folks wanted to admit. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson reminded the league what he looks like when he’s healthy. The Patriots’ O-line, which has its weak links, can still achieve great displacement in the run game, too.

But this defense — oh baby, this defense. This might be my favorite back seven in the NFL. The Patriots have enough man coverage options to line up and suffocate you, but when they’re in zone, they are smart, disciplined and out for blood. This team does not give up silly, lazy yardage after the catch; it makes you earn every inch. I have questions about the defensive line in the absence of defensive tackle Christian Barmore, but I promise you this defense will power the Patriots to more than a few wins this season.

The following players are going to have breakout seasons. I’m putting them all in the same screenshot because I am so confident I will be correct on every single one.

Monday Night Masonry

A lot of people hopped on their couches for the opening “Monday Night Football” game of the season to watch Aaron Rodgers‘ long-awaited debut in a Jets uniform. Me? I’m there for Jordan Mason.

There’s always an RB1 disguised as an RB3 lurking on Kyle Shanahan’s roster, and Mason is the latest one. With Christian McCaffrey sidelined by a calf/Achilles injury and RB2 Elijah Mitchell out for the season on injured reserve, Mason became the 49ers’ starting back and delivered 28 totes, 147 rushing yards and a score. Those 28 carries are the most that a 49ers back has ever gotten under Shanahan.

That volume wasn’t given but earned. When the game began, Shanahan clearly planned to split Mason’s workload with Deebo Samuel Sr. After three drives, both Samuel and Mason had three carries apiece. And on the fourth drive? Five yards for Mason. Six yards for Mason. Nine yards for Mason. He had two long runs called back for penalties, but the growing trust was clear. Shanahan was going to let the inexperienced back drive the ship.

play

Jordan Mason builds 49ers’ lead with rushing TD

Jordan Mason builds on his strong performance with a 5-yard rushing touchdown for the 49ers.

The 49ers scored on eight straight drives to end the game, staying ahead of the sticks and the fearsome Jets pass rush. (Even without Haason Reddick, they have some good players!) The absence of McCaffrey was supposed to make them feel herky-jerky and one-dimensional, yet the 49ers machine kept humming along.

Mason is not going to bite into McCaffrey’s volume once the star running back is healthy, nor does a split backfield make sense for San Francisco, which uses McCaffrey as a receiving threat with almost as much value as a ball carrier. But it sure is more fun to talk about a career day for a young, tough player in Mason than it is to break down the Rodgers return 19 different ways.