As I watch games from Thursday through Monday Night Football, I take notes on the things that catch my eye. From injuries to unexpected box score production, both good and bad, to scheme quirks and situations that could affect a player’s production in weeks to come. By Wednesday evening, I turn these notes and the subsequent news and investigation into the Eyes of the Guru column.
That process will continue with Season 30 of the EOTG, but I will try something new this year. On Monday afternoon/evening, I will be sharing those raw notes. There will not be a lot of analysis or in-depth description. Those things take time and will come later in the week. The goal is to give our customers an early heads up on things that could impact your important decisions for the week, so if something in the notes is particularly important to your team, you can look into it on your own and/or wait until the EOTG comes out that week to get my take.
These are my notes from Week 1 through the Sunday night game.
Arizona Cardinals
Zaven Collins 4-3, Nick Vigil 3-0, Isaiah Simmons 3-0. Roles and snap counts
J.J. Watt inactive with a calf injury
Atlanta Falcons
Grady Jarrett killing it as a defensive end! 3-2-1.5
Mykal Walker 4-2-1 int, Rashaan Evans 3-3 FR, Saints’ runners carried 13 times. Who was in the nickel?
Richie Grant 5-5, Jaylinn Hawkins 5-1
Baltimore Ravens
Patrick Queen went 5-3-.5 playing virtually every snap.
Malik Harrison 4-1, Josh Bynes 1-0… snap count?
No sign of Kyle Hamilton, but where did Marcus Williams come from? 10-2 FF, int.
Kyle Fuller left with a leg injury
Buffalo Bills
Six players with at least 96% snap share, all in the back seven.
The Bills' pass rush dominated with 7 sacks! A.J. Epenesa and Greg Rosseau started at DE. Shaq Lawson was inactive.
Von Miller had a huge impact 4-0-2 on 53% snap share. Playing stand-up edge/OLB. Greg Rosseau was 4-0-1 on 45 snaps (68%), Boogie Basham 2-0-1 int on 26 snaps (39%). A.J. Epenesa 36 snaps (55%)
NFL.com game book used “edge defender” as the positional designation for Von Miller and Greg Rosseau
Ed Oliver left the game in the second quarter with an ankle. Returned for a play or two, then left again. Jordan Phillips had a great game 2-2-1.5
Matt Milano (5-2) and Tremaine Edmunds (7-3) both played every snap
What happened to Jordan Poyer after making 2 tackles on the first series? Played 98% 2-0-0 int.
Carolina Panthers
How did Jeremy Chinn 5-2, and Xavier Woods 2-8 PD, line up?
Damian Wilson 2-2-1; was he in subs? Shaq Thompson 2-4.
Chicago Bears
Much of this game was played in a monsoon, so don’t put too much weight on the results
Rookie defensive end Dominique Robinson 5-2-1.5 PD, Trevis Gipson 3-0-0 PD, DE snap counts
Cincinnati Bengals
Mike Hilton 8 solo stops playing in the slot/nickel. Daxton Hill does not have a significant role
The Bengals' pass rush was close but only got there once.
Cleveland Browns
All Browns linebackers were disappointing. Anthony Walker 2-1, Jacob Phillips 1-2, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah 3-2. Snap counts?
Dallas Cowboys
Leighton Vander Esch appears to have a three-down role
Denver Broncos
Monday night game
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