There were some notable performances during the first Sunday of the 2017 NFL season. However, three players stood tall above the rest. Here are the three most notable performances from the opening week of the season:
Calais Campbell – Jacksonville Jaguars
Calais Campbell only needed 30 minutes of football to break a franchise record for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yes, you read that right. The former Arizona Cardinals star was one of the top players for the Jags in their season-opening 29-7 win against the Houston Texans. Campbell set the Jaguars franchise record for sacks in a single game with 4.0 against Houston on the opening day of the 2017 season.
Technically, Campbell has been in on five sacks, but the first one was a combined sack with Abry Jones. The Jags combined for 10 sacks against Houston this past Sunday. Campbell is expected to be one of the starters for Jacksonville in what looks to be a vastly-improved defensive unit. And if we take his first game as a benchmark, then he is going to play a big in the AFC South team.
Kareem Hunt – Kansas City Chiefs
Many experts believed the New England Patriots were going to dismantle the Kansas City Chiefs with ease. However, the first major upset of the season happened in the very first game, as Kansas City dominated in the second half and won 42-27 away from home after winning 21-0 in the fourth quarter.
There are lots of reasons to believe Kansas City deserved the win, but none can be bigger than the play of Kareem Hunt. The rookie fumbled in his first NFL offensive series, but he bounced back quickly and delivered an impressive performance overall. Hunt finished the game with 246 yards from the line of scrimmage. Talk about an impressive debut, huh?
Hunt tallied 148 yards and one score on just 17 carries while adding 98 more and another score on five catches as a receiver. He certainly showed everyone he can be a dual-threat for Kansas City, and there is no doubt he will never forget about this performance.
Tarik Cohen – Chicago Bears
Yes, the Chicago Bears lost to the Atlanta Falcons 23-17. But Chicago could have easily won the game, and one of the big reasons why they looked so good was the play of Tarik Cohen. And yes, I used “good” and “Chicago” in the same paragraph.
Cohen led the Bears in both rushing (66 yards on five carries) and receiving (eight catches, 47 yards and a touchdown) in this game. The rookie running back emerged as a constant threat out of the backfield, but also showed he has good enough hands to play in the NFL. He ended stealing the show over Jordan Howard, and finished the game with 113 total yards.
Howard will remain as Chicago’s featured back for the foreseeable future, but Cohen certainly is one name to keep in mind. He was arguably the biggest breakout star of the first week of the regular season.