NFL Week 2 Takeaways Pt. 1

Carolina Panthers – The Panthers didn’t trade for Bryce Young because of his size and strength. He’s 5’10 205 and can barely see over the offensive line. They drafted him because he was a high IQ quarterback at Alabama. Since being in the NFL, he has looked scared and made poor decisions. In year 4, we are starting to finally see that smart, high IQ QB we saw at Alabama. Kudos to Dave Canales for bringing the confidence Bryce Young back. Panthers fans should be feeling some sense of relief, and even NFL fans should be happy, because the league as a whole needs better QB play.

 

Atlanta Falcons – The Falcons are dumpster fire. It’s clear Cooper Rush has no interest in playing QB. There’s rumors that Penix is cleared to play but is choosing not to. How did they get here? Thank Terry Fentenot, the former GM who was fired last year. I truly cannot believe this team signed Kirk Cousins and drafted an injury prone QB who doesn’t want to take the field. I think the Falcons need to seriously consider trading Bijan Robinson.

 

New England Patriots – Drake Maye has looked rusty to start the year, but getting RB Treyveon Henderson back was huge. He had 16 carries for 76 yards and 1 TD. Rhomandre Stevenson is a nice RB2 but he can’t be your featured back. If the Patriots can lean on the running game while AJ Brown is injured, that can buy Maye more time to get his groove back.

 

Pittsburgh Steelers – I don’t know what the fuck Mike McCarthy is doing with this offense. In Week 1 he had Aaron Rodgers throw the ball 40 times. In Week 2 he had him throw the ball 39 times. Mike thinks he’s Ben Johnson with a young shiny new toy at QB. Someone needs to tell this guy Rodgers is old and not equipped to run this style of offense. He was sacked 4 times and had a 26 QBR. The Steelers could be in for a LONG year…

 

Cleveland Browns – Deshaun Watson had his back against the wall and delivered. In what could have potentially been his last start as a Cleveland Brown, he played one of his better games in recent memory. This could have something to do with Todd Bowles, but I digress. I’d rather give Todd Monken some credit. Still not sure how I feel about him as a head coach, but I liked his reaction during the post game press conference. I like a coach that can show emotion and take things personally. Not totally counting out the Browns to be a pesky team.

 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Disaster. What else can I really say? Baker looks terrible. Todd Bowles should have been fired last year. The receivers are skilled but they just don’t look right without Mike Evans. But the biggest takeaway I have is that this offensive line looks abysmal. They were supposed to be one of the better units in the entire league. I’d give this an F in their first two games considering the expectations. The Bucs have a lot of problems, but I’d like to see the offensive line get their shit together.

 

Minnesota Vikings – Brian Flores is a fucking mastermind. Nothing new there. As long as he’s the DC, it doesn’t matter who the QB is. Your team has a chance to be competitive. 

 

Chicago Bears – Not going to dog Caleb Williams after the injury, but he wasn’t good for 3 quarters in this game. Kudos to Flores, sure. But Ben Johnson has had success against him before. It was a little concerning that the Bears could not find any success after their 59 point performance in week 1. And I don’t want to hear anyone use the weather as an excuse. You’re the Chicago Bears - shit weather should be used to your advantage.

 

Philadelphia Eagles – Jalen Hurts can be frustrating, but he’s a winner. The O line is bad. Saquon got hurt. Goedert was hurt. Yes, the Titans were bad, but the Eagles are 2-0 and it’s solely because Jalen Hurts finds ways to win football games. 

 

Tennessee Titans – It was almost time to go into complete panic mode after the Titans week 1 loss against the Jets and label Cam Ward as a bust. Despite losing the game, you can at least buy him a little more time. Cam looked much better against a very good Eagles defense. I talked about how I expect him to use his legs a bit more with Daboll as OC. I played the rushing yards, which didn’t hit, but he did score twice. Something to keep an eye on.

 

Green Bay Packers – As a Packers hate watcher this season, I am devastated that they escaped with a win. There are no bright spots except for the defensive line. They didn’t allow the Jets to get anything on the ground. Say what you want about the Jets, but they do have some dudes on the offensive line. I don’t think anyone really respects the Packers D without Micah Parsons, but they got after it on the road and in shit weather. I’ll tip my cap to that.

 

New York Jets – You should still be excited about this season as a Jets fan. Geno wasn’t good but this team looks to be worth watching on Sundays. As I mentioned I was very disappointed neither Hall or Allen could find any success on the ground, but the defense was excellent. Kudos to Aaron Glenn for that, but I absolutely hated how he managed the end of that game. I am nervous for Jets fans that they hired another Robert Saleh - someone who’s more fit to be a coordinator than a head coach. Time will tell.

Cincinnati Bengals – Joe Burrow finally has a defense. That’s it, that’s the takeaway.

 

Houston Texans – The Texans defense bounced back somewhat, but the offense gave them nothing. CJ Stroud had 350+ yards passing, but throwing the ball 55 times and not scoring a touchdown is absolutely pathetic. I’m sure most people will want to buy “low” on the Texans after their 0-2 start, but I can’t put a dollar on CJ Stroud. He might be broken.