NFL Week 1: Washington's defense takes over to help the Commanders rally past the Cardinals

LANDOVER, Md. — Throughout the second half, Montez Sweat looked around at his defensive teammates and asked who was going to be the closer the Washington Commanders needed.

Turned out it was Sweat getting the job done.

The edge rusher strip-sacked Joshua Dobbs late in the first quarter to set up Sam Howell’s go-ahead touchdown run as the defense took over the game to help the Commanders rally to beat the Arizona Cardinals 20-16 Sunday.

Howell also threw a touchdown pass to compensate for his two turnovers and avoid what would have been an embarrassing season-opening loss in their first game under new ownership.

.@Sam7Howell secures the @Commanders first TD in 2023 (in only his 2nd NFL game ever) ????

????: #AZvsWAS on FOX⁰
????: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/G4uoYVOqQn pic.twitter.com/jJoMIU6YVA

— NFL (@NFL) September 10, 2023

“We made a lot of great plays to win the game,” said defensive tackle Daron Payne, who had a key sack of Dobbs late. “We made the plays when they counted.”

In front of a sellout crowd and with several prominent alumni back to celebrate the start of a new era, the Commanders were sloppy with a pair of turnovers and several penalties along the offensive line that allowed Howell to be sacked six times.

Washington’s defense eventually took over and turned the tide. After Sweat’s strip-sack allowed the Commanders to take the lead, Abdullah Anderson recovered another fumble by Arizona with under five minutes left.

“Game-changing plays like that definitely get the team going,” Sweat said. “We just got to build on it.”

Howell had a jittery start in his new role as the Commanders’ starting quarterback, going 19 of 31 for 202 yards with a 7-yard TD pass to Brian Robinson Jr. and an interception. The second-year pro bounced back from the pick and a fumble late in the second quarter that handed the Cardinals a touchdown, completing four of seven passes after halftime.

“Offensively, we could’ve played a lot better,” Howell said. “Turnovers, penalties, sacks — just a lot of things I think I can do better. Definitely a lot to clean up on the offensive side of the ball.”

Arizona, which is expected to be among the worst teams in the NFL this season, lost Jonathan Gannon’s debut as coach. Dobbs, acquired last month in a trade with Cleveland and starting after Gannon refused to name his No. 1 QB leading into the game, was 21 of 33 for 133 yards.

“It’s disappointing not to win and that starts with me,” Dobbs said. “We moved the ball in spurts. We have to do better in the red zone. It’s so hard to get down you have to get seven points. That’s what the game came down to and our two turnovers on offense.”

It's one for the city @BudLight | #HTTC pic.twitter.com/TpE9T8Lkf2

— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) September 10, 2023

Commanders coach Ron Rivera gave controlling owner Josh Harris a game ball after the win, and despite disappointment in how the game unfolded said he was thrilled about starting 1-0.

“(The new owners) got their first victory — the first one during the regular season — and it’s something to remember,” Rivera said. “It was a hard-fought game.”

Saints 16, Titans 15

NEW ORLEANS — Derek Carr passed for 305 yards and a touchdown in a difficult but successful Saints debut, and New Orleans held on to beat the Tennessee Titans 16-15.

The Saints’ defense did not allow a touchdown, intercepted Ryan Tannehill three times, sacked him three times, and stopped Tennessee on 10 of 12 third down plays.

Chris Olave caught eight passes for 112 yards for New Orleans, while Rasheed Shaheed had five receptions for 89 yards and the game’s lone touchdown. Michael Thomas, who missed the final 14 games last season, returned to catch five passes for 61 yards.

The teams traded field goals for most of the game before New Orleans finally found the end zone with 1:23 left in the third quarter. Carr pump-faked and lofted a pass toward the right side of the end zone an instant before the pocket collapsed. Shaheed was in the clear and hauled in the 19-yard scoring pass to make it 16-9.

