Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Best & Worst of NFL Week Two

Wee two is in the books in the NFL, and it was a pretty bad week for kickers, among others. Kickers missed a total of 19 kicks, 12 field goals and seven extra points, more on that to come. Vontae Davis had enough and called it quits. While we had stinkers, like the two New York teams, there were other teams that had themselves a day. Kansas City had themselves a huge day, as did Tampa Bay. We got another tie this week as well, what else could happen. So with all that being said, here's some of the best and worst from around the NFL in week two.

Best:
Patrick Mahomes, Quarterback Kansas City Chiefs
With the way the first two games have gone, think this one was a given. In the KC 42-37 win over the Steelers this week, Patrick Mahomes was nearly flawless. He finished the day going 23 of 28 for 326 yards. Solid numbers. What really pops off the page is the fact that Mahomes threw for six touchdowns this week. You read that right he threw for six touchdowns this week. To make that even better, throw in last week's start, and Mahomes has 10 TD passes over the first two games of the year. That's an unreal number to think about. Those ten TD's in the first two games are a Super Bowl-Era record for QB's. And he's done it on a total of 55 pass attempts the first two games. Small part of me thought that the Chiefs might take a step back going from Alex Smith to this kid, but looks can be deceiving. He's been very good over the first two games and if KC keeps this kind of pace up, they are going to be a very hard team to handle.

Worst:
Jamies Winston, Quarterback Tampa Bay Buccaneers
He hasn't played a snap yet in the NFL and with the way the first two weeks of the season have gone, he may not get a chance to take a snap this season. Winston was supposed to be the guy under center for the Bucs, but got suspended the first three games for off the field issues. It opened the door for Ryan Fitzpatrick and he has kicked it in full force. Fitzpatrick went 27 of 33 for 412 yards another four touchdowns and a pick. The Bucs are also 2-0 to start the year. I'm sure that Tampa and Fitzpatrick will come back down to earth at some point, but until they do, Winston is out in the cold. I mean Winston is a franchise player, there's no doubt about that. But right now, for the sake of the Bucs, it might be smart to stick with a hot hand and Fitz has that hot hand at the moment. He good at throwing a deep ball, which is something Winston needs to work on.

Best:
Bradin Cooks, Wide Receiver Los Angeles Rams
He may not have found the back of the endzone on this day but Bradin Cooks had a day to remember. He did haul in seven catches for 159 in the 34-0 win over the Rams. He is starting to show what has been know for a long time, he's one of the top wide outs in all of football. He's got 246 receiving yards on just 12 catches through the first two games in a high powered offense. He's good, really, really good.

Worst:
New York Giants Offensive Line
Well, the early returns for this line aren't very good. During the offseason, New York tried its best to make improvements on one of its biggest weak spots in that offensive line. They signed Nate Soilder and drafted Will Hernandez. None of that mattered, or did any good for that matter, Sunday night against Dallas. The Cowboys walked away with a 20-13 win, with the Giants offense looking very sloppy. The line being a big reason for that problem. The Dallas front line had its way with the Giants. Saquon Barkley, for all his brilliance, was only able to generate 28 yards on the ground, but he did manage to catch 14 passes for 79 yards, most of which came in garbage time. New York, as a team, averaged 2.1 yards per carry, while Eli Manning was sacked six times for a loss of 59 yards. This is not a knock against the Cowboy defense, it did what it was supposed to do. Are they a top of the heap defense? No. Are they solid? Yes. The Giants offensive line is in that bad of shape right now. If Big Blue wants to get anywhere this year, that line has got to play better.

Best:
Phillip Lindsay, Running Back Denver Broncos
Going into the season, it looked to be almost a lock that Denver was going to have a rookie taking the bulk of the load at running back. Royce Freeman was projected to be the guy to take the job, but instead Phillip Lindsay has taken control as the feature back in Denver. In week one, he had 102 rush yards. This week, in Denver's 20-19 win over the Raiders, Lindsay had 14 caries for 107 yards and had another catch for four yards to finish with 111 total yards for the day. He's been showing a lot of speed and quickness, making defenders look just silly on certain plays. At the moment, it looks like the Broncos have a solid and consistent run game which they've been looking for over the last couple of seasons.

