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NFL Winners and Losers, Week 1: Kyler Murray balls out, Jalen Hurts makes believers

By Cody Williams

Sep 12, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) runs with the ball during the first half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 12, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) runs with the ball during the first half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports /
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NFL Week 1 winners and losers
Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles, NFL. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports /

What happened in Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season may not be sustained throughout the year but we have to crown winners and losers from Sunday’s action.

The full Sunday slate in NFL Week 1 is officially in the books and the 2021 NFL season is fully underway. There were shocking upsets, superstar performances, wild finishes and a lot of excitement that we still have 17 more weeks of this looking ahead.

Overreacting to Week 1 is never a good idea, so we’re going to try not to do that. We’re going to take the week of football for what it was and simply react to what happened on this given Sunday and perhaps what it could mean for the rest of the season.

To do that, we’re highlighting the big winners and losers from throughout the league in NFL Week 1, starting with some quarterbacks who delivered the goods.

NFL Week 1 Winner: Jalen Hurts

Questions about a full season of Jalen Hurts as an NFL starting quarterback were relentless around the Eagles. Granted, it was against the Falcons, but the second-year signal-caller checked every box you could ask him to.

Hurts finished going 27-of-35 for 264 yards with three touchdowns while rushing for 62 yards as well. He was in control, clearly in-rhythm with DeVonta Smith and the receiving corps and just playing well. Again, you want to see it against better defenses but there’s reason for optimism with Hurts in Philadelphia.

NFL Week 1 Winner: Kyler Murray and Chandler Jones

In truth, you could just put the Arizona Cardinals as a winner here. This team was so, so dominant in every facet against the Titans. Chandler Jones was a monster with a five-sack performance but the rest of the defense played extremely well too. On top of that, the defensive performance was supplemented by an MVP-type performance by Kyler Murray. His creativeity in the pocket was otherworldly and the throws he made were exceptional.

If this is what we’re going to see from the Cards for 17 games, the NFL should take notice quickly.

NFL Week 1 Loser: Kyle Shanahan Late in Games

It wasn’t necessarily 28-3 but Kyle Shanahan didn’t do anything to shed his reputation of being a poor coach late in games in the eventual 49ers win over the Lions.

San Francisco was up 38-10 midway through the third quarter and basically tried to cruise. But the kneecap biters of Detroit didn’t let up and they did everything to almost come back, including sneaking in a backdoor cover. Someone needs to tell Shanahan that letting up at any point just isn’t working for him, so maybe don’t do it.

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