Winners and Losers from week 2 of the NFL season
After the usual overreactions and hot takes from the first week of having football back in our lives, most fanbases saw their hopes and dreams crash back down to earth as we had yet another string of bizarre comebacks coupled with a some upset wins. It’s still too early to say how exactly how the league is shaping up. While there’s some safe assumptions to be made, it seem that every week its forgotten that the NFL can be wildly unpredictable and that no teams are safe from upsets and conversely, no teams are beyond redemption and some playoff aspirations. This time last season, the Bills were 1-1, the Chiefs had disastrously blown a game to the Ravens, the Bengals were 1-1 and had lost to the bears in week 2 and the Rams had just barely eeked out a win against the Colts. We’re still a while away from finding out exactly what teams are contenders and what teams are pretenders.
Winners: Eagles, Lions, Bills, and Tua
Won’t you look at that, we have a couple of NFC teams on the winners column this week. After spending most of last week focusing on the AFC, we circle around to the NFC to see a dark horse contender emerge as well as a young upstart team that’s finally on the rise. For the AFC, the Bills are continuing their claim as clear cut SB contenders whilst the Dolphins led by Tua are making their mark as one of the fastest and most dynamic teams in the NFL.
“His deep-ball touch and intermediate accuracy improved this year so teams may see him as a developmental talent who will keep getting better in the right scheme. He'll struggle to beat NFL defenses from the pocket, but his ability to grind out yards on the ground and make off-schedule plays should make him a solid backup with upward mobility.”
That was the scouting report on Jalen Hurts coming out of college and watching him perform last season, it would’ve been hard to argue against. Hurts threw a paltry 16 TD’s across a full 27 games last year whilst only averaging 209 yards through the air at a 61% clip. None of his passing issues appeared to change in his first couple outings against Detroit last week either as he started the game with five straight incompletions despite rushing for 50 yards in the first quarter. Things changed pretty quick though as he found his new weapon, star receiver AJ Brown, time after time after time as Hurts bounced back to have a tremendous game. By the final whistle, he had thrown for 243 yards and while he did have a rough completion percentage, there was now a future in which Hurts may just be the QB Philly fans had been hoping for. Against the Vikings in week 2, Hurts inspired more hope than Tebow on a Sunday as he carved that defence up in the first half and did so whilst being incredibly accurate.
By games end, Hurts had finished 26/31 for 333 yards, 1 passing TD, 2 rushing TD’s and a single INT for a 24-7 victory. This doesn’t tell the full story of course as all 24 of those points came in the first half as Sota shutout the Eagles in the second half despite possessing the ball for large chunks of time. The lack of points was largely a result of penalties on the offensive line as time after time Hurts was facing first and 20’s or second and 15’s. Fortunately for the Eagles though, Darius Slay had himself a day and Kirk Cousins once again proved why prime time games are his greatest foil. Cause for concern does exist for Philly despite the easy win but the diversity of attack in that offence should leave Eagles fans with far more optimism than in week 1. No longer is it just AJ brown or Hurts’s scrambling ability that are the only means of attack. Devonta Smith finally got involved, as did Goedert in addition to Miles Sanders running the ball to great effect. With few solid contenders in the NFC, the Eagles may be emerging as real threats in the conference if Hurts is able to continue to use his arm and not just his legs to lead Philly to victory.
“It doesn’t matter if you have one ass cheek and three toes, I will beat your ass”
If you didn’t worship at the alter of Dan Campbell before, you almost certainly do now. Despite going 11-36 the past three seasons, there is not only hope but swagger in the motor city. In week one, it appeared as though we were in for a repeat of another sad Lions season as they faced a 24-14 halftime deficit that expanded into a horrifying 38-21 scoreboard entering the fourth quarter. But much like last season where Detroit would rally late, they did the same here and turned it into just a 3 point loss by games end. Whilst it doesn’t make a difference on the standings column whether you lose by 3 or 30, the performances of Swift and St. Brown showed that this team possess some real offensive firepower when healthy.
