NFL week one: Highlights, upsets and updates

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Excited football fans salute the flag just before kickoff at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO. The Chiefs came back and beat the San Diego chargers in the first game of the season with a final score of 33-27

RYAN HERRING, Sports Columnist

Week one of the NFL season is in the books and we have a lot to dissect. However, first thing’s first: if your favorite NFL team won week one, don’t get too excited just yet.

Also, if your favorite NFL team lost week one, don’t panic- unless you are a Los Angeles Rams fan- then you might want to start panicking.

The Rams are the only team in the NFL that got shut out in week one and the team to shut them out was the San Francisco 49ers, who finished last season 5-11. The 49ers breezed to a 28-0 win on Monday Night Football, delighting both San Francisco fans as well as all the salty fans from St. Louis, furious that the Rams moved cities.

This was just one of the three games decided by double digits, meaning that the majority of the week one NFL games were really good.

The Chargers blew a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost to the Chiefs 27-33 in overtime, the Lions blew an 18-point lead but made a 43-yard field goal to win the game in the final minute and finally, the Raiders won on a two-point conversion.

Even with all of this taking place Sunday afternoon, the best game of the weekend took place on primetime Sunday Night Football. The returning Super Bowl champs, the New England Patriots, traveled to Arizona to take on a very good Cardinals team.

The Patriots were without (arguably) their two best players, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. Despite this, Bill Belichick taught us all once again not to doubt the Patriots.

Arizona had a chance to win it at the end but they were unable to make the kick, giving quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo a big win in his first ever career start. The Cardinals are supposed to be Super Bowl contenders and the Patriots went into Arizona and beat them without their two best players.

One Yahoo Sports article may have said it best with the headline: “It’s official, Bill Belichick is a wizard.” Bill Belichick just may be a wizard after pulling off a win without Brady or Gronkowski.

With an exciting season ahead of us, I can only predict who I think will be the teams to watch this year. My “way too early Super Bowl prediction” is the Packers vs. the Patriots. Aaron Rodgers has many playmakers on that dangerous Green Bay offense and I think this is the year their defensive secondary will step up and help win some big games.

Brady and Belichick have proven time and time again that all they do is win, and I think they will find themselves back in this year’s Super Bowl to defend their title. In the end, the Vince Lombardi trophy will make its way back home to Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Sleeper teams to watch: Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders.