NFL Week 1 games: Notes and observations

After the NFL Week 1 games this weekend, we look at some storylines which emerged from a fun slate of Sunday battles.

– The Miami Dolphins scored the biggest win of the weekend. Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t exceptional, only throwing for 202 yards in a 17-16 win over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium, but he did enough while the defense powered the victory. Most importantly, Miami now has a road divisional win over a key rival. If the Dolphins are going to contend in the AFC East, this was a big step.

– The NFC West is every bit as good as we believed. The Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals all won on Sunday, with only the Rams being at home. Each game was convincing, although the Niners did all they could to let the Detroit Lions hang around late. Moving forward, the schedule shapes well for the quartet in Week 2, as each is favored to win and get to 2-0 on the campaign.

– It’s getting harder to make the case for Daniel Jones. Entering his third season at the helm for the New York Giants, Jones turned in a listless performance against the Denver Broncos in a 27-13 defeat at MetLife Stadium. Jones has talent all over in terms of weaponry, and while the offensive line is an issue, can anybody say Jones is really making the supporting cast better? Great quarterbacks lift their offenses, and we’ve yet to see that with the Duke product.

– If the Washington Football Team is without quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick for an extended period of time — which is reportedly the case — it’s tough to see them repeating in the wide-open NFC East. Washington has a terrific front seven and some quality weapons led by receiver Terry McLaurin and running back Antonio Gibson, but winning consistently with Kyle Allen or Taylor Heinicke under center is a huge ask.

– The Kansas City Chiefs remain the team to beat in the AFC. While the Buffalo Bills were falling in an upset loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend, the Chiefs were busy winning in comeback fashion over the Cleveland Browns. In their 33-29 thriller, Kansas City got four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) from quarterback Patrick Mahomes, while the defense forced two turnovers and the special teams received another. It was a team effort to overcome the absences of stars Tyrann Mathieu and Frank Clark. Kansas City was vulnerable, but beat a tough Cleveland team anyway.