Which pins tended to rise, and which ones to fall, on the first day of the campaign?
Week 1 of the 2021 regular season kicked off with hype and cymbals, and of course, the quarterbacks grabbed a good chunk of attention, as expected.
Throughout the 16 games of the opening day, there were memorable comebacks, NFL records, personal bests, and aberrant outings by NFL passer.
Here we review the five best and five worst of Week 1, following –as is customary in this weekly piece–, a strict alphabetical order:
Five quarterbacks on the raises
Teddy Bridgewater, Denver Broncos. That’s all right; perhaps the rival was not the highest category, but it is remarkable how efficient Bridgewater’s performance was in his debut as the Broncos ’starting quarterback. He completed 28 of 36 passing attempts for 264 yards with two touchdowns without interceptions. He led the NFL with a total QBR of 95.7, and only 5.7 percent of his passes were inaccurate. His percentage of complete passes of 77.8 percent was the second highest on the day. Bridgewater didn’t risk the ovoid too much, averaging just 7.33 yards per pass attempt – No. 17 in the NFL – but against the New York Giants, it wasn’t necessary. After the first episode, Bridgewater confirmed his choice as a starter as a good decision in Denver.
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs of Kansas City. The Chiefs started their first game of the season a little sleepy, but Muhammad didn’t take long to get into the heat. The Most Valuable Player of the 2018 season completed 27 of 36 submissions for 337 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions, as well as adding a ground touchdown. He was fifth in Week 1 with a full pass percentage of 75 percent, and sixth in average yards per pass attempt, with 9.36. the Cleveland Browns left the door open for the Chiefs ’comeback, and Muhammad didn’t take advantage.
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams. A couple of personal records in your first game with new team should always be considered a positive debut. That was the case for Stafford, who had never set a passer rating of 156.1, nor an average of 12.3 yards per attempt in any of his previous 165 starts with the Detroit Lions. The first of those numbers led the league on the day, and the other was the second-best overall. Stafford completed 20 of 26 passing attempts for three touchdowns without interceptions, and scored a QBR total of 89.9 which placed him third on the day. Any question as to how much head coach Sean McVay’s offense could grow with a quarterback more determined, and able, to try long was dispelled in just one game.
Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks. The most beautiful touchdown pass of Week 1 was a 69-yard Wilson Tyler Lockett connection that was just one of his four scoring submissions of the day. But Wilson’s performance went far beyond that terrible rainbow. He scored the fifth best Total QBR of the day, an 84.6, and the fourth best average of yards per pass attempt, with 11.04. To make matters worse, the Seahawks quarterback became the first quarterback to throw four touchdown packs in the opening game of the season, for two consecutive years.
Jameis Winston, New Orleans Saints. Although it gives the impression that Winston is one of those quarterbacks who, for whatever reason, a good portion of the NFL fans want to see fail, will have to wait a little longer. Not only did he lead the league with five touchdown passes, but he became the quarterback with five touchdown throws scored with the fewest yards per pass in the game, just 148. Winston completed 14 of 20 submissions, did not throw interception, and was left with the second best Total QBR of the date, 92.5, which along with Bridgewater were the only two to exceed 90 points in this category. Further praising Winston’s performance, it was the stark contrast to the front pin’s work in the game.
Five quarterbacks down
Jared Goff, Detroit Lions. The other side of the coin on the cheap pass between Rams and Lions was Goff, who in a kind of karmic balance, was among the worst 5:00 quarterbacks of the day, putting on Stafford. Goff completed 38 of 57 passing attempts for 338 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, 1 17.9 percent of his submissions were inaccurate, and averaged just 5.93 yards per pass attempt, finishing at No. 27 in that category. in the league, same position where his Total QBR of just 24.8 placed him.
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars. The three rookie quarterbacks who started games in Week 1 for their respective teams came away with the defeat in hand, but none went worse than Lawrence. The rookie of the JAGS scored a QBR total of 14.2, the second lowest in Week 1 and one of four that didn’t reach just 20 points. Lawrence completed 28 of 51 pass attempts, with a complete pass percentage of 54.9 which was the third lowest to date, and his submissions traveled an average of just 6.51 yards in the air per attempt. His inaccurate passing percentage of 30.6 percent was the second worst in the league, and it’s curious that the rookie’s bad afternoon came without the need for the Houston Texans to send charges to pressure; Lawrence faced five or more defenders pressing in four of his 52 pass kicks. Equally, the result is unsurprising, in statistical terms: the last 14 quarterbacks selected first overall in the draft have lost in their NFL debuts.
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers. How many times has the NFL’s Most Valuable Player started the following season as the league’s worst passer? That was exactly what happened to Rodgers, who recorded a QBR total of 10.7, an inaccurate pass rate of 33.3 percent, and a complete pass percentage of just 53.6, all of them the worst numbers in the NFL. in each respective line. To make matters worse, his average of yards per pass attempt of 4.75 was the second worst on the day and that he faced just two loads throughout the afternoon by the Saints. Really, it’s hard to explain such a deplorable performance of Rodgers. There were only 15 complete 28 attempts with two interceptions, no scoring, and 133 yards per game for Green Bay No. 12.
Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons. The one in Atlanta against the Philadelphia Eagles was –also– to forget. Ryan completed 21 of 35 passes for 164 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, with a full pass rate of just 60 percent, and 21.2 percent of his passes being inaccurate. The Falcons only walked 164 yards down Ryan’s arm path, making it clear that new head coach Arthur Smith has a lot of work ahead of him to make this attack something competitive.
Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans. The most notable number of the Titans ‘loss to the Arizona Cardinals was Chandler Jones’ five catches to Ryan TANNEHILL, who was stopped behind the strike line in an attempt to pass on six occasions in total. TANNEHILL scored a QBR total of 17.5 –the third lowest in the entire NFL–, a product of 21 of 35 complete passes for 212 yards with a touchdown and an interception. In addition, it lost the ovoid twice. The Cards quickly found the formula against TANNEHILL, and did not take off from it, sending charge against the quarterback on 17 occasions. Without a ground game to reload, Tennessee’s air strike never took off.
Data from ESPN Stats & Information and Trumedia were used in writing this note.