Week 1 in the NFL is finally upon us, and for many who have been big names all summer and into draft season, it’s been an overall disappointing start.

The three rookie QBs combined for 415 passing yards. Cam Newton had 422 in his first rookie start in 2011. Is it 2024 or 1934? Did they throw that?

Everyone wants to talk about Week 1 fantasy poster player Anthony Richardson. The guy is a world-class athlete and we know that’s the key to getting the points we want. Plus, he has world-class arm strength. Accuracy? No. The 55-yard pass to Alec Pierce was undoubtedly the highlight of the week. And with an opponent in his face, just an incredible play. But he gave up two easy touchdowns (both to rookie Adonai Mitchell) and threw a red-zone pick. The Colts ran an abysmal 43 plays, which would have been the fourth-fewest in the entire 2023 season. But who cares about reality?

Bucky Irving is, not surprisingly, probably the best RB waiver signing. He had 62 yards on nine carries. He added 14 yards on two catches. Rachaad White was great as a receiver but was once again so inefficient on the ground. He seems to have an expiration date as a lead cow. White needs tremendous volume. I think Irving has a 50 percent chance of being the primary RB by Halloween.

Washington’s defense might suck, so don’t overreact to the Bucs’ passing numbers. However, Baker Mayfield is at least average and probably good.

We were told Malik Nabers would make up for Daniel Jones with insane volume. In Week 1, Jones was as awful as expected (along with the Giants offensive line) and Nabers had 17% targets. The Giants averaged 3.5 yards per pass and for some reason Wan’Dale Robinson was the best receiver, averaging 3.7 yards on his 12 targets (29% market share). Of course, I’ll have the market share report on Tuesday.

Big Blue selected offensive tackle Evan Neal with the No. 7 pick in an amazing 2022 NFL Draft, and he didn’t get a single snap.

What if the Giants’ 2025 quarterback was their Week 1 opponent? Sam Darnold will likely be a free agent. He was good. His interception came when he was hit while throwing. The game script hurt him, otherwise he would have had about 300 yards and another touchdown. Darnold is going to make a lot of money with this coach and the players around him. Remember, most player mistakes are actually due to coaching and organizational mistakes, especially at quarterback.

We got too carried away with rookie QBs. Caleb Williams had one of the worst debuts ever. He won. But his offense had 148 yards and 2.1 yards per pass play. Does he need 2,000 pass attempts to reach that 4,000-yard pass mark?

To think a rookie QB would back up three WRs at the price they’re paying for him was insane. CJ Stroud only backed up two WRs at a time last year, not three. The injuries obscured that.

Since his great debut, Will Levis has played like a second-round pick. He is 2-7 with five touchdowns and six interceptions. His sack rate is 11.2%. His NY/A (yards per pass play) is 5.2. Levis was near the bottom of the league in accurate throws last year and many blamed the line. On Sunday, he was. He gave away a game in which the opposing offense could not get anything done.

So much for Josh Allen rushing TDs not being a sustainable business model. I don’t think he can play that heroically for an entire season — his left wrist is waiting to be tested. The passing game has made some plays, but Dalton Kincaid, the supposed “No. 1 receiver,” wasn’t used until the fourth quarter. The problem is that if a mediocre defense wants to commit to taking a tight end out of a game, they can easily take him out. TEs can’t be “The Man” unless they’re Antonio Gates or Travis Kelce. Maybe Gronk. That’s all.

Upgrade James Cook, who had 60% snaps, a number he didn’t reach once all of last year.

In hindsight, Marvin Harrison Jr.’s ADP was a little optimistic. (He had one catch for four yards — if you have to use AP style and write out yards, that’s bad.) But it could have been better. A pass to him would have given Arizona the lead in the final minute. But Kyler Murray is too small to see the entire field.

I also see problems for Trey McBride. Murray can’t see across the line on quick TE passes between the hashes – only seven catches for 74 yards from Murray to McBride between the hashes all of last year.

My opinion at the end of the preseason was that Tony Pollard would crush Tyjae Spears and that it wouldn’t be anywhere near 50/50. That seems to be true after Week 1. Pollard had more touchdowns than Spears, 19 to 8. In Pollard’s favor, he was injured last year (ankle rope tightened like Mark Andrews did this year) and has now bounced back. And Spears is the new Jay Ajayi with his knee arthritis caused by missing an ACL (college injury).

