Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
32 things we learned about the NFL after Week 2
The 32 things we learned from Week 2 of the 2019 NFL season:
1. Knock on wood if you’re with me, but I’ll kinda miss seeing infield dirt in September NFL games. But after the Raiders’ contest in Oakland on Sunday, we may have seen the final vestiges of baseball diamonds at multi-purpose football venues. And with the Raiders headed to Las Vegas in 2020 — four decades after more than half the NFL’s teams shared their home field with a Major League Baseball club — times have certainly changed from the days of New York’s Shea Stadium, San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium, Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium and countless others. But progress. Purportedly.
2. Keepin’ it 100: I’ve got nothing against the Cowboys, but how unbearable will the Dallas hype train be now that the team is 3-0 for the first time in Jason Garrett’s coaching tenure? Oh, you thought “3-0” was a typo — nope, “America’s Team” hosts the Dolphins next week ... so, 3-0.
2a. Keepin’ it 100 million-plus: After another sterling performance (26for-30, 269 yards, 3 TDs), the contractual meter on Cowboys QB Dak Prescott’s inevitable extension continues to run. Might save yourself some money, Jerry, by paying Dak this week rather than let him light up Miami.
2b. Keepin’ it 100 ... in his own way: Upset after feeling his pregame comments about Prescott’s progress as a passer were taken out of context, Redskins CB Josh Norman said after Sunday afternoon’s loss: “I really wish that (reporter) would come and have a conversation with me about it, because that’s the whole reason why athletes, entertainers don’t want to (expletive) with you guys. Just to be 100 with you, it’s no need.”
3. Whether or not you’re a fan of the Saints or Steelers, this season is significantly diminished by injuries to New Orleans QB Drew Brees (thumb), who reports indicate will miss six weeks, and Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger (elbow), who’s now been officially ruled out for the year.
3a. Sidebar — I wish the NFL would re-examine its method of awarding quarterbacking wins and losses in a manner perhaps closer to what baseball does. Per the present “method,” if the starting quarterback takes one snap, he’s the player of record, which hardly seems fair if he plays sparingly ... as happened to Brees on Sunday.
3b. While we’re on the topic, Eli Manning is now 116-116. Future Hall of Famer?
4. Keepin’ it 50: The 50th season of “Monday Night Football” is now underway, and the Jets and Browns will conclude Week 2 49 years after they kicked off one of the most successful broadcasting franchises in American television history.
5. New Patriots WR Antonio Brown made his New England debut in Sunday’s win at Miami, making some history in his hometown. AB became the first player to catch TD passes from both Roethlisberger and Tom Brady, his 20yarder from TB12 the first touchdown Brown had ever scored without being on the receiving from Big Ben. Brown also became the 72nd player to hook up with Brady for six, another NFL record.
5a. Be interesting to see how the next few days go for Brown, though, given the woman who’s accused him of rape in a civil lawsuit will speak to NFL officials on Monday, according to multiple reports.
6. Looks like the Bears have finally found their kicker, Eddy Pineiro going 3for-3 on FG tries, including a 53-yarder at the gun in Sunday’s 16-14 escape act in Denver.
6a. But have the Bears found their quarterback? Mitch Trubisky has been less than impressive while providing more fodder for those — like my good buddy Nancy Armour — who will remind GM Ryan Pace that he could’ve had Deshaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes instead with the second pick of the 2017 draft.
6b. And Trubisky, Pineiro et al. were quite fortunate given the highly — HIGHLY —dubious 15-yard roughing call against Broncos OLB Bradley Chubb on Chicago’s game-winning drive in the final 31 seconds.
7. Chubb, Von Miller and the rest of the Broncos have shockingly combined for zero sacks in Denver’s 0-2 start, the franchise’s first since 1999, which was Year 1 post-Elway.
8. Also sackless, two-time reigning defensive player of the year Aaron Donald, though at least he appeared to avoid a serious injury after temporarily leaving Sunday’s game with a back issue.
9. And how much does Texans DE J.J. Watt miss Jadeveon Clowney? Watt, who got totally shut out of the box score in Week 1, assisted on two tackles and recovered a fumble in Sunday’s win over Jacksonville — better, but not J.J. Watt as we know him.
9a. At least Houston coach Bill O’Brien poured all those draft picks into an O-line that’s now allowed at least four sacks of Watson in eight consecutive regular-season games, a streak that ties an NFL record since sacks became an official stat in 1982.
10. Kudos to Jaguars coach Doug Marrone for going for the two-point conversion attempt — it failed — with 30 seconds remaining in his team’s 13-12 loss. With a rookie quarterback (Gardner Minshew) making his first start on the road and feeling some momentum after Jacksonville finally found the end zone, it was the right move. Colts coach Frank Reich (unsuccessfully) and Chargers coach Anthony Lynn (successfully) made similar calls last season — both showing great faith in their players on teams that wound up in the playoffs. Maybe Marrone will belatedly reap a similar reward.
10a. Similar props to Denver rookie
boss Vic Fangio, though his team ain’t going anywhere but home in January.
11. The new Los Angeles yard the Rams and Chargers will share beginning in 2020 will be called SoFi Stadium. So if you have to pick between attending a Rams or Chargers game, are you presented with a SoFi’s Choice? (You loved this one, Hollywood.)
12. Keepin’ it 100: The NFC North is back to being the black and blue division, because none is shaping up as tougher top to bottom. Of course, it helps having one 100-year-old team (Chicago) and another that’s in its 99th season (Green Bay).
12a. But don’t sleep on the NFC West, where the Rams, Seahawks and resurgent 49ers are all 2-0.
