A year ago today, the Chiefs beat the defending-champion Patriots 42-27 in a highly entertaining season-opening game for the ages. It turned out to be one of two shocking bookends to a Pats campaign that was supposed to end with another title.
By contrast, last night's season kickoff was as exciting as . . . well, a kickoff. Take nothing away from each side's defense. But sub-par QB play set the tone for a contest where fantasy successes were few and far between.
In Philly, you have to wonder whether the team made a mistake not cashing out on Nick Foles this offseason. While it's only one game, there's a reason why Foles -- outside of his miraculous 2017 title run -- has been a sub-par NFL starter (and merely "good" NFL backup) since his 2013 breakout. Cleveland offered Philadelphia the 35th pick in this year's draft for a soon-to-be free agent who presumably will earn more in the open market after this season. Cleveland went on to draft potential future starting RB Nick Chubb.
Not that the Eagles would have needed Chubb. But it's fair to wonder whether this franchise would have been better off bolstering their depth on the o-line (Jason Peters is nearly 37 and coming off a serious injury) or on defense. Three of the four picks after Chubb were offensive linemen or linebackers. If the Jets couldn't get anything more than a third rounder for Teddy Bridgewater, surely the Eagles could have found a cheap fill-in for an ailing Carson Wentz while locking down that #35 overall selection.
I get it: Philly felt they needed Foles as an insurance policy in case Wentz wasn't ready Week 1. And sure enough, Wentz wasn't ready, and might not be for several more weeks. But given what the franchise turned down to keep him, and how comparable talent is available in this league for relatively cheap, Foles has got to be better than he looked last night.
Among the other key players, yesterday I wrote that Jay Ajayi "should net 60+ yards. But he'll need some goal-line looks to give you an adequate return on investment." And that's essentially what happened, with the starting RB earning 62 yards, a one-yard TD, and a nice 11-yard scamper into the end zone. As I've written before, his limited passing-game chops and higher-than-normal injury risk make him a largely TD-dependent weekly RB2. He'll need to hope Corey Clement and Darren Sproles remain in the background. I would sell high.
While Nelson Agholor did what he was supposed to as a target monster, Foles' limitations earned him only 3.3 yards per look. Zach Ertz was also largely ineffective on 10 targets, while Mike Wallace was a surprising dud (though Foles missed badly on what could have been a nice gain).
For the Falcons, Matt Ryan brought his C game against a tough Eagles D and looked out of his element against a good pass rush in the closing minute. Meanwhile, Julio Jones is still Julio Jones. I got plenty of flack for ranking him as my #2 PPR WR, ahead of Antonio Brown. [Pause for reactions.] OK, so many of you still think that was crazy. But I'm standing by it. Julio will dominate this year as a first-round fantasy talent, as he'll once again be among the NFL's most targeted / highest yardage wideouts. The only question is touchdowns, and I believe he'll find the end zone enough times to be elite.
And Austin Hooper . . . well, I'll take the hit for that. Again, it was one of those games where neither offense got going. I still view him as a top-14 TE.
Elsewhere, Devonta Freeman had a down game as expected and later was pulled with a knee injury -- though some reports suggest Freeman's nine-touch outing wasn't completely a result of getting hurt. Tevin Coleman didn't look any better, but his touchdown salvaged his evening. A couple times this past week I've written that Freeman was overrated and Coleman was underrated -- that these two will be more interchangeable than ever before. While it might be too late (for now) to sell high on Freeman, I encourage those who drafted him to add Coleman -- or jettison Freeman -- if the price is right.
By contrast, last night's season kickoff was as exciting as . . . well, a kickoff. Take nothing away from each side's defense. But sub-par QB play set the tone for a contest where fantasy successes were few and far between.
In Philly, you have to wonder whether the team made a mistake not cashing out on Nick Foles this offseason. While it's only one game, there's a reason why Foles -- outside of his miraculous 2017 title run -- has been a sub-par NFL starter (and merely "good" NFL backup) since his 2013 breakout. Cleveland offered Philadelphia the 35th pick in this year's draft for a soon-to-be free agent who presumably will earn more in the open market after this season. Cleveland went on to draft potential future starting RB Nick Chubb.
Not that the Eagles would have needed Chubb. But it's fair to wonder whether this franchise would have been better off bolstering their depth on the o-line (Jason Peters is nearly 37 and coming off a serious injury) or on defense. Three of the four picks after Chubb were offensive linemen or linebackers. If the Jets couldn't get anything more than a third rounder for Teddy Bridgewater, surely the Eagles could have found a cheap fill-in for an ailing Carson Wentz while locking down that #35 overall selection.
I get it: Philly felt they needed Foles as an insurance policy in case Wentz wasn't ready Week 1. And sure enough, Wentz wasn't ready, and might not be for several more weeks. But given what the franchise turned down to keep him, and how comparable talent is available in this league for relatively cheap, Foles has got to be better than he looked last night.
Among the other key players, yesterday I wrote that Jay Ajayi "should net 60+ yards. But he'll need some goal-line looks to give you an adequate return on investment." And that's essentially what happened, with the starting RB earning 62 yards, a one-yard TD, and a nice 11-yard scamper into the end zone. As I've written before, his limited passing-game chops and higher-than-normal injury risk make him a largely TD-dependent weekly RB2. He'll need to hope Corey Clement and Darren Sproles remain in the background. I would sell high.
While Nelson Agholor did what he was supposed to as a target monster, Foles' limitations earned him only 3.3 yards per look. Zach Ertz was also largely ineffective on 10 targets, while Mike Wallace was a surprising dud (though Foles missed badly on what could have been a nice gain).
For the Falcons, Matt Ryan brought his C game against a tough Eagles D and looked out of his element against a good pass rush in the closing minute. Meanwhile, Julio Jones is still Julio Jones. I got plenty of flack for ranking him as my #2 PPR WR, ahead of Antonio Brown. [Pause for reactions.] OK, so many of you still think that was crazy. But I'm standing by it. Julio will dominate this year as a first-round fantasy talent, as he'll once again be among the NFL's most targeted / highest yardage wideouts. The only question is touchdowns, and I believe he'll find the end zone enough times to be elite.
And Austin Hooper . . . well, I'll take the hit for that. Again, it was one of those games where neither offense got going. I still view him as a top-14 TE.
Elsewhere, Devonta Freeman had a down game as expected and later was pulled with a knee injury -- though some reports suggest Freeman's nine-touch outing wasn't completely a result of getting hurt. Tevin Coleman didn't look any better, but his touchdown salvaged his evening. A couple times this past week I've written that Freeman was overrated and Coleman was underrated -- that these two will be more interchangeable than ever before. While it might be too late (for now) to sell high on Freeman, I encourage those who drafted him to add Coleman -- or jettison Freeman -- if the price is right.