Antonio Brown managed to click bait his way to dominating the headlines leading up to NFL Week 1 with his latest messy power move to the Patriots.
But despite the juicy, reality show gossip that a diva receiver like AB commands, there were some young black quarterbacks actually calling shots and living up to a standard of leadership that is just as noteworthy.
Lamar Jackson, “Not Bad For A Running Back”
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but proof of Lamar Jackson’s passing prowess was evident after one game. The former Louisville star — who one GM once ludicrously suggested be moved to wide receiver or running back prior to the 2018 Draft — passed his ass off.
The last quarterback chosen in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft is proving to be the best of the Fab Five QB bunch (Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen). On Sunday, he stunned the critics and used his arm to power the Ravens to a 59-10 dismantling of rookie Brian Flores’ Miami Dolphins.
https://twitter.com/GamecockTrey/status/1170868525201842177
Jackson was 17-of-20 for a career-high 324 yards and 5 TDS. So much for the questions about his accuracy and ability to read defenses, make big throws and all that nonsense. The second-year QB was confident in and out of the pocket and he showed off his laser arm on several deep passes.
Lamar Jackson to Hollywood Brown🎬🎥🍿 Better get used to saying that this seasonpic.twitter.com/J59W6z1sAt
— GAS – Sports for the Culture (@goodasssports) September 9, 2019
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. We told you from the jump, that Jackson was a special talent who could definitely star at the NFL level. He hasn’t wasted any time proving it.
Kyler Murray: At some point, something had to happen.”
During the first half of Kyler Murray’s NFL debut, I’m sure all of his critics were spinning in a chair, chucking pretzels at the TV and shouting “I told you so.”
Murray’s pretty boy offense wasn’t gritty boy poppin’. The diminutive QB looked overmatched by the Lions defense and the Cardinals offense appeared feeble and bewildered.
The Cardinals’ guard just turned around and sacked Kyler Murray. This is gonna be a long year. pic.twitter.com/BzuUEIwnbv
— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) September 8, 2019
That struggle turned out to be no more than growing pains. By the end of the game, however, Murray pout the NFL on notice and showed why he was the shortest QB ever drafted as the No. 1 overall pick.
Murray’s head coach Kliff Kingsbury swore by his generational talents and he didn’t have to wait that long to see that he was right about the magic Murray can bring as a QB and how much better he makes this below average Cardinals team.
Kyler Murray with an absolute DIME to Fitz!#DETvsAZ pic.twitter.com/NLfIxvQdAf
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 8, 2019
With Arizona down 17-6 heading into the fourth, Detroit opened the scoring to take a 24-6 lead before Murray orchestrated a classic 18-point comeback to tie the game and force overtime, which resulted in a 27-27 tie.
The Cardinals had a chance to make Murray’s debut a winning one, but the lack of talent on the Cardinals reared its ugly head again.
The Cardinals dropped a potential game-winning pick with 5 seconds left in OT.
Kyler Murray and Christian Kirk had the exact same reaction as you did 🤣 pic.twitter.com/HHW1jm6vP0
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 9, 2019
In retrospect, the tie was a huge win for Murray and Cardinals Nation.
First NFL TD pass for @K1 👏 pic.twitter.com/ubF0bax2ft
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 8, 2019
The two-sport phenom, who passed up a multi-million MLB contract to play a gladiator sport, has the goods and it took one game for the Cardinals to establish that. Now they can keep adding pieces knowing that they have a franchise QB already in place.
Dak Prescott: “Dak did what he should’ve done against a poor defense.”
Ezekiel Elliott got all of the attention and the money, while Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is still playing for a couple million a year. But after his Week 1 performance, he won’t be the most underpaid QB in the sport for long.
Despite the hoopla surrounding Elliott’s contract holdout, Prescott was the featured attraction on Sunday and he passed all over a pathetic Giants defense — which rivals Miami’s as the worst in the game.
"Dak did what he should've done against a poor defense." — @ShannonSharpe pic.twitter.com/DSClOO4jYf
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) September 9, 2019
Prescott threw for 405 yards and 4 TDs and barely broke a sweat. The drama between Elliott and mastermind owner Jerry Jones added to the game’s attraction and the ratings proved it.
Despite lopsided score, Giants-Cowboys delivered Fox an overnight ratings gain in the NFL national window on Sunday afternoon. 15.9 is up from 15.5 for window featuring Cowboys-Panthers last year. Best Week 1 for Fox since 2016. Both pregame shows also up for Fox
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) September 9, 2019