NFL: Coin Toss: Raiders vs. Rams – and Darnold debut

Week 1 at the NFL traditionally ends with the Monday Night Double-Header: off we go to Detroit, where the Lions welcome Sam Darnold and the New York Jets. At the end there’s an extremely exciting duel: The last intensively discussed Oakland Raiders meet last year’s shooting star Los Angeles – what does Oakland have to counter the Rams? Both games will be live on DAZN during the night on Tuesday.

mySPOX user Vizzy: The Jim Caldwell era in Detroit is over, despite the best phase of modern times from a sporting point of view Matt Patricia should finally tackle the well-known goal: The playoff win. The foundation looks very solid: The O-Line is finally healthy and could train an offseason together, in addition one got Guard Frank Ragnow in the draft.

The miserable run game has been reinforced by LeGarette Blount and Kerryon Johnson for years and with Golden Tate and Marvin Jones you still enjoy the luxury of knowing exceptionally good receivers in its ranks. The defense was difficult in the preparation so far, but this was to be expected under the new and demanding system of Patricia.

In the defensive front there is generally a quality problem, but the secondary is strongly occupied with Darius Slay and Glover Quin in particular. But against the pass, the Lions Defense was ranked 16th and the Run Defense 26th, not convincing in itself.

In fact, in the match against the Jets, there is a crucial reason why the home team will start the new season with a win: Matthew Stafford.

Since Cooter became Offensive Coordinator, Stafford has become a quarterback knocking on the door of elite QBs despite the lack of a run game. In 41 games, Stafford brought 66.3 percent of his passes to his teammates for 11,169 yards, 73 touchdowns, 24 picks and a register rating of 98.2. His Adjusted Net Yards per pass attempt rose to 7.01 in 2017 – Top 8 – and that without a real run game.

The preseason was so promising for his opponent Sam Darnold that he prevailed against his competitors and was the only rookie quarterback to start in Week 1. But here’s the problem: Darnold is a rookie. He has to deliver football right in front of the nation at Monday Night.

Looking at the offensive side of the Jets squad, there’s not much else to hope for. Of course, the Receiving Corps is solid with Anderson, Pryor, Kearse and Enunwa, Crowell was also underestimated by the Browns, but the view of the offensive line should worry Jets fans in view of Darnold’s debut. In 2017 their line created 3.40 Adjusted Line Yards according to DVOA (rank 29) and 52 sacks were allowed.

Darnold may have a great career ahead of him, but in this situation the currently better quarterback will prevail – and that’s Matt Stafford.

Adrian Franke (SPOX): Arguing against this is not easy. Yes, the Lions Offense should be the best unit on the field – but Detroit’s Pass-Rush won’t exactly make the Jets-Line sweat on its forehead either. New York should be able to protect Darnold well and in combination with the route combinations and timing passing game of the new West Coast Offense of the jets one can expect that gaps and simple reads will open up for Darnold.

And there are also some matchups that could attack New York. Like Bilal Powell in a passing game against Detroit’s linebacker. Or the physics of Terrelle Pryor and Quincy Enunwa and the speed of Robby Anderson in Underneath matchups.

The jets should at least be able to score points and keep the game open – even in the run game, against this front. The jets will certainly try to relieve Darnold in the best possible way; besides screen and play action passes, the run game is of central importance.

Bitter from the perspective of Gang Green: You can ask the same questions defensively as your Week 1 opponent. For years, in principle since Rex Ryan, they have been looking for dominant edge rushers in the jets. This search will continue in 2018, the good news for all jet fans: New York may never be ready this year to implement Todd Bowles’ Defense Scheme.

Bowles’ idea consists mainly of man coverage and aggressive lightning and pressure packages. He needs a dominant secondary; if Morris Claiborne can confirm last year’s performance, this could be the case with Claiborne, Buster Skrine and Trumaine Johnson, a new free agency engagement.

This would allow Bowles and his safety duo – possibly soon the showpiece of this defense – to act flexibly and play their flashes aggressively. This should be the best chance for the jets to put pressure on Detroit and possibly provoke mistakes. In combination with an offense – ideally controlling the possession of the ball – this could be the basis for a surprise at the start.

Page 1: Detroit Lions vs. New York Jets

Page 2: Oakland Raiders vs. Los Angeles Rams