While I'm bummed about the loss, the one thing I was most wanting to see was if Trevor Lawrence looked legit and I think he answered that question. Dude is gonna be good. Probably as bad a situation for him as could be expected in week 1. Trailed from the get go as defense was terrible, put into a bunch of awful down and distance due to stupid penalties and mistakes, texans knew he was going to pass almost every down, etc... but for his first ever game, he looked the part. Huge arm, could slide in the pocket to avoid the rush, wasn't scared to throw down the field in the intermediate part of the field. He made throws we haven't seen here since peak Brunell. Yea he wasn't perfect but whatever. First ever NFL game and put in difficult positions all game long. Of course he would make a few head scratchers. But his upside is through the roof. I think he is gonna be really really good.

As far as Meyer, terrible coaching job. Team made so many dumb mental mistakes. Had no answers for the Texans and not sure we ever adjusted (admittedly I quit watching our defense in the second half and only flipped back when I knew our offense was on the field). Got away from the run way too early. His decision to be aggressive at the end of the first half cost us as a touchdown as he had to guess our defense might wilt. While all around terrible first game, I'm not going to write him off. I know a lot of people don't like him and want him to fail so it's not always easy having rationale discussions about him but the guy has always been a winner. He was able to win in college by out scheming people but he was also able to do so by out recruiting people. Wherever he went and whatever the situation, he figured out ways to win. Does that mean he will in the NFL? Of course we don't know. But I think the guy has shown in his previous jobs the willingness to fix problems and adjust to the circumstance of the job. He'll have to do that here as well. All offseason I kept thinking about Jimmy Johnson who was obviously a great college coach, had a horrific first year in the NFL taking over a lousy team while starting a rookie QB, and eventually turned into a super bowl winner. I walked into this season thinking Urban, just like Lawrence, will have ups and downs. But as long as we see improvement throughout the year, I'd be hopeful. I'm not going to change that opinion now.

As far as this specific game, the biggest surprise to me was our secondary. They were awful! Winguard was his typical self. Looked out of position at times and missed a couple of tackles. But some of the biggest gaffes in the secondary and the most meaningful plays were from our big money guys. Other than that first drive of the game, Shaq Griffin seemed slow and was constantly getting beat. Gave up that almost hail mary looking pass late in the first half inside the 10 yard line where Tyrod really just threw it up. And I didnt think Jenkins was much better. You mentioned Tyson Campbell as giving up that big play early in the game to Cooks but I'd argue Jenkins was more at fault for that. It's possible Campbell got totally burned or it's possible based on the coverage he was playing underneath the guy expecting safety help. Either way Jenkins had the clearest and easiest opportunity to knock the ball away and chose to go for the pick instead even though it was 3rd down. And as we all saw Cooks stole it from him. And as far as missed tackles, I think he might have had more than Winguard. Neither shaq or jenkins lived up to the contracts we gave them. And then poor Campbell. Dude should never be an inside slot guy. Way too stiff and laterally slow. All the concerns we heard about in the offseason came to fruition. And while this may be on the linebackers, nobody back there could figure out how to deal with pick plays. Our guys were getting caught up in the wash all game giving Tyrod easy completions. Just a terrible all around game from everyone in the secondary. If they dont clean that up, it's gonna be a really long year.

Offensive line only gave up that one sack. Thought Lawrence saved them from a couple more. Overall looked roughly the same to me. They might have been a really good line 40 years ago when running the ball was more important. But it's a passing league and their skillset isn't as valuable in the modern NFL. Still not sure why we didnt try to upgrade the line more aggressively in the offseason.

As you already eluded to, for a team coming off a 1-15 season with a ton of holes and five early round draft picks, kind of disappointing we only got meaningful impact from one of those. To have a decent chance of being somewhat good this year, gotta think we needed a lot of production from our rookie class. And doesnt look like we'll get it outside of Lawrence. Etienne loss is a bummer but after game 1 feels like we need the defensive guys (Campbell, Cisco, and Tufele) to really step up.

---