We’ve still got one more game to go in week 2 of the NFL season, as Dallas hosts Philadelphia in a meeting of NFC East rivals tonight, but here’s a quick rundown of yesterday’s action. The first two weeks of the season hasn’t gone as some may have expected for some teams, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing for a few of them.
Green Bay 48, Detroit 25: Valiant effort by Detroit in coming back from a 21-3 deficit to go ahead 25-24 in the fourth, but all of that hard work was undone by interceptions by Jon Kitna on each of Detroit’s last three drives, the last two getting returned for scores that made the game look like a rout in the end. When their defense still isn’t very good, the offense can’t afford those kinds of mistakes. As for the Packers, well, Aaron Rodgers (24 of 38, 328 yards, 3 TD) is making this starting QB thing look easy so far.
Tennessee 24, Cincinnati 7: If the Titans’ defense continues to be this stiff, Vince Young doesn’t need to rush back. It also doesn’t hurt that they have my early pick for Rookie of the Year in Chris Johnson (19 carries, 109 yards, receiving TD), who has 202 rushing yards in his first two games. It was a bold pick by the Titans in April, but it’s certainly turned out well so far.
Indianapolis 18, Minnesota 15: The Colts are far from their best right now, and it’s showing. But to be able to give up 160 yards to Adrian Peterson and win, Tony Dungy can’t complain too much right now. It’s only a matter of time before Indy’s offense really starts clicking, right?
Washington 29, New Orleans 24: Jason Campbell (24 of 36, 321 yards, TD) stepped up in the fourth quarter to lead the Redskins back from a 24-15 deficit. Whenever New Orleans’ offense has a down day like it did on Sunday, the defense has a pretty small margin for error, so some shoring up still needs to be done on that front.
Carolina 20, Chicago 17: The Panthers are getting good at this late comeback thing, aren’t they? Two weeks, two late fourth-quarter touchdowns, two wins, first place in the AFC South.
Buffalo 20, Jacksonville 16: If there’s a team to ‘take advantage’ of Tom Brady’s injury, it’s the Bills, not the Jets. The Brady-less Pats and Brett’s Jets might be getting the most media attention, but they need to take notice of the two straight impressive wins by Trent Edwards (20 of 25, 239 yards, TD) and the Bills. Meanwhile, the Jaguars are 0-2 and in an early hole that could prove costly in a tough AFC South.
Oakland 23, Kansas City 8: Who needs a quarterback when you can run for 300 yards? Lane Kiffin let Darren McFadden loose, and he responded with 21 carries for 164 yards and his first NFL touchdown. A sign of things to come?
Tampa Bay 24, Atlanta 9: After a roaring start last week against Detroit, Matt Ryan got his first taste of a real NFL defense, and struggled with having to be forced to do a lot more than he did against the Lions thanks to the Bucs holding Michael Turner to only 42 yards on 14 carries.
San Francisco 33, Seattle 30: Unless something changes quickly, Mike Holmgren’s going to start wishing that he had retired already. The Seahawks at least put up more points this week than they did against Buffalo in week 1, but they blew a 14-0 lead, allowed J.T. O’Sullivan to have a career day, and let Isaac Bruce (4 catches, 153 yards) look 25, not 35. Matt Hasselbeck (18 of 36, 189 yards, 2 INT) is clearly suffering from having his receiving corps decimated.
New England 19, New York Jets 10: For those who want to be so quick to write the Patriots off, they have a defense too, in case you were unaware. All Matt Cassel needs to do is play efficiently, and he’s done that thus far.
Denver 39, San Diego 38: See here.
Arizona 31, Miami 10: If Kurt Warner (19 of 24, 361 yards, 3 TD on Sunday) continues to play well, Matt Leinart‘s going to remain stuck on the bench, and the 2-0 Cardinals are going to be the team to beat in the NFC West. On the flip side, it might not be long before one Chad (Pennington) gives way to another (Henne) under center in Miami.
Pittsburgh 10, Cleveland 6: Well, at least the Browns did better on defense this week, but there’s not a lot of positives you can take from their 0-2 start. Derek Anderson has sputtered out of the gate, and while Romeo Crennel may not be looking to yank him this quickly, if the struggles continue at Baltimore next week, Brady Quinn should get at least a few snaps.
