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NFL Week Two Takeaways: Big Disappointments From Big Teams

Date: September 20, 2017

By: Keith Egan

Week two of the NFL season gives a little more substance of what to expect from a team. It's still early, and there is a team or two struggling right now that will be in the playoffs, but it gives a little more evidence to what is or what is not a fluke from the week one results. The Week Two games very much did that, with a lot of the same from some teams, while others picked themselves up off the ground. Here are my takeaways from Week Two.

  1. The Arizona Cardinals are so far the team we saw in 2016, instead of who we saw in 2015. Forget the overtime win; the Cardinals should have won convincingly in Indianapolis. I will give them the benefit of the doubt since it was the Colts' home opener, and after a rough week one, they were going to come out swinging, but the Cardinals just looked flat without David Johnson. With 83 yards of rushing and only two first downs on the ground, Arizona made Indianapolis' defense appear playoff caliber despite the Rams scoring on them at will last week. The pass game looked good at times with Carson Palmer's 332 yards and one touchdown, but when it counted, the Cardinals couldn't put it in the end zone other than J.J. Nelson's 45-yard touchdown. Arizona will still have their chance, now at 1-1, but they will need to be much more convincing to compete in the NFC.

 

  1. Staying in the NFC West, Seattle may also lose their Super Bowl chances due to their ineffective offense. In their loss to Green Bay week one, the defense shut out the Packers in the first half, but their offense failed to score a touchdown for the entire game. Losing to the Packers in Lambeau by one score in Week One isn't too bad, but this past week against the 49ers is what raises eyebrows. Once again, the Seattle defense showed their talent in not allowing San Francisco a touchdown, but the Seahawks' 12 points left much to be desired. The main reason for their troubles? The offensive line. Lucky for the Seahawks, they have one of the best mobile quarterbacks in the league in Russell Wilson. However, the inability to keep Wilson comfortable in the pocket and the running game effective has halted drives. The Seahawks' one touchdown against San Francisco, also being their only on the season, was nearly a sack on Wilson who scrambled to find Paul Richardson in the end zone. It needs to be a team effort from the Seattle offense, who right now is sitting in the same boat as the Cardinals.

 

When playing their best, the Denver Broncos can beat any team in the NFL. In their convincing 42-17 win over the Cowboys, Denver looked like the Super Bowl team they were a couple years ago. Their intensity was off the charts, their defense was not allowing Ezekiel Elliot any room to breathe, and both their running and passing game were on point. Trevor Siemian may be the most impressive part of this game to me. His stat sheet does not jump out at you, but his composure and game management has become superb. He has won two quarterback competitions with two different coaching staffs, has established himself as a leader earning him a captain title, and has developed into the quarterback that Denver needs to be a playoff team. I have always said Dak Prescott is a system quarterback who is not going to win games with his arm, but he runs his offense as well as anyone. This is the same for Trevor Siemian, however he showed to be the better of the two in Sunday's matchup. The Broncos have a long road ahead of them in the toughest division in the AFC and maybe the league, but they are certainly heading in the right direction.

I am not sure where to start with the New York Giants. Their offensive line is terrible, but there were more problems than that in their 24-10 loss to the Lions. Eli Manning was late on decisions, the play calling was dismal, the receiving core was not ready to play, the running game is nonexistent and this team just looks mentally weak. The game was not over until the Giants turned it over on downs late in the fourth quarter, but it felt like it was over well before that. Even before Jamal Agnew's punt return for a touchdown that made it a 14 point deficit, there was no energy on the field for the Giants. The defense played pretty well with a few missed assignments, but even they did not look ready to play and fell short on plays they could have completed to stop scoring plays. It is a mess for the Giants, who have a tough match up in Philadelphia against a defensive line that is going to be coming at Manning. This week needs to be a big regroup, before it is too late.

 

Player(s) of the week:

Offensive: Tom Brady (NE): 30/39, 447 yards, Three Touchdowns, 139.6 QBR

Defensive: Ezekiel Ansah (DET)- Three sacks, 18 sack yards, Six tackles, One forced fumble

 

Games to watch next week:

Falcons @ Lions: The Falcons looked like they could be suffering a Super Bowl hangover when they barely beat the Bears, but not against Green Bay where their offense was shining. Big test coming up against the Lions, who are also looking to show their 2-0 start is no fluke.

Buccaneers @ Vikings: The Buccaneers were impressive in their first game of the year in a 29-7 win over the Bears, while the Vikings fell to 1-1 after backup quarterback Case Keenum could not lead them over the Steelers. This matchup will be telling to where these teams are at, especially if Bradford is able to suit up again for the Vikings.

Seahawks @ Titans: I am very intrigued by this game. The Seahawks struggles on offense need to be turned around while the defense looks to stop a Titans' offense which is currently ranked sixth in the league. If the Titans want to gain national recognition, this is the game to do it.

 

Keith Egan can be reached at keith.egan@student.shu.edu.

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