Lots of drama, storylines for the MNF double header

 

Dayna O’Gorman
Senior NFL Reporter
AFC and NFC West

By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG

It’s the first Monday Night Football of the 2019 season, it will be a doozy of a doubleheader, and not just because of the play on the field.

One team starts their quest to revenge what they see as a stolen NFC Championship, and two teams that had some offseason drama. And then there are the Broncos, who are just trying to right the ship. Add to this what will hopefully be great games on the field, and we should have a fantastic kick-off to Monday Night Football.

Houston Texans vs New Orleans Saints
7:10p ET

I’m sure when the powers that be scheduled this matchup, they saw a team that felt cheated out of a possible Super Bowl, the Saints, and a team with a young, talented quarterback and a stout defense going head to head. And we could still get that game, but a few things have changed.

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Although defeated, Colts are winners with Brissett

Julie Voigt, Indianapolis Colts Reporter

By Julie Voigt //@JulieNoted_PFG

LA Chargers 30 – Indianapolis Colts 24 (OT)

Week one has come and gone for the Indianapolis Colts, and there is one thing for sure…Jacoby Brissett is the right man for the starting quarterback position.  Brissett appeared to be in complete control as he went 21 of 27, leading the offense to 376 yards, no turnovers, with a 77.8 completion percentage.

On Sunday, the Colts went to Los Angeles to face the Chargers as the NFL season kicked off. And although they played a good Chargers team that is always a Super Bowl contender, the Colts hung on. Ultimately they were defeated in a 30-24 loss in OT.

This matchup was nothing less than entertaining. When the schedule was released, it was felt that this matchup was going to be tough, and that was when QB Andrew Luck was still the starter.

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Dolphins fall to Ravens

Lisa Johnson
Senior NFL Reporter

By Lisa Johnson //@LJ1303

Baltimore Ravens 59 – Miami Dolphins 10

The Dolphins opened up the 2019 NFL season against the Baltimore Ravens. A team that the Dolphins often have a tough time winning against. Today brought new meaning to tough time.

Coming into the game, first time Head Coach Brian Flores was looking for his team to make a fast start. Instead, he watched a complete team melt-down. The Ravens scored on their first four possessions. Pretty much putting this game away at half-time.

The Dolphins only managed 10 points before the half. Those points came from a 54-yard field goal by kicker Jason Sanders, then late into the second quarter, starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick found wide receiver Preston Williams for a 6-yard touchdown.

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Who Will Win in Week 1: NFC West

 

Dayna O’Gorman
Senior NFL Reporter
AFC and NFC West

By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG

The NFC West is known as one of the best divisions in football, but, on occasion, can have a slow start to a season. While some of the teams seem to have gotten a good draw for week 1 of 2019, you can never count out an underdog.

I asked the fans who they thought would win each of the NFC West games this week, and the results aren’t really a surprise.

LA Rams vs Carolina Panthers
Sunday, 1p ET

The injury report for the Los Angeles Rams is exactly how head coach Sean McVey drew it up during the preseason. No Injuries Listed. By sitting his starters all preseason, McVey made it clear he wasn’t taking any chances for week 1, and it worked. Carolina, on the other hand, has 2 on their injury report, defensive end Bruce Irvin and tackle Greg Little, both listed as out.

Fans don’t seem to think the Rams will have the same “shaking off the rust” issues that the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers did in Thursday night’s opener.

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Bears offense stalls while the defense grinds

Wanda Wiedman,
NFL Reporter

By Wanda Wiedman // @WandaW63

Packers 10 – Bears 3

The Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers kicked off the 2019 NFL season at Soldier Field with the hype that was electrifying from a city celebrating 100 years in the NFL. Bears fans were excited to see the current kings of the NFC North take the field.

Experts and sportswriters were convinced that with the absence of Vic Fangio from the Bears defense, that they would regress. But that was not the case as the defense sacked quarterback Aaron Rodgers 5 times. Not one sack came from linebacker Khalil Mack but two of them exploded from LB Leonard Floyd. The defense wasn’t completely perfect, as some open space was left for Rodgers to manipulate.  As a result, he put up the only touchdown of the game.

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Dolphins 2019-All is not lost

Lisa Johnson
Senior NFL Reporter

By Lisa Johnson //@LJ1303

With the 2019 NFL season upon us, the Dolphins have a new coach, new system, and the same old doom and gloom beat writers. For the past 10 -15 years it’s been the same old, same old. Reading column after column of the sure failures that this Dolphins team will face. I read them all as a challenge to find some ray of hope. Some silver lining that this whole season won’t be a total loss.

Now that we are days away from our opener, I’m still searching for that silver lining. I find myself analyzing and hanging on to every single word that Coach Flores says, looking for a clue. That one word that might make me understand all that has happened.  I catch myself even watching his body language as he speaks.

Is this what it has come to, Dolphins fans?

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Packers-Bears open the NFL’s 100th season

Lucy Rendler-Kaplan
Green Bay Packers Reporter

By Lucy Rendler-Kaplan // @Lucyrk78

The NFL is kicking off their 100th season with a Packers-Bears game. One might think that the NFL would choose to have their Super Bowl Champs, the New England Patriots, to kick-off such an anniversary. Instead, one of the league’s most storied rivalries will mark the start of what promises to be a momentous celebration.

Green Bay narrowly holds the edge in this matchup at 97-95-6. For Green Bay Packers fans, this game is counting-down-the-hours-call-off-work-Friday level excitement. For Chicago Bears fans, it’s also a celebration of their 100th season.

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NFC North: I got the POWER! Rankings that is…

Sonja Greenfield, Senior NFL Reporter NFC North, NFC East

By Sonja Greenfield // @Mom23RN

Do you want to know what I’m NOT a fan of?  Power rankings. Like at all. Seriously, has there ever been anything more useless than power rankings?  I think not.

They’re really just a ranking of who’s hot and who’s not.  Or stocks– as in who’s draft stock is up, and who’s draft stock is down. Despite all of that, guess what I’m doing this week for the NFC North.  You guessed it, power rankings. Why? Because MINE are fun, and I like to have fun. So please don’t take these too seriously at all!

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Ezekiel Elliot gets his deal

 

Sonja Greenfield, Senior NFL Reporter NFC North, NFC East

By Sonja Greenfield //@Mom23RN

In a cat and mouse game that took just about all of the offseason, the Dallas Cowboys and running back Ezekiel Elliot got his deal done, making him the highest-paid running back in the league.

The Cowboys have now secured some major parts of their team that should be pretty secure for the next few years.  While they still have a few more players to go, they’re well on their way.

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The battle for backup in Indy

Julie Voigt, Indianapolis Colts Reporter

By Julie Voigt //@JulieNoted_PFG

With just a few days left until the kickoff to the 2019 NFL season, the Indianapolis Colts get things finalized as they release the 53-man roster. And there were plenty of shock and awe situations, especially in the backup quarterback department.

Granted, Colts’ new QB starter Jacoby Brissett just got paid to the tune of a two-year extension worth $30 million dollars per Ian Rappaport of NFL.com, making him the franchise QB1 at least through the 2020 NFL season.

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