NU blanked after its opening drive
Northwestern played a clean game in the opener against Purdue— no turnovers, no sacks allowed.
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald asked DeshaunWatson is going to be fun towatch, but this one will fall media members if they’d to the Texans defense, which will be smothering as long as the written any “fluff” pieces starters stay healthy. The Patriots have come out flat at home in praise of the offensive before— as in last year. line.
Against Duke on SatImproved as the 49ers are, they’re getting too much hype. They’re urday? Different story. banged up and facing an opponent that could wind up with a Fitzgerald pounded the top-five offense and defense. Expect a big debut for Kirk Cousins. lectern during his postgame news conference to emphasizewhy hewent for it on a fourthand-9 fromthe Duke 40, declining a chance to pin the Blue Devils deep.
“I’m trying to jump-start the thing there,” he said. “You sawthe same game I did. Sometimes I have to make a decision thatmaybe does not make sense fromthe standpoint of conventional wisdom, but when you’re not playing well, you have to get the paddles out and shock the system.”
Shocking Saturdaywas not that Dukewon 21-7, endingNorthwestern’s winning streak at nine games. The Blue Devils are damn good.
Shockingwas that Northwestern got a touchdownon its first possession, an 11-play, 79-yard masterpiece, and then failed to score in their next 13 drives.
Thesewere some of the major issues:
EliManning looks comfortable in Pat Shurmur’s scheme, and the Giants will take the wrapper off budding star Saquon Barkley. Still, the Jaguars are ultra-talented on defense and have the edge here.
The expectation of some is that the Saints will come out and run theway they did last year, butwatch for Drew Brees to light up the scoreboard. The Buccaneers will struggle without Jameis Winston. The Dolphins are an underdog at home, although they might be a little better than expected. They’ll have a tough time stopping the run, though, and the Titans are going to grind it out on the ground.
It’s great that Andrew Luck is back, but the last Colts regime did a lousy job of building a top-notch roster around him. The Bengals are loaded with offensive talent, and they could do some damage on that side.
The Browns are going to be vastly improved. Then again, they were 0-16 last year. That said, Ben Roethlisberger owns Ohio, and the Steelers are going to make it clear there’s still an AFCNorth pecking order.
The Chiefs have an explosive offense, and PatrickMahomes is an intriguing talent, but they are old and vulnerable on the other side of the ball. Philip Rivers will take advantage of that and get his team started right.
It’s hard to pick against the Broncos at home. CaseKeenum is solid if not spectacular, and he has a dangerousweapon in rookie receiver Courtland Sutton. The overhauled Seahawks defense will need some time.
Everybody is going to load the box against the Cowboys and make Dak Prescott beat them with his arm. The Panthers do a good job of stopping the run anyway. The Cowboys will struggle to score.
Both of these teams figure to struggle this season. The Cardinals haveDavid Johnson back, and he could be a pivotal factor in this one. The Redskins’ Adrian Peterson could put up some yards against his old team.
Both Clayton Thorson andTJ Green threwan interception on consecutive second-quarter possessions. Green didn’t have enough juice on a throw to his left intended for Nagel. Thorson rolled to his left and fired into traffic, saying, “I should have kept it outside or thrown it away.”
Making mattersworse, Northwestern superback CamGreen made the tackle on Thorson’s interception— but with his helmet. Green, a big and big-time target, was ejected for targeting.
Northwestern receivers could not get enough separation fromthe Duke defensive backs, whowere well prepared. Twice Northwestern receivers attempted one-handed catches. They’re not Odell Beckham Jr.
Jeremy Larkin had another nicegame(121 rushing yards on 24 carries), but Northwestern still lacks a game-breaker, aVenric Mark. Thorson (22-for-38) and Green (9-for-18) needed 56 attempts to throwfor 282 yards.
Starting right tackle RashawnSlaterwas lost to a lower-body injury. Starting left tackle BlakeHance missed part of the game after hobbling off. Replacements GunnarVogel, Jesse Meyler andEthanWiederkehr had a tough time.