Week 2’s game against the Commanders would prove just that as Goff had the best game of his career since leaving Mcvay (throwing for 4 TD’s to 0 INT’s) and the Lions produced a balanced air and ground attack that saw them take a commanding 22-0 lead at halftime. The second half saw them on the receiving end of a second half rally for once but every time the Commanders scored, the Lions had an answer. Amon Ra St. Brown truly does look god-like at the moment as he went off for 9 catches for 112 yards and 2 scores. He also secured his 8th straight game of 8 or more receptions, a feat only achieved by 3 other WR’s in NFL history. Whilst Swift getting hurt is some cause for concern given his injury history, the lions offensive line is a dominant force and had no problem helping Jamal Williams have a productive (if uninspired) day on the ground. We also saw the emergence of their 2nd overall pick, Aiden Hutchinson who notched up three sacks in the first half. Speaking of rookies, the Lions have been performing without their other first rounder Jaemeson Williams who should add an additional vertical threat to the offence once he recovers. Jared Goff may not be the long term answer at QB for Detroit but through two weeks, they’ve shown that they’re going to a feisty out for any team they play against and may actually compete in a division that’s looking like the best out of the NFC.
“He’s a hell of a quarterback. Since I met him, it kinda clicked. You don’t click with everybody. That’s somebody I felt like, damn, I could grow old with you. I can see myself with for a while”.
Buffalo isn’t exactly the city of brotherly love (unless you count Bills Mafia and their love of smashing tables) but that’s exactly what happening at the moment between Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs. Building upon their convincing win from last week against SB defending champs, they followed it up by annihilating the AFC one seed of a year ago in that of the Titans. Look, it’s obvious that these aren’t the same Titans of last year. They traded away AJ brown, replaced him with rookie Treylon Burks and appear to be in the rebuilding phase of team development. That doesn’t take away from the impressive nature of the win though as once again, it appears that the only thing capable of stopping their offence from scoring is themselves. Buffalo failed to score twice in the first half with both instances being self-inflicted wounds (though they still managed to achieve a 17-7 lead at the half). That would be rectified in the third quarter as they’d rack 24 quick points and the backup QB’s of both sides would be in before the end of the period. The Diggs and Allen connection paved the way as the former would go off for 12 catches for 148 yards and 3 TDs whilst the latter would have a 4-score performance for 317 yards. Most importantly, Allen only carried the ball once for 10 yards and instead, it was rookie James Cook getting a majority of the work on the ground. This is critical for the Bills moving forward as they can’t continue the trend from week one of rushing Allen on third and 4th downs every game and expect him to last well into the playoffs. Likewise, when these two teams met in 2021, Derick Henry gouged the Bills defence on-route to a 143 yard, 3 score day. That wasn’t the case in this game as they swarmed him on every single carry, often hitting him before he reached the line of scrimmage as they held the former OPOTY to just 25 yards off 13 carries (though he did snag the Titans one and only TD). Moving forward for the Bills, it appears they may have addressed their two biggest weaknesses from a season ago which has placed them as clear SB favourites for the time being.
NFL passing leader: Tua Tagovailoa
For the final winner of the week, we look at the most polarising lefty since Ned Flanders. So much has been made of Tua and this Miami squad with most of the chatter being skepticism at the former Alabama standouts ability to play in the NFL. It’s not unwarranted criticism either as Tua has lacked the accuracy, poise and decision making that he showed in college. Likewise, his ability to extend plays and escape the pocket from the left (something that’s absolutely brain breaking to watch after years and years of watching escapes from the right) has been mostly absent in the pro’s, be that due to injury or inability to perform. That wasn’t the case this week however as we finally saw why the “tank for Tua” campaign existed in the first place as he rallied from being 35-21 down in the 4th quarter to a 42-38 victory. It was truly a bizarre spectacle to witness as Tua threw 4 of his 6 TD’s in the closing chapter with three of those going to either Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle (both of whom flirted with a 200 yard outing).
Whilst this could all be considered a win for Miami and not just Tua, it was the bizarre nature of how the win unfolded that places this strictly as a Tua victory. It’s certainly not a recipe for success moving forward, but Hill and Waddle are perhaps the quickest WR combination we’ve ever seen and that’s not going to change moving forward. If head coach Mike Mcdaniel and offensive co-ordinator Frank Smith can continue to scheme both receivers open, the potential of this team may actually reach, if not exceed, the preseason hype that surrounded them. But all of that rests on whether their QB is capable of utilising those weapons. Shootouts like the one against the Ravens will likely be the norm as well given that the defence has looked pretty abysmal through two games so they’ll need the offence to produce. We’ve seen QB performances that were complete aberrations in the past but if by seasons end we’re all remarking on how great Tua is then this game was definitely where it all began.
