Lamar Jackson is the biggest winner in the NFL’s opening week

After four weeks of a football-adjacent preseason product, games count again. And though the 2019 NFL season may have started with a low-scoring rock battle between the Bears and Packers, the first Sunday of the year provided the fireworks Thursday lacked.

The Ravens rolled up 59 points while looking like the kind of team who can repeat as AFC North champs. Marcus Mariota forged a three-touchdown performance while rolling over a disheveled Browns team.

And the Dolphins, uh, avoided major injury? Only lost by 49? Saw an opportunity to throw Josh Rosen into another impossible situation and seized it?

Anyhow, Week 1 of the 2019 season has 13 winners on the scoreboard so far, but victory was graced even on players who may have started their year 0-1. So who are the biggest winners of opening week?

It wasn’t ...

Antonio Brown was a wellspring of content for HBO’s Hard Knocks, covering everything from frostbite (in August!) to helmet grievances as the premium cable channel set its sights on the league’s least stable franchise. This provided the requisite drama on which the show feeds, but it was just an appetizer leading up to the main course Brown served as Week 1 loomed.

Brown was fined somewhere in the vicinity of $50,000 for missing team activities not long after the HBO cameras had already left. That means they missed the altercation between the wideout and Raiders general manager Mike Mayock, which definitely involved some curse words and may have resulted in some threats. This led to a tearful apology, some social media awkwardness, and a potential crime in the state of California for Brown, who may have recorded a phone call from head coach Jon Gruden without his consent.

One day later, Brown was slapped with a $200,000 fine from Oakland, who also voided the guarantees in his contract. He asked for his release, was granted it, and approximately one hour later signed a one-year deal with the Patriots.

This was sports’ most compelling soap opera of the summer, and HBO missed it by fewer than two weeks. Brutal.

When the Bengals drafted Ross with the ninth pick in 2017, they envisioned him feasting off man coverage and stretching the field with his blistering speed alongside A.J. Green. Instead, they got 21 catches and a 35 percent catch rate over two seasons. Things got so bad Ross wound up dangled as trade bait, only for no realistic suitors to spark a bidding war over the budding deep threat.

It turns out keeping Ross in orange may have been just what Cincinnati needed. The third-year pro had the most productive day of his career, hauling in seven catches for 158 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His previous highs were three and 52 yards.

But despite some gaudy numbers, it wasn’t all positives for the former combine hero. Ross only caught 58 percent of his targets. His 55-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter was more a function of the Seahawks’ mistakes than any actual mastery on his part:

Still, it’s an encouraging leap for a player even the Bengals seemed ready to write off back in the springtime.

While Seattle’s current defensive backs were left flailing at poorly thrown Andy Dalton passes, former Seahawks were thriving across the league. Richard Sherman had a pick-six for the 49ers. Earl Thomas’ Baltimore debut saw him intercept Ryan Fitzpatrick. Frank Clark was responsible for the only interception in the Chiefs-Jaguars tilt.

Meanwhile, the Seahawks who remained in the Pacific Northwest gave up 418 passing yards to an A.J. Green-less Bengals team.

Watkins entered 2019 as the Chiefs’ most expensive player, but he hadn’t yet played up to his $19.2 million cap hit. The former No. 4 overall pick has flown under the radar in recent years, making only 79 catches the past two seasons while taking a backseat to other wideouts in Los Angeles and Kansas City.

So maybe that explains why the Jaguars’ typically smothering defense seemed to forget he was on the field in Week 1.

Watkins rolled up 151 receiving yards and two touchdowns in one quarter, torching Jacksonville in a game where the Chiefs led for nearly 59 minutes of game clock. He finished his afternoon with nine receptions on 11 targets while averaging 22 yards per catch. It was the most productive performance of his career, and it came on a day when a shallow KC receiving corps was further depleted by the absence of Tyreek Hill, who left the game in the first half.

With Hill potentially missing “a few weeks” with a complicated shoulder injury, this unit is Watkins’ to carry for the near future. On Sunday, he proved he’s worthy of that mantle.

Malik Hooker came into 2019 looking like a prime candidate to be a breakout player in the Colts’ secondary. It took only three-plus quarters for him to show the world why.

This was wizardry. The man turned this freeze frame:

into an interception. Hooker might be a Spider-man.