After the Titans’ Nick Folk hit two more field goals from 45 and 29 yards, Tennessee needed one more third-down stop for a chance to win. That’s when Carr, on third and 6, hit Shaheed deep down the left sideline for 41 yards to the Tennessee 26. Jamaal Williams’ first-down run allowed New Orleans to run out the clock.

Tannehill finished 16 of 34 for 198 yards and New Orleans limited star running back Derrick Henry to 63 yards rushing. DeAndre Hopkins caught seven passes for 65 yards in his Titans debut.

Carr’s first play from scrimmage as a Saint was a 25-yard completion to Thomas along the left sideline.

That was not, however, an auspicious sign of things to come in the first half, which ended with Carr being intercepted by safety Amani Hooker on the Titans’ 12.

The turnover preserved Tennessee’s 9-6 lead at halftime.

Falcons 24, Panthers 10

Bijan Robinson outshined top overall pick Bryce Young in their NFL debuts, leading the Atlanta Falcons to a 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers in the season opener Sunday.

Young was intercepted twice by Jessie Bates in a rough start for the former Alabama star who is being counted on to lead a resurgence in Carolina.

Robinson, selected at No. 8 by the Falcons in defiance of those who say running backs shouldn’t go that high, showed his versatility by taking a swing pass for an 11-yard touchdown.

He also broke off a 21-yard dash that set up Atlanta’s go-ahead TD: Tyler Allgeier’s 3-yard run in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

Allgeier added a clinching touchdown on another 3-yard run with just under five minutes remaining.

It was a rough day for both offenses, each of them led by a young quarterback with plenty to prove.

Desmond Ridder, who started the final four games of his rookie season to set up his first full year at the helm in Atlanta, couldn’t get much of anything going in the deep passing game. He was sacked four times and finished 15 of 18 for just 116 yards.

It was an even tougher day for Young, whose Heisman Trophy-winning career at Alabama led the Panthers to trade up for the No. 1 pick and select him as the first of three quarterbacks who went in the first four spots of the draft.

One of the few highlights came in the second quarter, when he hooked up with Hayden Hurst for his first career touchdown on a a 4-yard scoring play to leave the game knotted 7-7 at halftime.

But Young looked like a rookie on two nearly identical throws across the middle, both times failing to pick up Bates lurking in the vicinity. The rookie also had a fumbled exchange, took a delay of game penalty and was sacked twice.

He finished 20 of 38 for 146 yards and failed to become the first quarterback since David Carr in 2002 to win his starting debut after being selected at the top of the draft. The last 15 quarterbacks with that honor are now 0-14-1 in their first starts.

Robinson’s first NFL TD was one to remember, set up by Bates’ first interception that gave Atlanta the ball at the Panthers 17.

Taking a short pass from Ridder, the rookie faked out linebacker Frankie Luvu, smashed through two would-be tacklers and burst into the end zone.

After sitting out a couple of practices, casting doubt on whether he would play without a new contract, Carolina outside linebacker Brian Burns made a strong pitch for a long-term deal.

The two-time Pro Bowler seemed to spend about as much time in the Falcons backfield as Ridder. Burns had 1 1/2 sacks, another hit on the quarterback, and planted Robinson for a big loss.

Jaguars 31, Colts 21

Tank Bigsby made up for a big mistake by scoring the go-ahead touchdown Sunday and Travis Etienne Jr. added a 26-yard scoring run to seal Jacksonville’s rare 31-21 victory at Indianapolis.

The defending AFC South champs snapped a five-game losing streak at Lucas Oil Stadium.

But Bigsby’s miscue — casually allowing the ball to be punched out of his hands after what he thought was an incompletion — nearly extended the Jags’ misery.

It started when Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner stripped the ball from Trevor Lawrence on a sack and then alertly scooped up Bigsby’s subsequent fumble before sprinting 26 yards and stretching the ball across the goal line to give Indy a 21-17 lead late in the third quarter.

Bigsby made sure the lead didn’t last long.

Three series later, Jamal Agnew’s 48-yard punt return set up a 10-play drive that Bigsby capped with a 1-yard TD plunge to give Jacksonville a 24-21 lead with 5:14 to play.

Colts rookie Anthony Richardson was intercepted on the next series and three plays later, Etienne broke free to put away the victory for the Jaguars (1-0).

The Colts (0-1) extended their opening day winless streak to 10. Richardson became the third-youngest quarterback to start an NFL season opener at age 21, going 24 of 37 with 223 yards, one TD and the interception. He also had 10 carries for 40 yards and one TD while being sacked four times. He also left the game in the final minute after getting shaken up on a run near the goal line.

Lawrence was 24 of 32 with 241 yards and two scores and Calvin Ridley had eight receptions for 101 yards and the Jags’ first score. It was Ridley’s first game since Oct. 24, 2021, when he left the Atlanta Falcons to deal with mental health before he was suspended all of last season for violating the league’s gambling policy.

Etienne had 18 carries for 77 yards while Bigsby ran seven times for 13 yards.

Buccaneers 20, Vikings 17

MINNEAPOLIS — Baker Mayfield recovered from a rough start to throw two touchdown passes without a turnover in his Tampa Bay debut, and the Buccaneers opened the season by beating Minnesota 20-17 after three first-half turnovers by the Vikings on Sunday.

Chase McLaughlin matched his career long with a 57-yard field goal for the lead with 5:10 left, and the Buccaneers forced a three-and-out on each of Minnesota’s last two possessions.

Mayfield, the first overall pick in the 2018 draft who landed with his fourth team in three years to take over for the retired Tom Brady, completed 21 of 34 passes after a 3-for-11 start.

He hit Mike Evans for a score right before halftime and was at his best down the stretch, hustling around right end to convert a third-and-2 around the three-minute mark at the Minnesota 39. Then, Chris Godwin made a stretched-out 11-yard catch on third-and-10 right after the 2-minute warning to clinch it.

Kirk Cousins went 33 for 44 for 344 yards and touchdowns to rookie Jordan Addison and running back Alexander Mattison, and Justin Jefferson had nine catches for 150 yards. But after going an NFL-record 11-0 in one-score games during the 2022 regular season, the Vikings ran out of that late-game mojo.

Rookie Jay Ward was penalized for lining up in the neutral zone on a field goal try by McLaughlin that gave the Buccaneers a fresh set of downs to finish a drive that took almost nine minutes with a touchdown pass to rookie Trey Palmer.

More than half of Cousins’ 273 yards passing in the first half went Jefferson, but the Vikings had to settle for a 10-all tie despite three times as much yardage as the Buccaneers.

Antoine Winfield Jr., whose father played nine seasons in Minnesota’s secondary, hit Cousins on a front-side blitz and fell on his strip sack at the Vikings 30 to set up an early field goal for the Buccaneers despite a drive that netted zero yards.

The Buccaneers, with seven starters remaining from the 2020 Super Bowl champions and four first-round draft picks and four second-rounders in the lineup, have another stout defense. They sent just enough timely blitzes to keep the potent Minnesota offense from finding a groove.

Dolphins 36, Chargers 34

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Tua Tagovailoa threw for 466 yards and three touchdowns, Tyreek Hill had 11 catches for 215 yards and two scores, and Miami rallied past Los Angeles.

Hill caught a 4-yard pass in the right corner of the end zone with 1:45 remaining for the clinching touchdown as the Dolphins finished with 536 yards of offense.

Hill also had a 35-yard score on a go route late in the third quarter to put the Dolphins up 27-24.

Tagovailoa completed 28 of 45 for three touchdowns while passing for the fourth-most yards in an NFL opener. He also had a 1-yard TD to River Cracraft late in the second quarter.

The Chargers’ Justin Herbert finished 23 for 33 for 228 yards and a touchdown. Austin Ekeler rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown and Joshua Kelley added 91 yards and a score as the Chargers lost an opener for the first time since 2018.

