NFL Week 1 winners and losers: Dak Prescott, the Browns, Jets and Giants fans

The opening weekend for the NFL has come to a close and football fans were treated to several exciting moments to start the 2024 campaign. 

From near-game-winning touchdowns and overtime thrillers to new voices in the broadcast booth, there was a little bit of everything for fans at the start of the new season. 

But after Week 1, who were some of the biggest winners and losers around the NFL? Let’s take a look. 

Winners from Week 1

Dak Prescott

The Cowboys QB had quite the Sunday between inking a massive $240 million contract extension and leading Dallas to a 33-17 win over the Browns. The new deal made Prescott the highest-paid player in the NFL and his teammates jokingly were already expecting a little something now that the quarterback has struck it big. 

On the field, he completed 19 of 32 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown, as he and the Cowboys – at least for one week – silenced the haters. 

Former Jets and Giants

There were two former members of New York football teams that had very good weeks: Sam Darnold and Saquon Barkley. 

It’s safe to say Darnold doesn’t have too many fond memories of MetLife Stadium from his time with Gang Green, but he finally had his MetLife moment. In a game in which he recorded an impressive 113.2 passer rating and threw for two touchdowns, Darnold exorcised some demons — and maybe a few ghosts — after three years with the Jets that he’d surely like to forget. 

Not to be outdone, Barkley put his stamp on his new team after spending the first six years of his NFL career with the Giants. Now with arguably their biggest rival, Barkley rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns – two rushing and one receiving – in a win over the Packers in Brazil. The performance was likely a little sweeter after seeing how the Giants performed on Sunday afternoon. 

Jordan Mason

Talk about making the most of your opportunity. 

Thanks to an injury to Christian McCaffrey, Jordan Mason was able to log his first career start and the 25-year-old undrafted back turned heads in the process, breaking his career high of 69 rushing yards in the first half alone. He finished with 147 yards on 28 carries and added a rushing touchdown in the third quarter. 

Losers from Week 1

The Browns

The Browns’ season is off to a bad start with Cleveland’s defense being neutralized by the Cowboys’ six scoring drives — including a 21-yard touchdown for receiver Brandin Cooks. Cleveland’s offense never got anything going, recording 230 total yards while quarterback Deshaun Watson was sacked twice. To add to the Browns’ troubles, Watson now finds himself in the spotlight over new and very serious allegations of sexual assault levied against him in a lawsuit filed on Monday. 

ESPN/DirectTV

The television distributor and sports network continued their stalemate over a carriage agreement into the first week of the NFL season, preventing plenty of football fans from seeing the Jets and 49ers play on “Monday Night Football,” not to mention Jason Kelce’s debut on “Monday Night Countdown.” While there is something notable about what impact all of this has on the future of sports broadcasting, it won’t comfort football fans who were left fuming on Monday night. 

College football and the US Open had already been impacted by the dispute between media conglomerates.

New York football fans

Giants and Jets fans did not have a ton to smile as Week 1 wrapped up. New York’s two football teams were outscored by a combined 60-19 margin, with neither team’s offense looking particularly strong. 

The Jets did manage to show a bit of life during the course of their “Monday Night Football” loss to the Niners and Aaron Rodgers did have a touchdown pass in his first full game as a member of Gang Green. 

Giants fans vented their frustrations from nearly start to finish in Sunday’s loss to the Vikings. They even went as far as to boo Daniel Jones as he left the stadium via the player’s entrance. 

There’s always next week for these two starving fan bases.