Welcome back to The MMQB newsletter. Week 2 in the NFL opens tonight with what has the chance to be an epic showdown between the Bills and Lions at Buffalo’s new Highmark Stadium.
Before we get there, though, Conor Orr took a look at a notable trend in Week 1: Quarterbacks lining up under center. He spoke with several sources across the league to gauge why teams are leaning this way on offense—and what makes it so difficult to defend.
Albert Breer led this week’s notes with Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III’s monster outing against the Broncos on Monday night, and how the three-year, $43.05 million deal he signed this offseason could end up being a bargain for Kansas City.
Orr also published his weekly power rankings, which saw the Bears surge nine spots to No. 4.
Looking ahead to Week 2, Matt Verderame outlines five key storylines to watch, including how Tyler Shough’s moxie is winning over the Saints’ fanbase and why the Chargers rushing offense could continue to struggle.
Gilberto Manzano, meanwhile, examines Matt LaFleur’s job security in Green Bay, whether the Rams should hit the panic button, and more in this week’s Fact or Fiction.
And of course, the MMQB staff made its Week 2 picks, with five out of eight writers/editors picking the Jaguars to upset the Broncos.
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By Conor Orr
When I texted a longtime defensive coach about the proliferation of under center usage around the league in Week 1, the frustration was somewhat palpable.
“[It’s] a normal offensive play.”
I can imagine for someone who has been in the league for years, asking about a return to under-center football and talking about how cool it looks is a lot like dusting off your parents’ copy of The White Album and saying to them: “Hey, these guys were pretty good, ever hear of them?” The truth is that under-center play is not normal, at least not to some older millennials whose short-term recall dates back to the Air Raid-ification of the NFL and roughly a decade of football influenced by the various expressions of those offenses. In short, Patrick Mahomes comes out of Texas Tech, Andy Reid gets a copy of the playbook and turns his offense into a human laser show, the rest of the NFL follows suit and there’s absolutely no reason to force collegiate quarterbacks—who are always in the shotgun and creatures of comfort—to change their stripes and suffer through growing pains. Seriously, the under-center dropoff post-2017 is that notable.
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Jay Biggerstaff/Imagn Images
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By Albert Breer
Week 1 of the NFL’s regular season is in the books, and we’re onto Week 2, so it’s time for our first set of in-season Tuesday notes. Let’s dive in.
Kansas City Chiefs
It’s fair to say that Kenneth Walker III looks like he’s worth every penny, maybe even more so when you actually dive into the financials.
Walker exploded onto the Arrowhead stage in his first game as a Chief on Monday night, going for 173 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries, and another 18 yards and a score on three catches. His 60-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1 in the third quarter busted the game open, and his presence in the 31–10 win helped ease Patrick Mahomes, who was returning from a torn ACL and LCL in Week 15 of last season.
The fifth-year pro and Super Bowl LX MVP signed a three-year, $43.05 million deal in March to leave the champion Seahawks, which averages out to $14.35 million per year. And this is where I’ll show you how his position has been devalued to a point where signings like these have become great value for teams smart enough to see it.
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By Conor Orr
The first installment of games are in the books. We learned that more rules we thought we had a complete understanding of are now called the opposite way, referee Shawn Hochuli still hates the Packers and that there’s a good chance Philip Rivers will probably get called up again at some point this season (so, someone should check and make sure he’s taking his Centrum Silver). Along the way, we laughed, we cried and like one of our fearless podcast producers, Kent Brown, said in the group chat: We cashed an Eli Raridon anytime touchdown.
Sickos, unite. Let’s get into the power rankings:
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David Reginek/Imagn Images
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By Matt Verderame
Last weekend, real football returned. This week, patterns will emerge, and trends will become more refined.
In Week 1, under-center looks were the league’s hot topic, with many teams both running and passing out of bigger looks and condensed formations. The results for some teams were incredible, including the Bears hanging 59 points on the Panthers while the Ravens racked up 506 yards and 41 points on the Colts in a season-opening road win, paced by Derrick Henry’s 144 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
However, not everyone had it so easy in their debut. The Chargers were a prime example, losing 26–14 to the Cardinals while rushing for only 81 yards, including 29 from quarterback Justin Herbert. The question is whether that was an aberration or a looming issue.
Earlier this week, I spoke to coaches and front-office staff around the league on all those topics and more. We start in Kansas City, where an old veteran and a horde of newcomers showed why the Chiefs’ defense could be a problem all year long.
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Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/USA TODAY NETWORK/Imagn Images
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By Gilberto Manzano
The Rams may have found something better than a “Friday news dump” after reports emerged of Myles Garrett heading to injured reserve minutes before the first Sunday of the NFL season officially kicked off.
Finding a clever way to draw less attention to the latest bad news in Los Angeles was probably the one decision the Rams got right in a dreadful first week, which started with the team arriving in Australia less than 36 hours before being crushed by the 49ers, 27–7.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur might know what his good friend Sean McVay is going through after ending last season and starting this season with inexplicable meltdowns against NFC North rivals. Green Bay blew a double-digit lead against Minnesota on Sunday, which resembled the wild-card collapse in Chicago.
It was a dreadful start for LaFleur and McVay, but the demise of their respective teams might be a Week 1 overreaction. Don’t fall for the lies that tend to materialize from the first week of the regular season.
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