Tag: NFL Week 1

4 areas Texans must improve after 25-9 loss to Ravens

The Houston Texans showed against the Baltimore Ravens four areas where they could stand to improve.

The Houston Texans were one of four road teams that lost through the first Sunday of Week 1 in the NFL. For the Baltimore Ravens, it was good to be the home side as they mounted a 25-9 victory at M&T Bank Stadium.

Houston held on as long as they could against the Ravens, a wild-card playoff team from a season ago. The Texans showed they still have some growing pains a game into the DeMeco Ryans era. However, there are other aspects that could be fixed and would lead to quicker success.

Here are four areas where the Texans must start improving.

The Morning After…early offensive struggles prove costly for Patriots

Here are some leftover notes from the Patriots’ 25-20 loss to the Eagles.

The New England Patriots ultimately lost at home on Sunday 25-20 against one of the best teams in the entire NFL.

However, the Patriots were in the game from the jump and managed to contain Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts on defense, while the banged-up offensive line kept Mac Jones upright against one of the league’s best front-sevens.

Even in a loss, there was a lot of good things to take away from the game. The defense looks elite as ever, and the offense looks competent. The Patriots showed confidence in their players, which is something we have failed to see the last few years. With that said, sloppy play hurt the team badly with two early turnovers leading to 14 points.

Let’s delve into some leftover notes from the game, now that we’ve had a chance to fully digest the heartbreaking loss.

Twitter reacts to Patriots falling short of upsetting Eagles in opener

Twitter reacts to Patriots’ 20-25 loss to the Eagles on Sunday.

The New England Patriots were defeated by the Philadelphia Eagles by a 25-20 score on Sunday.

Although the Patriots lost, there were a lot of positives to come from the game.

Quarterback Mac Jones threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns against a swarming Philadelphia defense. His lone interception was a pick-six, and that ultimately made the difference in the game. The Eagles jumped out to an early 16-0 lead, but the Patriots were able to claw their way back in it.

It was an entertaining game, by-and-large, for a Patriots team viewed as underdogs since the schedule first went out.

On one hand, there’s hope that the team will only get better after the loss, but there’s also skepticism with some of the self-inflicted wounds on the field in the game.

Here’s what people are saying on Twitter after the loss.

Zac Taylor: ‘This isn’t the team that we are going to be’

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor has one clear message coming out of the brutal loss.

The Cincinnati Bengals Week 1 game didn’t go as planned with a 24-3 loss to their Ohio rivals, the Cleveland Browns. The offense that didn’t have quarterback Joe Burrow all preseason was a little rusty and only managed to put up 142 yards in the game, with a glaring 2-of-15 third down conversion rate.

Zac Taylor’s message to the team after the game focused on the fact that it’s early in the season and there’s a lot of time to turn it around.

“This isn’t the team that we are going to be. We all understand that.” Taylor said, according to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic.

And that’s true. The team that played in FirstEnergy Stadium was not the team that went to back-to-back AFC Championships despite keeping around much of the roster. Burrow is coming off of a calf injury and hasn’t been able to see game time with his offense since the playoffs.

It’s not likely that Bengals fans are panicking after the loss to the Browns, but regardless, it is still the message you want to hear if a loss like that happens.

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Instant analysis: Patriots show promise in heartbreaking 25-20 loss to Eagles

Despite a valiant effort, the Patriots came up short at home in a 20-25 loss to the Eagles.

The New England Patriots were supposed to get blown out of Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

They were facing the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles with both starting guards and their No. 1 outside receiver all ruled out before the game. It was a matchup that put them toe-to-toe with the best pass-rushing team in football. It’s the same team that had 70 sacks last season and demolished opposing quarterbacks on a weekly basis.

Yet, despite the odds, the Patriots were a drive away from sending the Eagles packing with a monumental upset loss on the road. On a got-to-have-it play in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter, a beautifully thrown pass to rookie wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was ruled out of bounds on what would have been a fourth-down conversion in the red zone.

Boutte failed to get both feet in bounds for a second time in the game, which ultimately gave the Eagles the break they needed to escape with a 25-20 victory.

The game was full of self-inflicted wounds for the Patriots, including a pick-six thrown by quarterback Mac Jones and a costly fumble by Ezekiel Elliott. There was also a questionable decision by the coaching staff to go for it on a fourth down in the red zone, instead of electing to kick the field goal in another fourth-quarter drive.

