NFL 2023 Week 2 Review

  

               

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Let's take a look at the games from Week 2:

 

Seattle 37, Detroit 31 (OT) - In this game, the Lions looked a bit too much like....well, the Detroit Lions have traditionally looked. Just after pulling off a truly impressive road win at Arrowhead against the Chiefs, they lose at home to a team that does not figure to be great, and miss a golden opportunity to jump out to an undefeated 2-0 start, which would allow them to be in sole possession of first place. This is why I was and remain so suspicious of the hype that surrounds this team, with many predicting a breakout season, with a division championship and even possibly a playoff run. But the Lions would need to find a lot - a hell of a lot - more consistency than this. True, they fought back and forced overtime. Still, they also put themselves into a position of needing to do it, and still lost. Until they prove otherwise, the doubts still outweigh the promise when the Lions continually lose games like this. My pick: Inaccurate

Tampa Bay 27, Chicago 17 - Pretty much what you would expect from this game. By virtue of their upset win over the Vikings up in  Minneapolis, however, the Bucs are now off to a surprising 2-0 start. Not bad. As for the Bears, they are where most people expected them to be this season, at least to this point. My pick: Accurate

Atlanta 25, Green Bay 24 - Atlanta has been a surprise thus far. Yes, I picked them, but with a degree of uncertainty. Truth be told, they are an unknown quantity. Yet so far, you have to say they look pretty good, and obviously tough at home. They edge past the Packers, and thus get off to a 2-0 start to this season. Not bad. As for the Pack, at 1-1, they are where most expected them to be, as a middle of the road kind of a team. My pick: Accurate

Kansas City 17, Jacksonville 9 - The Chiefs started off this season with a stunning home loss to Detroit. But you just knew that they would not take long to recover, right? On an extremely hot and uncomfortable day in Florida, the Chiefs overcame the elements, and also overcame the Jaguars, who appear to be among the relative favorites to win the division and make some noise in the AFC. A solid win for the defending champs, and an acceptable loss for Jax. My pick: Accurate

Indianapolis 31, Houston 20 - Indy surprised me with this game. Now, they didn't shock me. After all, they beat the Houston Texans, and not the 49ers, or anything. Still, it was a road win within the division, and it eliminates them from being one of those teams where a winless start lingers to the midseason point. A solid win for them. As for the Texans, another disappointing loss. Better get used to it. My pick: Inaccurate

Baltimore 27, Cincinnati 24 - The Ravens look really good this season. Good enough that I feel that perhaps my early predictions underestimated them. Their offense looks dangerous, and their defense looks solid. And they managed to continue their dominance over Cincy, dating back to their sweep of the Bengals last season. Now, the Ravens stand alone atop the AFC North, at least for now. Meanwhile, the Bengals have now dropped their first two games for this season. Still can be one of the elites in the AFC, but they better start getting on track in a hurry, or even making the playoffs might seem like a stretch. My pick: Inaccurate

Buffalo 38, Las Vegas 10 - The Bills figured to rank among the AFC elites this season. That was why their stunning loss to the Jets on opening weekend, fueled by far too many turnovers - mostly INT's by QB Josh Allen - felt like a devastating loss to start the season. Still, they are far from done, and did exactly what everyone figured they would do, stampeding over the Raiders to earn an easy first victory of the season. A solid win, and Buffalo played well on both offense and defense. My pick: Accurate

Tennessee 27, LA Chargers 24 (OT) - Neither of these teams are exactly easy to make predictions for. The Titans do have a tendency to grind out ugly wins, particularly at home. Sure enough, they managed one this weekend, and earned their first win of the new season as a result. However, the Chargers, who figured to be a serious playoff contenders, have now lost two straight close game. One at home, and one away. They should have shown how serious a contender they could be, and taken the opportunity to jump ahead of the Chiefs, the team that figures to be tops in the AFC West. Instead, the Chargers are tied with the Broncos in the basement of the division, at least for now. A terrible start to the season for them.  My pick: Inaccurate

