And then there were two. Buffalo remained undefeated with a tougher-than-expected victory over the Saints, while the Eagles built a big lead and then survived a furious comeback by the previously unbeaten Bucs to also improve to 4-0. The Chargers lost their first game to the previously winless Giants, the Colts suffered their first loss to the Rams, and the Niners committed four turnovers in their loss to the Jags. The Pack and the Boys played to a 40-40 tie, the Bears won by blocking a last second FG attempt, and the Fins won their first game. Two teams are still looking for their first win.
This week, the Thursday night game again features two NFC West teams as the Rams host the Niners. The Vikings play the Browns in London, the Eagles will try to stay unbeaten when they host the Broncos, and Tampa Bay travels to Seattle. Sunday night showcases the Pats visiting Buffalo, while the MNF game features the Jags hosting the Chiefs.
Here are this week’s lines. All spreads taken from ESPNBet on Tuesday the 30th at 8:45 am CT.
It was very satisfying to watch the Patriots put together a complete game against the Panthers. After a slow start against the Panthers’ first drive, the Pats dominated in all three phases for the rest of the game. Sure, it was against the Panthers, but it was an impressive win all the same. QB Drake Maye continues to improve, making better decisions with the ball and scrambling well. The OL, while still a work in progress, is already miles ahead of last year.
So of course now they have to play the Bills in Buffalo. The Bills’ 4-0 is a bit of a mirage, so I doubt they will trounce all over the Pats, but I can’t see a path to a win here for the Pats without some very fluke-y events.
Bills and Eagles don’t surprise me, though I’m surprised the Chiefs are looking as bad this year as they have. Maybe they’ll improve over the course of the season.
They looked pretty good against a decimated Ravens defense on Sunday. Mahomes threw for 270 yards and 4 TDs, the team rushed for 118 yards (only 5 by Mahomes), and the defense was stout against Jackson and Henry, who had just 42 yards rushing.
Lions looking bad? Must be first impressions from the Packers game Week 1 but they’ve looked really good the remaining games. Even with the Packers loss, they lead the league in scoring and scoring differential.
The Eagles currently have a negative yards per play differential of -.8 yards. The other contenders all are in the positive range, with the top teams all c. ~ +1.0 yards per play. Buffalo has an overall +0.9 edge, where rushing is at a deficit of 4.9 - 6.0 but their passing leads the league with an edge of 7.4 - 4.5 (the latter is much more strongly correlated with winning percentage note). KC is +/- 0, and Baltimore + 0.7 so despite their horrid starts by their recent standards the Ravens at least I’d expect to have a long winning streak at some point.
Though I warn people not to take week 1 as any kind of sign, it was shocking how bad they were and left a bad impression, so I even let it affect my own perceptions.
It’s good that they’ve improved. I actually like the Lions a lot. I somewhat root for them when it’s not going to mean bad things for Seattle.
Philly’s offense seems to be completely broken. I have no idea how they fix it.
They probably need to start forcing the ball to the outside WRs even if that leads to turnovers. You are strangling yourself if you refuse to even try.
Gabriel looked really good in Oregon, we watched him quite a bit, but college success doesn’t equal NFL success. (See Ryan Leaf, Johnny Manziel, and countless other QBs.)
When Gabriel starts on Sunday, he could be one of three former Oregon QBs to start this weekend. Justin Herbert will start for the Chargers, and Marcus Mariota may start for Washington, if Daniels is unable to play. Daniels has been given clearance and will be practicing this week.
One fumble away from the Seahawks being 4-0. This week they are favored by a field goal. After Thursday game between the 49ers and Rams one will be 4-1 and the other 3-2. I’m hoping that the Rams win since San Francisco already has one-half of the tiebreaker against Seattle.