2017 Week 1 Thursday Game Ball

2017 Week 1 Thursday game ball
The return for the third year of one of my original series on this blog. I am so excited for football season to start and have storylines that produce the ebbs and flows of the 2017-18 season. And, with what happened last night in Foxborough was almost Shakespearian.

From the Tom Brady’s human performance, to the resurgence of Alex Smith, and the coming out party for Kareem Hunt. First, with Tom Brady, this is one of his only performances throughout his career that shows that he is in fact human. Brady went 16/36 for 267 yards, with no touchdowns, and no picks. This performance wouldn’t have received as much attention if it didn’t come on the heels of the greatest comeback in Super Bowl and possibly NFL history. It also doesn’t help that Tom Brady’s name is Tom Brady. There will be a ton of speculation in the media today of “is Brady done” or “is this the end for Tom Brady?” Let me say the same thing that I said this past February in the Super Bowl when the 3rd quarter started “The Pats still have Belechick and Brady.” You need to as Aaron Rodgers once famously said “R-E-L-A-X” which is what the NFL media needs to do.

In the grand scheme of things this loss to Kansas City for the Patriots won’t hurt their overall season. The notion that the Pats were going to go undefeated this year was absolute baloney. The Chiefs are also a really good football team with really good football players. Justin Houston, Marcus Peters, and Eric Berry (who unfortunately suffered a season ending Achilles injury in last night’s win) are excellent All-Pro football players on the defensive side of the ball. With playmakers on offense like Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and now Kareem Hunt showing out for the entire league that the Chiefs aren’t a team to be taken lightly.

Which brings me to my next two points. Alex Smith looked like the number one overall pick that Andy Reid traded for when he got to KC in 2013. Smith looked like the Tom Brady that we know going 28/35 for 368 yards, 4 touchdowns, and picks. Smith looked like he was playing for his starting job and he showed that he is still a good starting quarterback in this league. However, all of that doesn’t matter because of what Kareem Hunt did last night.


The rookie from Toledo had one of the worst starts a rookie could have by fumbling on his very first carry in the NFL. That could have spelled disaster for Kareem Hunt, but he didn’t let that happened. He showed some serious heart by using that as fuel to bounce back and have a magical night. My first game ball of 2017 goes to Kareem Hunt for having 148 yards and a touchdown on the ground on 17 carries. He also had 5 catches for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns receiving and just amazed everyone watching. Hunt showed what the Chiefs could have been if Charles or Ware where healthy. It is only one game and the NFL will adjust to what Hunt was able to do against the Patriots faster than Hunt’s 40 time. It is only one game, but what a game it was and hopefully what a season it will be.   

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