SI:AM | Dak’s Injury, Rookie Coaches and More From Week 1
Plus, Alcaraz ascends to No. 1 with the U.S. Open crown.
Good morning, I’m Kevin Sweeney. Does the NFL really still need ties?
In today’s SI:AM:
🏈 Albert Breer’s Week 1 takeaways
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A wild NFL Week 1
The first Sunday of the NFL season did not disappoint. We had one (and nearly two) ties, a few remarkable comebacks, Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert doing absurd things. Kickers nailing 58-yard game-winners and doinking others.
Here’s what you should know about Week 1.
Dak Prescott’s injury
It’s hard to have scripted a worse opener for the Cowboys, whose offense was silenced after the opening series in a 19–3 loss to Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. But the big story for Dallas and the NFC East as a whole was the hand injury Dak Prescott suffered in the fourth quarter that will cause him to miss several weeks, according to Jerry Jones.
Cooper Rush, the fifth-year backup who appeared in five games last season for the Cowboys, is next in line at quarterback. But can Dallas keep up in the NFC East without its franchise QB for the near future? The Cowboys have three divisional games in the next five weeks, and the two other games in that stretch are against the Bengals and Rams. If Dallas doesn’t make a move for another QB (looking at you, Jimmy Garoppolo), it might dig itself too big a hole to climb out of.
For the Bucs, it was a strong start to the Todd Bowles era. Tom Brady was solid in his first game of the new season, and the Bucs were able to establish the run with Leonard Fournette. A date with the 1–0 Saints looms next Sunday.
New coaches get big wins
The league had nine coaches debut with their new teams Sunday, and they went 6-2-1 with multiple upset victories, with Nathaniel Hackett’s Broncos still to play tonight. The true rookie head coaches (who weren’t in their second or third stints leading NFL teams) were impressive, going 4–0:
- Brian Daboll got a resurgent performance from Saquon Barkley to lead the Giants to a comeback victory over the Titans, which included a bold two-point conversion call that ended up being the difference in the game.
- Matt Eberflus and the Bears showed plenty of resolve to rally past the 49ers in sloppy conditions at Soldier Field.
- Well-regarded offensive minds Mike McDaniel (Dolphins) and Kevin O’Connell (Vikings) saw their teams put together impressive performances in double-digit wins over the Patriots and Packers, respectively.
Steelers win wacky OT thriller vs. Bengals
This game had Pac-12 After Dark energy, for my fellow college football fans. The Bengals committed five turnovers, got stopped once on the goal line, had a game-winning PAT blocked and missed a game-winning 29-yard field goal and yet still had a chance to come away with a win or tie. But after Joe Burrow was sacked late in overtime to take the Bengals out of field goal range, Mitchell Trubisky led a game-winning drive that ended in a 53-yard field goal from Chris Boswell as time expired.
It wasn’t all good news for the Steelers. The Pittsburgh offense possessed the ball for 17 minutes less than the Bengals, struggled to establish the run and produced just 16 total points on offense in 70 minutes of action. And to make matters worse, star edge T.J. Watt may be sidelined for a while after suffering what the Steelers believe is a torn pectoral muscle.
In the end, the Bengals gave away a game they were on the brink of winning multiple times, one that could be costly come playoff time. And Cincinnati’s sloppiness is worth noting, even though it’s hard to believe Burrow will turn it over five times again this season.
Let’s ride: Monday Night Football brings Russ back to Seattle
We don’t get the usual Monday night doubleheader to wrap up the first week of the season, but the standalone game tonight still should have some intrigue. How will Seahawks fans greet Russell Wilson in his first game with his new team? Wilson, who was dealt to the Broncos this offseason and later signed a massive contract extension to keep him in Denver for the long haul, has a strong group of receivers to work with. But entering one of the tougher atmospheres in the NFL is never easy, and the crowd should be even more juiced up than usual for this one. It would be quite the story if Geno Smith knocked off Wilson in Week 1.
The best of Sports Illustrated
In today’s Daily Cover, Jon Wertheim catches up with the new Monday Night Football broadcast duo of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.
