NFL Week 1: Surprise Sunday Performance for Each Team
Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles (25). John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
Denver Broncos: Aqib Talib dominates T.Y. Hilton, gets beaten by Reggie Wayne but has great game overall
Denver Broncos newly minted cornerback Aqib Talib has a reputation for getting beat by speedy receivers but shutting down possession wideouts, since he’s one of the league’s best press-man corners. Yesterday, the Pro Football Focus had him giving up a reception to chain-moving veteran Reggie Wayne on all three of his targets in Talib’s coverage for a solid 40 yards, but Talib finished with an excellent game overall when you look at what he did to the playmaking T.Y. Hilton. He absolutely suffocated the Colts best vertical threat, as Hilton finished with an awful performance and was especially a non-factor with Talib covering him. Talib benefited from having Devin McCourty behind him while with the New England Patriots, and he and Rahim Moore look like a great tag team in coverage. It was an excellent debut for Talib, who held Hilton to just one catch for eight yards on five targets and notched two passes defended overall.
Kansas City Chiefs: Jamaal Charles gets just 19 yards
Jamaal Charles is one of the best players in this league, but he looked anything but elite yesterday, as he was unable to find any running lanes against the Tennessee Titans in the Chiefs upset loss. Charles finished with a measly 19 yards on just seven carries, as he wasn’t even remotely a workhorse, which is his usual role. While he wasn’t exactly impressive, most of the blame goes to the offensive line, as Jeff Allen and Co. put forth one of the most pathetic displays I’ve seen out of a line in the run blocking department. These guys were the definition of incompetent, and they had absolutely no answer for Jurrell Casey as a pass rusher. The Chiefs really screwed up with their moves on the line this offseason, as they lost Jon Asamoah, Geoff Schwartz, and Branden Albert, who formed a critical part of the offense. If guys like Allen, Eric Fisher, and Zach Fulton don’t step up (it’s still too early to call for doomsday predictions), then it might not matter how good the skill position players are.
Oakland Raiders: Denarius Moore doesn’t do jack
T.Y. Hilton was probably more disappointing given his quality as a receiver, but Oakland Raiders wideout Denarius Moore was one of the worst wideouts this week, especially when you consider who he was going up against. It’s not totally his fault that the Raiders gameplan was a bit too conservative out of respect of the Jets aggressiveness against a rookie QB, but it is his fault that he couldn’t break anything open against a beaten-up Jets secondary. Antonio Allen made absolute mincemeat out of Moore, who was nullified and finished with just two catches for eight yards on eight targets. That’s one yard per target. That sucks.