Recapping Week 1’s Top Winners and Losers in the NFL (2021)

The 2021 NFL season is upon us and the opening weekend was a successful one.

Several teams lived up to the offseason hype. The defending NFC and AFC champions had thrilling victories that could springboard their seasons.

Many challengers to Tampa Bay and Kansas City came up short. Some were arguably disastrous. We still have many weeks of football remaining, so there is no need to hit the panic button.

That said, when recapping week one in the NFL, it’s still fair to point out the teams that failed, and the ones that impressed.

Here are the top winners and losers from the opening weekend of the 2021-22 NFL season.

The Saints were home underdogs to the Packers, and not many gave them much of a chance to pull off the upset. They had to play at Jacksonville, and everybody was pounding Aaron Rodgers in most sportsbooks.

Jameis Winston torched the Green Bay secondary for five scores, and he was borderline flawless in an easy 38-3 win.

Jameis Winston vs. Packers:

⚜️14-20
⚜️148 Yards
⚜️5 TDs

He’s back 👀 pic.twitter.com/9NG7ESIfph

— PFF (@PFF) September 12, 2021

Alvin Kamara was able to expose the exhausted Green Bay defense, as well.

Sean Payton has always loved Taysom Hill, but it was Winston that shut the naysayers up. New Orleans looked like they might be set for a step back in their play with Drew Brees retiring, but they were the top winners of Week 1.

New England has been a trendy postseason pick all offseason, and Mac Jones was one of the top picks to win Rookie of the Year. The offense sputtered with two costly lost fumbles by their running backs.

They just needed to sit on the ball and kick a chip-shot kick.

Jones played well under center, but it still wasn’t enough without a star difference-maker on offense.

The defense did all it could but failed to turn over the Dolphins at the end of the game. Failing to cover Jaylen Waddle and DeVante Parker ended up hurting the team as well. New England could still be a playoff squad, but losing a divisional home game to start the season is usually costly.

Going 4-0 in the division was impressive.

Here were the final scores.

Two of them were heavy favorites, but Seattle found a way to ride the ship with their road victory at Indianapolis. D.K. Metcalf didn’t do too much, but Tyler Lockett had one of his patented performances with Russell Wilson.

The 49ers had no issues moving the football despite getting nothing from Raheem Mostert (knee) and Brandon Aiyuk. Trey Sermon was a healthy scratch, and the defense came away with a few takeaways that led to a three-plus score lead.

The Rams dominated the Bears, and the debut of Matthew Stafford in Sean McVay’s offense passed the eye test. Cooper Kupp exposed the Chicago secondary, and he could be a challenge for all opposing defenses. The ability to hit the home-run ball was a weakness of the Rams with Jared Goff, but it looks like a strength now.

The Arizona win on the road over Tennessee was one of the best wins of the entire weekend.

The defense was dominant thanks to Chandler Jones and his five sacks.

Chandler Jones is unstoppable.

5 SACKS IN 3 QUARTERS 😳 pic.twitter.com/i674QFCTcx

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 12, 2021

DeAndre Hopkins and the receivers made the necessary plays to come away with touchdowns instead of settling for three points. They looked like a playoff team going into the year, but this is a game that could get Kliff Kingsbury over the hump.

There may not be a bigger loser from the past weekend than Aaron Rodgers and this dreadful offense.

The performance was pitiful, and they will need to wake up if they want home-field advantage in January.

Playing in the NFC North is a bonus since the entire division lost, but Green Bay looked poor in all facets of the game.

They abandoned the run game but weren’t explosive enough. The secondary was terrible at defending the pass. Winston looked like the All-Pro quarterback, and the reigning MVP was non-existent.

There aren’t many must-win games heading into Week 2, but hosting the Lions on Monday Night Football is about as close as it gets. A loss there, and this team will need to look in the mirror and start searching for solutions before it becomes a lost season.

Joe Burrow returned and had a game with his former college teammate. Ja’Marr Chase had a ton of hype going into the preseason, and many were jumping off his bandwagon after he had a poor month in August.

Luckily, the games don’t count in the summer, and September is a bit more vital.

Chase went off for over 100 yards with a score, and Burrow led them to an overtime victory. (standout text)

It nearly got away from them after a questionable decision on fourth down while leading by two scores.

Still, the Bengals opened the season with a victory in a gauntlet of an AFC North division. They need some love and look much improved from the past few seasons.

Almost every skill player drafted in the top 15 picks scored in Week 1, but struggles were evident. The top five quarterbacks didn’t have a ton of success in the win column, and while Trey Lance and Justin Fields didn’t start, they hardly played.

Here are the rookie passers, and how their teams fared.