NFL Week Two Recap

Week Two of the NFL Season has already come and gone and there were a few more shocks in Week Two this year then their were back in Week One. Easily the biggest surprise of week two was the Arizona Cardinals upsetting the New England Patriots in New England 20-18. Backup quarterback Kevin Kolb threw for one touchdown and ran for another, and Stephen Gostkowski missed a potential winning field-goal attempt in the final seconds as the Arizona Cardinals upset the New England Patriots 20-18 on Sunday. The Patriots took over when Vince Wilfork recovered a fumble at the Cardinals' 30-yard line with 1:01 left. A 30-yard run into the end zone by Danny Woodhead was nullified by a holding penalty against Rob Gronkowski. New England then moved to the 24 before Tom Brady spiked the ball to stop the clock with six seconds remaining. But Gostkowski, who had made his other four field-goal attempts, sent a 42-yard try wide to the left. The Cardinals (2-0) won behind Kolb, filling in for John Skelton, who missed the game with a sprained right ankle. The Patriots (1-1) lost tight end Aaron Hernandez to an ankle injury in the first quarter. Easily the biggest upset of the first two weeks of the year.

The other big surprise coming out of the AFC East at least was the Jets wide receivers lack of ability to catch passes from Mark Sanchez. In the Jets 27-10 loss to the Steelers, Sanchez went 10 for 27 for 138 yards and a touchdown. Now this morning on WFAN's Boomer and Carton, they reported rumblings that Mark Sanchez might be ousted from the team by somebody within the organization, and it may have something to do with the way Sanchez played Sunday in Pittsburgh. Now from my perspective that is total garbage. There is no way possible this loss can be placed on Sanchez. It's not Sanchez's fault he was getting no protection from his offensive line and his wide receivers couldn't catch a pass. Also to blame was the Jets spotty defense who allowed the 27 points to the Pittsburgh offense in the first place. This is the same Jets defense that gave up 33 points to the Buffalo Bills in week one. So Sanchez isn't at full blown fault for the loss to the Steelers.

A disappointment for sure from week two was the play of the Dallas Cowboys in their 27-7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Dallas had surprised everybody in week one with the opening night upset of the Giants. Now they come into week two and, no disrespect intended, played a lower quality team in the Seahawks and got whooped. Now the Seahawks aren't a horrible team, but lets be honest here, we can't really put them on the same level as say the Giants or the Patriots here. Seattle and Dallas both showed me something in week two. Dallas apparently didn't have anything left in the tank after upsetting the Giants and Seattle showed a nice bounce back after the four point loss to the Cardinals in week one. Both teams are going to be tested in week three to prove this wasn't a fluke as Dallas hosts Tampa Bay and Seattle plays host to the Green Bay Packers.

Eli Manning had an unreal week this week in leading the comeback victory for the Giants over Tampa Bay going 31 of 51 for 510 yards three touchdowns and three picks easily having the best week of any quarterback in the NFL in week two. Out of all the top rookie's in the NFL at QB Robert Griffin III has the best passing numbers for rookies in the NFL. In the loss to the Rams he went 20 for 29 for for 206 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

As for the Rushing leaders Reggie Bush topped all NFL runners with 172 yards rushing on 27 carriers. But not to be overlooked is C.J. Spiller of the Bills who had 13 carries for 123 yards, and both guys ran for two touchdowns. Marshawn Lynch, Willis McGahee, Arian Foster, Pierre Thomas, and Trent Richardson also ran for over 100 yards in week two.

Finally as for receiving, nobody had bigger days then Hakeem Nicks, and Victor Cruz. Nicks caught 10 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown, while Cruz caught 11 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown in the Giants win over Tampa Bay. Danny Amendola of the Rams (15 catches for 160 yards) and Brent Celek of the Eagles (8 catches for 157 yards) also had big weeks for receivers in the NFL in week two.

Looking at records of teams after the first two weeks showed some surprising stats. Six teams, the Cardinals, 49ers, Falcons, Eagles, Chargers, and Texans are all undefeated at 2-0. Six teams, the Saints, Chiefs, Raiders, Titans, Jaguars, and Browns are all winless at 0-2. everybody else in the NFL after week two are at 500 with identical 1-1 records. If the first two weeks of the season have been any indication, this is going to be a highly entertaining season and going to have a few wild finishes in division and wild card races