NFL teams ran over 1,800 plays in Week 1. Unless you\u2019re Sean McVay, you\u2019ll probably forget 99% of them by the time Week 2 kicks off. And by October, that percentage will be even higher. But every Sunday gives us a handful of plays that will stick with us for the rest of the season. Those kinds of moments inspired this new weekly feature, where I\u2019ll take a deeper look at three plays that shaped the past week in NFL football. We\u2019ll dive into the strategies, the matchups, and everything else that created Sunday\u2019s most memorable moments \u2013 along with what those moments mean for the future. This week, we\u2019ll look at Josh Allen\u2019s game-winner in Houston, Washington\u2019s failed two-point conversion in Philadelphia, and the biggest play of the Bears’ 59-point outburst. Josh Allen went down to Houston and exorcised some demons. The demons, in this case, were a Texans defense that has given him hell over the past two seasons, including last year\u2019s two-interception, eight-sack stinker. Some of the lowest moments of Allen\u2019s career have come in Houston, but Sunday\u2019s win was one of the better games you\u2019ll see out of the Bills star, and it was capped off by a 34-yard touchdown strike to Josh Palmer that put Buffalo ahead for good. Here\u2019s the all-22 angle. As Allen said after the game, the play wasn’t designed to go to Palmer. He was running a “clear out” route to open space for Dalton Kincaid\u2019s intermediate route. “That is not where the ball is supposed to go,” Allen said. “We have never once repped the ball going there. I just felt that those safeties started cheating to D.J. [Moore] a little bit.” The Texans played man coverage with just a single safety deep. With Moore isolated to the bottom of the screen, you can see that centerfield safety, Calen Bullock, hovers closer to Moore\u2019s side. Based on the way Kamari Lassiter is cheating to the inside on Palmer, it appears he knows he won\u2019t have safety help in the middle. Credit to Allen for noticing the subtleties of Houston\u2019s positioning. Most quarterbacks see that look and don\u2019t even consider throwing to Palmer. Based on everything they\u2019re taught, it’s an absurd decision. But Allen isn\u2019t a by-the-book quarterback. He\u2019s an artist who specializes in absurdism. He sees a safety who\u2019s out of position and a cornerback who will have to quickly flip his hips to keep up with Palmer\u2019s post route. Still, it requires a high level of trust in both Palmer and his own ability to make the throw. Allen makes it look routine. The takeaway:\u00a0That play didn\u2019t just decide Sunday\u2019s game; it also provided a promising sign for a passing game that could be bogged down by man coverage a season ago. In 2025, Allen didn\u2019t have receivers who could dictate coverage or deter defenses from playing aggressively in the secondary. Enter Moore. Allen\u2019s shiny, new toy in the receiving corps caught five passes for 100 yards and a score in his debut. Moore gives Allen an answer for man coverage. And if teams want to throw extra safety attention at him, it just makes things easier for his teammates. Even on a play where Moore was helping out in protection, as he did on Palmer\u2019s game-winner, the Texans felt the need to get eyes on him. Houston hardly played any man coverage on Sunday after spamming it in last year\u2019s matchup. If Moore\u2019s presence can just influence how much man coverage the Bills see, he\u2019ll be a valuable addition to the team\u2014and maybe the one who finally gets Buffalo over the hump. (As a Maryland grad, I\u2019m compelled to point out that the last time the Bills traded for a former Terps receiver, Allen and the offense leveled up.) Philadelphia\u2019s 24-22 win was peak NFC East football. It may have lacked well-executed play for the most part, but it made up for it with a tense ending. After a sleepy performance, Washington\u2019s offense rallied for a late touchdown and could have forced overtime with a two-point conversion. That put the Commanders’ first-year offensive coordinator, David Blough, in the spotlight. He made the bold decision to dial up a shovel pass to the backup tight end. It went as well as you\u2019d expect. Blough and quarterback Jayden Daniels have caught some heat for the outcome of the play, but I\u2019m going to defend both. Let\u2019s start with Daniels, who could have thrown the ball to running back Rachaad White in the flat for what looked like a walk-in touchdown. Sure, that may have been the best option based on how things eventually played out, but Daniels can\u2019t pause the play or peer into the future. And based on the look the Eagles defense gave him \u2013 and the design of Washington\u2019s play\u2014he made the correct choice. Philly had three defenders against two Commanders blockers to the perimeter\u00a0plus\u00a0linebacker Jalyx Hunt ready to help out. Daniels has only a fraction of a second to make the decision. Daniels saw a 4-on-3 in the Eagles\u2019 favor and moved on before it became clear that White had an angle to the end zone. In the screenshot above, you can see that he\u2019s already looking at Bates for the shovel. And, really, the shovel should have worked. The Commanders have the right numbers and blockers to open up a clear path for Bates to waltz into the end zone. Unfortunately for Washington and Blough, football is not played on a whiteboard with scribbled Xs and Os. Talent and execution matter, and on this play, Eagles defensive tackle Moro Ojomo out-talented and out-executed the Commanders offensive line. Ojomo saw the down blocks and the pulling guard and knew immediately that he\u2019d need to cross the face of the center, Nick Allegretti, to make a