Eagles 25, Patriots 20

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Jalen Hurts threw a touchdown pass and Darius Slay had a 70-yard interception return for a score as Philadelphia built a big early lead, then hung on to beat New England.

The Eagles capitalized on two early turnovers by the Patriots, spoiling a day when New England honored former quarterback Tom Brady at halftime.

Hurts was 22-of-33 for 170 yards and the TD but had a costly fumble in fourth quarter that gave the Patriots a chance. Jake Elliott kicked four field goals for Philadelphia, which didn’t reach the end zone after the first quarter.

New England’s Mac Jones recovered from a rough start to finish 35 of 54 for 316 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Kendrick Bourne had two TD receptions. Hunter Henry added the other scoring catch for an offense that outgained the NFC champion Eagles 382-251.

Trailing 25-14 late in the fourth quarter, New England got within 25-20 on Jones’ 11-yard TD pass to Bourne. The Patriots had one final chance but failed on fourth down deep in Eagles territory.

Packers 38, Bears 20

CHICAGO — Jordan Love looked like he might be ready to follow in the footsteps of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, throwing for three touchdowns to lead Green Bay past Chicago.

Aaron Jones ran for a touchdown and caught one, helping the Packers pull away in the second half for their ninth straight win over the Bears. Green Bay was 25-5 against Chicago with Rodgers, including the playoffs.

Love completed 15 of 27 passes for 245 yards and posted a 123.2 rating in his second career start. Jones caught two passes for 86 yards, including a 51-yarder off a screen that led to a scoring run for him in the third quarter.

Romeo Doubs added two touchdown catches. Quay Walker returned an interception 37 yards for a TD, and the Packers won for the 13th time in 14 games at Soldier Field.

The Bears lost their 11th straight game overall, and their 10th in a row against NFC North opponents.

Second-year Chicago QB Justin Fields was 24 of 37 for 216 yards with a touchdown pass and an interception. He also ran for 59 yards.

Rams 30, Seahawks 13

SEATTLE — Matthew Stafford threw for 334 yards even without favorite target Cooper Kupp, Kyren Williams ran for two touchdowns, and Los Angeles stunned Seattle.

Stafford was brilliant picking apart Seattle’s secondary for the 58th 300-yard passing game of his career. He did it without Kupp, who will miss at least the first four games with a hamstring injury.

Rookie Puka Nacua had 10 catches for 119 yards and was targeted 15 times in the first game of his career. Tutu Atwell had a career-high 119 yards on six catches. And the Rams were at their best on third downs, where they converted 11 of 17 chances.

Los Angeles had 27 first downs, 426 total yards and 39:23 time of possession.

Seattle had just 12 yards of offense and only one first down in the second half.

Geno Smith’s second season as a starter got off to a rocky start as he completed 16 of 26 passes for only 112 yards. He had a 10-yard touchdown toss to DK Metcalf in the first half, but Seattle had only one offensive play of longer than 15 yards.

Raiders 17, Broncos 16

DENVER — Jimmy Garoppolo threw two touchdown passes to fellow newcomer Jakobi Meyers in their debuts for Las Vegas, which spoiled Sean Payton’s first game as Denver’s coach.

The Raiders stretched their winning streak over their AFC West rivals to seven games despite the absence of star pass rusher Chandler Jones, who’s involved in a feud with the front office.

Garoppolo, who came to Las Vegas after six seasons in San Francisco, and Meyers, who joined the Raiders after four seasons in New England, connected 10 times for 81 yards, including touchdowns of 3 and 6 yards.

The second came with 6:34 remaining, erasing Denver’s 16-10 lead.

Russell Wilson looked much better under Payton than he did last year with Nathaniel Hackett at the helm, completing 27 of 34 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns without an interception.

Payton’s special teams were the problem for Denver. There was a costly hold that negated one return, a botched onside kick to open the game and two big misses from kicker Wil Lutz.