In a flash, two weeks of the NFL season have passed and there is plenty to dissect. The biggest talking points of Week 2 include the Chiefs falling in a Super Bowl rematch, the Packers proving their might in a dismantling of the Commanders, Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow getting hurt and a high-scoring thriller between the Giants and the Cowboys. From 40-point performances by teams to quarterbacks getting hurt, Week 2 had an impressive array of action.
The Green Bay Packers began Week 2 with a bang and on Thursday Night Football, they were dominant against a Jayden Daniels-led Commanders. The Packers were brilliant all night long and they never really let Washington off the hook. The Commanders were out-yarded 404 to 230; they only averaged a putrid 3.5 yards per play compared to the Packers’ 6.4 and they allowed four sacks. Throughout the game, I did not like the play calls by Kliff Kingsbury, the offensive coordinator, as the Commanders would run the ball too much on early downs or throw checkdowns. The Packers shut down the run game early on and the only way to move the ball was through the passing game. Washington found themselves in third downs too much and that is not a recipe for success. Green Bay was all over the offensive line and it was a sluggish performance by Daniels’ offense. Micah Parsons caused the o-line lots of trouble and he led the Packers with three QB hits in another excellent display. On the other end, Jordan Love led his team beautifully and the biggest contrast so far from him last year is the turnovers. Last season, Love had at least a pick in each of the first eight games he played, but this year, he has not thrown any. Love is so smooth with throwing the football and when turnovers do not plague him, he is one of the league’s best. The Packers look the best in the NFC North up to this point and with the combination of their fierce defense and effective offense, they have risen to be one of the top favorites for the Super Bowl.
To continue, an event on Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati changed the course of the Bengals’ season. Joe Burrow got rolled upon his lower leg and reports later confirmed that he suffered a turf toe injury that will require surgery. He will miss a minimum of three months and the team will have Jake Browning be their new starting quarterback. This is heartbreaking for the organization, fantasy owners of Burrow like myself and Burrow himself, as he has suffered a major injury yet again in his young career. The Bengals ended up winning the game against the Jaguars to move to 2-0, but the real question is, what will happen to the Bengals now? Cincinnati is one of the more QB-dependent teams in the league and now that Burrow is gone, the effectiveness of Chase and Higgins is under question. The Bengals have a weak defense that will not win them games and at running back, Chase Brown is great but he is a better pass back than a power back. Wins will be hard to come by for the Bengals and they will hope that Browning will keep them in the hunt until Burrow returns.Â
Later on Sunday, the Chiefs played the Eagles in a Super Bowl rematch and unlike the game they played last February, this one was close. I had the Chiefs winning this game because of the game being at Arrowhead, the revenge factor and Mahomes not losing back-to-back regular season games in the first two weeks. Unfortunately, I was wrong and the Eagles gritted out a low-scoring battle at Chiefs Kingdom. This game was not pretty to watch and points were hard to come by. It was an even game throughout, but the game-changing moment was when Kelce dropped a routine touchdown pass and it got picked off in the end zone by Andrew Mukuba. The Eagles eventually scored on the ensuing drive and extended their lead to two possessions. Kelce and Mahomes are usually so clutch and that is why the Chiefs have been massively successful but in this game, they could not find a way through the defending Super Bowl champs. For Philadelphia, they have to be satisfied with this victory and be happy with their play in a tough road game. The offense was also slowed down by Kansas City, but they did enough in the end and are taking a 2-0 record back with them to Lincoln Financial Field. It is still early, but the Chiefs might be in trouble and on the other side, the Eagles look ready to play in next year’s Super Bowl.Â
Some other great games included the Russell Wilson vs Dak Prescott 37-40 screamer in Dallas and a Baker Mayfield-led comeback by the Buccaneers to snatch a road victory in Houston. Texas provided us with top-notch entertainment this weekend and it was an incredible week of football. Moving forward, where will the Bengals go with their star player hurt? What will happen to the Vikings as their QB J.J. McCarthy will miss multiple weeks? How will the Lions-Ravens Monday Night game play out? Week 3 will have more in store for us and it will be capped off by what should be a wondrous MNF primetime game.