{"id":212735,"date":"2025-09-09T11:52:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T11:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/212735\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T11:52:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T11:52:18","slug":"nfl-week-1-takeaways-veteran-rb-starts-season-in-historic-fashion-miami-woes-and-is-this-team-a-surprise-title-contender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/212735\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Week 1 takeaways: Veteran RB starts season in historic fashion, Miami woes and is this team a surprise title contender?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Facebook<\/p>\n

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\n After almost seven months away, the NFL is back in emphatic fashion.\n <\/p>\n

\n All 32 teams made their 2025 season debuts in Week 1<\/a>, with dramatic endings, statement wins and potentially damaging defeats among the outcomes on display.\n <\/p>\n

\n Here are three big takeaways from the opening week of action.\n <\/p>\n

\n Another year has gone by and Derrick Henry is still Derrick Henry.\n <\/p>\n

\n Despite being the oldest starting running back in the league, Henry showed that he is still one of the best in the business in a dominant performance on Sunday Night Football.\n <\/p>\n

\n Starting his second season for the Baltimore Ravens<\/a>, 31-year-old Henry ran for 169 yards on 18 carries and two rushing touchdowns against the Buffalo Bills.\n <\/p>\n

\n Henry\u2019s overall performance showed his all-around skillset: his power to break tackles and his breakaway speed on long touchdown runs.\n <\/p>\n

\n His two scores were the 107th and 108th rushing touchdowns of his NFL career, breaking a tie for sixth with Hall of Famer Jim Brown on the all-time list for most in a career. He is now just two behind Walter Payton in fifth and 56 behind the leader Emmitt Smith.\n <\/p>\n

\"Henry<\/p>\n

\n The fact Henry is still able to produce at this level given he\u2019s (presumably) in the latter stages of his career is a remarkable sight, especially because the position favors younger players. And his production on Sunday against the Bills was the main talking point the majority of the game.\n <\/p>\n

\n That was until late in the fourth quarter when Henry had a costly fumble which sparked a late Buffalo comeback and resulted in a 41-40 loss for the Ravens.\n <\/p>\n

\n Henry \u2013 who played eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans before moving to the Ravens ahead of last season \u2013 had lost one fumble in his previous 37 games, including the playoffs, before Sunday.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cFirst of all, I got to take care of the ball,\u201d Henry told reporters after the game. \u201cI told my teammates after the game to put the loss on me. I own it, like a man.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe emphasize taking care of the ball since we got back, it\u2019s a big emphasis, especially in our room and the running backs taking care of the football. Keeping it high and tight, not lackadaisical, and they made a play. But I put the loss on me. If I take care of the ball, probably be a different situation.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Despite his costly late mistake, Henry proved why he\u2019s still a difference-maker in the NFL. His signing last season would\u2019ve been more of a story \u2013 he scored 16 rushing touchdowns and ran for 1,921 yards \u2013 but he was eclipsed by Saquon Barkley<\/a> in his debut season with the Philadelphia Eagles as he rushed for 2,000 yards on the way to a Super Bowl title.\n <\/p>\n

\n But if Henry can keep producing at this level \u2013 providing a key physical element to pair with the elusiveness of superstar QB Lamar Jackson \u2013 then the Ravens could be in-line for another deep playoff push.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n While many teams\u2019 offseasons<\/a> are filled with hope and optimism, the same cannot be said about the Miami Dolphins.\n <\/p>\n

\n A disappointing end to last season ramped up the pressure on head coach Mike McDaniel heading into his fourth season in charge.\n <\/p>\n

\n To make matters worse, star wide receiver Tyreek Hill appeared to express his frustration with the team\u2019s performances, saying \u201cI\u2019m out<\/a>\u201d on social media.\n <\/p>\n

\n Although Hill has returned to South Beach for another season, the pressure was on McDaniel to produce a winning team.\n <\/p>\n

\n But things couldn\u2019t have started much worse for the Dolphins in Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts.\n <\/p>\n

\n Facing a team which benched its top-five quarterback pick from two years ago and starting a passer whose future in the NFL has been questioned, Miami looked totally outclassed in the 33-8 loss.\n <\/p>\n

\n Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw two interceptions and lost a fumble as the offense spluttered. The team\u2019s only touchdown came late in the fourth quarter when the defeat was almost assured.\n <\/p>\n

