By: Jordan Griffitt
Cliches are cliches for a reason, and the saying “any given Sunday” was on full display in week one of the NFL season.
Perhaps the biggest shocker of the NFL’s opening weekend was the Jacksonville Jaguars stunning the entire league with a 27-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts. From the Colts perspective, they should’ve easily won this game given that they had about 400 yards of offense and didn’t punt the entire game. With their new quarterback in Philip Rivers, this game rang the same bell that the Chargers have heard in his 15 year career in San Diego and Los Angeles. He has a stigma of someone who can put the stats up and get you to a game winning/tying drive, but can never quite win the game. The star of this game was the legend himself, Gardner Minshew. Minshew went 19/20, 173 yards and 3 TD’s against a tough defense in the Colts. Coming into this game, the Jaguars were the running joke of the NFL much like NBA teams who “tank” in order to rebuild with younger talent though the draft. Were the Colts just overrated? Or were the Jaguars just overlooked during the offseason? We will wait and see.
There are many games that I can look at and be surprised but few shock me like this one. The Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Washington Football Team. Talking about running jokes earlier; Washington doesn’t even have a mascot or nickname. Yet, they go out and blast the Eagles with their pass rush tallying eight sacks on Philadelphia quarterback Carson Wentz. That was the simple factor that separated these teams Sunday, pressure. Carson Wentz had a bad game all round. He was forcing the ball downfield when it was needed and trusted his arm a bit too much, throwing 2 interceptions against a sneaky good Washington defense. Dwayne Haskins didn’t blow anyone away with his arm this week but he didn’t have to with a terrific short running attack. As of today, the Washington Football team leads the NFC East. The Eagles are a feast or famine team and right now it’s famine. Some honorable mentions for upset are Cardinals beating the former NFC champion 49ers. You could also argue that the Bears taking down the Lions in the final minutes of the game was an upset. For the most part, these two games were shocking around the NFL. You know what they say about the NFL, “any given Sunday”.