Losers: The AFC
It was one long, long week ago in which the AFC came out as victors of week one. Of course, it was never going to last as we got confirmation that there’s some legitimate concern in regards to some title contenders coming out the AFC, two of which being AFC west teams in that of the Broncos and Raiders. They aren’t the only ones though as the Bengals are now a team that has very real and detrimental issues to address.
“We’ve got a championship kind of football team, and we are excited about that. The exciting part about that is now it’s time to just show up and prove it”
This couldn’t have been the start Russell Wilson was hoping for. Heading into this season, it was all positive thinking and a championship mindset as he left his former team for the mile high city. Instead of SB worthy contending play, we’ve bore witness to what may be the end of Wilson’s run of being a championship calibre QB. Denver gave up the farm to acquire Wilson, trading Drew Lock, Noah Fant, Shelby Harris (who’s looked fantastic for seattle), two first round picks (2022 and 2023),two second-round picks (2022 and 2023) and a 2022 fifth-round selection for Wilson and a 2022 fourth-round pick. In return, Wilson has delivered a two-game cumulative statline of: 559 yards, 2 TD’s, 1 INT at a 58.9% clip. That’s not going to cut it in any division, let alone the shark infested waters of the AFC West and Denver fans know it as they booed him several times throughout the game. Sure, the Broncos did win the game against the Texans and Vegas losing certainly helped them out. But this was meant to be an easy part of the Broncos schedule. Wilson’s former team beat him last week despite looking rather awful this week while their week 2 opponent, the Texans, drew with the winless Colts the week prior. Obviously, NFL math doesn’t work. Good teams will lose to bad teams and still go onto to have success. But nothing Wilson or the team has done inspires anything in the way of confidence. Denver was 10 point favourites against the Texans and never even really appeared remotely close to blowing that game out the water. Losing Jeudy to injury only exacerbates the offensive woes and the schedule only gets tougher from here. It’s unclear how the Broncos improve from here and attains a SB contending outlook. Perhaps they lean on the run dynamic run game, play conservatively and let other teams make mistakes which is how Russell achieved success early in his career. Or perhaps this is simply an anomaly where Wilson is still figuring out how to connect with his receivers and it’ll all rectify itself as he gets more time to acclimate. Given how the past couple seasons have gone for him however, you wouldn’t be crazy for thinking that this version of Wilson may just be the new norm.
“Joe Burrow is on pace to be sacked for 111 times this season”
The improvements to the Cincinnati Bengals offensive line have been greatly exaggerated it seems as Burrow continues to take hits that makes Andrew Luck wince in pain. Last week, the Bengals faced an incredibly stout defensive line in that of the Steelers which resulted in burrow not only being sacked 7 times, but also saw him commit 5 turnovers. Despite that, Cincy were still in the game and only lost as a result of McPherson missing the game winning field goal in OT. This can certainly be considered an indictment on how bad the Steelers offence is but it’s nonetheless worth noting as the Bengals still possess their key weapons from a year ago which kept them in that game despite the revamped offensive line being completely overwhelmed. Heading into week two, it seemed as though things could correct themselves a little playing a Dallas squad who themselves were atrocious the week before and were also missing their starting QB. It made sense that the Bengals could exploit the Dallas D which struggled to contain Fournette the week prior and attack the injured secondary for significant gains behind the dual headed monster of Chase and Higgins. While some of that did occur throughout the actual game, the story was largely the same for Cincy as defensive player of the year candidate, Micah Parsons, had his way against his former teammate La’el Collins on route to 3 sacks. It wasn’t just he who would feast though as Burrow faced a rather shocking amount of pressure on the interior as Dorrance Armstrong would get 2 sacks despite just having 5 all last season. Burrow would get hit with 6 sacks in total and threw for just 199 yards and a single TD as the Bengals never had the lead once throughout the game and lost to a game winning FG as time expired.
