Cardinals
The debut for Cardinals first-round OT Paris Johnson was impressive but there were still a few rookie mistakes to learn from. One was a personal foul penalty when Johnson tried to pull an opponent off the pile on top of QB Joshua Dobbs.
“That’s an error probably a lot of other guys on the team probably wouldn’t have made,” Johnson said via Darren Urban of the team website. “For me, I didn’t know that was a rule. If you rewatch it, I’m standing there for like a minute-and-a-half that this 300-pound guy is just laying on the quarterback. I’m like, ‘Alright.’ There comes a time where you’re just like, ‘Let’s get him off.’ I’m not trying to throw him. I trying to pick him up so the quarterback can get up because I asked the refs and they had no reaction.
“I understand they don’t want people to get hurt from doing that, from pulling people off the pile maliciously. I understand that now. In the moment, it doesn’t matter, I’m a tackle, I have to protect the quarterback. There is a game going on. I should be able to get him. If I was laying there I’d be like, Dude, you guys just looking at me right now?'”
Rams
Sunday was the introduction for the rest of the NFL to otherwise unassuming Rams fifth-round WR Puka Nacua. On 15 targets, Nacua caught 10 passes for 119 yards and dominated the Seahawks defensive backs just like he had been the Rams during the summer.
“We call him the leverage killer,” Rams CB Derion Kendrick said via USA Today’s Cameron DaSilva. “He comes in and like the first practice, eye discipline. This is really where it comes from, working on my eye discipline. He gets up on you and then it’s so subtle but he gets your leverage every time. He gets it every time. A lot of his catches were getting up on somebody, beating that leverage and just finishing the play.
“His nickname, call him Puka Doncic, for me. He’s going to surprise the league this year, for sure.”
Seahawks
One of the most surprising results from Week 1 was Seattle’s 30-13 loss to the Rams, completely opposite of how most people figured the game would play out. The Seahawks were pegged as a team that could take a big step forward in 2023 while the Rams were “rebuilding.” Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf blamed the loss on effort.
“They played harder, and I felt it out there on the field,” he said via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. “You all probably saw it watching the game. Whenever a team plays harder than you, you’re definitely susceptible to losing.”
If that looks like Metcalf pointing the finger, it’s not. His criticisms were self-directed.
“I really can’t speak for everybody else’s, but my part was just effort,” Metcalf said. “And play after play, just 100 percent effort, it wasn’t just there like it’s been in the past. So, I know that’s one thing I’ve got to clean up. And just playing as a team. When something goes wrong or adversity hits, we just can’t start pointing fingers or just looking around for somebody else to make a play or just to have an answer. Can’t look for the coaches.
“We just have to look inward and rely on ourselves or our teammates and the practices that we’ve had, all the connectedness that we’ve had since late July. All we got to do is just start depending on each other and just start playing as a team more.”
- Free agent OL Jason Peters discussed how soon he could be available to play for the Seahawks: “Maybe this Sunday. Maybe a couple weeks. I just got to get a feel for the pads. I haven’t had them on since January. So that’s going to take some time.” (Curtis Crabtree)
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