USC football’s winners and losers from NFL Week 1

Losers for USC football in the NFL in Week 1:

Zach Banner

The most painful moment of Week 1 was watching Zach Banner struggle to keep it together on the sidelines as the Steelers beat the Giants. He should have been celebrating a successful first stint as Pittsburgh’s starting right tackle, a job he won by putting in seriously hard work to get down to 335 pounds. Instead, he limped to the sideline with a serious-looking knee injury and had to be carted off the field while looking utterly devastated.

The Steelers confirmed on Tuesday morning that the injury is a suspected ACL tear, which will end Banner’s season.

Sam Darnold

The sooner Sam Darnold gets out of New York, the better.

The third-year quarterback struggled in the opener against Buffalo, posting a QBR of 19.3. He had 215 yards through the air, but his lone touchdown and 69 of his yards came via a screen pass. He threw a bad interception, took three sacks and faced endless waves of pressure.

Jurrell Casey

Jurrell Casey was unceremoniously dumped by the Tennessee Titans when they traded the five-time Pro Bowler to the Broncos for a seventh-round pick back in March. He had his chance for revenge on Monday night when the two faced off in Denver.

Unfortunately for Casey, he was on the losing side.

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On an individual level, Casey played well. He had six tackles and two batted passes. That’s not why he’s a loser this week. The responsibility falls on his head coach, Vic Fangio, whose terrible time management allowed the Titans to win the game on a chip-shot field goal in the final minute without giving the Broncos any chance to respond.