NFL Week 1 Superlatives: Rams' Jared Goff gets most improved
We’re unveiling a new feature this season – weekly NFL superlatives. It’s meant to be a lighthearted look at Sunday’s games, as we highlight best dressed, most improved and even class clown. Here’s the picks for Week 1:
In case anyone forgot during the eight months the Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t playing, Brown is good. Really good. He was the Steelers offense on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, accounting for 182 of the 290 offensive yards the team had, with 11 catches on 11 targets.
For years and years, we heard that the NFL was making a grave mistake not having a team in the Los Angeles market. Well, the Rams are back in L.A. and for just their second season opener since returning, the stands at the Coliseum were empty. What makes it even worse is you could get tickets for just $6.
We get it: every quarterback has bad days. But the Bengals were at home, against a mediocre Ravens team that is on pins and needles hoping Joe Flacco’s back holds up. And Dalton completed barely half of his passes, had four interceptions and was strip-sacked for five turnovers on the day. Cincinnati only got past the 50 on 6-of-12 possessions. Yeesh.
We’ve seen the Jacksonville Jaguars try to spend their way to improvement before, and it hasn’t usually worked. But if Sunday is any indication, the four-year, $60 million they gave Calais Campbell to leave Arizona is money well spent. In his first game with Jacksonville, Campbell set a franchise record with four sacks.
Better offense, better coaches, better play. It’s all pretty simple. Goff recorded the first 300-yard game of his young career against the Colts, completing 21-of-29 passes for 306 yards and a touchdown. And he got his first career win, too: Goff and the Rams were 0-7 in his starts last season.
There is truly no one else like Marshawn Lynch in the NFL. After a one-year retirement, Lynch returned to the field playing for his hometown team, with 18 carries for 76 yards and one trucking of Titans defensive lineman Jurrell Casey. Add in a double-middle-finger salute to his opponents and added some color to coach Jack Del Rio’s postgame news conference, and Beast Mode is back.
Coaches usually require players to be in their Sunday best to travel to away games, and that brings out the creativity in some. Gordon, left, looked impressive as the Chargers left for their trip to Denver, giving us a ’90s vibe with his royal blue jacket, red pocket square, and collared, flowered shirt set off by a gold chain and round-rimmed sunglasses.
Hunt, a third-round pick of the Chiefs earlier this year, had big shoes to fill after Spencer Ware was lost for the season with a knee injury. But the rookie overcame an early fumble and accounted for nearly 250 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns against the Patriots on Thursday night, averaging 8.7 yards per attempt on 17 carries and adding five catches for 98 yards.
It wasn’t quite at the level of overdone theatrics we’ve seen on the soccer pitch, but Newton couldn’t resist a little acting job against the 49ers. Running with the ball in the red zone, Newton was knocked into the air by a 49ers defender and landed on his stomach off the field. He laid there for a couple of seconds, then popped up, his trademark smile showing through his facemask:
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