NFL Takeaways: Week Two

If week one felt like a great week of action, week two puts it to shame. So many games were packed with intensity and close endings. A lot of big plays, underwhelming players, and great action overall. Below I continue onto week two of my NFL takeaway series.

Giants (29) @ The Football Team (30): What a great way to get week two started. Daniel Jones put on a show with 344 total yards and two total TDs. Heinicke also came out swinging throwing for 334 yards and two TDs in their win. Heinicke definitely deserves all his respect and Jones needs to keep playing like this before NY moves to a different QB soon. 

Raiders (26) @ Steelers (17): What a game for Derek Carr and his Raiders. A week after this Steeler defense held Josh Allen and Buffalo to 16 points, they got absolutely stunned at home. I’ve never been super high on Derek Carr but with back-to-back 300 yard games and Ws, it’s hard to not respect. The biggest takeaway here is the Raiders defense stepping up adding to a nice Raider offense. 

49ers (17) @ Eagles (11): Overall, a really boring game that the Eagles should have won. Their line controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football but couldn’t get the job done. They had a 90 plus yard catch they couldn’t convert to a score. For San Fran, you’ve got to be a bit discouraged with the constant injuries. If you want to see Trey Lance, play you might have to wait longer for that too as Jimmy G keeps managing to win. 

Texans (21) @ Browns (31): In all honesty, I didn’t expect a good game from the Texans at all. Yet, they managed to play well despite losing Tyrod Taylor before halftime to a hamstring injury. Baker played a solid game but the duo of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt proved to be solid. The thing with the Browns is that they aren’t at their full potential, but we can’t keep waiting for that to happen, because it just seems like it won’t.

Broncos (23) @ Jaguars (13): Courtland Sutton stans are extremely happy right now after his 9-catch, 159 yard game. Bridgewater yet again delivered another W, this time with a more solid game. Overall, this Denver team looks really promising. TLaw and the Jags got to find some kind of rhythm and fast because they aren’t looking good at ALL. Their offense just looks so one dimensional at times and when they actually do well they immediately mess up again. 

Saints (7) @ Panthers (26): Man, what the hell happened here. Jameis Winston showed us why we should never hype up one game, because the next might be a disaster. The entire Saints team just looked out of sync, and I know Kamara fantasy owners aren’t too happy right now. Darnold and his Panthers looked really good yesterday, with CMAC and D.J Moore each putting up solid numbers. Carolina is now 2-0 and is playing some real decent football. Maybe Joe Brady is all Darnold needed.

Rams (27) @ Colts (24): Another solid game for Matt Stafford and the Rams, but one that just seemed a lot closer than it should’ve been. If you’re the Rams, you’re happy Kupp and Stafford have a solid connection, and you’re also smiling because Henderson and Michel are a decent backfield duo. The bad thing? This was the Colts game to lose because time and time again they’d march the field only to come up empty. The Rams just need to clean up the miscues on offense because this time is destined for a deep run. Indy, they need to figure out the QB depth. Eason played really nervous, and understandably. Wentz has two sprained ankles and this time showed it can put up a fight, but who’s taking charge if Wentz is out?

Bills (35) @ Dolphins (0): Great rebound win for Buffalo in a game their backfield dominated. Allen still looks a bit rusty, and a lot of us are still waiting to see Josh Allen from last season. Maybe it’s a confidence thing, but not seeing a dominant Allen in a game his team owned is kind of disheartening. Tua going out early was a massive loss but Miami simply couldn’t do ANYTHING on both sides of the ball.

Patriots (25) @ Jets (6): Although Mac didn’t throw for a TD, he definitely looked a lot more comfortable against the Jets this week. I really think this offense is kind of underrated and if they added a solid WR1 they’d be pretty nasty. For the other NY team, this is not good at all. I don’t want to overreact on Wilson’s 4 INT, but this team has a long way to go if they want to be relevant again. 

Bengals (17) @ Bears (20): All 3 QBs who played in this game didn’t play well at all. Sure Burrow threw 2 TDs but he also threw 3 picks. Dalton played ok but he isn’t doing anything special with this offense. Fields did alright but until he starts we won’t know what to expect at all. Up until the 4th, this game was really forgettable. Nice game from the Bengals WR trio though.

Falcons (25) @ Buccaneers (48): Brady just won’t go away, will he? He threw for 5 TDs and when your offense is that hot, your defense needs to be as good… and boy were they. They snatch 3 INTs and return 2 for a score in stunning fashion, sinking the hearts of Matt Ryan fantasy owners. Although Ryan threw those picks, I genuinely don’t believe he is at all the issue. Something else is up in Atlanta and it’s only a matter of time before it all implodes. 

Vikings (33) @ Cardinals (34): Although Kyler threw 2 picks, he still BALLED this game. 4 total TDs and for those who say Hopkins is the only threat there, look again. Rookie Rondale Moore TORCHED the Vikings for 7 catches, 114 yards and a score. I don’t want to overrate a team based on two games, but this Cardinals offense is really fun to watch. This week also proved the Vikings offense isn’t gone. Cousins and Cook did their thing and they should’ve won this game, but sadly the ghost of week 1 Greg Zurlein entered Greg Joseph’s body and he missed the game winner. 

Titans (33) @ Seahawks (30): Wow. What a game and what a comeback by the Titans who were down 24-9 at half. Tannehill didn’t throw for a TD but we won’t talk about him and Julio being robbed of one. Derrick Henry carried this offense, going for 237 total yards and 3 TDs. Seattle looked way too comfortable after halftime and that certainly was their downfall. Losing in front of their home crowd in the first game with them there in months is tough. Russ and Tyler cooked but that defense really needs some help and fast.

Cowboys (20) @ Chargers (17): One of the more highly anticipated matchups ended in a not so favorable way. The refs were just bad on both sides of the ball for both teams. Herbert and Dak put on a show but the most impressive part of this game was the Dallas defense. Heavily scrutinized for years now, missing both of their starting defensive ends and they got the job done, creating turnovers and really getting Herbert uncomfortable. Micah Parsons really showed out, playing out of position in just his second career game and doing real good too. 

Chiefs (35) @ Ravens (36): Now this was a GAME. Lamar Jackson, oh my. Although he threw two horrible picks (first one was a pick-six) he came through for his team when they needed him most. Both squads were just throwing haymakers and the game was enthralling to watch. Just when we thought Pat got the job done for KC, Baltimore creates a turnover and Jackson converts a 4th down to put a dagger in the game. Both teams gave us a show, and a spectacular end to Sunday’s slew of games. 

Lions (17) @ Packers (35): Welp, Green Bay’s first game was a fluke. This win not only killed the Rodgers drama of him playing bad for fun, it also killed a man’s chance of winning $700k on a 16-game parlay that had the Lions winning. All in all, the Lions have a lot of talent to work with and build upon. Maybe it won’t be this year, or next year, but they show they can fight. As of right now, though, it’s just not enough yet. Packers fans got to be happy to see Rodgers torch defense with Adams as his main target. Monday was all Aaron Jones though. 4 total TDs in a touching tribute to his late father. I think the Packers we all expected week one are finally here.