After falling to a 60-0 deficit six quarters into the season and a 21-point deficit in the third quarter Sunday in Arizona, the Giants suddenly, improbably, have life.
The 49ers won somehow nine directly in the regular season against the Rams.
And Sean Payton and the Broncos – after giving the Commanders a 21-3 lead, then almost tying the score with a 50-yard Hail Mary from Russell Wilson to Brandon Johnson as time expired – are now 0-2.
Sunday’s NFL slate was defined by a series of furious finishes, none more improbable than the Giants’ 21-point rally in the desert. A week after an embarrassing 40-0 loss to Dallas, New York played just as poorly in the first half against the Cardinals, racking up just 76 total yards of offense en route to a 20-0 hole.
It looked bad. Really bad.
In total, the Giants opened the 2023 season with more than 90 minutes of scoreless football.
But by the end of the game, it was a 31-28 triumph, thanks to 24 unanswered points over the final two quarters, the franchise’s biggest comeback victory in more than 70 years. Saquon Barkley scored twice but left the game late due to injury, slamming his helmet on the bench in frustration. His status, along with that of the Colts’ Anthony Richardson (concussion) and the Bengals’ Joe Burrow (calf), will be among the injuries to monitor in the coming days.
In Detroit, the Seahawks won on a Geno Smith to Tyler Lockett touchdown in overtime; in Atlanta, the Falcons dominated the Packers throughout the sequence and won thanks to a 25-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo with 57 seconds remaining; and in Nashville, the Titans sent the Chargers to 0-2 with Nick Folk’s 41-yard game-winner in overtime.
And Russell Wilson almost eclipsed them all, connecting with Johnson on a 50-yard heave with no time on the clock. The touchdown cut the Commanders’ lead to 35-33; all Denver needed was a successful two-point conversion to force overtime. But Russell’s pass to Courtland Sutton fell incomplete, after some contact. Ron Rivera’s team is now a surprising 2-0, and Sean Payton is winless in his first two games as Denver’s coach.
Here’s what we learned from the afternoon of week 2:
Dallas looks like a contender
The Cowboys officially own New York City after beating the Giants and Jets by a combined score of 70-10 in back-to-back weeks to open the season. The driving force behind their early success was Dan Quinn’s defense, a Super Bowl-caliber unit led by the early favorite for Defensive Player of the Year. Micah Parsons has been good since he entered the league, but he’s never been This GOOD.
So far, the All-Pro linebacker seems completely unblockable.
It was never close Sunday in Dallas, as Parsons and the Cowboys dominated the Jets 30-10. Replacing Aaron Rodgers, Zach Wilson’s first start of 2023 was difficult: he completed just 12 passes on 27 attempts for 170 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. The Dallas defense now has seven turnovers and nine sacks in two games.
The offense was also intense on Sunday, with Dak Prescott racking up 255 passing yards on 31 completions and two touchdowns. CeeDee Lamb was terrific, with 11 catches for 143 yards.
The Cowboys will face tougher tests down the line — starting with the 49ers in Week 5, then the Eagles in Week 9 — but so far, Dallas has checked all the boxes. Mike McCarthy’s team looks to pose a serious threat to play into February.
Will Justin Fields ever be like The Guy for the Bears?
Bears general manager Ryan Poles decided to roll the dice with Justin Fields last spring, sending the No. 1 pick to Carolina in an effort to bolster the supporting cast around his young passer. We’re only two weeks into the season, but the early returns to Chicago aren’t promising — for the Bears or their franchise quarterback.
Chicago was outscored by a combined 28 points in two season-opening losses to Green Bay and Tampa Bay. Fields threw three interceptions, including two in Chicago’s final two drives on Sunday. The first cemented the loss, when Fields was picked off by Bucs linebacker Shaq Barrett at his own 6-yard line.
But the problems go deeper: Fields has already been hit 16 times and sacked 10 times.
It’s early and Fields deserves a full season with the improved weapons around him (DJ Moore, acquired in the Carolina trade, had six catches for 104 yards on Sunday, and Chase Claypool caught his first touchdown in Chicago) but the Most of the signs we’ve seen eight quarters hint at another long season in the Windy City. Since last season, the Bears have lost 12 straight games.
It won’t get any easier next week. Chicago will be in Kansas City next week to face the defending champions.
