The start of a new season brings hope and anticipation to most fans of the National Football League. Unlike any other season, this NFL season started with a wide receiver getting laid out on the concrete and handcuffed just outside his team’s stadium and a quarterback finalizing a new extension on game day.
On his way to the stadium to kick off a new season, Tyreek Hill, the Miami Dolphins All-Pro Wide Receiver, was pulled over by Miami Dade police. Video of the incident shows Hill getting snatched out of his car, forced to the ground, and handcuffed as he lay on his stomach.
Once handcuffed, two officers can be seen walking Hill from the street to the sidewalk. While on the sidewalk, one officer forced Hill to the ground by another one of the officers on the scene.
Hill was uncooperative when the officers detained him for “driving in a manner in which he was putting himself and others in great danger,” according to the President of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, Steadman Stahl.
Ultimately, Hill was issued two citations and allowed to go on his way. He then scored the game-tying touchdown for the Dolphins and proceeded to mock the officers with a “handcuff endzone celebration.” Hill would finish the Dolphins season opener with seven catches for 130 yards and one touchdown in their first win.
The Dallas Cowboys and their owner, Jerry Jones, have played footsies with their veteran quarterback, Dak Prescott, for years. They signed him the “franchise tag” last season, as they appeared unwilling to commit to him long-term, and after restructuring his deal this off-season, the Cowboys were able to create more cap space for other players. Yet this did not lock him up past this season, leaving the Cowboys to either sign Dak to a long-term deal or let him walk in the coming offseason.
Well, in a bold, convincing move, moments before they kick off their new season, the Cowboys and Prescott have agreed to an extension. This new record-setting deal of four years, $240 million, with $231 guaranteed, makes Dak the highest-paid quarterback in the league.
The 2016 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, three-time pro-bowler, and 2022 Walter Payton Man of the Year award winner Prescott was named to the second All-Pro team last season. Yet Cowboy fans will still be on the edge of their seat come playoff time, as Prescott only has a .500 playoff record, and they have not played in the Super Bowl since 1996.
It is always nice to start the season with a win, yet they beat the Cleveland Browns, not the Browns, with the veteran quarterback Joe Flacco that led them to the playoffs last season. They beat the Browns with an embattled Deshaun Watson. Since the multiple lawsuits and allegations of lewd conduct with several massage therapists, Watson’s game has taken a swift drop.
In Watson’s final year with the Houston Texans, he led the NFL in passing yards (4823), yards gained per passing attempt (8.9), and yards gained per pass completion. Which would end up being the last season he played an entire season. In either season with the Browns, he has not played more than six games and has started this season by generating positive yardage on less than half of the plays against the Cowboys.
Even though the Browns have comforted Watson with the only guaranteed contract in the NFL, they have to seriously consider moving on from him if his play doesn’t drastically improve in the coming weeks. The cap hit would be so detrimental to the team that releasing him doesn’t make sense, though allowing Jameis Winston or Dorian Thompson Robinson to get some playing time might be the best thing for them if they want to make a run at the AFC title.
Competing with the defending AFC Champions, Kansas City Chiefs, might be a bit ambitious. Yet, they will have their opportunity when the Chiefs travel to play in Cleveland in week 15, as they play their way to the only three-peat NFL fans have witnessed.
The Chiefs won their initial game of the season against their recent rivals, the Baltimore Ravens, by a narrow margin. If the Ravens, second-year tight end Isaiah Likely was able to keep his toe in bounds after seemingly catching the game-winning TD pass, the Ravens upset the Chiefs.
As fate would have it, the Chiefs won the game while introducing their speedy wide receiver, Xavier Worthy, to the NFL. They targeted their rookie receiver three times in the game and utilized him on a reverse early on. Worthy took that reverse 21 yards to the endzone and caught two passes, one of them for a 35-yard touchdown, letting teams know that he would be a threat in the Chiefs offense early and often.
The Dolphins can avenge their wild-card loss to the Bills when they host them in South Florida. The Cowboys can push their record to 2-0 this week as they have their home opener against the New Orleans Saints, and the Ravens have a great chance to rebound from their loss to the Chiefs this week as they welcome the Las Vegas Raiders to their home opener at M&T Bank Stadium. Which games are you looking forward to in Week 2 of the NFL Season?
