Time and again throughout his football career, Puka Nacua has shown his resilience.
That happened again Sunday, when the Los Angeles Rams hosted the Houston Texans in a Week 1 matchup at SoFi Field.
Nacua, the Rams’ star receiver, was a target early and often for Matthew Stafford in Los Angeles’ 14-9 win, as he finished the day with 10 receptions on 11 targets for 130 receiving yards.
On the final play of the first quarter, though, the former BYU and Orem High standout was on the receiving end of a helmet-to-helmet blow from Texans linebacker Henry To’oTo’o after Nacua made a catch over the middle as To’oTo’o tried to tackle him.
The TV broadcast showed that Nacua was bleeding over his eyebrow due to the hit, and he entered the concussion protocol.
Nacua, though, ended up returning to the game during the second quarter with a noticeable bandage over the gash on his forehead.
On his first possession back, he caught passes of 19 and 24 yards on a nine-play, 65-yard drive that ended with the Rams’ first score, a 1-yard Kyren Williams touchdown run.
“There was some padding covering that was covering the eye a little bit, but then it was like, ‘Man, I’m going out here. Hopefully these stitches are doing their job because I’m not hesitating to hit somebody else,’” Nacua said postgame, according to the team website.
Nacua also made a critical 24-yard catch and run on third-and-8 with just under a minute and a half to play.
With Houston out of timeouts, that first down allowed Los Angeles to kneel out the rest of the game clock.
“It’s going to be another one of those stories in probably a really long, successful career of ‘Remember the time, opening day, I had to do this, that, and the other to get back out there and make some big plays (and) seal the game at the end,” Stafford said of Nacua’s performance, according to the team website.
Utah tight end ties come up huge in the wildest game of the day
Dalton Kincaid (Utah) and Jackson Hawes (Highland High) are teammates with the Buffalo Bills now, after the organization drafted Hawes in April.
In their first game sharing the field, the tight ends both ended up making big plays for Buffalo in its come-from-behind 41-40 win over the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday’s primetime matchup.
Kincaid, the third-year pro, scored the Bills’ first touchdown of the season on a 15-yard pass on the team’s opening drive of the year.
He ended up with four catches for 48 yards on the day.
That included making a heady 22-yard grab on the second-to-last play of the first half, when he was able to make the catch near the sideline and get out of bounds to set up Buffalo for a 47-yard field goal as the half ended, making it 20-13 Ravens at the break.
Hawes, meanwhile, made his first NFL catch a memorable one, as he brought in a 29-yard pass from quarterback Josh Allen at the Buffalo 1-yard line with three minutes to play.
Just minutes earlier, the Bills trailed 40-25, but after a Keon Coleman touchdown and a Baltimore turnover, Hawes’ first catch set up the Bills in the red zone.
Buffalo scored on a 1-yard Allen touchdown with 1:58 left, but couldn’t convert the two-point conversion for the tie.
After stopping the Ravens on the ensuing drive, though, the Bills drove into field goal territory and won the game on a walk-off Matt Prater 32-yard field goal.
Sack at the most opportune time
Outside linebacker Jonah Elliss (Utah) made a critical play for Denver in the Broncos’ 20-12 win over the Tennessee Titans, coming up with a 16-yard sack on Titans quarterback Cam Ward.
Moments after a muffed punt led to a Denver turnover at its own 24 and with the Broncos holding on to a slim 13-12 lead early in the fourth quarter, Elliss dropped Ward for the 16-yard loss on second-and-8.
His teammate, Zach Allen, followed with an 11-yard sack on third down, and the Broncos managed to force a punt, then scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive to go up 20-12.
Coming back from injury, part 2
Another former BYU player, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner, returned to a game after spending time in the blue medical tent
Following the 49ers’ 17-13 win over the Seattle Seahawks, he explained that late in the first quarter when he laid out for a tackle, Warner’s nose got banged up when he was trying to bring down Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet.
Warner was only out for three plays. He ended up returning to the lineup at the start of the second quarter and paced San Francisco’s defensive effort while adding a pair of tackles for loss.
The touchdown club
Jordan Love (Utah State) tossed a pair of first-half touchdowns for Green Bay in its 27-13 victory over the Detroit Lions.
The Packers starting quarterback enjoyed an efficient day, completing 16 of 22 passes for 188 yards in helping Green Bay down their NFC North rivals.
