Another week is behind us in the NFL season, and in only two weeks, most survivor pools are already over. If you weren’t knocked out after New England defeated Cincinnati in week 1, there is no way you survived Baltimore losing at home to the Raiders. What on earth is going on in the NFL this season?
Back in the day, former Pats HC Bill Belichick always treated the first four games of the season as an extended preseason. With one less preseason game, it seems most teams now truly treat the beginning of the season that way. And wins and losses at this time of year aren’t based on the better teams but on which teams are just more prepared coming out of camp. That is the only explanation because some of these results have been beyond head-scratching.
Heading into week 3, there are a ton of compelling storylines that go well beyond the boxscores.
Here they are:
There has been no official update regarding Tagovailoa’s retirement, although he says it’s not in his plans. There’s also been no update on if the Dolphins are going to put him on Injured Reserve. If they do, Tagovailoa will need to miss a minimum of four games. HC Mike McDaniel has come out and said he is currently day-to-day.
The Texans have three WR1s on their team. They have Nico Collins, Tank Dell, and Stefon Diggs. So far, CJ Stroud has treated Collins as the team’s no.1 WR. Collins has produced back-to-back games, receiving over 100 YDs. Diggs and Dell have yet to carve out a place for themselves, which may affect their fantasy value moving forward.
The start to Williams NFL career has been anything but rosy. He’s finding out that NFL defenders are far faster than they were in college. Sunday night against the Texans he was pressured seemingly all night, and sacked seven times.
The Chiefs are 2-0 and could plausibly be 0-2. With no time left on the clock in week 1, TE Isaiah Likely missed scoring a TD by a toe. That would have put the Ravens down by a single point. Before the TD was reversed, a camera picked up HC John Harbaugh putting up two fingers, indicating he intended to go for a two-point conversion. The Chiefs may have won after all, but they got lucky.
They got lucky again this week when a pass interference call (the correct call) was made. It was with under a minute to go in the game, and the Chiefs were down to their last play, on fourth and 16. That penalty put them in FG range, and a successful kick by Harrison Butker has them tied with the Chargers ar 2-0 in the AFC West.
In that game, Ja’marr Chase may have cost the Bengals the win. It was earlier in the second half, and the Bengals were driving. They were already deep into Kansas City territory and looking to score a TD. A pass to Chase was completed over the middle, and he thought the tackle included a facemask. The ref didn’t throw a flag, and Chase went berzerk. The ref initially showed tremendous restraint, but Chase didn’t back down. Joe Burrow tried to step in, to the point of pushing Chase away. The damage was already done, and the referee threw the flag for unsportsmanlike conduct. That pushed them back 15 yards. The Bengals were still able to get the FG but the penalty destroyed the opportunity for a TD. A TD there would have realistically sealed the deal for Cincinnati. They now find themselves 0-2.
The offense hasn’t been great, but the team finds themselves 2-0. And the thanks needs to go to their defense. In two games, their defense has only given up 16 points. It will be interesting to see how they fare when they play a solid offensive team, but they don’t have too many of those matchups this year. They play the Chargers this Sunday. The defense will be tested by the Chargers running game. If they can slow it down, this could be a division-winning campaign.
Maybe it’s better to have a QB already in place and an early first round draft pick to use on a WR. Other teams in the draft opted for QBs with the first three picks, taking Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye. This freed up Arizona to swoop in and snag Marvin Harrison Jr. In only their second game together, QB Kyler Murray gave Cardinals fans a glimpse of things to come with Harrison Jr. They connected on four passes for 130 YDs and two TDs.
The team has been clicking on offense this season, averaging 34.5 points and 374 YDs. And on Sunday, they had a whopping 489 total YDs. They face the Lions this week, who are coming off of a tough loss. I wouldn’t be surprised if these two teams put up 80 points in this game.
