Week 2 of the National Football League season is here. With it arguably being the upset of Week 2 without any other games being played yet, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1) stunned the Carolina Panthers (0-2) on Thursday Night Football.
Takeaways From TNF: Bucs vs Panthers
Fun fact: Since 2007, of the 98 teams that started 0-2, only 12 (12.2 percent) make the playoffs (According to OddShark)
Here are my predictions for Week 2:
1. San Franciso 49ers (1-0) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (0-1) – The 49ers have Richard Sherman to thank for last week’s win, picking off Buccaneers’ QB Jameis Winston twice and returning them for touchdowns. San Francisco will need to try and do more of the same against Andy Dalton on Sunday, who is coming off a 418-yard, 2 touchdown performance. For the Bengals, consistency. Cincinnati played well enough to win, but could not get it done even with Dalton’s strong performance. If Cincinnati can repeat last week’s performance, they will win more times than not. Prediction: Bengals
2. Los Angeles Chargers (1-0) vs. Detroit Lions (0-0-1) – No Melvin Gordon? No problem. With three touchdowns, including the game-winner in OT, Chargers’ running back Austin Ekeler carried the Chargers to the victory. With Gordon’s holdout showing no end in sight, you can fully expect Ekeler to burden a heavy workload going forward. For Detroit, avoid another tie. The Lions should’ve beat Kyler Murray and the Cardinals and have only themselves to blame for losing (yes, losing) to the worst team in the league last season. Going forward, the Lions will need to find ways to put teams away. But it won’t matter Sunday. Prediction: Chargers
3. Minnesota Vikings (1-0) vs. Green Bay Packers (1-0) – As if Minnesota needed another offensive weapon, having running back Dalvin Cook back and healthy just makes the Vikings a more formidable playoff team. However, Kirk Cousins needs to throw the football more than ten times like he did Week 1. They are too skilled at wide receiver to not air it out. For Green Bay, hello defense? The Packers revamped their defense this offseason and it showed BIG time. Green Bay suffocated Mitchell Trubisky and Co. and held the Bears to three points. The offense, ehhhhh at best. It also doesn’t help Aaron Rodgers‘ is depleted without much offensive weapons, but if there’s one thing you don’t do: count out #12. Prediction: Vikings
4. Indianapolis Colts (0-1) vs. Tennessee Titans (1-0) – After an abrupt end to Andrew Lucks career, back-up quarterback Jacoby Brissett was thrusted into the spotlight – and performed pretty well in the Week 1 loss (190 yards and 2 touchdowns). Running back Marlon Mack collected 174 yards on 25 touches, and T.Y. Hilton caught eight balls for 87 yards and two touchdowns. The offense looks to be in good shape, so far. For Tennessee, they spoiled the much anticipated opener for the Cleveland Browns and did it pretty convincingly. The Titans are the best team nobody is talking about, but should be, considering they just missed making the playoffs last season. The Colts won both match-ups last season, but Tennessee might have something to say in 2019. Prediction: Titans
5. New England Patriots (1-0) vs. Miami Dolphins (0-1) – First and foremost, the Dolphins have no chance at beating the Patriots. New England looked dominant in their Week 1 win against Pittsburgh and are only going to get better with Antonio Brown, as if they needed him. Note to the rest of the NFL: good luck. For Miami, el-oh-el. Nothing went right in their Week 1 catastrophe against Baltimore. They can only trend up, right? I hope Tua Tagovailoa enjoys the Miami lifestyle! Prediction: Patriots
6. Buffalo Bills (1-0) vs. New York Giants (0-1) – Buffalo’s defense is a force to be reckoned with. The offense: to be determined. But it’s trending up and Josh Allen is starting to figured out what it takes to be a quarterback in the NFL. Would be pretty funny too if the Bills spoiled both the Jets and Giants home openers. For New York, if they could take the first drive of last week’s game and apply it to every drive, Giants football would be fun again. The only thing fun about Giants football right now is watching Saquon Barkley with the football in his hands. With the spotlight in New York magnified and patience thin, another 0-2 start would not be ideal. Prediction: Giants
7. Seattle Seahawks (1-0) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1) – Although Seattle should probably be 0-1 after their horrendous defensive game, Russell Wilson prevented the Seahawks from becoming the upset of Week 1. But you know what they say, a win’s a win! Seattle’s defense will fix itself and should rebound well against the Steelers. For Pittsburgh, they need to hit the perverbial ‘reset’ button after their Week 1 shellacking at the hands of the Patriots. Absolutely nothing went right for the Steelers and looked lifeless throughout the entire game until the fourth quarter. I fully expect Mike Tomlin to rally the troops and put together a much better game at home vs. Seattle. Prediction: Seahawks
