Week 1 of the 2024 NFL Season is about over, so let's dive into some key takeaways from the first week of the new year. The New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers will cap-off Week 1 when the two teams meet on Monday Night Football.
Thirty NFL teams have played a game thus far, and there are plenty of storylines to talk about, but let's cover the biggest ones as Week 1 concludes.
Struggling rookie quarterbacks highlight NFL Week 1 takeaways
Caleb, Bo struggle
Bo Nix actually played better than Caleb Williams, but naturally, people seem to be criticizing Nix's debut more. The rookie QB from Oregon completed 61.9% of his passes for 138 yards and two interceptions, but he was able to lead a scoring drive.
Caleb Williams completed less than 50% of his passes for less than 100 yards and did not lead a scoring drive at home. Both rookie QBs struggled in their debut, as most year-one passers do, but it is interesting to see the different takes between Nix and Williams.
Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders was more efficient than Nix and Williams, but was still in a losing effort and also happened to look like a rookie QB. It's almost as if this league is hard and playing efficiently at QB does not happen overnight.
What is wrong with the Carolina Panthers?
A lot, I guess. A new regime led by Dave Canales was supposed to bring some type of revival to the team, but it was anything but in Week 1, as Derek Carr, yes, that Derek Carr, just tore up the Panthers defense, completing 82.6% of his passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns.
Carr is the most efficient QB in Week 1 at this point, unless you believe that Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was more efficient, as he completed 24 of 30 passes for four touchdowns. Either way, the Carolina Panthers are just downright awful and somehow need to hit the reset button again.
The Giants and Browns have QB and front office problems
What in the world is going on in these rooms? The New York Giants may be the worst-ran front office team in the NFL. Their General Manager, Joe Schoen is just in way over his head. The Daniel Jones extension was awful, and his decision to pass up on three first-round QBs in the 2024 NFL Draft for Malik Nabers was a horrid decision.
Beyond that, the rest of the Giants roster is just bad, and I can't fault Brian Daboll for likely finishing with another losing record in 2024. He is clearly a good head coach and does deserve to be given a better team than what Schoen has built for him thus far. I would not be surprised if the Giants only won two or three games in the 2024 NFL Season. This may be a rare situation where the GM actually gets fired before the head coach.
The Cleveland Browns are no better, but at least the rest of their roster is strong. Browns GM Andrew Berry did give Deshaun Watson a fully-guaranteed deal, and it's turned into the worst contract in all of sports by far. It doesn't feel like Watson is going to figure this QB thing out, which could lead the Browns to send him to the bench in favor of Jameis Winston.
Beyond the 2024 NFL Season, though, I have no idea what the Browns would even do with this contract. They're stuck and it's a huge indictment on the front office.