13. Keepin’ it 100: Why haven’t the Chargers addressed their kicking situation already? Mike Badgley, who’s missed both games with a groin injury, did a nice job stabilizing what’s long been a problem position late last season. But here we are again. Fill-in kicker (and full-time punter) Ty Long missed FGs from 39 and 41 yards Sunday in the Bolts’ 13-10 loss at Detroit.
13a. Dating to last season, the Chargers are now 5-1 without holdout RB Melvin Gordon — though he appeared to be just fine last week on HBO’s “Ballers.”
14. Lions QB Matthew Stafford engineered his 28th fourth-quarter comeback, most in the NFL over the past decade. Naturally, helps when your team so often trails entering the final period ...
15. Nine teams (49ers, Bills, Chiefs, Cowboys, Packers, Patriots, Rams, Ravens, Seahawks) are off to 2-0 starts, which means a 61.3% chance to reach postseason since 1990. However, plenty of have-nots, too. Assuming Cleveland and the Jets don’t tie Monday, nine teams will also stand at 0-2 — a 12.6% chance to make the playoffs since 1990.
16. The Bills are definitive kings of the Empire State after opening their season with defeats of the New York Jets and New York Giants. Of course, that’s really the case every year since Buffalo is really the only city that serves as home to a New York franchise.
16a. That said, the Bills might want to consider relocating to New Jersey — Bayonne Bills, anyone? — after becoming the first team since the merger to open their season with consecutive games at the same road venue.
17. Meanwhile, the Giants fall to 0-2 just days after head coach Pat Shurmur shaded Buffalo QB Josh Allen with faint praise when reflecting on the secondyear passer’s 2018 draft stock.
17a. Yet you wonder if Shurmur and Co. should’ve maybe drafted Allen (or Sam Darnold or Lamar Jackson) last year ...
17b. And how much longer before the already cratering G-Men unbox this year’s controversial first rounder, QB Daniel Jones?
18. Speaking of teams opening with back-to-back roadies, the 49ers had a much tougher task than Buffalo, drawing two games in the Eastern time zone (Tampa Bay and Cincinnati). But after a week training at Youngstown State in Ohio, home of team CEO Jed York, the Niners have started a season 2-0 away from the Bay for the first time since 1989.
19. Doesn’t matter who plays quarterback for the Colts, the Titans can’t beat them.
20. Patrick Mahomes’ second quarter Sunday consisted of 278 passing yards and four TD strikes to three different receivers. Still the MVP.
20a. Kansas City has done something never accomplished in 100 NFL seasons: Score at least 25 points in 22 straight games.
21. Mahomes’ Chiefs throttled Oakland 28-10, but Raiders fans had to be excited by rookie RB Josh Jacobs’ 51yard run. Dude is not afraid of contact and relishes the chance to punish defenders. Nice to have some old school in a young guy here in Season No. 100.
22. Less than two years after being armed with one of the greatest offensive trios in league history — Brown, Le’Veon Bell and Roethlisberger — the Steelers’ “Triplets” in 2019 may be QB Mason Rudolph, RB James Conner and WR JuJu Smith-Schuster. Ain’t. The. Same.
23. Keepin’ it 100: A battle of former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks does not compelling NFL football make. For the first time ever, a pair of games in the same weekend featured Heisman passers as starters: Cam Newton and Jameis Winston squared off Thursday before Kyler Murray and Lamar Jackson went head to head Sunday. Final analysis — yawn ... even though Murray and Newton are now the only players to start their careers with consecutive 300-yard passing games.
24. Keepin’ it 100: The Cardinals’ official Twitter hashtag is #RedSea ... because it sure ain’t #RedZone. Really hard to see how an offense that almost exclusively deploys four-wide packages is sustainable. Arizona is now 2-for-8 this season inside their opponents’ 20yard line, Murray and Co. especially brutal Sunday when Zane Gonzalez had to kick field goals covering 22, 21 and 21 yards in a six-point loss because Kliff Kingsbury’s charges couldn’t punch the ball into the paint.
25. Spin it however you want, but Newton is currently a shadow of his recent MVP form — you could even argue he’s holding the Panthers (0-2) back. Ravaged by injuries in recent years and coming off another shoulder surgery and a preseason foot malady, Newton has minus-2 yards rushing so far, hasn’t thrown a TD pass in his past four games (the longest drought of his nine-year career) dating to last season and has dropped eight starts in a row.
26. DC Todd Bowles is having the biggest impact thus far among coaches on Tampa Bay’s new staff — Thursday’s impressive goal-line stand against Carolina RB Christian McCaffrey almost surely one the Bucs couldn’t have pulled off last year.
26a. Prior to Thursday, Winston had not won a start on the road since 2016.
27. Keepin’ it 100: “Thursday Night Football” has been brutal so far. Next up? Jags at Titans. Netflix, anyone?
28. Horrendous start to Colts K Adam Vinatieri’s 24th season after he missed two PATs on Sunday, the second time that’s happened in less than a year. The greatest kicker in league history is suddenly looking his age (46), going 2-for-5 on extra points this season and 1-for-3 on FGs, though he didn’t attempt one in Week 2.
29. Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a pair of pick-sixes Sunday, yet he’ll apparently continue to start ahead of Josh Rosen. Why?
30. The line for Miami WR DeVante Parker on Sunday: Seven targets, zero catches. Oof.
31. Keepin’ it 100: The 2019 Dolphins appear to have a legitimate shot to be the worst team in the NFL’s 100-season history, their 102 points allowed through two weeks tied for most in the Super Bowl era — though, unlike the ‘73 Saints, Miami was drubbed twice at home.
32. Keepin’ it 100: The 2019 Patriots appear to have a legitimate shot to be the best ... OK, let’s not get carried away. Yet. But after outscoring the Steelers and Dolphins 76-3 at the outset of their title defense, the Pats became just the fourth team in the Super Bowl era to allow just three points through the first two regular-season weekends.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis