Last year, for the first time in NFL history, a team had five prime-time games within the first eight weeks of the season. That team, the Chiefs, went 1–7 in the weeks after that grueling slate. Its quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, the face of the NFL, had to scramble so much behind an understaffed offense and line that the sheer volume of hard hits he took became a legitimate NFL storyline. By week 15, he had torn his ACL.
Also, last year, the Vikings, starting (essentially) a rookie quarterback, were given five stand-alone games in the first eight weeks, including a two-week international road trip. That quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, spent the season vacillating on and off the injury report and dealing with the immediately overwhelming expectations of life in the NFL. His backup, Carson Wentz, also played one of those games with a labrum tear and fractured socket.
