NFL Week 2 - Impressions & Questions
Welcome back from Week 2 of the NFL season where we recap some of the major highlights of the weekends action. We live by 1 rule in these articles: NO MERCY. There is absolutely nothing left back as we highlight those teams/players that left us with some good impressions and those that left us with some questions. Please take a read and let me know your comments on this weekends NFL action. Enjoy!
IMPRESSIONS
Patrick Mahomes – KC Chiefs
Somewhat of a chalk play this past week vs. the Steelers, Mahomes lit up the scoreboard. 10 touchdowns in 2 weeks, the guy has been incredible. His final Week 2 stat line included a 23/28 passing performance for 326 yards and 6 TDs. Simply no one could stop him through the air. He has led the Chiefs to a 2-0 record so far and returns to Kansas City Week 3 for the Chiefs home opener.
Jacksonville Jaguars
If you are an NFL fan and turned on any sports television this past Sunday, you should have noticed that the Jacksonville Jaguars upset the New England Patriots. Playing at home and without their top RB Leonard Fournette, the Jaguars were able to come away with a 31-20 victory for their first win in team history against Tom Brady. Blake Bortles arguably played his best career game throwing for 377 yards and 4 TDs. It’s a pretty great time to be a Jags fan as they look as tough as ever. A cocky yet justified defense, great coaching, mean run game, and sound offense, the Jaguars remain the real deal in the AFC South and possibly the AFC this year.
Josh Gordon Trade
What just happened? Josh Gordon was finally about to make his much anticipated Cleveland Browns regular season full blown start (only partially played Week 1) against a bad secondary and news comes out that he hurt his hamstring and would miss Week 2. Then all of sudden it was announced the Browns were going to cut him. And just as fast as that happened, he is traded to the New England Patriots for a conditional 5thdraft pick. All I can assume is the Browns just lost trust in him. He reportedly injured his hamstring in non-football related activities and didn’t seem himself when he showed up. Couple that with the years of headaches and the odd preseason issue with him stepping away again, I assume the Browns just wanted to move on. The Patriots have a way of turning problematic players around and if Gordon shows any signs of his former on-field talent, look out. Also of note, Sportsline tweeted out that with the addition of Gordon, the Patriots win total increased by 1 and their Super Bowl odd calculations increased to 27%..........doesn’t mean much but interesting what people are already thinking.
QUESTIONS
NFL Roughing the Passer
It seems as though the NFL rules are changing on a weekly basis now with no one, including the referees, understanding what a penalty is and when to call one. This past week we may have witnessed one of the most ridiculous and unbelievable penalties to date. With just over 1-minute left on the clock in regular play, with the Green Bay packers up 29-21, Vikings QB Kirk Cousins dropped back and launched a deep pass that was intercepted. As a Green Bay fan you likely celebrated as this almost assured the win. However, Clay Matthews was flagged on the play for roughing the passer. Replay showed that Clay Matthews pretty much executed a perfect legal tackle, at least up until this year. Not a low hit, not a high hit. A waste high, head to the side, perfectly executed form tackle, taking Cousins to the ground. The flag wasn’t related to the hit itself but rather Matthews going to the ground with Cousins and allowing his bodyweight to land on the QB. Just insane. I mean, just check out the clip from KKEV 716 below.
Somehow defensive players have to play full speed, avoid a low hit, avoid a high hit, and if they are lucky enough to wrap up a QB, they have to somehow pull away mid-air to avoid putting too much bodyweight on the follow-through tackle. To be fair on the officials, they called it by the rulebook. The problem is that the rulebook was adjusted this offseason to label this penalty. My issue is that unless a player just avoids sacking a QB, there is almost no way 250-300 lb. men can adjust mid-tackle and pull away before landing on the ground. We are talking under 1 second of real time to make that sort of adjust, even if it was possible. I am all about safety and protection of defenseless players such as QBs but there is a line between protection and just not allowing a tackle/sack. I sincerely hope this penalty and rule is adjusted after seeing the Packers essentially have a win taken away from them due to a great form tackle, low-danger sack. The question remains, is this rule going to continue being called the same way or will we see some sort of different interpretation?
