There are seven new head coaches this year: Jon Gruden in Oakland, Matt Nagy in Chicago, Pat Shurmur in New York, and Frank Reich in Indianapolis. On the defensive side, Mike Vrabel is in Tennessee, Steve Wilks is in Arizona, and Matt Patricia is in Detroit. In week 1, all seven teams lost, and other than Nagy’s Bears (who nearly upset the Packers despite being 6.5-point underdogs), none of the teams even covered against the spread. Five of the seven teams lost at home.
The table below shows the 15 teams that lost in week 1, and how they fared against the spread:
| Vegas | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Tm | Year | Date | Time | LTime | Opp | Week | G# | Day | Result | OT | Spread |
vs. Line | Over/Under | OU Result | |
| 1 | BUF | 2018 | 2018-09-09 | 1:00 | @ | BAL | 1 | 1 | Sun | L 3-47 | 7.5 | not covered | 39.0 | over | ||
| 2 | OAK | 2018 | 2018-09-10 | 10:20 | LAR | 1 | 1 | Mon | L 13-33 | 6.5 | not covered | 47.5 | under | |||
| 3 | CHI | 2018 | 2018-09-09 | 8:20 | @ | GNB | 1 | 1 | Sun | L 23-24 | 6.5 | covered | 45.0 | over | ||
| 4 | HOU | 2018 | 2018-09-09 | 1:00 | @ | NWE | 1 | 1 | Sun | L 20-27 | 6.0 | not covered | 49.5 | under | ||
| 5 | SFO | 2018 | 2018-09-09 | 1:00 | @ | MIN | 1 | 1 | Sun | L 16-24 | 6.0 | not covered | 46.5 | under | ||
| 6 | SEA | 2018 | 2018-09-09 | 4:25 | @ | DEN | 1 | 1 | Sun | L 24-27 | 3.0 | push | 42.5 | over | ||
| 7 | DAL | 2018 | 2018-09-09 | 4:25 | @ | CAR | 1 | 1 | Sun | L 8-16 | 2.5 | not covered | 42.5 | under | ||
| 8 | NYG | 2018 | 2018-09-09 | 1:00 | JAX | 1 | 1 | Sun | L 15-20 | 2.5 | not covered | 43.0 | under | |||
| 9 | IND | 2018 | 2018-09-09 | 1:00 | CIN | 1 | 1 | Sun | L 23-34 | 1.0 | not covered | 47.5 | over | |||
| 10 | ATL | 2018 | 2018-09-06 | 8:20 | @ | PHI | 1 | 1 | Thu | L 12-18 | 1.0 | not covered | 44.5 | under | ||
| 11 | TEN | 2018 | 2018-09-09 | 1:00 | @ | MIA | 1 | 1 | Sun | L 20-27 | -1.0 | not covered | 43.5 | over | ||
| 12 | ARI | 2018 | 2018-09-09 | 4:25 | WAS | 1 | 1 | Sun | L 6-24 | -2.0 | not covered | 43.5 | under | |||
| 13 | LAC | 2018 | 2018-09-09 | 4:05 | KAN | 1 | 1 | Sun | L 28-38 | -3.5 | not covered | 48.0 | over | |||
| 14 | DET | 2018 | 2018-09-10 | 7:10 | NYJ | 1 | 1 | Mon | L 17-48 | -7.0 | not covered | 44.0 | over | |||
| 15 | NOR | 2018 | 2018-09-09 | 1:00 | TAM | 1 | 1 | Sun | L 40-48 | -10.0 | not covered | 50.0 | over | |||
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Chicago covered the spread by 5.5 points. New York played relatively well against Jacksonville, but failed to cover by 2.5 points. The Titans were 1-point favorites in Miami, but lost by a touchdown and had a disastrous day on the injury front.
Gruden’s return to football was good for about 44 minutes and 57 seconds; at that point, the Raiders and Rams were tied 13 apiece, but Los Angeles outscored Oakland 20-0 from the final play of the third quarter to the final gun.
The two worst debuts came at home. Arizona fell behind 21-0 at halftime to Washington and didn’t look competitive in a 24-3 loss. The Redskins doubled up the Cardinals in total yards, and Arizona ranks 31st in yards and 27th in yards allowed after one week.
But the worst loss of the week, by any team, came in Detroit. The Lions were embarrassed 48-17, losing to a Jets team that hadn’t won a game by 21 or more points since 2015.
It’s important not to overreact to one game, let alone a coach’s first game. In 1989, Jimmy Johnson lost his Cowboys debut in ugly fashion, being shut out against the Saints, 28-0. Tony Dungy lost his first game as a head coach, 34-3, against the Packers. But for all of these coaches — and Wilks and Patricia in particular — week 1 was about as bad as it could have been.