Winners and losers emerge from week 1

by Brayden Laslo

Staff Writer

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.

Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season has had tons of turmoil . Quarterback Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took care of business on the road against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, as Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott struggled to get anything going against the Bucs' defense. And that was before Prescott left the game late because of a right hand injury.

Noah Kirk (12) a lifelong Cowboys fan said “I think our team will bounce back especially because they are a family.” The NFC East is still wide open after week 1.

In the early Sunday games , turnovers were the name of the game in Cincinnati, with the Pittsburgh Steelers forcing five against Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow including a pick-six.

But the teams went back and forth until the Steelers won it in overtime with a field goal. Speaking of field goals, the Tennessee Titans missed a potential game winner in the late-afternoon window Sunday, allowing the New York Giants to come back from a 13-point deficit and win their first season opener in six years.

Multiple quarterbacks made debuts with new teams in the early window. Baker Mayfield played his first game in a Panthers uniform against his old team, the Cleveland Browns. The Browns won on a game winning field goal. Max Hockman (12) had this to say about the exciting win: “Our team is hungry and we earned this win. I'm excited to see how we do without a true starting quarterback.” Mr Rawlins said that this game “was very exciting and fun to see the Browns beat their former starting quarterback.”

The Browns start off 1-0. Matt Ryan in his 15th season led the Indianapolis Colts to a tie against the Houston Texans. Washington Commanders rookie Jahan Dotson caught his first and second career touchdown pass from Carson Wentz, leading to a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. As far as holdovers, Patrick Mahomes looked as good as ever in the late-afternoon window as the Kansas City Chiefs romped to a victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

The final game of week 1 was Seahawks and Broncos. It was Russell Wilson’s return to Seattle and it ended in a surprise victory for the underwhelming Hawks. Coach Loparo said “It’s not about how good the team is on paper but it’s the team that has the most heart and passion.” The Seahawks had something to prove and they did just that.

Week 1 was very exciting and fans are looking forward to what’s to come in the future weeks. The NFL will just start to take shape after week 5 so make sure to keep an eye for your favorite teams.