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Box Score might suggest the Steelers played in a close game this past Sunday vs. the KC Chiefs. However, as someone who personally attended the game, I can tell you this was not the case. The Steelers are a mess right now, particularly on special teams. I don’t know if they were just deathly afraid of punting to Tyreek Hill but they misplaced several punts including the first which was almost returned for a TD by a gunner (non-returner). The Steelers kicker, Boswell, has now also missed 2 FGs and an extra point through 2-games. And to throw salt on the wound, there is also a major issue with penalties. After 12 yellow flags against the Chiefs the Steelers now lead the NFL with a total of 24 penalties.
The offense is decent, I guess, considering they put up a 35 points and 475 yards but the defense is just atrocious. The Chiefs moved the ball down the field at an alarming rate with ease. I’m not saying Patrick Mahomes cant/won’t be elite in this league but come on, at one point in the 4thquarter he was 20/23 and 5 TDs. He finished the game 23/28, 326 yards, and 6 TDs, with a nearly perfect QB Rating. The Steelers couldn’t cover and they couldn’t tackle. They couldn’t prevent a 9 yard rush with seconds remaining on the clock in the 4thquarter and the Chiefs lining up in a jumbo set with a 100% certainty that it would be a rush up the middle. I could go on and on, but the Steelers D is just bad right now, really bad. The return of Joe Haden from injury might help, but come on…….what is Fitzmagic going to do Monday night?
There are many people that comment the Steelers would be winning games with Le’Veon Bell, which in my mind is both a stupid comment and smart one, depending on said commenter’s intent. I don’t think having Bell adds much the past two games if you are talking production. You still have to kick field goals and play defense, he isn’t helping that. His backup, James Conner has exceeded expectations. He ran all over Cleveland and has contributed big time in the passing game (incredible sideline catch vs. the Chiefs). The offense has more or less had the same production as with bell both yardage and points. However, I would agree that all the back and forth with Bell has “mentally” affected Steelers. Just days before game 1, the Steelers offensive lineman were publically calling out Bell. Almost every interview by coach Tomlin and players includes questions related to Bells absence. The team has been facing a lot of back and forth on the Bell topic which I can almost assure has affected them. Players, coaches, and management are mad, upset, disgruntled and stressed. I disagree that the Steelers are missing Bells production but completely agree that his absence has mentally affected the start of the Steelers season. Nonetheless, will the Steelers figure it out Week 3 and improve on defense?
Arizona Cardinals - David Johnson
The Cardinals right now are awful. As much as I dislike the Cleveland Browns, I think the Arizona Cardinals are the worst team in the NFL. Their offense is anemic and defense isn’t stopping anyone. After getting shut-out by the Rams on Sunday, the Cardinals offense has put up a total of 6 points through 2 games while their defense has surrendered 58 points. This offseason they signed Sam Bradford who presumably is filling the void until 1stround pick Josh Rosen is ready. With 0 TDs through two games, anyone could be better. I mean he had 90 yards passing vs. the Rams. 90 freaking yards in a world where you can’t even sack a QB anymore (see above).
The biggest disappointment so far is the Cardinals usage of David Johnson. It’s simply sad. Johnson is easily their best offensive weapon, both as a RB and as a receiver. Through two games, Johnson has received 11 targets which has resulted in only 6 catches for 33 yards. Most of that stemmed from Week 1 however, as he received just 2 targets against the Rams. These tweets by Graham Barfield and Thomas Duffy highlight just how misused Johnson has been.
— Graham Barfield (@GrahamBarfield) September 16, 2018
In his historic 2016 season, David Johnson averaged 31.1 routes run per game, an 19% target share, and he saw 38.1 air yards per game.
In Weeks 1-2 this year, DJ has averaged just 16.5 routes run per game, an 18% target share, and only 8.5 air yards per game.
— Graham Barfield (@GrahamBarfield) September 16, 2018
In his historic 2016 season, David Johnson averaged 31.1 routes run per game, an 19% target share, and he saw 38.1 air yards per game.
In Weeks 1-2 this year, DJ has averaged just 16.5 routes run per game, an 18% target share, and only 8.5 air yards per game.
— Thomas Duffy (@TJDhoops) September 16, 2018
David Johnson was @PFF’s top-graded receiver in 2016—and that’s among all players, not just RBs.
Laughable the team can’t give him a single target. Coaching staff is lost. Makes you appreciate guys like McVay and Shanahan.
Will Arizona find a way to better utilize their talented RB? Let’s hope the Cardinals find a way to at least field a competitive team the rest of this season. They have talent, at least on offense but it serves them no good if they can’t utilize it.