If Justin Fields keeps his job, that’s obviously bad news for Jaylen Warren. Fields has 14 interceptions, just an insane volume. He was sacked twice and didn’t intercept a single ball. Ironically, he managed the game.

Kirk Cousins ​​appeared to lose the ball 27 times — every time I looked up. The Falcons’ offensive line was a horror show. You want to give credit to the Steelers’ defense? I know some metrics ranked the unit highly last year, but it was 19th or worse in yards allowed per play, per run and per pass play. There’s no excuse for this ineptitude. Many thought Atlanta’s line would be a problem, which made choosing a backup QB with the No. 8 pick a total conundrum. I actually have to blame that more on the offensive line than on Cousins. He’s a pocket passer. So he needs, you know, a pocket. Now how does that get fixed? Downgrade all the Falcons.

Joe Mixon not only looked fantastic, but he performed fantastically. This is actually bad news for the “CJ Stroud for MVP” brigade and the people who expected 5,000 yards and 40 touchdowns. There’s just not going to be a great passing percentage here. The Texans completed 76 passes, about 25% more than expected. Yet Stroud threw 32 passes – a 42% passing percentage.

Zack Moss had 65% snaps, twice as many as Chase Brown. That’s not surprising, since Moss was a starter all preseason and Brown, a former fifth-round pick, was never good. Learn those lessons for next time.

The Bengals were awful, though. They were outplayed. Zac Taylor punted with two minutes left, six points down on fourth and fifth. You have to try. Ja’Marr Chase played every time I looked for him. That’s no excuse. Joe Burrow just isn’t the same player, averaging a terrible 6.3 yards per pass attempt over his last 11 games while scoring just 15 touchdowns. In the 2021-22 season, he averaged 8.1 yards per pass attempt and scored 69 touchdowns in 32 games.

Rhamondre Stevenson (28 touches, 126 yards and one TD) is probably a top-10 RB because he’s a true leader. When he’s not there, he’s close enough.

Raheem Mostert looked like he was 132 years old.

After the first five games of his career, De’Von Achane’s descent into mortality continues with a poor running day (4.6 per carry in his last nine games, including the playoffs). I mention this because his yards per carry last year was 7.8. He did, however, have seven targets. The Dolphins will tinker with this running game until they find the big plays. Without that, it’s a real struggle for them to sustain offense.

Tank Bigsby looks to be a real problem for Travis Etienne Jr. after he gave the game away by losing the football just as he was about to cross the goal line, leading to a 14-point lead and a touchdown bomb throw by Tyreek Hill shortly after.

Trevor Lawrence looks like a streaky quarterback. There are no excuses for his unproductivity.

Until further notice, no games are allowed against the Panthers. They are by far the worst team in the NFL. Yes, that includes the Giants.

You look at Derek Carr’s stats and you’ll be amazed at how wrong you are. Here. Do it now. Just the Saints’ stats. Add three TDs and no interceptions today. The idea that this was a top-five worst offense was silly. And the assumption that Carr would lose his job to a rookie who came in on day three was downright absurd. I understand that Chris Olave (2-for-11) managers aren’t happy with the situation, but like the Vikings, the game script was screwed up from the start.

I have nothing to say about the defense-dominated game in Cleveland. I’m not going to change anyone’s rankings because of it. Of course we have to downgrade David Njoku, who was injured. Also, Jerry Jeudy ended up in the blue tent.

Dallas kicker Brandon Aubrey made a record-breaking 66-yard field goal, but a delay of game disallowed him. He’s great.

JK Dobbins has been the big news of the last few games with 135 yards and a TD on just 10 attempts. I said we’d have to see it to believe it. Well, we saw it.

The Broncos couldn’t get anything done, which isn’t surprising considering they’re starting a rookie QB. But Courtland Sutton had 12 targets. Upgrade him.

Kenneth Walker is the man, period. Forget him competing for 51% of the snaps. Those days are over.

Tyler Lockett was Seattle’s most involved receiver. Lockett fell too far behind in the draft. He has a 40% chance of scoring more points than everyone’s favorite, Jaxson Smith-Njigba. The market has him priced as having a 0% chance.

(Top photo of Anthony Richardson: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images)