Aikman and Buck are tasked with restoring glory to the Monday Night Football broadcast that ESPN has struggled to define since 2006. But you might say MNF is now driving downfield. Whether it’s complementary or supplementary, the ManningCast adds cache to ESPN’s night. And after this year, the network will have the ability to flex games as the season goes, improving the quality of matchups. ESPN/ABC is now in the rotation to broadcast Super Bowls and will call the grand finale for the ’26 season. That made the poaching of an established, if expensive, announcer duo all the more appealing.
Jon Wertheim and Chris Almeida break down Carlos Alcaraz becoming the youngest men’s No. 1 player in the Open era after beating Casper Ruud for the U.S. Open title. … The MMQB staff hands out game balls for Week 1, including a huge day from Justin Jefferson. … Pat Forde examines the aftermath of a chaotic Week 2 in college football, including the disastrous losses by Texas A&M and Notre Dame. … Plus, Ross Dellenger goes inside Bryce Young’s strong finish that helped Alabama avoid disaster Saturday at Texas.
Around the sports world
Nebraska finally put an end to the Scott Frost era in Lincoln, parting ways with the embattled coach Sunday in the wake of an upset loss to Georgia Southern. … The Aces won Game 1 of the WNBA Finals in a grind-it-out, defensive affair that saw neither team top 70 points. … Iga Świątek beat Ons Jabeur in straight sets to win the women’s singles title at the U.S. Open, her second major of the year and third overall. … Lamar Jackson reportedly turned down an extension offer worth more than $250 million and will play out this season on his expiring deal. … Plus, Albert Pujols hit home run No. 697 of his career, passing Alex Rodriguez for fourth all-time and just three away from joining the 700 club.
The top five...
… things I saw this weekend.
5. A Hail Mary winner by Holy Cross.
4. Georgia Southern trolling Nebraska after its big win.
3. Bubba Wallace’s winning reaction.
2. The reaction in Boone, N.C., to Appalachian State’s big win.
1. Michael Jordan’s epic Tom Brady tribute.
SIQ
Albert Pujols hit two more home runs over the weekend to inch closer to that 700 career home run milestone. Though he’s enjoyed a renaissance this season, the 42-year-old is not nearly the most prolific aging slugger in MLB history. What player has hit the most home runs in his age-40 season and later? (For this leaderboard, players’ ages are used on June 30 of that season.)
Check tomorrow’s newsletter for the answer.
Friday’s SIQ: By winning the men’s U.S. Open singles title yesterday, 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest ATP No. 1 ever. Who previously held that title?
Answer: Lleyton Hewitt. The Australian achieved world No. 1 at 20 years, 8 months in November 2001. He won the U.S. Open that year and followed it up by winning the Wimbledon title in ’02. He held on to the ranking for 75 consecutive weeks (and 80 overall) between ’01 and the spring of ’03. Hewitt would not regain the top spot in the ATP rankings again.
Did he fall off? That could be an unfair assessment. By February 2004, Roger Federer took over the top spot for a record 237 consecutive weeks until August ’08. From Federer’s first week at No. 1 in ’04 to Feb. 28 of this year (about 18 years) the top spot in the ATP rankings was traded between just four players: Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
Here’s a fun fact: if Alcaraz was to equal Federer’s record of consecutive weeks at No. 1, he’d have to hold on to the spot from now until March 29, 2027. The teenager would be a grizzled 23.
—Josh Rosenblat
From the Vault: Sept. 12, 1960
Ray Cave’s profile of the best male amateur golfer starts out with a disarming lede. Cave outlines Jack Nicklaus’s nicknames. Back in 1960, Nicklaus wasn’t yet known as the Golden Bear. Instead, he was called Blob-o, Whaleman and Fat Boy.
Whatever you called him, Nicklaus was an amateur golf phenom. A 20-year-old junior at Ohio State, Nicklaus first broke 70 as a 13-year-old and won the Ohio Open at 16.
Interestingly, the profile lays out Nicklaus’s desire to remain an amateur. Nicklaus says he had a job selling insurance, working his own hours so he could finish school and play golf. Eventually, he said, he would need to make $25,000 a year to play in major golf tournaments.
“I really want to win the big ones as an amateur,” he said. “The Open, the PGA and, most of all, the Masters.”
The next year, in 1961, Nicklaus turned professional. And he won the big ones all right, finishing his career with a record 18 wins in majors.
—Josh Rosenblat
Check out more of SI’s archives and historic images at vault.si.com.
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