\"Colts<\/p>\n

\n It wasn\u2019t much better on the defensive side of the ball as they failed to slow down Colts QB Daniel Jones who, after signing in the offseason, had an impeccable game, throwing for 272 yards and a touchdown, as well as rushing for two more.\n <\/p>\n

\n Miami\u2019s whole performance was littered with errors, miscues and costly penalties, and the Dolphins have plenty of work to do going forward.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cGuys let the bells and whistles of Week 1 get the best of them, and they got dealt some strong humility,\u201d McDaniel said afterwards. \u201cWe\u2019re a young team going through some growing pains. That\u2019s what the NFL is and what the NFL does \u2013 it teaches you some hard lessons sometimes.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Miami already faced a tough road to make the playoffs in a division with the powerhouse Bills but that job looks even harder now.\n <\/p>\n

\"Herbert<\/p>\n

\n For the second season in a row, the NFL traveled to Brazil in Week 1. And like last season, we might\u2019ve just seen a Super Bowl contender shine in South America.\n <\/p>\n

\n Last year, it was the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> beating the Green Bay Packers \u2013 the Eagles would go onto win Super Bowl LIX. This time around, the Los Angeles Chargers were victorious against the Kansas City Chiefs.\n <\/p>\n

\n Despite being more than 6,100 miles away from their South California home, the Chargers showed the world their aspirations this year by beating the NFL\u2019s recent dynasty team and their AFC West rivals, 27-21.\n <\/p>\n

\n While LA\u2019s defense worked hard to clamp down Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the KC offense, almost all the headlines were made by Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert.\n <\/p>\n

\"Karol<\/p>\n

\"For<\/p>\n

\n The 27-year-old put in an all-around performance in S\u00e3o Paulo, throwing for 318 yards and three touchdowns. Most importantly, Herbert clinched the victory with a vital 19-yard run late in the fourth quarter, snapping a seven-game losing streak for the Chargers against Kansas City.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cJustin was phenomenal today in every way with pinpoint accuracy,\u201d Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said after the game. \u201cI thought he did a great job with his legs and running at the end to seal the game.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cJust overall toughness and just complete stalwart. He took some big hits and gave a few shots himself. It was incredible quarterback play today.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n While the victory was impressive, more important perhaps was what it showed \u2013 the Chargers are for real.\n <\/p>\n

\n With Harbaugh at the helm, Herbert at quarterback, a physically dominant offensive line and a defense which has improved rapidly over the last 18 months, they are looking like a formidable opponent for any team.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Chargers will have to battle their recent history of bad luck with injuries and playoff mishaps if they want to be taken seriously come January. But after the victory in Brazil, Herbert isn\u2019t getting ahead of himself.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis was an important one because it was the first one,\u201d the sixth-year quarterback said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very good opponent that we are going against and obviously have a lot of respect for them. But I\u2019m happy the way that all three phases executed today. That\u2019s what our goal was, and it was good to see.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Winners in bold (Home vs. away)\n <\/p>\n

\n Philadelphia Eagles <\/strong>24-20 Dallas Cowboys\n <\/p>\n

\n Los Angeles Chargers <\/strong>27-21 Kansas City Chiefs\n <\/p>\n

\n Atlanta Falcons 20-23 Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

\n Cleveland Browns 16-17 Cincinnati Bengals<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

\n Indianapolis Colts <\/strong>33-8 Miami Dolphins\n <\/p>\n

\n Jacksonville Jaguars<\/strong> 26-10 Carolina Panthers\n <\/p>\n

\n New England Patriots 13-20 Las Vegas Raiders<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

\n New Orleans Saints 13-20 Arizona Cardinals<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

\n New York Jets 32-34 Pittsburgh Steelers<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

\n Washington Commanders<\/strong> 21-6 New York Giants\n <\/p>\n

\n Denver Broncos <\/strong>20-12 Tennessee Titans\n <\/p>\n

\n Seattle Seahawks 13-17 San Francisco 49ers<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

\n Green Bay Packers<\/strong> 27-13 Detroit Lions\n <\/p>\n

\n Los Angeles Rams<\/strong> 14-9 Houston Texans\n <\/p>\n

\n Buffalo Bills<\/strong> 41-40 Baltimore Ravens\n <\/p>\n

\n Chicago Bears 24-27 Minnesota Vikings<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Facebook Tweet Email Link After almost seven months away, the NFL is back in emphatic fashion. All 32…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":212736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-212735","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115174201927466588","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}