As often happens in the NFL, Sunday brought a lot of unexpected. Among the most interesting things we saw this week:

  • New England, New Orleans, Chicago and Green Bay are among teams with high expectations that didn’t look good at all and either lost big or stole defeat from the jaws of victory after getting out to a strong lead. That’s got to be particularly stressing for these teams though because all have high expectations for postseason play and each looks to have a formidable challenge ahead in week two:

o The Patriots have to go on the road to play a Minnesota team that looked far better than expected in dismantling St. Louis

o The Bears have to travel to San Francisco, with the 49ers coming off a game in which they had no trouble holding off Dallas and Chicago continued to look vulnerable to the run.

o The Saints looked brutal on defense and they now head to Cleveland. While they have more talent than the Browns, New Orleans never looks as good on the road, particularly on grass.

  • Why on any planet or in any game does it make sense for Kansas City to so abandon the run in a game that was 10-3 at halftime to the point where Jamaal Charles gets only seven carries? Even Andy Reid had to admit that was “negligent.”
  • The New York Giants looked terrible throughout the preseason, and things didn’t get any better in Monday night’s 35-14 loss to the Detroit Lions, which coach Tom Coughlin called a “nightmare performance.” This is likely Coughlin’s last season – and it’s going to be a long one.
  • Robert Griffin III went 29-37 for 267 — and looked awful doing it. Talk about a hollow stat line.
  • There was a lot of offseason buzz about Bill Lazor bringing a Chip Kelly-inspired offense to Miami, and the early results were very promising. Complete turnaround from the garbage offense Mike Sherman ran last year.
  • Tony Romo is Tony Romo, even with Scott Linehan calling plays.
  • Hue Jackson is one of the best offensive coordinators in the game. Period. His game plan against the Ravens took pressure off of Andy Dalton and made Gio Bernard look like a young Brian Westbrook. Jackson isn’t as big of a name as Jay Gruden was, but he’s a significant upgrade for the Bengals – though that team is going to need to convert some of those field goal drives into touchdowns, or they’ll continue letting teams stay in games. Baltimore should not have been that close in the end.
  • The Colts looked much better playing up-tempo with Ahmad Bradshaw in the game. How long will they stick with the plodding Trent Richardson?
  • The Bears defense was awful last year and they started this year by making E.J. Manuel look like a legit NFL quarterback.