We are going to highlight on some of the hot topics around the league as we head into week 2 –
New Kids on the Block –
We had three new owners from the carousel take over new teams in the off-season, technically Mali is a returning veteran, so our other two owners took over the Cleveland Browns and the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cleveland Browns have been a train wreck since the start of the cycle and if their week 1 match-up is a hint at what’s to come, the Browns are in for a very rough season. Miles took over a neglected team, but there was promise that he’d lead the Browns to success, but Deshaun Watson’s performance against the Chiefs speaks otherwise. Deshaun Watson threw 60 interceptions in season 1, 56 interceptions in season 2, and is on pace for 85 interceptions this season. Despite Watson leading all quarterbacks in passing yards in week 1, he also led all quarterbacks in interceptions (5) thrown. Nick Chubb had a pitiful 2.2 yards per carry, he rushed a league high 26 times for 59 yards. Miles has to be able to find some balance and limit the turnovers, otherwise he and Vet will have something in common. Wumbo the clown decided to quit the league, like always, but he did leave the Eagles in decent shape for a new owner to take over. CB had high hopes, he even had his choice of the signal caller that he wanted to start this season and took Drake Maye in the draft. Everyone has high hopes in the off-season, but the Eagles lost 45-7 in week 1, let’s hope for a better performance going forward, but in this division, you can’t start behind the 8 ball, and CB is already falling very quickly.
Curse of the Top Ten? –
The teams that selected in the top ten of the draft are 3-7 after week 1. The number is weighed though since the Chiefs and the 49ers selected twice in the top ten. The most disappointing loss out of all the teams that drafted in the top 10 is the New England Patriots loss to the Jets. The Patriots had the game in hand, but a crucial pick 6 on their first drive after halftime turned the game into the Jets favour and despite only losing by 7 points, the Patriots really never had a chance once the momentum swung in favour of the Jets.
Flamed Out Rookie Quarterbacks –
Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Quinn Ewers, Jayden Daniels all started in week 1 for the respective teams and all four of these rookie quarterbacks who had high hopes all folded when the bright lights got too much for them. All four of these quarterbacks threw for a combined 8 interceptions and three of the four quarterbacks lost by a large margin. The only rookie quarterback to win their week 1 game was D.J. Uiagalelei and he led his team to a 40-21 victory over the Detroit Lions. The New England Patriots, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Indianapolis Colts have their hands full in week 2, but the Colts have the most favourable match-up against the Kansas City Chiefs. If anyone is going to bounce back from getting blown out, it’s going to be JC. Mali played very solid, especially on defense, but I am not sold on his ability to take on a PML vet and come out victorious.
Blowouts By a Large Margin –
There were 10 games that featured margin of victories by more than two touchdowns and the highest scoring team was the Kansas City Chiefs with 60 points being put up on the head of new coach Miles. Week 2 has better match-ups that I think will feature games that will be more competitive. The Ravens-Bengals and Giants-Cowboys match-ups are two that are highly anticipated. Kingke leads the series 3-2, including a playoff victory over Cammy, but Kingke has his Baltimore Ravens supped up in almost every position. The Bengals are a respectable 84 overall but the Ravens are a 90 overall and I think Lamar Jackson and company are going to be too much for Cammy to overcome this season. Jefe is 1-3 against Cookieboy this season, but the Cowboys won their last match-up in week 12 last season and Jefe has his Cowboys looking very formidable. His 45-7 victory over the Eagles in week 1 has given his team new life. Skip Bayless and Cowboy faithfuls all over the world are hoping that this is the season where Jefe can turn it around and finally make the playoffs.