The offensive line issues are now a major cause for concern moving forward as their division is loaded with pass rushers and while they may still skate by to a division title despite the 0-2 start, their SB aspirations appear to be fading fast. Ask any team in history with an over performing QB on a rookie contract. Once that window closes and Cincy are forced to pay Burrow, roster construction gets immensely more difficult. If the Bengals don’t rectify the situation quickly, the Joey B era may languish in turmoil behind the Ravens and Steelers, much like they have done throughout the entirety of the 2000s.
“Vegas means comedy, tragedy, happiness and sadness all at the same time
Football can be a cruel cruel mistress. Just one week ago, Vegas looked like a legit threat to win the division despite falling short against their rivals the chargers. Sure it didn’t go there way but the addition of Devante Adams looked to be a huge upgrade for Carr and the mistakes they made that game appeared to be fixable ones. Now a week later, while the mistakes are still rectifiable, they do appear to be a bit more systemic. Up 20-0 at half-time, the game appeared all but over as the raiders chewed the clock on the opening drive before scoring a FG on the following possession. With 12:31 left to go in the game, Vegas had a 16 point lead and the ball. What would ordinarily be considered a fairly commanding lead wouldn’t last as Vegas looked inept on offence whilst Muarry played some remarkably impressive improvisational football and tied the game on the final play, after having all the time in the world on the game tying 2 point conversion. Even after all this, Vegas still had a chance to win as the Cardinals punted it away on the first possession of OT. Once again, the Raiders blew this opportunity after Renfrow fumbled it not once, but twice and Arizona returned it for a score and the victory. Derek Carr would go on to have a total of 31 passing yards in the 2nd half and OT period (with a 47-yard pass interference penalty tossed in) while Devante Adams turned in 7 targets for 2 catches and 12 yards. So much of this is utterly inexplicable and while Carr played mistake free football, he did the one thing he’s always been criticised for in that he failed to produce when his team needed one final score. He can’t control Renfrow fumbling the ball but his 2nd half performance makes it difficult to believe this team can overcome all the issues of yesteryear and achieve something greater than they have before.
To Be Determined
Chargers and Chiefs
Finally, a quick little aside on the Chargers and Chiefs game. It was a huge matchup in determining the face and shape of both the AFC West as well as SB contenders though there’s little to takeaway from the overall game it seems. In the first half, despite a low score, it truly did seem like the game would live up to the hype as the Chargers pass rush routinely forced Mahomes into difficult or outright bad throws. This led to the Herbert and co jumping out to a 10 point lead before KC fired back to bring it to a 10-7 halftime score. As strange as it seems on paper, this was a well played first half that confirmed some thing we kind of knew heading in. Firstly that the Chargers defence is going to a nightmare to deal with all season. Secondly, that their offensive line really doesn’t appear to be able to bully opposing defensive lineman and create breathing room for Ekler to work. While for the Chiefs, losing Tyreek Hill impacts the verticality of this team as Mecole Hardman is unable to fill in that role. On the upside however, CEH does appear to be carrying over his form from last week and looked rejuvenated despite facing a stiff defence.
The second half is where things get wonky and why this game appears under the “TBD” category as instead of seeing some continued excellent play from both teams, we saw a rather sloppy and ugly affair as both offences made critical mistakes as opposed to excellent plays. Some of this stems from great defence of course but the deciding moments of the game came from mistakes that were either punished (the 99 yard pick 6 by KC) or fortuitously let go of (the numerous dropped INT’s Mahomes threw). Which is why the general consensus surrounding this game appears to be that the better team lost the game. This can certainly be argued against as at the end of the day, the final score is all that matters but the argument does have an element of truth to it. This game was meant to be a sneak peak into a potential AFC divisional or championship matchup where we’d glean truths as to whether the Chargers offseason super team can overthrow Mahomes. Instead, it seems like both teams need more refinement before a discussion of who’s the greater threat to the Bills can be had.
Send Off
And that’ll do it for another week of football. Clearly there are other winners and losers throughout the first couple weeks. Namely the Giants going 2-0, Indy being atrocious, the potential emergence of Lawrence, Brady maybe being washed, the insane Jets comeback (and 2-0 start) among others. Most of these should be placed on “TBD” however until we gather more information. It’s quite likely the Giants will start dropping games soon given their calibre of opponents and how they’ve won, while we’re a week removed from Wentz out-performing Lawrence. Until next time, this has been Kurt, laters.