It's early. Only two weeks have been played. We've seen the predictable (Buffalo is terrible), the unpredictable (TWO ties!), the downright baffling (Tampa? What's THAT about?!?).
It's a long season though, a long road, and there's lots to figure out. Don't be surprised if one or more of the teams that find themselves winless thus far are celebrating come playoff time, while, for the fans of some of our current undefeated teams, that early season optimism, come winter's chill, will be a faded memory.
As many experts did, I took a bit of a beating this week. I'm not crying, though. In fact, I'm even celebrating some of my losses.
Take Tampa's win over Philly for example. Although I've professed my hatred for Tampa, I have to say that I'm kind of pleased that Ryan Fitzpatrick is playing so lights-out, with back-to-back career days against two top-tier teams. My hope-- and it's not entirely unreasonable-- is that Fitzpatrick's performance will force Tampa to bench the execrable Jameis Winston. Anything that puts Winston one step closer to being out of the league is ok in my book.
So, as I recap Week Two, I try to see the silver lining in the occasional dark cloud. It's all a part of the early season learning curve.
Baltimore at Cincinnati
I discussed this extensively in the intro to my Week Two Picks, but it bears mentioning again that Cincy's defence is really good, and that Baltimore can cancel the parade.
Minnesota at Green Bay
This was a competitive game. It was also extremely odd. Minnesota probably should have lost, but were extremely lucky, especially at near the end of regulation, when a game-clinching Green Bay INT was wiped out by a totally bullshit penalty on Clay Matthews. Then, Minnesota successfully executed the rare successful icing of Mason Crosby to send the game into OT. After this, Minnesota really should have won, but missed two field goals in OT, including a 35-yarder(!) as time expired. That's quite the roller coaster. And the league, for a second straight week, has a tie.
Kansas City at Pittsburgh
Not much defence in this game. All the talk afterwards was about how impressive Patrick Mahomes was, but I'm still not sold. Mahomes wasn't really pressured, and was throwing to wide-open receivers all day. Plus, he was bailed out a few times when his receivers made good catches on off-target throws. While I don't like being wrong with my picks, I do like seeing Pittsburgh lose, so I'm not really unhappy with this outcome. I'll probably have more to say about Pittsburgh in an upcoming column; things are not good there right now, and I'm extremely pleased about that.
New England at Jacksonville
Great victory by New England here. Oh, I know they lost, and looked really mediocre in doing so. I just found it really interesting how unconcerned Bill Belichick seemed about it all. It's early in the season, Belichick is still figuring things out, and he's good at playing the long game. If these two teams meet in the playoffs again, Jacksonville will be overconfident. No team ever won a Superb Owl in September.
New York at Dallas
This was a really awful game, played by two bad teams. Dallas won because they were able to execute a defensive game plan that exploited New York's offensive shortcomings, which are myriad. New York is a puzzling team right now. They used a rare high draft choice on Saquon Barkley (who is immensely talented and versatile), and gave Odell Beckham top dollar, but these two amazing offensive weapons are being rendered useless. I know it's early in the season, but if New York isn't good enough to win now, they'd better find a way to lighten Barkley's workload, or their prized rookie is going to get hurt. (Note: Another pick I whiffed on, but a game I won on anyway. More on that in a bit.)
Seattle at Chicago
Mitchell Trubisky is young and talented. He's not good right now, but he doesn't have to be. Chicago is young and talented, and they have an already good defence with room to be great. This is a team on the rise. Seattle is terrible, with such a dearth of talent that they picked up recently released LB Mychal Kendricks, who is facing serious jail time for insider trading. Such is the state of things for the desperate Pete Carroll, and I could not be more thrilled.
Bonus Coverage
Week Two Player of the Week: Aldrick Rosas, K, New York G****s
New York had just scored a TD, and Rosas added the extra point to make the score Dallas 20, New York 10, with only 1:27 left in the game. Rosas then executed a successful onside kick, with New York recovering. New York drove to the Dallas 20 yard line, and with time running out, sent Rosas out to try a field goal in order to get New York within seven points. Rosas made the 38-yarder, and the celebration was on. Not in Dallas, but in my living room. See, the over/under prop bet for total field goals in the game was 3.5; Rosas had, with only 11 seconds remaining, by kicking the fourth field goal of the contest, secured a monetary victory for me by satisfying the final requirement of a prop bet parlay that I had played on the game. Congratulations, Aldrick Rosas. I salute you.