play on the ball carrier. Just reading that all out in a second or two is impressive on its own, but then Ojomo pulled off a sweet spin move that left Allegretti blocking air before he enveloped Bates well short of the end zone. The takeaway:\u00a0Washington\u2019s failed two-point attempt came on a sound play design, with the quarterback making the right decision; the Commanders just didn\u2019t have enough talent to execute. Based on Sunday\u2019s game, this won\u2019t be the last time that\u2019s the case. The offensive line might be worse than advertised without Laremy Tunsil at left tackle, and the wide receiver group didn\u2019t make Daniels\u2019 job easier. A change at play-caller isn\u2019t going to make up for the talent deficiency. Without any clear avenues for improvement, it could be a long season for Daniels and this offense. I could have picked any of the 10 explosive plays Chicago hit Carolina with on Sunday, but Monangai\u2019s big run that stretched the Bears’ lead to double digits and put the Panthers away for good is a perfect encapsulation of what makes Ben Johnson\u2019s run game so damn hard to defend. Johnson had been setting up that run all afternoon. The Bears aligned in that same formation twice earlier in the game and had Luther Burden motion across the formation both times. Chicago ran “outside zone” to the weak side on both snaps. On Monangai\u2019s big run, the Bears come out in the same formation but snap the ball just as Burden starts his motion. And instead of running outside zone to the weak side, they run their “duo” play to the strong side. You can see the hesitation by the backside safety, who is expecting Burden to motion across the formation and for a run in the same direction. He takes one false step, but in a game of inches, that makes the difference between a 10-yard run and a 61-yard touchdown. We also have to give credit to the Bears receivers, who put on a blocking clinic and bullied Carolina\u2019s secondary all afternoon. Burden makes an impressive mid-play adjustment to block safety Tre\u2019von Moehrig and create crease for Monangai, while Kalif Raymond clears out the second level with a pancake block on Chau Smith-Wade, who was not a stationary target. Those blocks even offensive linemen would be proud to make. The Bears’ skill players made those plays all afternoon. The takeaway:\u00a0Johnson says Chicago\u2019s goal is to break the scoring record, and I\u2019m not doubting him after what I saw Sunday. The Bears have a dynamic talent at quarterback, a strong offensive line, cutting-edge play calling, and skill players who have fully bought in. “No block, no rock” isn\u2019t just a gimmick in Chicago. These receivers live it, and Johnson rewards them with play-making opportunities. Raymond graded out as the team\u2019s best run blocker on Sunday, according to Pro Football Focus, so it\u2019s no surprise that he also led the team in targets. The bigger names like Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, and Colston Loveland had quiet games in the box score but were still blocking their tails off in the second half. If they keep blocking like that, this won\u2019t be the last 50-burger the Bears serve up this season. 1. I\u2019m pretty sure Justin Jefferson went off script on his 39-yard touchdown catch. Based on the other routes on the play, Minnesota looked as if it was running a “dagger” concept, with Jauan Jennings running a deep crosser to clear out the coverage and T.J. Hockenson sitting down underneath. That\u2019s a staple of Kevin O\u2019Connell\u2019s passing game. But the superstar receiver saw the penalty flag, realized the Vikings had a free play, and took off for the end zone. Credit to Carson Wentz for also noticing the flag and giving Jefferson a shot to make a play. 2. New Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle is a star, and he won\u2019t be in Baltimore for much longer if he keeps up the pace he set in Sunday\u2019s win over the Colts. I could highlight so many plays from that game, but wide receiver Zay Flowers\u2019 long touchdown stood out. Doyle had Flowers lined up in the backfield, which complicated Indy\u2019s coverage assignments. All of the corners are playing outside, and you don\u2019t want a linebacker on a receiver in space, so the Colts dropped a safety down to pick up Flowers, who was running an option route. Staying in front of Flowers is difficult enough. Doing so when he\u2019s got a two-way go is even harder. And doing it from depth is downright impossible. 3. Honestly, I think Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer showed restraint when reviewing his defense\u2019s performance after Sunday night\u2019s loss to the Giants. The young defense was botching even the most routine concepts. As Schottenheimer points out, the Cowboys didn\u2019t “push three times to the f***ing flat route,” and two of them came on consecutive plays. With the running back running out to the flat fast, the linebacker, Jashawn Barham, has to follow him out there. You can even see the safety pointing that out to him on the first play, only for it to happen\u00a0again\u00a0on the next one. That\u2019s the type of thing you\u2019d expect to see from a high school defense. The Cowboys have a lot to clean up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NFL teams ran over 1,800 plays in Week 1. Unless you\u2019re Sean McVay, you\u2019ll probably forget 99% of them by the time Week 2 kicks off. And by October, that percentage will be even higher. But every Sunday gives us a handful of plays that will stick with us for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33590"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33590\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}