NFL Week 1 Grades Raiders get an A for u

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Signing a 27-year-old kicker -- who's never played in a regular Steven Santini Women Jersey season game -- le s than 24 hours before your regular opener isn't something that usually works out for you, but it definitely worked out for the on Sunday.New kicker , who spent time in six training camps over the past five seasons before finally getting a shot to play this week, was the star of the game for Oakland. The former Cal kicker went 4 for 4 on the day, hitting field goals from 20, 52, 52 and 43 yards in the win.It's fitting that the Raiders went with a kicker who has such an unusual backstory because the Raiders won in an unusual way. Going into the season, the biggest question in Oakland had to do with whether or not their defense would actually be able to stop anyone.We know the Raiders can win a shootout, but can they punch you in the mouth and win with defense? If Sunday's 26-16 win over the is any indication, then the answer is yes.The Raiders defense didn't completely shut down the Titans, but they did come up with big plays in key situations. While clinging to a 13-10 lead to start the second half, it wouldn't have been a shock to see the Raiders give up a few big drives, which would have turned the game into a shootout, but that's not what happened.On six offensive po se sions in the second half, the Titans only got inside the red zone one time, and even then, the Raider still came up big. The biggest play of the game might have been a third-and-2 play the Titans ran from Oakland's 7-yard line. On the play, got stuffed for a one-yard lo s by rookie . At this time last year, Morrow, who was an undrafted free agent, was playing football for D-III Greenville University. The linebacker's story is almost as wild as Tavecchio's.After the Murray Craig Smith Women Jersey play, the Titans were forced to kick a field goal, which made the score 16-13 Oakland. If the Titans had scored a touchdown, they would've been leading 17-16 late in the third quarter.The fact that the Raiders are able to lean on their defense could be mean big things for the 2017 season because this was a unit the team couldn't really trust last year (the Raiders finished 26th overall in total defense in 2016). It's still way early, but if the Raiders defense can just rank in the top 20 this year, that could be exactly what they need to make a run at the AFC West title. Raiders: A Although we just spent five paragraphs talking about the Raiders' defense, let's not forget about and the Raiders offense. Carr was consistent throughout the game (22 of 32, 262 yards, two TDs) and he made sure to involve pretty much everyone when he was throwing the ball: The Raiders quarterback completed pa ses to a total of eight different receivers.Oh, there was also Beast Mode, who went in his Raiders debut. Sometimes... It's best to just stay out of BEASTMODE's way. NFL (@NFL) That is mowing down Titans' All-Pro defensive lineman . There aren't many running backs on the planet who can do that. Lynch averaged an impre sive 4.2 yards per carry in the win (18 carries, 76 yards). Titans: B- Titans coach Mike Mularkey put his team in an early hole when he called for an onside kick on the game's opening kickoff. The Titans didn't recover the ball and the Raiders ended up scoring a touchdown four plays later. When your secondary is one of your team's biggest i sues, putting them in a tough spot on the opening series of the season seems like a horrible idea. Mularkey's decision didn't nece sarily cost Tenne see the game, but it put them in an early hole in a game where Tenne see never had the lead. Ravens: A- Four days before the Ravens played the Bengals, Baltimore safety perfectly , "Play great on defense, play unbelievable special teams, and play solid on offense -- that's going to be the secret for us to win," Weddle said.Play great on defense? Check. They forced five turnovers against the Bengals.Play unbelievable special teams? Check. was 2 of 2 on field goals.Play "solid" offense? Check. The Ravens' offense didn't Mattias Ekholm Men Jersey do much against the Bengals, but they did get a 48-yard touchdown pa s from to . If the Ravens had played great on offense, this would be an 'A', but they were only "solid," so it's an 'A-.' Bengals: D The 'D' here stands for Dalton because almost single-handedly lost this Juuse Saros Kids Jersey game for the Bengals. Not only did Dalton throw four interceptions and look horrific while doing it, but he also lost a fumble after driving the Bengals inside of Baltimore's 10-yard line. Everything that could go wrong for Dalton did go wrong. Maybe he should change his name to Andy Murphy. This was all basically every Bengals fan after watching Dalton play. Katie Sutton (@aquakmj) This game marked just the third time since 2002 that the Bengals have been shut out. Steelers: B- After skipping all of training camp, Steelers running back went out against Cleveland and played liked he skipped all of training camp, which wasn't a good thing for the Steelers. Fortunately for the Steelers, they had , who seemed to eager to make up for the lost offensive production from Bell.Brown caught 11 pa ses for 182 yards in the game, which was good news for Pittsburgh, because without Brown, the Steelers offense did nothing. went 13 of 25 for 63 yards when targeting receivers who weren't Brown. The Steelers also got some surprising production from tight end , who caught six pa ses for 41 yards and two touchdowns. Before Sunday, James had only caught four touchdowns in his entire career. As for Brown, the 182 yards marked the sixth time he's hit the 180-yard mark in his career. Browns: B Some day, the Browns will win an opener, but Sunday wasn't that day. For the 13th year in row, the Browns lost their opener; however, they might actually be feeling hopeful after this one. Rookie quarterback looked somewhat capable (20 of 30, 222 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) and the Browns defense did a good job of shutting everyone down (except for Antonio Brown). The Browns haven't had much to cheer about over the past 18 years, so a 21-18 lo s to the Steelers might actually be a small step forward. Jaguars: A The Jaguars have already renamed themselves Sacksonville, which might sound silly, but we all should probably call them that after the game they put together in Houston. New Twitter name. #Sacksonville (@Jaguars) The Jaguars racked up a total of 10 sacks in the game, which fell just two sacks short of the NFL's single-game record for one team. Leading the way for Sacksonville was the unstoppable , who racked up four of the Jags' 10 sacks. The Texans' 203 total yards of offense marked the first time since 2011 Matt Duchene Jersey that that Jags held an opponent under 205 yards.Thanks to their defense, and an impre sive performance from rookie running back (26 carries, 100 yards, 1 TD), it didn't even matter that came through with one of his patented below-average performances. Kicker also struggled, and speaking of sacks, maybe it's time for the Jaguars