This weekend, the NFL kicked off its 2022-23 season with a plethora of excellent matchups. Let’s take a look at some of the storylines and highlights of this week in the NFL: 

• Mixing it up: This offseason, the Denver Broncos acquired Seahawks-veteran Russell Wilson while sending their now-former quarterback, Drew Lock, to the Seahawks. The two teams played against each other at Lumen Field in Seattle this week. The Seahawks ended up beating their former quarterback by one point with a final score of sixteen to seventeen
• While Russell Wilson also had a “homecoming,” Baker Mayfield, the quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, formerly the first overall pick for the Cleveland Browns in 2018, also got to play against his former team. He struggled a lot, including being booed by his own team’s fans during the second quarter, and the Panthers ended up losing to their starting quarterback’s former team.
• The NFL season opener… Thursday Night Football in Los Angeles: The NFL opened its 2022-23 season with a thrilling Thursday night matchup of the powerhouse Buffalo Bills and reigning Super Bowl champion: the Los Angeles Rams. At the beginning of this game, a moment of silence was held in honor of Queen Elizabeth II, who had passed away earlier that day. 
• Tom Brady returns for his twenty-second season in the NFL and his third with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He faced off against Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.
• The Patriots headed to Miami to face the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots began the game with possession of the ball, and after a great drive downfield, quarterback Mac Jones threw an interception in the endzone. The Patriots were able to hold the Dolphins to a field goal on this drive. After a few scoreless drives from both teams, the Patriots had possession of the ball, and Mac Jones got hit from behind, dislodging the ball from his hands. One of the Dolphins defenders grabbed the ball right off of the ground and ran five yards to the endzone for a Dolphins’ touchdown, and after the extra point kick, the score was ten to zero in favor of the Dolphins with two-and-a-half quarters left to play. With twenty-four seconds left in the half, Dolphins quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, threw a touchdown pass to receiver Jaylen Waddle who (fun fact) was teammates with Mac Jones in college at the University of Alabama. The score going into halftime was seventeen to zero, still in favor of the Dolphins. Early in the third quarter, the Patriots were able to score a touchdown which was a pass from Mac Jones to receiver Ty Montgomery. The final score of the game was twenty to seven, in favor of the Dolphins. 
• Flash floods in Chicago led to a cold, wet game. Every time a player hit the ground, the rainwater, which had collected on the surface of the turf, would splash up, and the player would go sliding across. During the first half, the Chicago Bears went for a field goal attempt. However, their field goal ball-holder and punter, Trenton Gill, tried to dry the field with a towel where the ball would be for the field goal attempt. He proceeded to throw the towel behind him, and a few seconds later, it was announced that there was an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Gill for drying the spot on the field. 
• After a thrilling three quarters between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons, the Falcons were in the lead by sixteen points in the fourth quarter. However, the Saints rallied back and were down by two points, that is, until Saints kicker Wil Lutz completed a forty-nine-yard field goal with twenty-three seconds left in the game, bringing the Saints up by one point. After a drive down the field, the Falcons went for a sixty-three-yard field goal as time expired, and it was blocked by the Saints, completing their comeback
• Last second win: The Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to Cincinnati to face off against the Bengals. Bengals’ quarterback Joe Burrow threw multiple interceptions throughout the game, aiding in the Steelers’ large lead. However, the Bengals rallied back, and by the end of the fourth quarter, the game was tied twenty to twenty. Back and forth the teams went, with no one able to score in overtime. At the very end of the ten-minute overtime period, Steelers kicker Chris Boswell made a field goal to win the game for his team
• A week of upsets: In many games this week, the team that was the favorite to win lost, and the team that wasn’t the favorite to win pulled off the upset. These games include the Chicago Bears winning over the San Francisco 49ers, the Pittsburgh Steelers winning against the Cincinnati Bengals, the New York Giants pulling off the last-second win over the Tennessee Titans, and the Minnesota Vikings winning big against the Green Bay Packers

Final Scores

• New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins (in Miami) – Dolphins win 20-7
• Buffalo Bills vs. Los Angeles Rams (in Los Angeles) – Rams win 31-10
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Dallas Cowboys (in Dallas) – Buccaneers win 19-3
• San Francisco 49ers vs. Chicago Bears (in Chicago) – Bears win 19-10
• New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons (in Atlanta) – Saints win 27-26
• Cleveland Browns vs. Carolina Panthers (in Carolina) – Browns win 26-24
• Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals (in Cincinnati) – Steelers win (in overtime) 23-20
• Philadelphia Eagles vs. Detroit Lions (in Detroit) – Eagles win 38-35
• Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans (in Houston) – Tied 20-20
• Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Jets (in New York) – Ravens win 24-9
• Jacksonville Jaguars vs. the Washington Commanders (in Washington) – Commanders win 28-22
• Kansas City Chiefs vs. Arizona Cardinals (in Arizona) – Chiefs win 44-21
• Green Bay Packers vs. Minnesota Vikings (in Minnesota) – Vikings win 23-7
• New York Giants vs. Tennessee Titans (in Tennessee) – Giants win 21-20
• Las Vegas Raiders vs. Los Angeles Chargers (in Los Angeles) – Chargers win 24-19
• Denver Broncos vs. Seattle Seahawks (in Seattle) – Seahawks win 17-16

Kristina Klauzinski ’24, Assistant Sports Editor

24kklauzinski@montroseschool.org