Effective plays for the Chiefs and Bills
It’s amazing what the return of two first-team All-Pros can do.
The Chiefs still didn’t look like the Chiefs on Sunday in Jacksonville, but the return of two of football’s best players after missing the first week — tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones — made the difference. Jones appeared to be in fine form at midseason, racking up 1.5 sacks for a Kansas City defense that held one of the league’s most explosive offenses to just nine points.
While Kelce had just four catches on nine targets, one of them was a nine-yard touchdown in the third quarter, enough to put the Chiefs up for good. (It also resulted in the best call of the day, that of CBS’s Ian Eagle, who noted that Kelce found “empty space” in the end zone for the score, a nod to his supposed relationship with pop star Taylor Swift.)
In a rematch of a divisional playoff game from January — and quite possibly a playoff preview for next winter — the final score was a bit misleading. The Jags had at least three instances of potential touchdowns if a receiver had been able to keep both feet inbounds on a contested catch. KC’s defense was solid, but in a close game where points were surprisingly difficult to score, it separated the two.
(Also, the Chiefs might have a problem at right tackle: Jawaan Taylor, signed to a four-year, $80 million deal this offseason, had a horrible day, getting flagged. five times, including two for false starts and twice for waiting. According to CBS, he is the most penalized player in a single game in 23 years. Taylor drew criticism after the Chiefs’ Week 1 loss for lining up too far from the line of scrimmage.)
Meanwhile, in Buffalo, another Super Bowl contender was right again. Josh Allen overcame a dismal four-turnover performance in Week 1 – “I’m the reason we lost tonight,” he admitted after the overtime loss to the Jets – and returned to MVP form against the Raiders, completing his first 14 passes. his way to a 31-for-37 day for 274 yards and, more importantly, no turnovers.
So, as far as Allen is concerned, everyone can calm down – at least for another week.
Uh-oh in Denver
Speaking of calm, don’t expect much from Broncos fans. It’s not just about the non-call on the game’s final two-point conversion; It’s an 0-2 start for a franchise — and a quarterback — poised to emerge from the horrors of 2022. If Wilson has been better this year, it’s not by much.
The Broncos were rolling early Sunday, leading the Commanders 21-3 early in the second quarter. But the game appeared to turn after Broncos safety Kareem Jackson was ejected after an illegal hit on Commanders tight end Logan Thomas. From there, Washington quarterback Sam Howell capitalized, finishing with 299 passing yards and two touchdowns. Wilson, meanwhile, cooled down considerably after his fast start, turning the ball over twice. He was also sacked five times.
What’s wrong with the Bengals? And the chargers?
The most surprising 0-2 team so far has to be the Bengals, who lost two AFC North games to open the season and now, once again, have to worry about the health of their franchise quarterback. A week after the worst start of his professional career, Burrow was better Sunday against the Ravens — 27 for 41 for 222 yards, two touchdowns and a pick — but it wasn’t enough in a 27-24 loss.
It’s not WHO The Bengals have lost so far – the Browns and Ravens should be in contention for playoff spots by the end of the season – but how they looked at the losses.
Simply put: something is wrong in Cincinnati.
Burrow spent the final moments of the game with a hand massager on his right calf, the same one he strained during training camp. He later admitted that he had edited it and that “it’s pretty painful right now.” Burrow’s status will be paramount for the Bengals going forward: The season is far from lost — Cincinnati was 0-2 last year before making a deep playoff run — but the offense isn’t hasn’t looked close to the right for two games. Burrow, for example, had just 35 passing yards in the first half. The Bengals were dominated by the Ravens 415-282.
“This is exactly where we were last year,” coach Zac Taylor said. “When you stumble early, you just have to learn from it.”
The Chargers, meanwhile, are also 0-2 after losing in overtime to the Titans. That’s two losses out of a total of five points to start the season — this after Los Angeles collapsed in January in their first playoff game, blowing a 27-0 halftime lead to Jacksonville. Justin Herbert threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns Sunday, but the offense was just 2 of 14 on third down.
So far, here are the teams without a win two weeks into the season: the Bengals, Broncos, Vikings, Chargers, Bears, Cardinals and Texans. Three others, playing in prime time, would join them with a loss: the Patriots, Steelers and Panthers. My colleague Mike Sando will have a lot more on this group in his Pick Six column Monday morning.
(Photo: Michael Owens/Getty Images)
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