Any given Sunday is a movie from the late 1990s but is real expression. It means on any given Sunday any team can beat any other team. The expression manifested itself in week 2 because no one saw Cooper Rush leading an upset over the Bengals or the Jaguars shutting out the Colts at home. The beauty of the NFL is the parity and it can be seen in the standings with only six teams undefeated after just two weeks of regular season action. In this article, we discuss five observations from a whacky week 2.
1. Crazy Comebacks- nothing is sports is more dramatic than witnessing a comeback onfold. Over the weekend, we witnessed three epic comebacks the will make fans of the winning and losing either exuberant or sick their stomachs. The most of devastating for a contender would be the Ravens loss to the Dolphins in a game they were leading 35 to 14. The Dolphins stormed back led Tua Tagovailoa who completed 36/50 for 469 yards, 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. The team from South Beach outscored the Ravens 28-3 in the fourth quarter for the thrilling victory. Another massive comeback took place in Las Vegas where the Raiders led the Cardinals 20 to 0 at halftime. Kyler Murray put on a show in the 4th quarter leading to two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions. In overtime, the usually Hunter Renfoe fumbled twice in succession with the second leading a scoop and score by the Cardinals Byron Murphy to win it. Finally, the most shocking comeback was by the Jets who were down by 13 with only 1:55 left in the game. Joe Flacco turned back the clock and with the aid of an improbable on side kick led his team to touchdown drives in about 90 seconds to silence First Energy Stadium. It was a remarkable turnaround since the Browns had 99.9% odds of winning the game from that position.
2. Bad Blood-the Buccaneers and Saints played a bruising battle in the Superdome during week 2. The defenses of both teams were brilliant because the offenses struggled to develop any continuity or rhythm with game 3 to 3 after 3 quarters. In the fourth quarter, things unraveled for the Saints because Jameis Winston threw three interceptions on consecutive drives with the last being a pick six to seal the game. The game will be remembered for the melee that resulted from tempers flaring from both teams. Brady was the instigator by shouting at Marshon Lattimore who gave it right back to him. Leonard Fournette entered the fray and shoved the Saints’ star cornerback, but Lattimore responded by shoving Fournette. Evans rushed in and flattened Lattimore leading to both being ejected. Brady got his revenge with the nice touchdown to Breshad Perriman ang got his first regular season win over the bitter rivals.
3. Primetime blowouts- another theme for the weekend was blowout victories by the home teams under the lights. It started with the Packers dominating the Bears in a final score of 27-10. The Bears started the game fast jumping out to 7-3 lead, but Rodgers took over in his trademark manner scoring 21 points in the second quarter to score a comfortable win. On Monday night, there was a stamped in Buffalo because the Bills dominated the Titans to win 41-7. Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs proved they are formidable combination with the receiver grabbing 12 catches for 148 yards. Finally, the Eagles had a decisive win over the Minnesota Vikings with the scoreline of 24-7. Kirk Cousins reminded the world he can’t be trusted in a big game throwing three interceptions and getting outplayed by Jalen Hurts.
4. Winless yet with hope-there are five teams 0-2 after week 2 and it includes the Bengals, Raiders and Titans. It is surprising all three are in this situation since they all made the playoffs last season. The Bengals and Titans seem like teams on paper that could turn things around. The Titans have underperformed with a good roster and the current leader in the weak division are the Jaguars. The current leader in the AFC North are the Ravens and Browns but both teams showed their flaws over the weekend.
5. Moving on up to the Eastside- the title was theme song for the spectacular Jefferson sitcom in the 1970s to 1980s. However, the song can be applied to the East divisions in week 2. Most analyst considered the AFC and NFC East the weakest divisions in football entering the season. However, teams from both divisions were 7-1 including the Giants who are 2-0 under head coach Brian Daboll. How about that?