The NFL is always a whirlwind of unpredictability.
The phrase ‘Any Given Sunday’ was coined because anything can happen – ask the Atlanta Falcons what happened in Super Bowl LI.
And if week one of the 2017-18 season is any indication, we’re in for a wild season.
The 2017-18 season was kicked off with the Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots, the defending champions.
And if you heard one quarterback had 368 yards and 4 touchdowns and the other has 267 yards and 0 touchdowns, you’d probably assume that Tom Brady had the great game.
Nope, the Chiefs stunned the Patriots in their own house.
Okay, thatgame was just an anomaly, right?
Not even close.
As expected after week 1: the Rams, Jaguars and Bills finish week 1 sitting atop their respective divisions, alone in first place.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 10, 2017
FanSided reported:
“Hide your loved ones and lock the door to the panic room, the Bills, Jaguars, and Rams are all alone in first place in their divisions.
One of the things I remember reading in Sports Illustrated every issue was the ‘Signs of the Apocolypse’. It was a musing on why the world was going to end because sports things that should not be sports-ing where happening.
Three very apocalyptic signs were pointed in our direction on Sunday when the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Los Angeles Rams all won Week 1.
If that’s not stunning enough, all three sit in first place in their respective divisions and would all host playoff games if the season ended today.
It doesn’t, and they won’t — but just let that soak in.
Trolling is a large part of why I enjoy being alive, and this seems like an easy chance to do that. It would be easy to say that all three of these teams are getting their only wins of the season out of the way early or that the world will most certainly end if they win any more games.
But let’s not take this away. In a world of negativity, let’s be positive.
The Jaguars might still have Blake Bortles at the ready to burp up all over himself as he throws a pick-six, but the defense was lights out. Jacksonville – renamed Sacksonville on the official team Twitter account — sacked either of the two quarterbacks Houston started 10 times. One-zero, ten.
Buffalo has one of the more underrated and underappreciated quarterbacks in the NFL, Tyrod Taylor. Granted, they played the Jets, but Taylor makes things happen and is a threat to help them stay in contention for a Wild Card spot. It’s worth pointing out that this is the first time in a very long time Buffalo has had a full game lead on the Patriots in the AFC East.
Make fun of Jared Goff and the Rams all you want, but the team hung 49-points on the Colts in an absolute thrashing.
It’s rushing it to say Goff will develop into a playoff-caliber quarterback this season, but 49-points is a big time confidence booster for a quarterback who just won his first career game in eight tries.”
To be fair, the Miami Dolphins have yet to play because the game was canceled due to Hurricane Irma.
But it is incredibly bizarre that all three of these division leaders were considered amongst the worst in the league before the season even began.
The Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears were also pretty close to upsetting the Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons, respectively.
If week one was a sign of things to come, you can bet it’s going to be a wild ride.