NFL Football Takeaways Week 1

New York Giants’ quarterback Daniel Jones got paid in the offseason. Jones’ new four-year deal pays him $40 million per season.

In his first game of the new campaign, Jones and the Giants lost to the NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys, 40-0.

The symmetry is awesome – or devastating – depending on which side of this rivalry you sit. The crushing loss to New York ripped the soul out of everyone who placed a bet on the Giants.

While some will blame it on the rain, and others will blame it on the G-Men’s new $40 million QB, the Cowboys’ defense and special teams just outplayed New York, flat out.

Dallas’ defense started their annihilation with a blocked kick return for a touchdown, followed by a pick-six. That was just the first quarter.

The Giants were done and dusted by halftime.

The Cowboys forced five fumbles, allowed a hilarious 1.7 yards per pass, and picked up seven sacks on Jones.

New York was one of only four teams that failed to score an offensive touchdown in Week 1, but the Giants were the only team to get blanked.

In this notable rivalry, this game goes in the books as the largest shutout in series history.

Dallas is currently holding the second-highest odds to win the NFC East, with the best odds coming from BetRivers at +180.

Best odds for Big D to win Super Bowl LVIII are +1200 at FanDuel.

Also, a quick tip of the cap to Cowboys’ kicker Brandon Aubrey for nailing both of his field goal attempts.

Yeah, he missed an extra point, but he deserves some respect for his weird path to the NFL.

Aubrey was drafted by Toronto FC of the MLS and played for the Bethlehem Steel of MLS Next Pro, an MLS affiliate. Aubrey then switched from soccer to football, kicking for the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL.

Aubrey immediately becomes a man I’m rooting for.

What else did bettors take away from Week 1?

Madden-Like Numbers For Miami

In 2022, the Los Angeles Chargers had a stingy passing defense, allowing just 200.3 passing yards per game.

Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill have reminded us that last season is ancient history.

The Miami Dolphins’ electric pairing connected on seven passes of 15 or more yards, with a long of 47 yards.

Tagovailoa finished with 466 passing yards and three touchdown passes to one interception and Hill posted 11 catches with 215 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Tua and Tyreek were just showing off.

Somewhere around the fifth huge play between these two, I couldn’t get excited about it anymore. I became jaded just watching these two acclaimed talents execute these behemoth plays so effortlessly.

Even with a monster outing from Hill, Jaylen Waddle cut the top off the Chargers’ defense as well, averaging 19.5 yards per catch; the same average as Hill.

In Sunday’s 36-34 win, the Dolphins’ running game was quiet, but when you’re making that much noise through the air, why change things up?

It’s only one week into the NFL season, but with a shootout performance like that, Tagovailoa has skyrocketed up the MVP odds rankings.

The best odds for Tua to win the NFL MVP can be found at PointsBet, +850.

No wide receiver has ever won the NFL MVP. If you think this is the year and Tyreek Hill is the man, you can find his best odds to win the MVP at FanDuel for +10000.

I still believe that Los Angeles’ defense is better than the results would indicate, but sometimes you just get blasted.

At least the Chargers get Ryan Tannehill and the Tennessee Titans in Week 2. They deserve a break after that one.

Jets Can’t Be Grounded

After the entire circus of an offseason around Aaron Rodgers and these New York Jets, we get just four snaps from the future-Hall-of-Famer.

That’s it. Four snaps.

Arguably the largest storyline entering the 2023 season and Rodgers gets yanked offstage before he could even start the show.

Enter stage left: Zach Wilson.

Wilson has not been great in the past, as evidenced by his club bringing in a 39-year-old QB coming off an iffy season, but he played efficiently enough to keep this game within reach for the Jets.

Wilson completed 14 of 21 passes for 140 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Picking up a season-opening win on Monday Night against the AFC East rival Buffalo Bills will sit well with the New York fanbase, too.

Ultimately, the one man who kept this game in reach was Bill’s quarterback Josh Allen.

Allen committed four turnovers, being intercepted three times (all by safety Jordan Whitehead), and fumbling twice, losing one of them.

Allen is expected to carry this Buffalo squad into Super Bowl LVIII.

Allen’s uninspiring display on Monday Night may have watered down that dream a bit, but the season is young enough to wring out that dream and get bettors back on the bandwagon.

MVP odds for Allen haven’t really dipped, with the best odds coming from FanDuel at +800.

Prior to Monday Night Football, the Jets’ best odds to win their Week 2 matchup against Dallas sat at +150 on DraftKings, after Rodgers’ injury, the line has moved to +275 at DraftKings.

Minds change as the lines change, but if you still believe in this New York team whether Rodgers is their QB or not, +275 is an intriguing value.

Bettors and NFL teams alike will look to rebound in Week 2, myself included.

And the good news is that next week is only Week 2.