NFL Week 1 by the Numbers

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Broncos kicker Brandon McManus’ career success rate on kicks of 62+ yards.

The most-talked about game of Week 1 has to be the Monday Night matchup between the Seahawks and Broncos.

The biggest storyline of this game was long-time Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson making his return to Seattle as the visitor – playing in his 1st game with his new team – the Broncos.

 

Typically, quarterbacks and other stars are well-received when visiting their old stadium – especially before the game.

There was no warm ovation or touching video tribute for Russell Wilson Monday night. He was greeted with boos from the instant he first took the field for warm-ups until he stepped off the field in the 4th quarter.

This was a revenge game and the 12th man was active all night.

The Broncos entered the game as 6-point favorites and were outplaying Seattle but fumbled the ball twice on the goal line to keep the game close.

Late in the 4th quarter, the Seahawks clung to a slim 17-16 lead. Russell Wilson and the Broncos had the ball for a 2-minute drill with all 3 timeouts remaining – needing only a field goal to win.

Since Wilson entered the league in 2012, only Aaron Rodgers has led more game-winning drives in the 4th quarter. This is Russell Wilson’s domain.

On a third and long, Broncos running back Javonte Williams caught a pass out of the backfield, broke a couple tackles and took the ball to the Seahawks 46-yard line.

This set up a 4th and 5 for Denver. There were exactly 60 seconds remaining on the clock when Williams went down, and the Broncos still had all 3 timeouts.

Everybody watching the game fully expected the Broncos to burn one of the three timeouts before the 4th down play.

Instead of taking a time out, however, the Denver offense rushed to the line. At first, it appeared they might try to snap a quick play and catch the Seahawks defense napping. On the Manning broadcast, Peyton Manning guessed that they were about to hard count.

Neither of the two happened. The Broncos O-line stood around looking confused as the clock ticked down. With 1 second left on the play clock, the Broncos called time out. They had wasted 40 seconds. There were now only 20 left in the game.

The Broncos had just acquired Russell Wilson for 3 players and 5 picks plus paid him over $200 million. He is the second-best active late-game drive leader in pro football. Instead of trusting him in a 4th-and-5 situation, rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett opted to let his kicker  – Brandon McManus – attempt a 64-yard prayer for the win.

Trusting the win in your first-ever game as head coach to a 64-yarder in a stadium known for its terrible kicking conditions? And you have a future HOF quarterback on your sideline? What are you thinking?

Maybe McManus has a history of making 60 yard kicks. Nope.

Brandon McManus had tried 5 kicks in his career from 62+ yards, missing all of them. In fact, all kickers combined in NFL history were just 2 for 40 in tries of 64 yards or more heading into this game.

ESPN had Denver’s win probability at 39.2% before the 4th and 5 with 1 minute left and Russell Wilson at quarterback.

After wasting 40 seconds and trotting out McManus for the field goal try – that win probability dropped to 0.01%. All because of a bonehead call by a new head coach in his first-ever game.

McManus missed his “practice” kick wide left as Pete Carroll called timeout right before the snap to ice him. McManus then missed the real kick in the exact same spot. He had the distance, though. We’ll give him that.

In a post-game press conference, Nathaniel Hackett did admit he “definitely should have gone for it” on that 4th and 5. The sad part is that Hackett did not realize he was making a bad decision until hours after the game.

What a terrible way to start your head coaching career if you are Nathaniel Hackett. Let’s see if he’s able to keep the locker room moving forward.

44

The number of points scored by the Kansas City Chiefs versus the Cardinals Sunday afternoon in the desert.

The Chiefs “only” won 12 games last year and “only” reached the AFC Championship Game – so it was a down year in Kansas City.

After a “pitiful” performance in 2021, no one was expecting too much heading into Week 1 at Arizona Sunday.

In all honesty, the 2 biggest questions looming over Kansas City were whether what we saw toward the end of 2021 was regression from Patrick Mahomes and whether the offense would be as potent without Tyreek Hill.

Sunday’s results gave a couple of emphatic answers: Mahomes is still great … and Tyreek who?

