Piece By Nicholas Cosmai
Twitter: @CozzyNick
Week 2 gave us some clarity around the National Football League. Houston and New Orleans came back crashing down to earth, whilst some teams like the Raiders proved they didn’t have a case of the week one flukes. These are the key takeaways from the second week.
Giant Screw Up
The opening game was majorly controlled by Washington, and they had to sit tight down the stretch against there divisional rival New York Giants. In a second half where the Giants made ground and actually got in front with around 2 mins left for the game. An interception was resulted in Graham Gano kicking his fifth field goal of the game to give his team a 29-27 lead. Heinicke made up for his mistake by putting his team within field goal range to have a chance at a walk off field goal. Dustin Hopkins’ first attempt missed wide right, but he was bailed out. The play was recalled back after an offside penalty was called on the interior. Hopkins made the most of his second chance and won the game for Washington. New York despite not playing fantastic the whole game had themselves in a position to win and blew it, twice.
Field of Dreams?
Chicago bounced back after a first week loss to the LA Rams by doing enough to beat Cincinnati. Through the second quarter, Andy Dalton was removed from the game due to injury which meant Fields took control of the offence. It wasn’t the worst performance, but it was enough to get the Bears there first win of the season. Dalton’s health remains in question for their game against Cleveland this week which may lead to Fields’ first start. Many people thought he should have already been the starter regardless, but we will find out if he is ready to go straight away.
Carson Wince
By far Indianapolis are the best winless team so far. Whilst it would seem that they have plenty of time to make up the wins in what seems to be a fairly weak division, they may have concerns. Carson Wentz has not been quite the same since he injured his ACL a few years back. The colts took on his large contract as sort of a gamble on whether they can tap into that MVP form he had pre injuring his ACL. Whilst he did not hit those strides, there was at least faith for improvement if he stays healthy. Unfortunately, he’s gone down again but this time it was with a sprained ankle. Earlier this week he had announced that he actually had problems in both of his ankles. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of what is to come. When he’ll return, we’re unsure.
Bashing Bills
It was a tough first week for Buffalo who were in a prime position to take a win against Pittsburgh, but they ended up collapsing. This week Buffalo were up against it facing divisional rivals Miami who previously beat another divisional rival in New England. This wasn’t to be the case, 35-0 was the result and was the biggest margin of the week. The most impressive part of the win was through there stellar defence, particularly up front. Six sacks on the day which is impressive as it’s been something they’ve wanted to improve on defence. Currently 2nd in the league in sacks, it may be the key into turning them into a premier defence in the NFL.
Wilson Woes
Also in the AFC East, Belichick has yet again continued his terror against rookie quarterbacks. Claiming Zach Wilson as his latest victim. His debut game was not too bad albeit in a loss in Carolina but last week he was thrown in with the sharks. 4 interceptions, some were unlucky, but some were really bad throws and decisions. Another Jets QB that is seeing ghosts again? This was a game where on the scoreboard looked bad and could have been far worse for the Jets if the Patriots offence played better. It doesn’t get easier for the Jets as they next face a hot Broncos team who also have a stellar defence.
Raiders Rampage
If there has been any team that has really taken the league by surprise so far, it’s the Las Vegas Raiders. A huge week one win in overtime against the Ravens which was last week followed up by a win in Pittsburgh. A team that has improved all over the field, particularly on offence, currently they lead the league in passing yards, receiving yards and total offence. How far can they go? That remains to be seen, it remains an increasingly harder division to play in but so far, they have absolutely hit it out of the park. They’ll have an intriguing matchup this week against Miami who will be looking for redemption after being blown out last week. Miami were also the team that eliminated the raiders last season from playoff contention with a walk off field goal.
Miserable Minnesota
Who has been the unluckiest team so far? It is safe to say that the Vikings are that team. In week one, Minnesota came from 21-7 deficit in the second half for Greg Joseph to kick a career-long 53-yard field goal to send it to overtime in Cincinnati. Unfortunately for the VIkings, Joe Burrow was handed the ball and led them down the field which ended up being the only score in overtime. If that did not break their hearts, last week would’ve been a good chance to. Going up against a good Arizona outfit, the Vikings stuck with the Cardinals the whole game and got into a position to win the game with a walk off field goal. 33-34 to the Cardinals but unfortunately for the Vikings, Greg Joseph couldn’t replicate a crucial field goal at the end of the 4th to win it this time. If history is to repeat itself, Seattle better be prepared for a nail biter.
Return to the Throne
Speaking of the Seattle Seahawks, they also had lost a close match last week via a walk off field goal, in overtime. The Tennessee Titans bounced back from being shown up against the Cardinals in week one to score 21-6 in the second half to force overtime in Seattle and then to win it in OT. Tennessee grinding it out was largely due to their run game being up and running again. Spearheading that of course, is Derrick Henry. 182 rushing yards with 3 touchdowns for King Henry along with being second in receiving for the Titans with 55 yards. In case there was any chance of the debate of the best running back arising again, he has quickly put that to bed.
Baltimore’s Scalp
After losing there last four matchups against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Baltimore Ravens finally dug their heels in against a powerful Chiefs team and came out victorious. There first week loss against the raiders came as a shock to most, some could argue that they were looking ahead to this matchup. After being shown up in their primetime match last season, Lamar Jackson labelled the Chiefs as Baltimore’s ‘kryptonite’. This looked to be heading this way through the first 3 quarters, particularly in the first half for Jackson. The way this ravens team stayed the course and surged back was extremely impressive. Outscoring the Chiefs in the last quarter 12-0 to win the game by one point. It may seem like just a regular season win but the potential that this win has for the Ravens is huge for later down the track, particularly in January.
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