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Alas, the Bears host the Giants next week. As for the Lions? It can’t get worse than Sunday. Unless it can.

New England looks just fine without Brady.

It’s tempting, so very tempting, to make sweeping proclamations after a team’s first game of the season.

So, no breathless conclusions here.

But.

In their 21-11 victory against Miami, the New England Patriots demonstrated how they intend to proceed with quarterback Cam Newton — and without Tom Brady — and it looks fabulous. In his New England debut, Newton completed 15 of 19 passes for 155 yards and ran 15 times for 75 yards — the most by a Patriots quarterback in franchise history.

That is a fun but, let’s be honest here, largely irrelevant stat. More significant is that Newton has run for as many yards only nine previous times in his career, and not since Week 10 of the 2017 season.

Unencumbered by the foot injury that ended last season and affected teams’ interest during free agency, Newton is flaunting the form that has made him so difficult to defend when healthy. The coordinator Josh McDaniels has married Newton’s running expertise with his passing prowess to create an efficient ball-control offense that ran for 217 yards.

Newton has long been unstoppable, or close to it, in short yardage or near the goal line. In the first three quarters, whenever Newton ran the ball needing five or fewer yards for the first down or touchdown, he converted. Whether Newton can continue to absorb some of the hits he endured Sunday and last a full season is a reasonable concern.

But for now, the Patriots are 1-0, with no worries at quarterback.

Here’s a scary thought: Give the Ravens another runner.

Last year, the Baltimore Ravens set an N.F.L. record with 3,296 rushing yards. In what should be terrifying news for the rest of the N.F.L., they appear to have added a significant weapon to their arsenal in J.K. Dobbins, a rookie running back out of Ohio State.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/13/sports/football/nfl-scores.html