Kansas City utterly destroyed the Arizona Cardinals in their season opener – scoring 44 points for the highest single-team total of Week 1.

Patrick Mahomes dazzled us with the best Week 1 performance from a quarterback in 3 years.

Mahomes never looked out of sorts in the pocket – completing passes to 9 different receivers and hooking up with TE Travis Kelce 8 times for 121 yards and a TD.

Andy Reid’s playcalling looked as innovative as ever – using his signature brand of trickery in the red zone – giving the overwhelmed Cardinals even more to think about.

No other quarterback since Lamar Jackson in 2019 has looked as ready as Patrick Mahomes was for the Cardinals Sunday.

3 years ago, the Ravens opened with Miami and slaughtered them 59-10. Jackson went off for 324 passing yards and 5 TDs – attaining the rare perfect passer rating of 158.3.

By the passer rating metric, Mahomes was bested Sunday. Regardless, these two performances are the gold standard in how a quarterback should perform Week 1.

21

The number of times in NFL history 2 teams have tied 20-20.

The Colts drew what many believed to be the easiest Week 1 matchup in the entire NFL Sunday as they unveiled their brand new quarterback Matt Ryan against the hapless Houston Texans.

A touchdown favorite, the Colts were stopped on the goal line early in the 2nd quarter and then threw a pick on their next possession – allowing the Texans to take a 10–3 lead into halftime.

The lead ballooned up to 20–3 midway through the 3rd quarter as new-signee OJ Howard hauled in 2 touchdown passes.

A furious 4th-quarter comeback by the Colts tied the game up with under 2 minutes to go at 20 apiece.

By this point in the game, Indianapolis was thoroughly controlling both sides of the ball and it seemed inevitable that the Colts would eventually complete the comeback and deliver the knockout blow.

With exactly 2 minutes to go in overtime, Indianapolis trotted out their kicker – Rodrigo Blankenship – for a 42-yard try to win the game. He sliced it wide right.

The Texans took over in great field position but elected to call very conservative plays – essentially playing for the tie. 20–20.

These teams will have to wait until Week 2 to get a decision under their belts.

20–20 is a fairly common score to tie an NFL contest. Sunday marks the 21st time in NFL history 2 teams have played to a 20–20 stalemate.

The very first 20–20 tie in pro football history came in 1920 when the Dayton Triangles and Canton Bulldogs couldn’t decide a winner and ended the day knotted at 20.

4

The number of interceptions thrown by Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in Cincy’s 23-20 OT loss to division-rival Pittsburgh.

The defending AFC Champion Bengals began 2022 as home favorites against their division-rival Pittsburgh Steelers. For the past 15 years, Pittsburgh was always the favorite in this matchup. The tables have now turned as Joe Burrow and Cincinnati were 7-point favorites Sunday.

Perhaps the championship-game hangover was in effect as Burrow was having a tough time distinguishing the players in yellow and black from his orange-and-black-striped receivers. Burrow threw 4 interceptions in the game.

Despite 4 gifts from the opposing quarterback, the Steelers were unable to do much offensively and the game remained close throughout.

The Steelers did take a 17–6 lead into halftime but eventually succumbed to the powerful Bengals offense. Burrow did put up 338 passing yards and 2 touchdowns despite his 4 interceptions.

The game went into overtime tied at 20–20. After failed attempts to score by each team, the Steelers repossessed the ball for one last drive. As time expired, veteran kicker Chris Boswell nailed a 53-yard field goal to seal the road victory for the Steelers 23–20.

It had to be frustrating for Pittsburgh to almost lose a game in which they had a +4 turnover differential. From Cincinnati’s perspective, it took a valiant effort just to send the game into overtime after throwing 4 picks.

There must be something about the AFC North which causes teams to be resilient after throwing interceptions. The last time a team threw 4 or more interceptions and was not losing after 4 quarters was the Baltimore Ravens over the Cleveland Browns in 2021.

Prior to that game, the phenomenon happened in 2013 when the Bengals threw 4 interceptions against the Ravens and won the game.

The last time a team threw 4 picks in their season opener and was not trailing after 4 quarters was Philadelphia in 2012. Who did they play? An AFC North team – the Cleveland Browns.