The first week of the 2023 National Football League regular season came to a close on Monday. In half of the games, there were eight outright upsets. Let’s take a look at the eight teams that won, that were not expected to win.
Detroit Lions
The Lions opened week one with a bang on Thursday night in primetime as they went into Kansas City and delivered with a 21-20 victory. Lions running back David Montgomery of Cincinnati, Ohio had the game-winning touchdown on an eight yard run with seven minutes and six seconds left in the fourth quarter. The biggest Detroit play came early in the third quarter when Brian Branch of Fayetteville, Georgia had a 50-yard pick six off of the great Patrick Mahomes. Detroit entered the game as a 6.5 point underdog.
Cleveland Browns
The Bengals were the two point favourite over the Browns, but it was Bengals QB Joe Burrow who came up flat as he only had 82 yards passing. Nick Chubb of Cedartown, Georgia was the star for Cleveland as he 127 total yards (106 yards rushing and 21 yards receiving).
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay was a five point underdog, but came away with a 20-17 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Buccaneers kicker Chase McLaughlin of Cypress, Texas had the game-winning field goal of 57 yards with five minutes and 10 seconds left to break a 17-17 tie. It tied the longest field goal of McLaughlin’s career.
Green Bay Packers
The Bears were supposed to be better with Justin Fields, and they were simply not. The best quarterback on the day was Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who had three touchdown passes and a quarterback rating of 123.2, the highest in the entire NFL for week one. Green Bay was a slim 1.5 point underdog.
Miami Dolphins
Miami was a three point underdog against the Los Angeles Chargers, but came away with a 36-34 win. The Chargers simply could not stop the great chemistry of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Tagovailoa had 466 passing yards and Hill had 215 receiving yards.
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders beat the Denver Broncos 17-16 as a three point underdog. Clearly, it will take time for the Sean Payton-Russell Wilson connection to gel for the Broncos. It was a big day for Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who had two touchdown catches, including the game-winning score on a six yard pass from new Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams beat the Seattle Seahawks 30-13 as a 4.5 point underdog. After the Seahawks had a 13-7 first half lead, the Rams dominated the final 30 minutes, outscoring the Seahawks 23-0. Rams running back Kyren Williams of St. Louis, Missouri had two touchdown rushes, and newly acquired kicker Brett Maher of Kearney, Nebraska had three field goals.
New York Jets
Without Aaron Rodgers for the majority of the ball game, the Jets defense and special teams came up huge in a 22-16 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills. The Jets stars were Jordan Whitehead of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (who had three interceptions), and Xavier Gipson of Dallas, Texas, who became only the third NFL player ever to have a punt return for a touchdown in overtime. New York entered the game as a 2.5 point underdog.
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