NY Giants 31, Arizona 28 - The Giants followed up a humiliating, crushing defeat at home to the Cowboys by being badly outplayed and promptly falling far behind the Cardinals in the first half. They went into the locker rooms down, 20-0. That meant that in their first six quarters of this season, they had been outscored, 60-0. If the second half was like the first half was, the G-Men would suffer another 40-0 loss. Instead, they came roaring to life...finally. Daniel Jones showed why so many  people were impressed by him before the season began, completing 26 of 37 passes for 321 yards and two touchdowns, with one interceptions. Saquon Barkley grounded out 63 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, although he also suffered an injury that may force him to sit out for a while. As it turns out, the Giants pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in franchise history, tying their previous mark set in 1949, when they also overcame a 21-point deficit to defeat the Cardinals. Strange to think that both times came against the same team. What a win for Big Blue, although they also have another menacing opponent coming up, and a short week to try and prepare for them. Still, this was a win to help make Giants fans like me feel a lot better about the season. My pick: Accurate

San Francisco 30, LA Rams 23 -  Not sure why I bothered picking the Rams for this one. They have only beaten the 49ers once in the past six or so years, although that one win was far and away the most important meeting between these two teams in decades. The Rams did put up a fight, although the 49ers did enough to pull this one off in the end. Right now, they still look like one of the best teams in the league. Meanwhile, the Rams suffered another setback that places doubts on just how good they can be this season. The Super Bowl triumph just nineteen or so months ago has never felt so long ago, and those easy and quick predictions of a repeat still feel like they are coming back to bite this team all of these months later. My pick: Inaccurate

Dallas 30, NY Jets 10 - The Cowboys have won their two games in as dominant a fashion as any team has to start off a season. They have scored 70 points and allowed 10 points. Right now, they are averaging 35 points per game, and allowing, on average, 5 points per game. Of course, they will not always face the two New York teams each weekend. But you really could not ask for a better start to the season for Big D. As for Gang Green, this is pretty much what we expected with Rodgers. Let's see if they can recover and return to a form where the playoffs feel like a possibility. My pick: Accurate

Washington 35, Denver 33 - Everybody has been so fixated on the Cowboys and the Eagles in the NFC East, that hardly anybody has noticed that there is another 2-0 team in the division. Yes, Washington has not exactly blown past their competition, but they nevertheless have earned two wins. Denver, to their credit, made it interesting right at the end. Yet Washington hung on to preserve a solid road win at Mile High, and are off to an impressive, undefeated start. Still early, but they look like a serious playoff contender to me. My prediction: Accurate

Sunday Night - Miami 24, New England 17 - The way that the Dolphins have looked thus far this season, they remind me of the Fins of old, back in the days of a young Dan Marino. They have an explosive and incredibly dangerous offense that almost assures a track meet for their opponents. And they keep winning, this time on the road at Foxboro, a place where the Dolphins have not enjoyed a tremendous amount of success during the Belichick era. But they sure looked mighty impressive so far, with two road wins, and possibly the best offense in the league. As for the Pats, they fought hard in both of their first two games, yet they start off this season 0-2, the worst start since the 2001 season, which was the first championship season under the Belichick/Brady/Kraft era. Hard to imagine that this season will end for them the same way that the 2001 season ended for them, though. My pick: Accurate

Monday Night Game 1 - New Orleans 20, Carolina 17 - The Saints have not blown anyone away just yet this season. Yet, they managed to win two tough and tight contests to start the season, and now stand as one of the 2-0 teams after Week 2. Cannot ask for much better than that, can you? Let's see what happens the rest of the way, but they look good so far. As for the Panthers, I am really wondering why they were my pick to win this division. It sure feels like that was way off, and that this will be a typically discouraging season in Carolina. My pick: Inaccurate

Monday Night Game 2 - Pittsburgh 26, Cleveland 22 - If the Browns waned to make an exclamation point kind of statement that they are for real this season, this would have been the game to do it. On the road against their traditional tormentors in Pittsburgh, the Browns looked capable of pulling off an impressive  win and jumping ahead of the Steelers and the Bengals by two games in the division. Instead, they commit too many turnovers and shoot themselves in the foot. On top of it, one of their best players, running back Nick Chubb, suffered an injury that knocks him out for the entire season. Feels like the same old Browns, and like with the Lions, they actually need to win these kinds of games to lift the reasonable doubts on the minds of many, including myself. Until they do, they do not warrant mention as one of the serious contenders. My pick: Inaccurate