Week 2 could defined by potential last stands of several veteran quarterbacks. Ben Roethlisberger is done for the season with an elbow injury and Drew Brees will miss about six weeks due to an injured thumb. Eli Manning lost his job to Daniel Jones, ceding way to the Danny Dimes era in New York. While Brees will assuredly return to football prominence, there is no such guarantee for Roethlisberger and Manning.
Oh, and Patrick Mahomes threw for 278 yards and 4 touchdowns in a single quarter. I felt that was worth mentioning.
Answers to my Five Questions
Are Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray’s (fourth quarter) Week 1 performances sustainable?
Jackson only rushed three times for six yards in Week 1, but exploded for 120 yards on the ground this week. He continued to display his passing prowess with 272 passing yards, as well. Jackson established a new NFL record for most passing yards with 120+ rushing yards. Murray became only the fourth quarterback ever with consecutive 300 yard passing performances in his first two games. He finished with 349 passing yards, but no touchdowns as the Cardinals kicked a blasphemous three field goals from inside the 5-yard line.
Through two weeks, the dynamic young quarterbacks have exceeded almost all expectations. The record-breaking performances may slow down, but all signs point to Jackson and Murray as true franchise quarterbacks.
Can Kirk Cousins win a pivotal divisional game on the road?
In a word: no. The Vikings lost to the Packers 21-16 and Cousins deserves much of the blame. He completed 44% of his passes for 230 yards, one touchdown, one lost fumble and two interceptions, including a back-breaking pick in the endzone with just five minutes remaining. His QBR barely exceeded the length of his fully guaranteed contract (4.0).
Dalvin Cook cannot carry the Vikings offense like Adrian Peterson did in 2012, nor should he have to. Cousins is not Christian Ponder, but he sure is playing like it.
Who’s for real in the AFC South?
The all-AFC South matchups of Week 2 went exactly how we all expected. The Texans and Colts won by a combined three points. Houston, Indianapolis and Tennessee all exit Week 2 with 1-1 records, with Jacksonville in it’s rightful place in the basement at 0-2.
We know nothing.
Can the Bears offense rebound?
Technically yes, because the Bears won and improved their yards per play from 3.9 to 4.9. However, no one would say the Bears offense remotely approached “good” in Week 2. Chicago ranks 26th in Football Outsider’s Offensive DVOA through two weeks (29th after Week 1), but they ranked 21st last season. They’re improving, yes, but shouldn’t they be improving from the 21st ranking in Matt Nagy’s second season?
On the one hand, I have serious concerns about Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears offense overall. On the other, the Bears opponents (Packers, Broncos) have genuinely good defenses. We need to see more, but the red flags are waving directly in front of our eyes.
Will last year’s NFC Championship game be motivation or a distraction for the Saints?
Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Here’s what Saints’ defensive end Cameron Jordan had to say after the game.
Jordan was still furious after the game, even referring to the refs as “the Foot Locker” and saying certain members of the officiating crew “were maybe in their prime a decade ago.”
ESPN.com
A few things went against New Orleans in this game. Brees exited early in the game and (another) officiating error may have cost them a touchdown. I don’t care. The Saints seemed to quit after the officiating error and the Rams nearly won by twenty. New Orleans have quietly (actually, their complaints have been extremely loud) became my least favorite team in the league.
Fact or Fiction
Dak Prescott is an MVP candidate.
Fact. Prescott is flourishing under Kellen Moore’s modern offense. Before the season, my only reservation about the Cowboys was the uncertainty of Moore as a first-time offensive coordinator. Any and all doubt is thoroughly vanished. Dallas is a legitimate Super Bowl contender — arguably the favorite in the NFC — and Prescott would be my non-Mahomes bet for MVP at this point.
The Saints are done without Drew Brees.
Fiction. Brees will only miss about six weeks and the Saints are in a terrible division. Atlanta is going to be impossible to predict week-to-week. This week, they’ll take down a Super Bowl contender. Next, they’ll fall to the damn Cardinals. I don’t even need to mention the Panthers or Buccaneers.
Needless to say, the Saints would need to implode without Brees to miss the postseason. After making Teddy Bridgewater the league’s highest paid backup quarterback, things better not implode in New Orleans.
After a 2-0 start, the San Francisco 49ers are playoff contenders.
Fiction. The 49ers are one of three NFC West teams (Rams and Seahawks) with perfect records. Additionally, the wild card race looks as tough as ever. Dallas and Philadelphia appear to be postseason locks (unless Philadelphia’s injuries continue to mount). The aforementioned Rams and Seahawks aren’t going away anytime soon. The Falcons and Vikings are going to hang around until the end.
San Francisco beat the Buccaneers and Bengals; let’s not start raising any banners yet.
The Steelers are done without Ben Roethlisberger.
Fact. Truth be told, Pittsburgh’s season was teetering on the brink even with Big Ben. They’ve already fallen two games behind the Ravens in the division, which feels insurmountable considering how well the Ravens have played. The Steelers might as well #TankForTua — wait, they just traded their first-round pick?
Now that I’ve got that mini rant off my chest, allow me to give the correct answer: fiction. It’s only Week 3! Pittsburgh addressed their greatest weakness by acquiring Minkah Fitzpatrick and there is a non-zero chance that Mason Rudolph might be an improvement over the aging Roethlisberger. If Pittsburgh lost consecutive games to the Patriots and Seahawks in Weeks 7-8 or 12-13, this wouldn’t even be a conversation.
Only the Dolphins and Jets are playing for 2020 in the AFC. While the Steelers have sacrificed some margin for error, the playoff race is still wide open. Speaking of….
After a 2-0 start, the Buffalo Bills are playoff contenders.
Before anyone makes the parallel to what I just said about San Francisco, the Bills’ competition in the AFC pales in comparison to the 49ers’ in the NFC, as Will Brinson points out. The AFC South will likely beat up on each other. The Chargers are decimated by injuries. The Steelers lost Roethlisberger and the Browns have plenty of consistency issues.
Buffalo has a legitimate shot at a wild card berth. They are well coached and play excellent defense. Despite my reservations about Josh Allen, Buffalo doesn’t ask him to do too much. The Bills have a relatively weak schedule remaining (games against the Bengals, Jets, Redskins and Dolphins twice). If they win those games, they’ll only need to find three more wins to reach ten wins — nine wins might even be enough.
I can’t even believe I just said that the Bills are playoff contenders with Josh Allen at quarterback. He’s also currently starting on my fantasy team. Josh fucking Allen. What the hell is going on?
The Dolphins are the worst team in NFL history.
So far, fact. Take a moment and digest the following Twitter thread. It’s worth the read.
Week 2 Awards
Player of the Week: Patrick Mahomes
Anti-Player of the Week: Cam Newton
Team of the Week: Atlanta Falcons
Anti-Team of the Week: Miami Dolphins (get used to this)
Monday morning headline: I predicted on Sunday night that the leading headline would be either “’The Dolphins might be the worst team in NFL (pro sports?) history’ or Jackson/Mahomes league domination and Week 3 match up.” I think I nailed it.
Play of the Week: Julio Jones. Needless to say, Sunday Night Football delivered it’s share of clutch plays. Carson Wentz’s throws were more impressive, but Jones’ catch-and-run literally won the game.
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