All it took was nine games in the 1 p.m. slate of Week 2 of the NFL season to get football really rolling. The Dallas Cowboys pulled off a thrilling 40-37 overtime victory over the New York Giants, a game that took notice away from the late window thanks to Russell Wilson rekindling the fountain of youth.
The Cincinnati Bengals lost Joe Burrow but got a heroic performance from Jake Browning in relief, while the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions responded from Week 1 defeats in a big way. The Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks traveled two time zones and won, and the New England Patriots earned their first win under Mike Vrabel.
There was plenty of excitement during the early window of the Sunday slate, enough for Week 2 overreactions to dictate how the rest of the month (or season) will go. Which overreactions have merit and which ones are we truly overreacting to?
Overreaction or reality: Reality
McCarthy led the Vikings to a Week 1 comeback victory and was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. That was essentially fools gold after watching an abysmal “Sunday Night Football” performance against the Falcons. McCarthy was 11 of 21 for 158 yards and two interceptions as the Vikings failed to get an offensive touchdown in the loss.
On throws of 10+ air yards, McCarthy was 6 of 10 for 129 yards, but the two interceptions hurt him. McCarthy still has just two games under his belt, but he’s been bad for seven of eight quarters this season. Through two games, McCarthy has completed 58.5% of his passes for 201 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions (67.2 rating). Take away the fourth quarter of the Week 1 comeback, and McCarthy is 18 of 33 for 214 yards with zero touchdowns and three interceptions — a 36.7 rating.
McCarthy just hasn’t been good, nor efficient through two games. This was always a work in progress, but the horrific play isn’t going away. The defense McCarthy beat in Week 1 gave up 52 points to the Lions on Sunday, and he struggled for three quarters against them too.
McCarthy needs to be better. If he isn’t, the Vikings may end up missing the playoffs. He’s the key toward getting Minnesota there.
The Chiefs will miss the playoffs
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction
Hard to believe this is a conversation, but this is the reality when the Chiefs are 0-2 to start a season (the first time for the Chiefs since 2014). The last time the Chiefs started 0-2 under Andy Reid, they finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs. Kansas City has never lost three straight games under Patrick Mahomes (including postseason).
Starting 0-2 for a season isn’t a good sign for the postseason, as just 12.2% of teams since 1990 have made the postseaosn after an 0-2 start. The percentage isn’t any better under the 14-team format either, as it’s just 12.2%.
Perhaps it’s just the good teams the Chiefs are playing, but Kansas City just appears to be good enough to rally and make the playoffs. They have Andy Reid as head coach and Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, and are missing Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy. The defense is still good and there’s a lot of talent and leadership on both sides of the ball.
The Chiefs will be fine, but it’s fair to ponder if they can quickly recover from this start.
Passing yards do not matter with Jalen Hurts
Overreaction or reality: Reality
The Eagles won their 16th straight game which Hurts has started and finished, and Hurts has thrown for under 150 yards in six of them. Hurts just wins, no matter what the final stat line is (15 of 22, 101 yards, rushing touchdown).
The real numbers that define Hurts? 39 total touchdowns to just four turnovers during this 16-game stretch in games which he stars and finishes, which is why the Eagles win games. he is not making mistakes and making the big throws when he needs to. For example, Hurts was 3 of 4 for 39 yards in the fourth quarter (105.8 rating) and 6 of 8 for 59 yards on third down in Sunday’s win over the Chiefs. Those are the numbers that matter when defining Hurts, not how many yards he throws in an arbitrary stat.
In comparison, Patrick Mahomes was 3 of 6 for 24 yards on third down and 4 of 10 for 32 yards with an interception when pressured (9.2 rating). Hurts isn’t losing games for his team — and he’s managing the game. Yards do not matter for Hurts, wins do.
Colts are the best team in the AFC South
Overreaction or reality: Reality
Two weeks into the season, the Colts have earned the right to be the best team in this division. The Colts couldn’t move the ball much through the air in the second half against the Broncos, and still rallied to victory off the legs of Jonathan Taylor — who had 10 carries for 98 yards in the fourth quarter.
Daniel Jones threw for 316 yards and a touchdown, but that game was won off Taylor and the defense. Bo Nix was held to an interception and a 42.5 passer rating in the final quarter, as the Broncos had miscues late (interception, missed field goal) that cost them a victory. Credit to the Colts for stealing a win at home and not relying on Jones’ arm like they did in Week 1.
This team appears to be a complete unit, despite how the preseason went. Colts have the look of the best team in this division through two weeks.
Overreaction or reality: Reality
The Cowboys proved they aren’t a good football team. Good football teams don’t allow the Giants to score 37 points and Russell Wilson to throw for 400-plus yards and three touchdown passes in regulation. There are a lot of issues with this Cowboys team, especially on defense.
