NFL Week in Review (Week 2)
By Loot, NFL Handicapper, Lootmeister.com
Until the bookie stops rating the New England Patriots as if they’re the same squad from several years ago, they might be a tough team to bet. They’ve showed character in winning both games and they may eventually get to where they want to be this season, but they’re clearly still trying to find their footing now. Not a team that inspires one to give up a bunch of points. Look for another big line at home against Tampa this week.
Other than the last half collapse against Houston last week, the San Diego Chargers look revitalized under new head coach Mike McCoy. Rivers seems to have new life and hopefully, the Malcom Floyd injury wasn’t as bad as it looked. He’s been looking good so far this season. The Bolts were tough beating the Eagles on the road on Sunday.
Speaking of the Philadelphia Eagles, coach Chip Kelly is one of the more offensive-minded coaches you can find. He may want to put some extra emphasis on the defense in the coming weeks, especially after Sunday’s home loss to the Chargers. The last time the Chargers compiled that much yardage, Dan Fouts was their quarterback. This defense just needs to be OK for the Eagles to succeed, but they can’t play like they have in the last 6 quarters or it might be a long year.
After almost beating New England last week, the Buffalo Bills got a last-second touchdown to beat the Panthers on Sunday. Could Buffalo have a team? Rookie quarterback EJ Manuel looks to have that special touch and he has a nice set of tools in Stevie Johnson, CJ Spiller, Fred Jackson, and burgeoning rookie receiver Robert Woods, among others.
The Chicago Bears have scored a pair of comeback victories over the Bengals and Vikings to open the season. Hardly discussed during the preseason, the Bears are serving notice that they just might be a legit contender in a competitive NFC North.
The Washington Redskins have been brutal in first halves this season, getting outscored 50-7. RG3 seems to be operating at about 65%. It’s too early to start shoveling dirt on the Skins, but it doesn’t look good.
Watching the Seattle Seahawks hold the Niners to almost nothing on Sunday Night, it makes one wonder what it will look like if the Seahawks can win home-field throughout the playoffs. With that defense and that crowd, it’s hard to think of an NFC team that would have a promising chance.
Watching the high-flying New Orleans Saints offense struggle against the Bucs reminded one how it’s sometimes a different story when the Saints are playing outside. Of all the highlights the Saints’ offense has seen in recent years, not many of them occur in sunshine. Or rain.
Just when the Denver Broncos seem like they’re vulnerable, or at least that the opposing team could possibly cover, they explode with a bunch of points in a short amount of time. In both games this season, there were times when if you went to take out the garbage and make a snack, you’d be slack-jawed when you returned to the game and looked at the score.
Perhaps it’s a bad gauge, but the Baltimore Ravens’ defense seemed to take a step forward against the Browns on Sunday, holding Cleveland to a pair of first-half field goals. The offense, well, that’s another matter.
The Miami Dolphins are 2-0, opening the season with a pair of impressive road wins. Last week, they went into Indy and upset the Colts. It’s early to tell, but Tannehill indeed seems to be playing better and the Dolphins are in business. At least for now.
Speaking of the Indianapolis Colts, they seem to be missing something this season. Call it an edge, but whatever it is, they seem a hair off. They got by the Raiders in week one, but losing to the Dolphins at home is a cause of concern. A defense that wasn’t that good last season seems even worse in 2013.
The Oakland Raiders almost beat the Colts as huge underdogs in week one before winning and covering against Jacksonville last week. QB Terrelle Pryor has injected some life into the offense and it was good to see oft-injured running back Darren McFadden have a big day against the Jags. The standards are so low with Oakland that any signs of life are good, but with improvement on both sides of the ball--they seem to be having an upswing.
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