8. Dallas Cowboys (1-0) vs. Washington Redskins (0-1) – After his 405-yard performance in Week 1, Dak Prescott may not have to wait much longer for that contract extension. Prescott connected with four different receivers for touchdowns and finish the game with a perfect passer rating. Could first year offensive coordinator Kellen Moore be the piece that helps the Cowboys win the Super Bowl? I’ll shut up. For Washington, they need to play four quarters of football, not two. The Redskins didn’t play an awful game by any stretch, they just got beat twice by DeSean Jackson for 50+ yard touchdowns. Dallas is loaded with offensive talent and I’m expecting Prescott will be racking up a lot of yards this Sunday too. Prediction: Cowboys
9. Arizona Cardinals (0-0-1) vs. Baltimore Ravens (1-0) – First overall pick Kyler Murray looked good in his first career NFL game. The Cardinals showed a ton of resiliency erasing the Lions 18-point lead to even force OT, so a tie almost feels like a win. For Baltimore, a lot of Lamar Jackson doing a lot of good things. Jackson collected 324 yards, threw five touchdowns, and finished with a perfect passer rating. It may be way too early, but Baltimore looks to be a legitimate AFC threat. In this battle of the birds matchup, the Ravens are going to roll easily. Prediction: Ravens
10. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1) vs. Houston Texans (0-1) – Jacksonville really didn’t stand a chance last week against the offensive juggernaut that is Kansas City. It also didn’t help their new investment Nick Foles broke his left clavicle and won’t return until Week 11. It will be interesting to see how backup Gardner Minshew performs as the new starter. For Houston, losing on a last second 58-yard field goal is a tough pill to swallow. Watson led his team on a two-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a touchdown giving the Texans a late lead with 37 seconds left. That proved to be too much time for Drew Brees to work his magic. Expect Houston to rebound this week. Prediction: Texans
11. Kansas City Chiefs (1-0) vs. Oakland Raiders (1-0) – Patrick Mahomes picked up right where he left off from his 2018 MVP campaign. Mahomes torched the Jaguars for 378 yards and three touchdowns. As too did Sammy Watkins, who caught nine passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns. With an injured Tyreek Hill, expect another game with a heavy dose of Watkins. For Oakland, who needs Antonio Brown when they found a rising star in Tyrell Williams. Williams stormed onto the scene in Week 1 with six catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. Going forward, Williams appears to be the new No. 1 receiver for Derek Carr. Expect a shootout in the Bay Area. Prediction: Chiefs
12. Chicago Bears (0-1) vs. Denver Broncos (0-1) – Chicago’s defense did not miss a step, sacking Rodgers five times in the opener. But it was the offense who struggled with the football against a new looked Packers defense. Chicago’s offensive line did not provide Mitchell Trubisky with a ton of protection and was evident by rushed throws. For Denver, much like Chicago, little to no offense. Newly acquired quarterback Joe Flacco and the Broncos offense were held out of the end zone until 2:15 remained in the game. Not an ideal gameplay going forward. However, don’t be surprised if Denver’s offense continues to struggle against a strong Bears’ defense. Prediction: Bears
13. New Orleans Saints (1-0) vs. Los Angeles Rams (1-0) – Easily going to be the game of the weekend. New Orleans is, of course, looking to avenge that atrocious no pass interference call in last year’s NFC championship game that cost them a trip to the Super Bowl. You best believe it’s still on their mind. Expect the Saints to come out firing and put up points at the Coliseum. For Los Angeles, get better. Yes, the Rams beat the Panthers in Week 1, but they let Carolina hang around and almost got stunned. I think a rematch with the Saints is just what the doctor ordered to get them back on track. I expect both offenses to score a lot. Prediction: Saints
14. Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) vs. Atlanta Falcons (0-1) – It looked like Philadelphia was in for a long afternoon until DeSean Jackson took over. Jackson hauled in two 50+ yard touchdown throws and finished the day with eight catches for 184 yards. I’m sure Carson Wentz is going to loooove have Jackson as a deep threat. For Atlanta, fix what went wrong on offense. Matt Ryan did not look good, Devonta Freeman ran eight times for 19 yards, and Julio Jones caught six passes for 31 yards. Atlanta has a potent offensive attack, so don’t be surprised by a rebound game this week. Prediction: Falcons
15. Cleveland Browns (0-1) vs. New York Jets (0-1) – I had to double, even triple-check to make sure I saw this correctly.. The Browns and Jets on Monday Night Football?! This was supposed to be the year Cleveland turned their misfortunes around. But Week 1, they got smacked in the mouth. Titans’ tight end Delanie Walker said it best after the game, “They are who we thought they are.” Still a disaster. For New York, although they are happy to have Le’Veon Bell, the offense still was inept for most of the game. The defense was impressive shutting down Buffalo, hoping their offense would wake up and put up some points. Based on each team’s Week 1 performance, we are in for a snooze fest. Prediction: Browns
Photo credit: USA Today Sports. Pictured: Ezekiel Elliott
Awful Sport News 