With Cooper Kupp back and healthy to be Puka Nacua’s counterpart, I was expecting big things this season in LA. In week 1, Nacua went down with a knee injury. This past week, Kupp went down with an ankle injury that could land him on the IR. They are 0-2 and facing a 49ers team this week that is coming off a loss. There is a very real chance the Rams begin the year 0-3, and without both Kupp and Nacua in the short term, the season will be effectively over by the time they are back healthy.
The Ravens just missed out on a win against the Chiefs in week 1 and lost a very winnable game in their home opener against the Raiders this week. They head to Dallas this week in what is shaping up as a possible knockout game…in week 3. A Cowboys win will take the Ravens to 0-3, and a Ravens win will take the Cowboys to 1-2, with both losses at home.
Something is just not right with Trevor Lawrence. The Jaguars have committed to him, so he isn’t going anywhere. They gave him a 5yr/$275M extension, with $200M guaranteed. But he’s been awful this season. Not only do they face the real possibility of going 0-3, heading to Buffalo this week, but they could very well be 0-4 in September. In week 4, they are heading to Houston to face off against the Texans.
Jayden Daniels won his first NFL game this Sunday against the Giants. They didn’t score a TD but won 21-18 on seven FGs by K Austin Seibert. Aside from Seibert’s heroics, the game was won on the ground. Brian Robinson had 133 rushing yards, and all-purpose back Austin Ekeler had 85 total yards.
The Giants knew K Graham Gano wasn’t 100% ahead of this week’s game against the Commanders. They inexplicably didn’t have another kicker on the active roster. On his first kick, Gano was laid up and couldn’t go for the entire game. The Giants are the first team in history to score three TDs while holding their opponent without a TD but still lose the game. They scored three TDs but couldn’t get an extra point or convert a two-point conversion. They lost the game 21-18.
Unless the game ends in a tie, one of the teams in this matchup will leave the field with their first loss. The 2-0 Vikings are facing off against the 2-0 Texans. CJ Stroud is better than Sam Darnold, and the receiving core in Houston is better as well, especially without Justin Jefferson. With Jefferson, it will be tough to defeat Houston…without him, it will be nearly impossible. Look for the Texans to go 3-0.
It’s always odd to see the 49ers lose a game. It’s more plausible when Christian McCaffrey is out. In week 1 without him, they handily took care of the Jets. In week two, they couldn’t get past the Vikings. They didn’t play particularly poorly, but this loss may have just come down to location. The last time the 49ers defeated the Vikings in Minnesota was in 1992. What’s most alarming isn’t that their offense sputtered without CMC but that their defense gave up 407 yards. And it’s just been reported that Deebo Samuel will be out for a few weeks with a calf strain.
Without Jordan Love, HC Matt LaFleur has devised a game plan devoted to the ground. Their running game was so dominant on Sunday that they nearly broke an all-time record for rushing YDs in the first half, gaining 237 YDs…again, just in the first half. They rushed the ball 53 times, with Josh Jacobs being the biggest contributor, with 32 rushes and 151 YDs.
What is going on in NOLA? In the first two games of the year the Saints have had 16 consecutive possessions with a score of some sort. They have scored 91 points in two games and look unbeatable. Wk.1 may have been no big deal, defeating the Panthers…but going into Big D this week for Dallas’ home opener and leaving with a 44-19 victory is impressive.
After this week’s game against the Chargers, I pronounced that the time of death for Bryce Young’s NFL career was yesterday. The Panthers lost 26-3, and Young again passed for fewer than 100 YDs. The team is so desperate that they have pinned their hopes and dreams on the Red Rifle, Andy Dalton. Sometimes, a shakeup in the QB room can spark a team, but not in this case. There is just not a ton of talent on the team. They are headed to Vegas in what could be a soft landing spot, with the Raiders getting their first win this week. This is a game the Raiders should win handily. With Dalton behind center, the game may be a bit more competitive, but the Raiders should cover the current 5.5-point spread.
