NFL Week 2 Winners and Losers
Winners
Patrick Mahomes
At the beginning of the season, most casual NFL watchers didn’t even know the name Patrick Mahomes. Now, he one of the hottest QBs in the NFL. Mahomes was 23-28, for 326 yards and SIX touchdowns, breaking the record for most career TD passes in the first three games in a career. If he can keep this going and the Chiefs defense starts performing better, Kansas City may be a real contender in the AFC.
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Since when was Ryan Fitzpatrick this good? Seriously, this is the best comeback that I have ever seen in the NFL. Throwing 27-33, for 402 yards and four touchdowns, I really am not sure if Jameis Winston should get his job back. Honestly though, if the Bucs do start Winston and he does poorly, they will have no problem replacing him.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Going into the AFC Championship last year, the Jaguars felt they were the better team against the Patriots. The Jaguars did lose that game, and going into the rematch Sunday, they felt the same. Only this time, not only beating but fully outplaying the AFC Champions. Holding the Pats to 302 total yards, only allowing 82 yards of rushing, the Jaguars’ defense if consistent, could be one of the top five in the league. Finally, it looks like things are on the up for Blake Bortles. Passing for 344 yards and four touchdowns, Bortles can be a key player in the coming weeks.
Losers
Arizona Cardinals
I can confidently say that the Arizona Cardinals are the worst team in the NFL currently. After losing to the LA Rams 34-0 on Sunday, they are 0-2 and don’t look ready to rebound anytime soon. After the end of last season, I felt somewhat confident that the Cardinals going into this season would be average, maybe 7-9. In reality, their offense is pitiful and their defense ain’t much better. Lastly, it appears that Sam Bradford may be the worst signing of 2018. He doesn’t look like an NFL quarterback, not even college. If Arizona is looking for a time to use 1st round draft pick QB Josh Rosen, now is the time.
Kickers
Not one, but two teams didn’t get the result they wanted because of their kickers. First, Cleveland Browns K Zane Gonzalez missed a last-second field goal to win against the New Orleans Saints. This isn’t the only time he has missed, missing a total of four kicks in two games. Sadly for Gonzalez, the Browns waived him early Monday morning, and he may never kick in the NFL again. Secondly, Minnesota Vikings K Daniel Carlson was released Monday after missing all three field goals on Sunday versus the Packers. One of those field goals was a last-second miss to win in Green Bay but was wide left. After releasing Carlson, Minnesota picked up FA K Dan Bailey, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys. The Vikings hope this will solve their kicking issue for the season, and Carlson hopes he will have a job for the rest of the fall.
The Public
The public are losers for two separate scenarios. First, the dirty hit on QB Cam Newton from Atlanta Falcons S Damontae Kazee, ejecting Kazee from the game. It wasn’t one of those hits if you would look at it in slow-motion, you could maybe tell it was accidental. But when you look at the clip, Kazee is clearly going for Newton’s head. Nobody wants to see dirty hits, especially to a player of Newton’s caliber. The reason the public lost this weekend was in the Packers-Vikings game. It was late in the 4th quarter, and it seemed like the Packers picked off Kirk Cousins, and perhaps won the game. But, due to a flag for unnecessary roughness, the play got called back. The referee stated that LB Clay Matthews picked up and slammed QB Kirk Cousins to the ground, which after a second look was clearly not the case. After hitting Cousins as he threw, Matthews got up and started to walk away. This call changed the game completely, allowing the Vikings to come back, and ending the game in a tie. Nobody wants to see a tie (already two ties this season in two games), but also bad calls from the refs.
