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          Mahomes, Thielen headline best quotes from NFL Week 1

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          • J.J. Post, ESPNSep 9, 2024, 10:43 AM ET

          The NFL season is officially back. And with it is a full slate of headline-grabbing quotes.

          Players and coaches holding court after they finish competing never fails to offer some of the best perspective on the week's games. From jokes to blunt honesty, the NFL's first week was no different.

          The "Sunday Night Football" matchup between the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams needed overtime. Down 20-17 with 2:11 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Lions marched down the field and kicked a field goal to tie the game. They momentum carried over in the extra period -- David Montgomery led Detroit down the field and scored a touchdown to cap off Detroit's 26-20 victory.

          After the game, Lions quarterback Jared Goff expressed confidence in the team's ground-and-pound.

          "I think any time David can get behind his pads like that and our O-line's opening up holes, we're tough, we're tough," he said. "And that drive was all them."

          Goff's assessment leads the best quips from Week 1:

          'Without them I'm nothing'

          Jerod Mayo picked up a victory in his first game as a head coach, as the New England Patriots took down the Cincinnati Bengals 16-10 at Paul Brown Stadium. Rhamondre Stevenson in particular showed out for the Patriots, amassing 120 yards and a touchdown across 25 rushing attempts.

          After the game, Mayo turned the attention to his roster instead of his first career win

          'If that was the best that they got, good luck in the postseason'

          The NFL season got off to a strong start on Thursday night, as the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens played a thriller that came down to the final snap. Last season's AFC Championship Game rematch lived up to the hype and provided a potential preview of another postseason showdown in a few months -- at least if Isaiah Likely is to be believed.

          The Ravens tight end starred despite the losing result, compiling nine catches, 111 yards and a touchdown. He came inches away from the game-tying score as time expired, but his foot just barely came down out of bounds.

          Postgame, Likely turned his eyes to the future, remaining bullish on his squad's chances if the teams see each other again in the playoffs.

          'Gotta wear white cleats next time'

          On the other side of the Chiefs-Ravens opener was Patrick Mahomes, reigning Super Bowl MVP. Mahomes finished his 2024 debut with 291 yards and a touchdown, and agreed with Likely that a postseason rematch looms as a possibility.

          He kept the mood light, offering some joking advice to Likely -- whose black cleats stood out against the white end zone boundary on the game's decisive final play.

          'It was a fight'

          Not all wins have to be pretty.

          The Pittsburgh Steelers got their 2024 campaign underway with a victory, though in somewhat unconventional fashion. Pittsburgh scored 18 points without ever entering the end zone, as kicker Chris Boswell booted six field goals. Boswell's stalwart performance tied the Steelers' franchise record for field goals made in a game.

          As Boswell kept kicking, Pittsburgh's defense kept the Atlanta Falcons at arm's length. The Falcons totaled just 226 yards on the day and went scoreless in the second half. The Steelers won the game, which Mike Tomlin compared to a brawl, 18-10.

          'We got our butt whipped'

          The Steelers-Falcons game wasn't the only ugly one in Week 1. The divisional clash between the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints proved to be tedious as well, but for a different reason.

          The Saints opened the scoring less than three minutes in and didn't look back, racing out to a 30-0 second-quarter lead. It didn't get much better in the second half for Carolina, as New Orleans eventually won 47-10.

          The 37-point defeat marked the worst opening-day loss by the Panthers in franchise history. Wide receiver Adam Thielen kept things blunt after the game.