But Dallas has Brandon Aubrey, who can make a kick from seemingly any distance. Trailing 37-34, Aubrey hit a 64-yard field goal with no time left to avoid an embarrassing loss to the Giants — and Dallas only needed to go 21 yards to get into his range.
Aubrey won the game with a 46-yard field goal in overtime with no time left, capping a day in which he converted 51-, 44-, 64- and 46-yard field goals in the win. The Cowboys lose that game if not for Aubrey, meaning they would have been 0-2.
Dallas isn’t a good team, evidenced by a close victory over a not-good New York squad. But a win is a win thanks to Aubrey — who may be the most valuable player on this team.
The Russell Wilson benching talk will end
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction
Wilson had a career day for the Giants, throwing for 450 yards and three touchdowns (123.1 rating) as the Giants put up 37 points. He was the first Giants quarterback to throw for 450 passing yards in a game since Eli Manning in 2013. Wilson was 12 of 20 for 331 yards and three touchdowns with one interception (123.1 rating) on throws of 10-plus air yards.
Even in an incredible performance by Wilson, the Giants are 0-2. In overtime, Wilson finished 3 of 5 for 17 yards and an interception (26.7 rating) — overshadowing his brilliance through the first four quarters.
This is who Wilson is now. When he’s on, he can win any team a football game. When he’s off, he’s one of the worst quarterbacks in the game. This is what the Giants have to live with while he starts.
The calls for Jaxson Dart will remain, although they probably should hold off for a week after Sunday’s performance.
Mac Jones will be the next Kyle Shanahan QB to earn a big contract
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction
Is it surprising that Jones delivered a big performance filling in for Brock Purdy in his first start with the 49ers? Jones went 26 of 39 passing for 279 yards and three touchdown passes (113.1 rating) in San Francisco’s victory over New Orleans, as the 49ers put up 344 yards of offense.
On throws of 10-plus air yards, Jones went 8 of 14 for 151 yards and a touchdown (118.5 rating). Jones looked poised and had total command of the offense, even if it was against the Saints.
While Jones looked good in the win, it’s still too early to claim he’ll get a big contract for being in Shanahan’s offensive scheme. There’s a lot that needs to happen for Jones to become the next Kirk Cousins, Brock Purdy or Sam Darnold — but this is a promising start.
Bengals can win games if Joe Burrow misses time
Overreaction or reality: Reality
Burrow left the Bengals game in the first half with a left toe injury, which appeared to be a doom-and-gloom scenario for the Bengals season. They won anyway, thanks to Jake Browning leading a 15-play, 92-yard winning drive with 3:42 left. Browning capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds to play.
Here’s the situation: The Bengals have won games with Browning before. When Burrow was injured two seasons ago, Cincinnati went 4-3 in Browning’s seven starts while he completed 70.4% of his passes. On Sunday, Browning threw for 196 yards and two touchdowns in the second half, and he completed 9 of his 12 passes for 65 yards on the final drive.
Is Browning as good as Burrow? Of course not, but he can lead this team for multiple weeks if need be.
And even better news for the Bengals? They’re 2-0 and not off to a slow start for once. That’s a major win.
Lions offense will be just fine without Ben Johnson
Overreaction or reality: Reality
All one needs to do is look at the box score to see what the Lions did in the second game under new offensive coordinator John Morton. The Lions looked like the Lions the league has become accustomed to, racking up 52 points while totaling 511 yards and averaging 8.8 yards per play in a dominant victory over the Bears.
Jared Goff had as many incompletions (five) as touchdown passes, while Amon-Ra St. Brown looked like his old self with three touchdowns. Jameson Williams also had a 44-yard touchdown, something that was typical in the Lions offense last year.
Perhaps the Lions just ran into a perfect storm with the Packers defense debuting Micah Parsons last week, but this was the Detroit team we’ve seen over the last few years. A sigh of relief in Detroit.
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction
The Browns have to be encouraged by what they saw from Gabriel on Sunday, as the third-round rookie quarterback entered the game in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss to the Ravens. Gabriel went 3 of 3 for 19 yards and a touchdown — an 8-yard pass to Dylan Sampson — in his one possession.
Joe Flacco struggled with 199 yards passing on 45 attempts, a paltry 4.4 yards per attempt. The Browns have scored just 13.5 points per game in Flacco’s two starts, struggling to move the ball consistently. Even though Gabriel played well in his one possession, this is too small of a sample size to make a change for the 0-2 Browns.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski won’t make a change yet, and the Browns may not be in a rush to go to Gabriel. This change probably won’t be until Cleveland gets back from London (after Week 5).