He capped the Packers’ opening drive — a 12-play, 83-yard possession — with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Tucker Kraft for Green Bay’s first touchdown of the season.
In the second quarter, after Detroit had cut its deficit to 10-3, Love started the ensuing drive with a 48-yard pass to Romeo Doubs, setting the Packers up at the Lions’ 17.
On the drive’s second play, Love found Jayden Reed for a 17-yard touchdown pass to extend the Green Bay lead to 17-3.
Dalton Kincaid (Utah) scored the first touchdown of the season for Buffalo in its wild primetime 41-40 win over the Baltimore Ravens. After the Bills’ opening possession started at midfield following a 41-yard kick return, Buffalo marched downfield quickly before Josh Allen found Kincaid over the middle for the 15-yard touchdown pass in between a pair of defenders.
The Steelers’ Jaylen Warren (Utah State, Snow College, East High) scored on a 5-yard touchdown catch from Aaron Rodgers on the first play of the fourth quarter to help Pittsburgh cut its deficit to 26-24.
Warren, who’s in his fourth season at running back in Pittsburgh, also had a 17-yard reception earlier in the touchdown-scoring drive and accounted for 37 yards on that possession.
Team leaders
Middle linebacker Fred Warner (BYU) had eight tackles, four solo, for San Francisco in the 49ers’ 17-13 victory over NFC West rival Seattle. That included two tackles for loss, with one coming inside the 5 on a third-and-2 situation.
Sharing the field for the first time with veteran Rams wide receiver Davante Adams, an offseason acquisition, Puka Nacua (BYU, Orem High) led the Los Angeles receiving group with a game-high 10 catches for 130 yards. His 130 receiving yards was second only to 143 for Baltimore’s Zay Flowers in Week 1 league-wide, heading into Monday Night Football.
Middle linebacker Bobby Wagner (Utah State) led the Washington Commanders defense with 10 tackles, including five solo stops. He also had a tackle for loss — dropping running back Cam Skattebo for a 1-yard loss on a second-and-goal play at the Washington 1 — in the Commanders’ 21-6 win over the New York Giants.
In his first game for the Tennessee Titans, linebacker Cody Barton (Utah, Brighton High) tied for the team lead with nine tackles, including five solo stops, while playing all 76 defensive snaps in the Titans’ 20-12 loss to his former team, the Denver Broncos.
Safety Alohi Gilman (Orem High) led the Los Angeles Chargers defense with nine tackles (including four solo stops) in helping the Chargers knock off the Kansas City Chiefs 27-21.
Notables
Offensive lineman Kingsley Suamataia (BYU, Orem High) earned the Day 1 start at left guard for the Kansas City Chiefs, one year after he fell out of favor at offensive tackle as a rookie. Suamtaia played every offensive snap for the Chiefs in their loss to the Chargers.
On Miami’s final drive of a 33-8 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Dolphins backup quarterback Zach Wilson (BYU, Corner Canyon High) made his Miami debut in relief of starter Tua Tagavailoa, who threw for 114 yards and a touchdown but also had three turnovers in the loss.
In his lone drive, Wilson completed 5 of 8 passes for 32 yards and ran once for 3 before the clock ran out. He played nine total snaps and led Miami 35 yards on the drive.
Though their new destinations came via different routes, safety Julian Blackmon (Utah, Layton High) and wide receiver Devaughn Vele (Utah) made their debuts with a new team, the New Orleans Saints, on Sunday in a 20-13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Blackmon, a free-agent signee, started at safety for the Saints and had seven tackles, with four solo stops, and a pass deflection on a third-down pass in the fourth quarter that forced a punt.
Vele, who was traded to New Orleans in August, had one reception for 13 yards late in the game to help set up a field goal.
Unfortunately on Monday, multiple news outlets reported that Blackmon was feared to have suffered a torn labrum. First-year coach Kellen Moore confirmed that Blackmon was injured during the game and potentially could be lost for the season, according to NewOrleans.Football’s Mike Triplett.
Las Vegas Raiders offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson (Corner Canyon High) started the first game of the season at right guard after playing left guard during his rookie season a year ago.
“Me moving to right guard, right side is comfortable for me, I’ll play anything, and I think the coaching staff knows that I can do that,” Powers-Johnson recently told “The Silver & Black Show,” according to Heavy Sports.