Don't forget to check back on Thursday for my Thursday Night Quick Pick.
It's a long season though, a long road, and there's lots to figure out. Don't be surprised if one or more of the teams that find themselves winless thus far are celebrating come playoff time, while, for the fans of some of our current undefeated teams, that early season optimism, come winter's chill, will be a faded memory.
As many experts did, I took a bit of a beating this week. I'm not crying, though. In fact, I'm even celebrating some of my losses.
Take Tampa's win over Philly for example. Although I've professed my hatred for Tampa, I have to say that I'm kind of pleased that Ryan Fitzpatrick is playing so lights-out, with back-to-back career days against two top-tier teams. My hope-- and it's not entirely unreasonable-- is that Fitzpatrick's performance will force Tampa to bench the execrable Jameis Winston. Anything that puts Winston one step closer to being out of the league is ok in my book.
So, as I recap Week Two, I try to see the silver lining in the occasional dark cloud. It's all a part of the early season learning curve.
Baltimore at Cincinnati
I discussed this extensively in the intro to my Week Two Picks, but it bears mentioning again that Cincy's defence is really good, and that Baltimore can cancel the parade.
Minnesota at Green Bay
This was a competitive game. It was also extremely odd. Minnesota probably should have lost, but were extremely lucky, especially at near the end of regulation, when a game-clinching Green Bay INT was wiped out by a totally bullshit penalty on Clay Matthews. Then, Minnesota successfully executed the rare successful icing of Mason Crosby to send the game into OT. After this, Minnesota really should have won, but missed two field goals in OT, including a 35-yarder(!) as time expired. That's quite the roller coaster. And the league, for a second straight week, has a tie.
Kansas City at Pittsburgh
Not much defence in this game. All the talk afterwards was about how impressive Patrick Mahomes was, but I'm still not sold. Mahomes wasn't really pressured, and was throwing to wide-open receivers all day. Plus, he was bailed out a few times when his receivers made good catches on off-target throws. While I don't like being wrong with my picks, I do like seeing Pittsburgh lose, so I'm not really unhappy with this outcome. I'll probably have more to say about Pittsburgh in an upcoming column; things are not good there right now, and I'm extremely pleased about that.
New England at Jacksonville
Great victory by New England here. Oh, I know they lost, and looked really mediocre in doing so. I just found it really interesting how unconcerned Bill Belichick seemed about it all. It's early in the season, Belichick is still figuring things out, and he's good at playing the long game. If these two teams meet in the playoffs again, Jacksonville will be overconfident. No team ever won a Superb Owl in September.
New York at Dallas
This was a really awful game, played by two bad teams. Dallas won because they were able to execute a defensive game plan that exploited New York's offensive shortcomings, which are myriad. New York is a puzzling team right now. They used a rare high draft choice on Saquon Barkley (who is immensely talented and versatile), and gave Odell Beckham top dollar, but these two amazing offensive weapons are being rendered useless. I know it's early in the season, but if New York isn't good enough to win now, they'd better find a way to lighten Barkley's workload, or their prized rookie is going to get hurt. (Note: Another pick I whiffed on, but a game I won on anyway. More on that in a bit.)
Seattle at Chicago
Mitchell Trubisky is young and talented. He's not good right now, but he doesn't have to be. Chicago is young and talented, and they have an already good defence with room to be great. This is a team on the rise. Seattle is terrible, with such a dearth of talent that they picked up recently released LB Mychal Kendricks, who is facing serious jail time for insider trading. Such is the state of things for the desperate Pete Carroll, and I could not be more thrilled.
Bonus Coverage
Week Two Player of the Week: Aldrick Rosas, K, New York G****s
New York had just scored a TD, and Rosas added the extra point to make the score Dallas 20, New York 10, with only 1:27 left in the game. Rosas then executed a successful onside kick, with New York recovering. New York drove to the Dallas 20 yard line, and with time running out, sent Rosas out to try a field goal in order to get New York within seven points. Rosas made the 38-yarder, and the celebration was on. Not in Dallas, but in my living room. See, the over/under prop bet for total field goals in the game was 3.5; Rosas had, with only 11 seconds remaining, by kicking the fourth field goal of the contest, secured a monetary victory for me by satisfying the final requirement of a prop bet parlay that I had played on the game. Congratulations, Aldrick Rosas. I salute you.
Don't forget to check back on Thursday for my Thursday Night Quick Pick.
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