NFL Takeaways: Week 2
Photo from AS
Some fans are ecstatic. Some are upset.
May I just remind you all, that it’s still early.
A lot can change, and quick.
But let’s dive into what we saw this weekend.
Bills defeat Dolphins 31-10
Tua Tagovailoa once again went down with a concussion, leading to many speculating about his future.
Tua says he’s going to keep playing, and you know what? That’s fine.
Football is a physical, contact sport.
If Tua is cleared by independent doctors, understands the risks associated with continuing, and decides to do so, then that is his prerogative.
It’s not what Andrew Luck did. It’s likely not what I would do.
But it’s Tua’s life. It’s his decision.
Let’s just hope he can come back soon.
Saints defeat Cowboys 44-19
Coaching matters.
I say it a lot, and never is it more true than with Derek Carr this year.
Derek Carr was always a good quarterback, before he had a woeful 2022 coached by Josh McDaniel (who is bad at his job) and a bad 2023 while being coached by longtime offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr, who had a lot of success with Sean Payton and Drew Brees, but not much outside of it.
Now, he has Klint Kubiak, and the Saints offense is completely dominant.
It looks like a brand new football team.
And I don’t think it’s a fluke.
You don’t do that two weeks in a row as a fluke.
Buccaneers defeat Lions 20-16
The Lions offense is good. The defense looks solid. Aiden Hutchinson is a monster.
But my word, they are absolutely putrid in the red zone.
Get that fixed, and they’ll be elite.
Until then, field goals won’t win you games.
Unless you’re the Steelers.
Packers defeat Colts 16-10
Anthony Richardson has all the tools.
Big guy. Huge arm. Very mobile.
But he’s not the most accurate. That’s a part of his game that needs to be worked on.
So it was a little weird that the Colts threw 34 times compared to only 18 rushes.
The Packers, starting a backup QB, ran 53 times and only threw 14 times.
You have to understand what you’re good at.
It’s why the Packers got the win and the Colts are 0-2.
Jets defeat Titans 24-17
People called Kirk Cousins a game manager. They called Russell Wilson a game manager. They called Jimmy Garoppolo a game manager.
All of which was considered insulting.
I never saw it that way. Sometimes, you need a QB to manage the game.
Take the Titans, for example, who have controlled the game two weeks in a row before Will Levis inexplicably threw all the momentum away with two of the absolute dumbest turnovers you’ll ever see.
I said it last week. I’ll say it again.
Ryan Tannehill would’ve won that game!
Vikings defeat 49ers 23-17
Credit to the Vikings.
Not because of the win, but because it could have been a much bigger blowout.
Sam Darnold had a bad red zone interception, and Aaron Jones fumbled on the goal line going into the end zone.
The 49ers scored touchdowns on both of those drives.
This could have been 34-3 or something.
The Vikings were excellent.
Seahawks defeat Patriots 23-20
Terrible offensive line.
Zero run game whatsoever.
I counted 5 dropped passes by Seahawks receivers.
Geno Smith still played some of the best football a QB played all weekend.
He was excellent.
Commanders defeat Giants 21-18
The Giants became the first team ever to score three touchdowns while allowing zero touchdowns and still lose.
That’s right.
The Giants had three touchdowns with failed conversions each time, and the Commanders had seven field goals.
Just amazing.
Chargers defeat Panthers 26-3
I don’t know if Bryce Young will be a good QB.
He might not be.
But I know for a fact that he won’t with the Panthers.
That team is an absolute mess from ownership down, and now they’ve benched their second year QB just two games into the season.
Still ain’t going to fix anything.
Browns defeat Jaguars 18-13
Trevor Lawrence is playing terribly.
I don’t know why. He has the talent.
Maybe it’s coaching. Maybe it’s confidence.
But whatever it is, the Jags need to get it fixed quickly, or they’re going nowhere this year.
Raiders defeat Ravens 26-23
There’s some growing pains this year for the Ravens.
The offensive line is bad, the defense is still learning from a new coordinator, and Justin Tucker is suddenly not good at hitting 50+ yard field goals.
This week, they face a Dallas team who got run all over by New Orleans.
It’s a good chance to get things fixed with their rushing attack.
Cardinals defat Rams 41-10
Maybe the Rams aren’t very good. I don’t know.
But I do know that with how Kyler Murray played Sunday, there aren’t many teams that can stop him.
Maybe there aren’t any at all.
He was incredible.
Chiefs defeat Bengals 26-25
The Bengals played better than the Chiefs.
Plain and simple.
But this is the NFL. Mistakes can be very costly.
For example, Joe Burrow’s fumble which led to a Chiefs touchdown and a bad pass interference penalty on 4th and 16.
And by bad, I do not mean bad call. Calm down. It was the right call.
But it’s back to back weeks now that the Chiefs opponents have made just the slightest errors and ended up with losses because of it.
You know the saying.
If you come at the kings, you best not miss.
Steelers defeat Broncos 13-6
Sean Payton is not a good coach.
I’ll say it.
In fact, I have said it.
His play calling is absurdly complicated for a future hall of famer in Drew Brees, let alone Bo Nix making his second ever start.
His clock management is terrible. Why are you kicking off down 7 under the 2 minute warning with 1 timeout?
“Oh, the new rules make onside kicks basically impossible.”
They were always basically impossible. Teams still tried.
And Bo Nix was his choice to run the team due to his talents and how “pro ready” he was.
I’m willing to give Nix more time, but if you’re going to keep telling me he’s pro ready, and he stinks it up the first two weeks, you have to own that.
You were either wrong that he was ready, or your gameplan isn’t good enough.
Texans defeat Bears 19-13
The same goes for Caleb Williams.
I know the offensive line is bad. I know the play calling stinks.
But Caleb Williams was touted as Patrick Mahomes 2.0, and the most “pro ready” prospect since Andrew Luck.
So I went back and looked at Andrew Luck’s first two starts.
He was 43/76 with 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
Not perfect, but still a whole lot better than what Caleb Williams has done so far!
Again, he’s young. Caleb Williams is only 22 years old. I’m sure he’ll be fine.
But if you keep telling me he’s ready, then I’m going to hold him to different standards compared to the other rookies.
And he hasn’t been good enough.
Falcons defeat Eagles 22-21
The Eagles just can’t seem to get out of their own way.
3rd and 3. The Eagles lead 18-15. A first down ends the game. The Eagles draw up a perfect route to get Saquon Barkley wide open.
Hurts throws. The ball hits Barkley in both hands.
Drops it.
Clock stops. Falcons get the ball back down 6. And the Falcons offense, who had done basically nothing all game long, drives down the field with ease and gets the last minute touchdown to win.
Last year, the Eagles were 10-1 after a win over the Bills in overtime.
Since then, they’re 2-7 with some blowout losses, and some last second losses in games they had handled.
Something really isn’t working in Philly.
