Week 1 of the NFL season certainly didn’t disappoint in terms of giving us some surprise results, performances, and stat lines. Obviously, some were positive and some were negative depending on your perspective. After looking over the stats from the first Sunday of the season, here are three stats that surprised me and the most.
Marvin Harrison Jr.’s 4 Receiving Yards
It’s always hard to project rookie wide receivers in their NFL debut. However, a few standout performances in recent years have made big games by rookie receivers more realistic. For example, Ja’Marr Chase racked up 101 yards in his first game while Puka Nacua had 119 receiving yards in his debut last season. That certainly played a role in raising expectations for Harrison, who many believe is a legitimate threat for Offensive Rookie of the Year.
However, Harrison was targeted just three times on Kyler Murray’s 31 pass attempts, catching just one pass for a mere four yards. Folks were going all-in on Harrison having a huge debut. His over/under opened at BetMGM around 51.5 receiving yards and closed at 59.5 yards. At FanDuel, it was as high as 65.5 yards. Obviously, things would have been different if Murray had found him while he was wide-open for what could have been the game-winning touchdown. Nevertheless, just four receiving yards from Harrison in his debut was a shock and a disappointment.
Cooper Kupp’s 21 Targets and 14 Receptions
It shouldn’t have been a huge surprise that Kupp was the standout player for the Los Angeles offense ahead of Puka Nacua on Sunday night. But getting 21 targets while Nacua had just four was a shock. Last season, including one playoff game, Kupp averaged just eight targets and 4.9 receptions per game. Totaling 21 targets with 14 catches for the now 31-year-old receiver was not something most people could have foreseen, even if it was certainly aided by Nacua’s mid-game injury that sent him to the locker room.
To be fair, Kupp has been limited by injuries in each of the last two seasons. Prior to that, he and Matthew Stafford clearly had great chemistry. But considering Kupp had no more than 12 targets or eight catches in any game last season, watching him rack up 21 targets was a surprise. Of course, this isn’t necessarily a trend that will continue. While Stafford will be happy to have a healthy Kupp, it’ll be hard for him to ignore Nacua, especially if teams start paying more attention to Kupp. If Nacua misses time, however, Kupp should be peppered with opportunities.
Cowboys 33, Browns 17
This was surely one of the more surprising results of Week 1, especially from a betting perspective. Most folks were betting against Dallas in this game, as it opened as a PK but closed with the Browns favored by 2.5 points. Long before halftime, it was clear that favoring Cleveland was a big mistake, as the Cowboys outplayed them in every way possible in a game that was never close.
The question is whether the Cowboys are better than expected or if the Browns are just bad despite last year’s playoff appearance. Dak Prescott finished with just 179 passing yards and the Cowboys only had two offensive touchdowns despite the lopsided result. Those stats may not be that surprising, but the fact that the Cowboys notched an easy win on the road with most of the betting action going against them was a shock.