13 Thoughts From Sunday's Week 2 Games
The Dolphins’ team speed on offense is ridiculous, and Mike McDaniel knows how to use it. Bill Belichick’s plan kept the Patriots in the game, but the offense couldn’t deliver. Mac Jones just can’t get past those drive-killing and game-derailing mistakes. Whether it’s a bad interception or a sack that could have been avoided, this offense can’t finish in close games. Jones now has just one 4th quarter game-winning drive in his career through 32 starts. That’s a far cry from that guy who played in New England for two decades.
It didn’t take long to see the impact Aaron Rodgers’ absence can have on the entire team. With Zach Wilson struggling to do much of anything, the Jets defense was on the field for 83 plays and more than 42 minutes! That’ll happen when the offense goes 1-for-10 on 3rd down and turns the ball over 4 times.
If that KC defense keeps playing like they have through the first two weeks of the season, just book the Chiefs’ tickets to Vegas in February now.
When Josh Allen doesn’t turn the ball over, the Bills are hard to beat. Don’t sleep on that run game either (183 yards, 5.3 yards per carry, 2 TDs). We wrote back in August that they seemed to be making moves this offseason to complement Allen with a better rushing attack. We saw the first glimpse of that on Sunday vs the Raiders.
The Bengals are 0-2 again. I don’t think we can just blow this off and assume they’ll find themselves like they did a year ago. Joe Burrow’s calf could continue to be a problem after he re-injured it vs. Baltimore. And this isn’t exactly a forgiving division.
The Rams continue to surprise, but they weren’t any match for the 49ers, who look like they’re on a mission.
The Chargers are just so disappointing. Entering Sunday, the Titans had failed to score more than 16 points in 7 of their last 8 games going back to the 2022 season. So of course they scored 27 against the Chargers.
The Lions’ win over the Chiefs in Week 1, which was filled with lots of self-inflicted wounds by Kansas City, masked the fact that their defense is still very much a work in progress.
The Giants trailed 20-0 at halftime against the Cardinals, meaning they were outscored 60-0 in the first 6 quarters of the year. Then Daniel Jones flipped a switch and saved the Giants’ season. Just look at those second half numbers: 17-21, 259 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT. He also ran the ball 8 times for 58 yards and a touchdown.
We said not to sleep on the Commanders before the season, and now they’re 2-0. Yes, their opponents were the Cardinals and Broncos, but wins are wins. For Denver, at least you can say that Russell Wilson and the offense look much improved from a year ago.
The Packers defense continues to be underwhelming. Against the Falcons, they allowed 211 yards on the ground, picking up where they left off a year ago. On the other side of the ball, Love has looked good so far, but he didn’t complete a pass in the 4th quarter on 6 attempts.
The Bears are now 0-2, and all the fears about Justin Fields’ abilities as a passer have already emerged in a big way. The Bears passed up the opportunity to take a quarterback with the #1 overall pick in this year’s draft. That decision will look worse and worse if Fields doesn’t turn things around soon.
The Colts can be a fun offensive team to watch this season if Anthony Richardson stays healthy. He’s already failed to finish each of his first two NFL starts.