Kyler Murray in quarters 1-3 of his NFL debut:

10 of 27, 70 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception, 30.0 passer rating

Kyler Murray in the fourth quarter and overtime:

19 of 27, 238 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, 122.2 passer rating

And, just like that, he turned the Lions’ win probability into a cosplay replication of the Krusty Show’s ratings when Itchy & Scratchy segments aired.

Arizona overcame a 24-6 deficit to push Murray’s debut to overtime, and while the Cardinals didn’t win, they still made Detroit look stupid in a 27-27 tie. And a big part of that stupidity can start with the Lions’ sudden inability to stop the rookie quarterback across the line from them.

Eagles fans had a very Philadelphia start to their 2019 season. It took them less than five minutes to boo their own team at home.

They had good reason to be frustrated. Despite being a seven-point favorite, the Eagles fell into a 17-0 first half hole as a theoretically scary defense was shredded into ribbons by Case Keenum. The journeyman quarterback brought back his Pro Bowl 2017 form, briefly looking like the man Denver paid $36 million for in 2018 rather than the man it later traded to Washington for a sixth-round pick.

Keenum ran his gamut of weapons, but his biggest highlight came on a 48-yard strike to Vernon Davis. The 14th-year veteran looked every bit the athletic specimen he was when the 49ers selected him with the sixth overall pick in 2006.

It was an especially powerful moment for Davis, who lost the grandfather who raised him Saturday night. With Keenum outperforming expectations in his Washington debut (380 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs), Davis could have a comeback year in 2019 — and he can do it in tribute to one of the biggest role models of his life.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones opened up his checkbook this summer. He doled out lucrative extensions to La’el Collins and Jaylon Smith before making Ezekiel Elliott the NFL’s richest tailback after some months of ultimately useless posturing and gamesmanship.

That all cost him about $208 million in contracts, and he’s not done yet. Quarterback Dak Prescott is currently in the final year of his rookie deal, and he’s one of the league’s biggest bargains with a mere $2.1 million salary. He’s set for a huge raise — and he made a major case to be the league’s next highest-paid passer by picking apart the Giants with surgical precision Sunday.

Prescott threw for 405 yards, four touchdowns, and a perfect 158.3 passer rating in a 35-17 rout. This all-star performance — only the second perfect QB rating for a full game in Cowboys history — wasn’t lost on Jones.

His mastery also pumped up another player waiting on a payday. Amari Cooper, also in the final year of his rookie contract, constantly dusted opposing cornerbacks off the line en route to a six-catch, 106-yard, one touchdown day.

Antonio Brown’s abrupt departure seemed to throw Oakland for a loop. His release left a once top-heavy receiving corps in flux. A handful of solid complementary pieces who could have thrived in his wake were left to struggle against greater defensive pressure in his absence. Derek Carr, whose promise in the pocket waned as his wideouts produced less and less in 2017 and 2018, was doomed to another underwhelming year in front of a coach who could release him with limited cap repercussions in 2020 and install his own guy behind center.

In short, it looked bad for the Oakland passing offense. This was an incorrect assumption.

The Raiders found several ways to move the ball through the air against a tough Denver defense Monday night. Tyrell Williams looked like a worthy WR1 en route to a six-catch, 105-yard performance. Darren Waller had more receptions in his 2019 debut (seven) than he did in all of 2018 (six).

Most importantly, Carr flashed the MVP candidate form that earned him a nine-figure contract extension after the 2016 season. The 28-year-old completed nearly 85 percent of his passes for an efficient 10 yards per attempt to prove the Raiders’ aren’t cooked yet in their final year on the West Coast.

General manager Brian Gutekunst knew he needed to swing hard in 2019. His star QB, Aaron Rodgers, will turn 36 years old this season. Green Bay had spent the past two seasons of his waning prime watching the playoffs from home.

So Gutekunst did a very un-Packers thing in his second offseason in Wisconsin; he bet big on free agency. The budding GM dropped more than $150 million in contracts to bring defenders Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, and Adrian Amos north. The logic was to upgrade a unit that had topped out at mediocre in years’ past, leaving the team an avenue to win games when Rodgers can’t push the offense to a shootout win.

