Week 2 was a wild week in the NFL. The most surprising game was certainly the Arizona Cardinals upset over the New England Patriots. The Cardinals defense played great all game holding the high powered Patriots offense to only field goals until late in the fourth quarter. Kevin Kolb didn’t play great, but it was just a grind it out victory. It was a victory that almost didn’t happen when young running back Ryan Williams fumbled the ball with just over a minute left and gave the Patriots one last chance to tie it up. Veteran Stephen Gostkowski missed a 42-yarder with a few seconds left however to give the Cardinals the win. The Cardinals are the most surprising team this season, starting out 2-0 and look to challenge the 49ers this season for the NFC West division.
The Saints fell to 0-2 on the season, making everyone think the loss of head coach Sean Payton really was a bigger deal than we all thought. Drew Brees looked very average in the first three quarters of the game yesterday against the Panthers. He threw a pick-six in the first quarter, and threw another interception on the last drive when the Saints were looking to tie it up late down seven. He is making mistakes that he hasn’t made these last few years, plus the defense is terrible. The unit first got pummeled week 1 by the Redskins, then yesterday Cam Newton ran and passed at will it seemed. The Saints have the Chiefs at home next week and that can be just what the doctor ordered to get them back on track.
Michael Vick and the Eagles pulled out another one-point late victory yesterday against the Ravens. The Ravens seemed to have control of this game late in the third quarter, but Joe Flacco and the offense started to go three-and-out a few times to leave the door open for the Eagles to sneak back in it. Vick looked really good yesterday, in-between the numerous hits he took all afternoon. I was surprised to see him make it through the game. He shook off hit after hit and led the Eagles down the field before he rushed it in himself from the one-yard line. They did leave Flacco with enough time left to drive down for a potential game winning field goal, but the Eagles corner backs stepped up and batted down a few balls before Flacco overthrew on fourth and two.a The Eagles were much more balanced yesterday than week 1, when Vick threw over 50 times compared to yesterday where it was under 30 with a 71.9 completion percentage. If the Eagles continue to stay balanced, I see them as the favorite to win the NFC East this year.
The New York Giants showed a lot of toughness yesterday, refusing to give up when it seemed like everything was going the wrong way in the first half. Eli Manning threw three first half interceptions including a pick-six giving the Bucs a lead of 14 at one time. Manning did not let the interceptions get him down though as he continued to throw to his two stud wide receivers Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks who each had over 175 yards receiving. Manning finished with 510 yards passing and three touchdowns. While watching this game, I thought the Bucs defense had figured out Manning. Add in the fact running back Ahmad Bradshaw went out in the first half with an injury, it seemed like it was going to be the Bucs day. But Josh Freeman could not keep up with Manning, throwing two big interceptions that killed scoring drives. The Giants defense has not been as dominant through these first two weeks as many had thought they would, and they have a short week playing Carolina on Thursday night. They will need to step up if they don’t want to fall to 1-2 and even further behind the Eagles.
The Steelers started off slow yesterday against the Jets. Mark Sanchez looked great early hitting Santonio Holmes for a TD putting them up 7-3. Sanchez then he went extremely cold for the remaining three quarters. The Steelers’ cornerbacks had a lot to do with that playing very physical against the Jets wide receivers and throwing the rhythm off between them and Sanchez. Ben Roethlisberger looked very good yesterday, constantly shedding blitz after blitz that Rex Ryan sent after him. Roethlisberger kept completing big third down conversions that kept the Jet’s defense on the field. Roethlisberger was at his best during the 10 minute drive the Steelers had in the fourth that resulted in an Ike Redman touchdown putting them up 17. Sanchez looked great against the Bills and poor against the Steelers so in week 3, we will see if he can become that consistent quarterback all Jets fans are clamoring for. If he doesn’t, will Tim Tebow be called upon to light a spark into the offense like he did last season with the Broncos?
Robert Griffin and Andrew Luck both looked really good yesterday. RG3 had two rushing TD’s and another 60-plus yard completion for a touchdown for the second week in a row. In Indy, Luck was very consistent all game with two passing touchdowns and led his team with under a minute to go for the game winning field goal. Griffin and the Redskins probably should have won the game yesterday or at least tied it if it wasn’t for the idiotic move by wide receiver Josh Morgan. Morgan was called for a personal foul after throwing the ball into the face of a Rams’ defender pushing the team back 15 yards. The penalty would force the Skins out of field goal range and result in a loss. These two quarterbacks continue to impress and I look for big things from them all season long. For a little fantasy tip, pick up or trade for RG3 now because he will only get better as the season goes along.
Photo Credits: ESPN.com
