Lamar Jackson, Trey Lance headline NFL winners and losers in Week 1 of action

Four teams entered the 2022 season with head coaches making their NFL debuts: Matt Eberflus with the Chicago Bears, Brian Daboll with the New York Giants, Kevin O'Connell with the Minnesota Vikings, and Mike McDaniel with the Miami Dolphins.

On Sunday, all four won.

The Dolphins were clinical and dominant against the Patriots, largely coasting to victory. Similarly, the Vikings were comfortable most of the day against the Packers.

Eberflus and the Bears played through miserable conditions at Soldier Field in Chicago to gut out an extremely wet upset win over the San Francisco 49ers.

But it was Daboll that had the gutsiest call of the day, pushing his chips into the center of the table when he kept his offense on the field for a two-point conversion attempt after the Giants scored a touchdown to cut the Titans lead to 20-19 with just over a minute left in the game.

The Giants converted, going up 21-20. After surviving a late scare when Titans kicker Randy Bullock missed a field goal attempt on the final play of the game, New York secured the win.

After the game, Daboll celebrated with his players in the locker room. It's only Week 1, but the vibes are good for the Giants right now.

Debutant NFL head coaches are 4-for-4 thus far this week. Fellow rookie coach Nathanial Hackett and the Broncos have the chance to make it 5-for-5 on Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks.

It was a tough day for those looking to best their former teams.

Much was made of Baker Mayfield's debut with the Carolina Panthers, given that they would be hosting his former team, the Cleveland Browns, to start the season. This past off-season, the Browns chose to part ways with Mayfield in favor of bringing in the controversial Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans.

For a moment, it looked as though Mayfield had gotten the best of the Browns. Trailing 23-14 with just six minutes to go, Mayfield and the Panthers scored 10 straight points to take a one-point lead with just 73 seconds remaining.

Unfortunately for Mayfield, the Browns were able to answer with a game-winning field goal in the waning seconds.

"Would've loved to have the bragging rights against those guys," Mayfield said after the game. "But we didn't finish."

For Joe Flacco, the disappointing revenge game was arguably even more painful. Now with the Jets and facing his former team, the Baltimore Ravens, Flacco struggled mightily under center, despite throwing 59 times in the game. New York managing just three points through the first 59 minutes of the game. At one point, Jets fans could be heard chanting for his backup, Mike White.

With presumptive starting QB Zach Wilson expected to miss at least a few more weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery, Flacco's performance was less than ideal.

Lamar Jackson is still playing on his rookie contract. While he is eligible for an extension, he and the Ravens did not come to an agreement before the start of the season to lock him down long term.

Jackson, who acts as his own agent, said he wasn't interested in negotiating in-season, meaning the Ravens and Jackson will likely pick up extension talks next year.

For Jackson, then, this season amounts to a huge bet on himself. By waiting another year, Jackson can allow the quarterback market to continue to rise. If he continues to play as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, he can improve his own value even further.

The risk, of course, is injury, which could put what will undoubtedly be a nine-figure extension in doubt.

As things stand, every week Jackson stays healthy is a win for him.

Even better for the Ravens, he was on fire on Sunday against the Jets.

If he can make it through the gauntlet unscathed, he could be looking at one of the richest contracts in the history of sports.

If last year was a dream for the Bengals, riding a wave of magic all the way to a Super Bowl appearance, Sunday was a nightmare.

Quarterback Joe Burrow turned the ball over five times, with four interceptions and a fumble. And when he wasn't throwing the ball to the Steelers, he was getting put in the ground, with the offensive line giving up seven sacks.

Trailing by six points and with three minutes left, Burrow connected with Ja'Marr Chase for what looked like a touchdown. Referees called Chase inches short, but replays seemed to show he had crossed the plane.

Head coach Zac Taylor didn't challenge the play, however, and the Bengals were stuffed at the goal line for four straight plays.

Still, Cincinnati's defense held the Steelers to a three-and-out, and the Bengals were able to drive the field for a touchdown that should have won the game.

Needing only an extra point to win, the Bengals couldn't come through, with Steelers defender Minkah Fitzpatrick breaking through for a block.

In overtime, the Bengals would miss another potential game-winner, then punt the ball away, ultimately leaving the game up to Steelers kicker Chris Boswell's foot.

The Bengals lost this game five different times, and still almost won. Weird day.

Sean Payton is no longer the head coach of the New Orleans Saints. After his departure, some (me) assumed that tight end/backup quarterback/running back/all-around gadget guy Taysom Hill might not hold the same soft spot in the Saints offense.

Boy, was I wrong.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Taysom Hill will outlive us all.

The Eagles have been searching for a No. 1 wide receiver for years now. After trading for A.J. Brown in the off-season, it looks like they've finally found one.

Should Brown prove the key that unlocks the Eagles' offense, Philadelphia could be playing some important games come January.

Trey Lance and the San Francisco 49ers lost ugly in Chicago.

Given the game was played in a veritable monsoon, it's tough to judge Lance too harshly, but this was not the start to the season San Francisco was hoping for, from the guy they believe to be the future of their franchise.

While it's still probably too early to call for a quarterback controversy in San Francisco, Jimmy Garoppolo is waiting in the wings, and he has taken this team to the Super Bowl before. Should Lance's struggles carry over to nicer weather, the 49ers might have some decisions to make.

Minkah Fitzpatrick opened the game against the Bengals with a pick-six, scoring the first touchdown of the first Sunday of the NFL season.

He then closed the day with his game-saving blocked kick, beginning one hell of a Defensive Player of the Year campaign.

While the Steelers may have lost defensive linchpin T.J. Watt for an extended period due to injury, Fitzpatrick still anchors one of the most impressive units in all of football.

After Baker Mayfield nearly pulled off a comeback that would have sent Cleveland back to the Stone Age, the Browns could turn to just one person to save their skin — rookie kicker Cade York.

York stepped up and delivered.

The 58-yard game-winner was his fourth made field goal of the day.

York was the only kicker taken in the 2022 NFL Draft, selected with a fourth-round pick by Cleveland. They've already gotten their money's worth.

Outside of York, Sunday was a tough day for kickers.

In Steelers-Bengals, both Evan McPherson and Chris Boswell missed potential game-winning kicks, though Boswell was able to redeem himself before the final whistle.

In Tennessee, Randy Bullock missed a 47-yarder with the game on the line.

Kicking for the Colts, Rodrigo Blackenship had a 42-yard attempt in overtime that would have given Indianapolis the win, but they settled for a tie instead.

And finally, the New Orleans Saints blocked a kick from Atlanta's Younghoe Koo to seal their victory.

Also, Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker suffered an injury, leaving safety Justin Reid to kick extra pointers. He drilled one of them.

He missed another attempt, but still, not too shabby for a safety.

Michael Thomas, once one of the most dominant receivers in the league, missed the entirety of the 2021 season due to an ankle injury.

It was unclear just how much of his playmaking would return when he finally got back on the field.

Thomas answered any doubters with aplomb, finishing the day with five catches for 57 yards and two touchdowns to help the Saints to a 27-26 victory over the Falcons.

Bill Belichick decided that the New England Patriots would not name an offensive coordinator heading into the 2022 season. Instead, that role would be filled by the tandem of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge.

It was an odd decision. First, most teams have an offensive coordinator. Additionally, even if you are going to assign a tag-team to the job, you would at least want coaches that have handled an offense before. Patricia cut his teeth as a defensive assistant for the Patriots, while Judge started out as a special teams coordinator.

"I think they're both good coaches," Belichick told the Boston Globe days before the Patriots opened their season. "Ultimately, it's my responsibility, like it always is. So if it doesn't go well, blame me."

Spoiler alert: It didn't go well in Week 1, with the Patriots losing to the Dolphins 20-7.

Khalil Mack has been a dominant defensive player on mediocre teams for his entire career.

He's made the postseason three times but never won a playoff game.

But after an eventful off-season, Mack is free from the Raiders and Bears, having joined the Chargers, a good team.

Now, when Mack makes a ridiculous play like this one, it actually matters.

Mack finished the day with three sacks and six total tackles. Alongside Joey Bosa, he helps lead one of the scariest front fours in all of football.

The Packers took a bold strategy to deal with the departure of superstar wide receiver Devante Adams: Do absolutely nothing.

Let's see how that's working out for them.

Rodgers threw for just 195 yards in what was an overall miserable outing for the Packers, who eventually lost to the Vikings 23-7.

The Buffalo Bills decided to release O.J. Howard just before the start of the season in one of the more surprising cuts this fall.

Howard wasn't without a team for long, being scooped up by the Houston Texans.

Going from a Super Bowl favorite to a team that will likely be lucky to avoid finishing last in its division must not have been easy, but with two touchdowns on Sunday against the Colts, Howard seems to be having a good enough time in Houston.

Patrick Mahomes is always tough to beat, but in September, he's been basically perfect.

With the Chiefs' win over the Cardinals, Mahomes moved to 12-2 in his career playing in September, with 46 touchdowns against just three interceptions.

Mahomes finished with 360 yards and five touchdowns against Arizona, despite breaking in a nearly brand new receivers group.

Somehow, he keeps making his half-billion dollar contract look like a steal for Kansas City.

Last year, Mahomes and the Chiefs stumbled for a bit in October. This struggle was largely attributed to teams taking a new tact against Mahomes, giving up on blitzing in favor of dropping more players into coverage.

"The New Strategy to Slow Down Patrick Mahomes: Don't Blitz," wrote Ben Solak at The Ringer.

"Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen Looked Unstoppable. This Defense Stopped Them," wrote Andrew Beaton at the Wall Street Journal.

It was a whole thing.

While dialing back the blitzes in favor of more two-high coverage is no guarantee to beat Mahomes, it had at the very least proven a formula that could put your team in a position to keep pace.

With this in mind, the Cardinals decided to blitz the absolute crap out of Mahomes all day on Sunday.

Let this be a lesson to any defenses game-planning against Mahomes in the near future.