On Thursday, the plan worked to perfection. Rodgers threw only a single touchdown pass for a team that scored only 10 points against the reigning NFC North champions — but Green Bay still managed to escape Chicago with a win. That’s thanks to Gutekunst’s prized signings. Amos picked off Mitchell Trubisky in the end zone to snuff out a potential game-tying drive. The Smiths (not the sad band) brought the pressure that turned the Bears’ two-minute drill into a four-and-out. Without Gutekunst’s spending, the Pack are probably 0-1 today.

Cleveland came into 2019 seeking its first season-opening win since 2004. That search will continue in 2020, and just like the answer to “who brought Stanley Kowalski into the world,” it was all Tennessee’s fault.

The Browns may have been their own worst enemy on Sunday after rolling up 182 penalty yards, but Wake was a close second. The veteran pass rusher was lured from Miami on a pricy three-year, $23 million contract that raised several questions in the Music City. Would a 37-year-old coming off his least productive season since 2009 be worthy of the team’s 10th-highest salary?

For one week, at least, he was. Tennessee bullied Cleveland in the trenches thanks in no small part to Wake’s pocket crumpling tendencies along the edge. He was a persistent thorn in Baker Mayfield’s side, blowing past a tattered offensive line en route to 2.5 sacks, two tackles for loss, and four quarterback hits. The former CFL star’s brightest moment gave the NFL its first safety of the fall.

The former Washington State star was thrown into the fire in Jacksonville’s season opener, replacing Nick Foles after the veteran left the game in the first quarter with a shoulder injury. This seemed like it would destroy the Jags. Instead, it may have made them stronger.

That’s because Gardner Minshew, the 178th selection of the 2019 NFL Draft, found a way to improve on the template Foles left behind. The rookie completed his first 13 passes en route to the best start any first-year passer’s had since 1991. He finished his day with 22 completions in 25 attempts for 275 yards, a pair of touchdowns, and an interception.

This was a massive departure from an underwhelming preseason performance. Minshew struggled in exhibition play; his 11.0 yards per pass against Kansas City more than doubled his average over four preseason appearances (4.9). On Sunday, he teamed with D.J. Chark and Chris Conley to keep the Jags afloat in an eventual 40-26 loss.

Foles is going to miss extended time thanks to the broken clavicle that ushered him off the field in Week 1. The Jaguars will have to add another quarterback to the active roster, but they won’t need to find a new starter just yet. Minshew showed more than enough in his debut to earn his spot on the roster for next week’s game against the Texans.

Week 1 delivered a Game of the Year candidate on Monday night when the Texans and Saints put on a show. The two sides traded the lead three times in the fourth quarter, including twice in the final minute. Drew Brees and Deshaun Watson each ran masterful rallies to prove they’re both MVP candidates. DeAndre Hopkins suplexed a guy.

Standing tall as the biggest hero in a game that pit two of the league’s top offenses against each other was a kicker. Brees furiously pushed his team 35 yards in 35 seconds to give his 25-year-old specialist a chance to win the game. Wil Lutz had booted a 57-yard field goal as a rookie, but he’d have to go one yard further to secure a 1-0 start in New Orleans.

It was never really in question.

Lutz didn’t just sneak his attempt over the crossbar — he drilled it into the back wall. Next week, the Saints should let him try from 68.

Jackson’s breakthrough rookie season was predicated on his ability to make plays with his legs. His season opener saw him shred a rebuilding Dolphins team through the air.

Jackson took advantage of the oodles of time a depleted Miami pass rush allowed him, standing in the pocket to deliver a litany of pinpoint deep balls. The biggest beneficiary of this upgraded aerial attack was rookie wideout Marquise Brown, who started his NFL career with three catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns ... in the first quarter of his first game.

The second-year QB completed his first nine passes against the Dolphins, notching 210 passing yards and four touchdowns in the first half alone. Jackson, who ran the ball 17 times per start to close out the regular season as a rookie, threw for 324 yards and ran for only six while recording a perfect passer rating. As Jackson noted in his postgame press conference, that’s pretty good for a guy pundits saw as a running back or wideout rather than an NFL quarterback.

And though it happened against a Dolphins team that should be relegated to the Arena League, it’s still a major development for a quarterback who still has his share of doubters, even after leading Baltimore to the playoffs last season.

Given his Week 1 passing proficiency and the Browns’ early struggles against the Titans, we may have a new favorite in the AFC North.