The sputtering offense for New England got off to a rocky start, but they eventually started to make plays against arguably the best defensive team in the league. Jones finished the game 35 completions for 316 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

If the offense can find some consistency to pair with their elite defense, the Patriots could end up becoming a legitimate contender in the AFC East division.

The road won’t get any easier with the Miami Dolphins coming in for a visit at Gillette Stadium next Sunday night. It’s on to Miami for a Patriots team that came within a play of potentially knocking off the Super Bowl favorites on opening day.

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Patriots Twitter roasts JuJu Smith-Schuster for dropped pass

Patriots fans were not happy with this dropped pass by JuJu Smith-Schuster.

The New England Patriots offense got off to a sluggish start against the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday’s opener. It was compounded by multiple self-inflicted wounds, including wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster dropping a wide open pass on a would-be first down.

Smith-Schuster was one of the newest offensive additions for the Patriots in the offseason. He was a player they opted to bring in over re-signing Jakobi Meyers to a new deal.

Not everyone was a fan of that decision considering how productive Meyers was in the offense. Drops have been an issue for Smith-Schuster in the past, and unfortunately for the Patriots, those issues reared its ugly head at the worst moment.

Here’s what Patriots Twitter was saying about the dropped pass.

Ravens spoil DeMeco Ryans’ debut, top Texans 25-9

The Baltimore Ravens took care of the Houston Texans 25-9 in coach DeMeco Ryans’ return to Clutch City.

Justice Hill rushed for two touchdowns and the Baltimore Ravens tamed the Houston Texans 25-9 Sunday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium.

The fourth-round running back’s eight carries for nine yards were part of the Ravens’ 110 rushing yards. Quarterback Lamar Jackson was the Ravens’ leading ball carrier with six carries for 38 yards. The former NFL MVP was efficient through the air as he completed 17 passes on 22 attempts for 169 yards and an interception.

Houston generated 268 yards total offense to the Ravens’ 265. Both teams were even with 18 first downs. Baltimore edged the Texans in time of possession 29:05 to 30:55. The Ravens had 13 penalties for 106 yards compared to Houston’s nine for 88.

Patriots list six inactives vs Eagles, including two starting linemen

The Patriots are down two starting offensive lineman and a big-play receiver on Sunday.

It could be a long day for the New England Patriots offense on Sunday with multiple offensive starters listed as inactive for their regular season opener.

Wide receiver DeVante Parker, who has been battling a knee injury, was confirmed as out in the Week 1 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Patriots will also be missing both starting offensive guards, Mike Onwenu and Cole Strange.

That means it’ll fall on the reserve unit to keep quarterback Mac Jones upright and help get the run game going.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots are also missing second-year cornerback Jack Jones, who was recently placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.

Here are the inactives listed for the game:

The Patriots will have their work cut out for them in keeping pace with the defending NFC champions with multiple starters sidelined. They’ll be coming face-to-face with an Eagles pass rush that led the league with 70 sacks last season.

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WATCH: Texans DE Will Anderson gets first career sack against the Ravens

Houston Texans rookie defensive end Will Anderson earned his first career sack dropping Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in Week 1.

Sooner or later, you knew it was going to be Will Anderson.

The No. 3 overall pick welcomed himself to the NFL Sunday by sacking a former NFL MVP quarterback.

On third-and-10 with 10:37 to go from the Baltimore Ravens’ 43-yard line, the Houston Texans’ rookie defensive end could not be denied as he sacked Lamar Jackson.

The sack is the first career sack for the former Alabama product, who earned two Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year awards while in his final two years of school.

Along with a sack, Anderson generated five combined tackles to that point in the game with Houston trailing 22-9.

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Texans DT Hassan Ridgeway questionable with calf injury against the Ravens

Houston Texans defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway injured his calf against the Baltimore Ravens and is questionable to return in Week 1.

The Houston Texans are taking on the attrition early.

The Texans declared defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway questionable for his return against the Baltimore Ravens in the second half of Week 1.

The free agent defensive lineman tallied two combined tackles prior to his injury in the third quarter.

Ridgeway was one of new coach DeMeco Ryans’ former players to join him in Houston. The former Indianapolis Colts 2016 fourth-round pick spent the 2022 campaign with the San Francisco 49ers where Ryans finished out his stint as defensive coordinator.

Ridgeway collected 28 combined tackles and 1.0 sack through 12 games for the 49ers last year, seven of which he started.

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