Before going any further, for a detailed breakdown of EVERY game from week 2, listen to the latest episode of Player Perspective here: https://kgfxbeyondthemic.podbean.com/e/pp-nfl-week-2-recap/
Week 2 is now officially in the books after the Falcons went on the road to Philadelphia and upset the Eagles in their home opene2-21. Week 2 is always kind of bittersweet, Week 1 carries so much anticipation and excitement, you’ve been waiting, pleading, starved from football for months that when it finally returns you almost don’t know how to manage the thrill. Week 2 is just a reminder of how fast the football season flies by and also reminds us that we need to cherish every snap because before we know it, we will be back in football purgatory.
What we need to know:
The 10-game noon-slate of games is not coming back after this week, thank God. How dare the NFL? You cannot give us a platter of 10 INCREDIBLE games all at once then follow that up with only three games for the late-slate, two of which were snoozers. What is that? Dessert comes after dinner, not the other way around. If you are glued to NFL RedZone like I am every Sunday, you know that Scott Hanson was overwhelmed by all of the action taking place at once. It’s downright unfair for us as football fans not to be able to soak in every score when you have to jump around that quickly, it is borderline un-American. Thankfully, the NFL got something right and has evened up the slates moving forward so we don’t get bombarded with football only to be let down in the three o’clock hour. On a side note, if you aren’t paying the $10.99 a month for NFL RedZone then you are missing out on one of the best deals since the Louisiana Purchase. I feel like I am fleecing the NFL every Sunday that countdown clock hits 00:00 because seven straight hours of commercial-free football for only about $2.50 a week is blind robbery in my humble opinion.
Takeaways:
The Minnesota Vikings are a real playoff contender: For those who cared to listen, I was adamant about the fact that even though J.J. McCarthy was sidelined before the season started, the Vikings would still operate as a very competitive team. Sam Darnold was a top pick years ago for a reason, and he didn’t have success in New York for reasons as well. Those reasons include the presence of Adam Gase, and the vacancy of a receiving corps. You give Darnold a competent head coach and put Justin Jefferson outside and, ta-da, he can play quarterback again! The Vikings schedule at first looked extremely daunting with the 49ers, Texans, Packers & Jets weeks 2-5. But they get the win against SF (a major win), the Texans look good but not unbeatable and you have them at home, the Packers are without Jordan Love, and the Jets could barely get passed the Titans and lost to the team you just beat. Follow that up with a bye week and the Vikings could very well lead the division as we make the turn on the season. It is a massive advantage for Minnesota to play from the front rather than trying to pick it up on the back end since they close the season with the Seahawks, Packers & Lions. All teams who are clear playoff contenders. But I guarantee there were few Vikings fans who thought they would sit 2-0 after McCarthy went down.
The Saints are scary: Well, the Saints are good again. 91 points in their first two games, and Alvin Kamara hasn’t missed a step. I have no idea where this resurgence came from, this team was not that good a year ago. But maybe Derrick Carr is feeling comfortable in Nola. And it also helps that you have one of the most dynamic backs in the league. With the Falcons win last night, the NFC South is now officially on the radar.
The Bills are Super Bowl bound: We’ve heard it every year for the past 5 years, “The Bills are Super Bowl or Bust this year” or “this is the last year the Bills have to make a run at it”. But I have news for you. As long as Josh Allen is back there slinging it, Buffalo is in it. But this year the Bills had different preseason expectations. This was a “rebuilding” year in the eyes of many going into week 1. But after Allen’s career day vs. Arizona, and then their dismantling of Miami, this team looks more dangerous than almost everyone across the league. Ed Oliver continues to quietly be the best nose tackle in the game, Khalil Shakir is now Allen’s safety blanket, and the AFC East is crumbling by the week. The Bills are going to thrive under the rebuilding narrative, they flourished on the belief they weren’t good enough to make the playoffs, but all that is gone now. They oddly play better when they are doubted, so for my sake, please keep doubting this team.
Breakaways:
The Giants have lost their vision: The extent to which the New York Giants went all-in on Daniel Jones needs to be studied, chronicled & taught to future GMs on how to avoid nosediving a franchise the way New York’s front office has. The Giants were at a crossroads a year ago when they had both Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley on the brink of new contracts. They decided to franchise-tag Barkley (each team can franchise-tag one player each year to delay their new contract, the Giants and Barkley later agreed to a 1-year deal) and pay Daniel Jones $160-million over four-years. Fast forward to this year, Barkley is now playing for the Giant’s rival, the Philadelphia Eagles, and Daniel Jones has started 0-2 and scored a total of 14 points (field goals not included). Giants GM, Joe Schoen, basically let Barkley walk instead of trading him a year ago for what would have brought the farm for the Giants, and told Daniel Jones they’re all in on him and this is the year. Well, it really only took Week 1 to realize that this decision would come back to haunt them greatly.
The Panthers might play their way out of Carolina: It’s tough to look at a team like the Browns or Giants and say that anyone has it worse off. But the Panthers are the model of what not to do as an NFL franchise. The Carolina Panthers do not sell tickets, often you will tune into a Panthers game and see the stadium only a quarter-full, if that. The Panthers cannot sell jerseys as they often land towards the bottom of merchandise sales. The Panthers fans hate their owner David Tepper, who in the last year has thrown his drink on a Panthers fan from his owner’s suite (yes, the Panthers owner threw his drink on one of HIS fans) and was also seen on video going into a restaurant to reprimand the owner due to a sale related to the poor play of the Panthers. David Tepper is entering the territory of Dan Schneider in terms of bad ownership, and Schneider got the boot from the rest of the 31 owners. Not to mention, the guy they drafted with the No. 1 overall pick two years ago has been benched for 36-year-old vet, Andy Dalton. Young isn’t hurt, he’s just played that bad. With the NFL always aiming for expansion, and rumblings of stationing a team in Europe, I would keep my eye on either the Panthers or Jaguars looking for a new place to play ball.
Anthony Richardson is just not that good at football: The Colts absolutely had to win on Sunday. The Packers were without Jordan Love and were starting Malik Willis, a guy who lost his starting job to Ryan Tannehill in Tennessee. Yes, Ryan Tannehill. Everyone knew what the Packers offense was going to look like Sunday, everyone except the Colts. Malik Willis is not a good passing QB, he is, however, a mobile quarterback who can hand the ball off. The Colts were begging them to run the ball yesterday, so the Packers did. They ran it right down the Colts throats. This in-turn opened up the passing game for Malik Willis who was able to dink and dunk his way to a 16-10 victory. All the Colts needed to do was load the box and dare the Packers to throw the ball with Malik Willis, instead they let them do exactly what they wanted. As for Anthony Richardson, I understand he is a big-framed guy who is fast and is fun to watch, I get all of that. But is it worth him also overthrowing wide open receivers and missing crossing routes over the middle with consistency? Not for me. I think many people just see the 2 or 3 explosive plays he makes during a game, but doesn’t see the many bad, bad throws he also shows. It is terrible when a team drafts their “franchise” guy and he just turns out to be a guy.
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