Worst:
NFL Kickers
NFL teams better have Dan Bailey on speed dial after kickers had a horrible day om the job. On Sunday, in total, 19 kicks were missed. Twelve field goals and seven extra points went by the board. That’s not the record for most missed kicks in a single day, but a lot of Sunday’s were dramatic. Browns kicker Zane Gonzalez missed two extra points and two field goals. One of the extra points would have given the Browns a 19-18 lead; one of the field goals would have tied the game at 21. They lost, 21-18. Rookie kicker Daniel Carlson missed not one but two overtime kicks in Minnesota’s 29-29 tie against the Packers. It's days like this that a guy like Dan Bailey, who for the record is the second most accurate kicker in NFL history, could be on speed dial for a job and quickly.

Best:
Steve Sarkisian, Offensive Coordinator Atlanta Falcons
Play down in the red zone had been a big problem for the Falcons. They heard it near the end of last season, they heard it during the off season. They even heard it a bit during the opening night loss to the Falcons. All that talk went away on Sunday. Atlanta got inside the 20-yard line four times, and scored four touchdowns. That fueled a 31-24 win over Carolina. Matt Ryan's numbers compared to the opener were way up in this game as he totally flipped the script and had two touchdowns and 272 yards passing. Sarkisian called the right plays at the right times and got the Falcons offense right back on track. With how tight this race in the NFC South could look this year,m it going to be a fun year to watch that division.

Worst:
First Year Head Coaches
Jon Gruden, Matt Patricia and Steve Wilks are still in search of their first wins on the year. Jon Gruden’s Raiders blew a big fourth-quarter lead at Denver, and then Gruden showed some remarkable lack of self-awareness by blaming the Raiders’ pass rush for not getting pressure late. That's what happens when your bosses let go one of the best pass rushers and defenders in the game today. For Steve Wilks in Arizona, the Cards look like the 2nd worst team in the league right now, behind the Bills. Not only is Arizona off to an 0-2 start, they got blasted 34-0 by the Rams on Sunday in a flat out embarrassing effort. Then there's Matt Patricia in Detroit. He not only got beaten soundly by the Jets in week one but lost 30-27 to the 49ers. The team doesn't really feel comfortable with him and over the next three weeks the Lions have to deal with New England, Dallas and Green Bay. Things don't look good in the Motor City right about now.

Best:
Tavon Austin, Wide Receiver Dallas Cowboys
As a whole, things haven't been great for the career of Tavon Austin. He was picked 8th overall in 2013, with that comes high expectations. He's averaged a little over 38 yards a game in his career, which is a low number for a guy taken 8th overall. Dallas had been saying all summer that Austin was going to be their big gun, but he had just one touch for one yard in the opener against the Panthers. Now, in the Dallas 20-13 win over the Giants, he had himself a pretty good day. Austin got the party started by scoring the game’s first points on a gorgeous 64-yard catch and run for a touchdown. He added another 15-yard reception, along with a 15-yard run, to finish with 94 yards and one of the two touchdowns scored in the game by Dallas. He may not have hit the high water mark just yet, but based on what was done against the Giants, it looks like it a solid step in the right direction.

Worst:
Vonate Davis, Corner back Buffalo Bills
Maybe it a poor attitude on his part. Maybe its the team he plays for. Whatever the exact reason was, is not known yet. We do know this much. Davis had enough. Nine years spent in the NFL is a solid career, three with the Dolphins and six with the Colts. Last year, Davis played in only five games with the Colts due to injuries. This year, he signs with the bills, plays in a blowout loss to the Ravens and can't even make it through the entire second game of the year against the Chargers. He retired at halftime. No that's not a joke, and no that's not a typo. He removed himself from the game at halftime against the Chargers and retired. That's how bad things have gotten in Buffalo when a player retires mid game. Davis just figured he wouldn't destroy his body anymore at the end of his career and just save himself from misery and hang up the pads now. That's how you know the Bills are that bad with players retiring in the middle of a game.

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