The NFL is so back. After the insanity that transpired in week 1 the football gods decided that it wasn’t enough. I was going to write about how I think the Falcons got a great player for the future in Drake London, but some chaos went down in the Monday night games. Let’s get into it.
1. Whatever it is… Stefon Diggs and Josh Allen are taking it personally
Let’s look over some stats from tonight.
Josh Allen went 26/38 for 317 yards and four touchdowns.
Stefon Diggs caught 12 of those passes for 148 yards and three touchdowns.
While the Bills defense held the Tennessee Titans to 7 points and Derrick Henry to 25 yards on 13 yards
Ridiculous.
I understand that this is just week 1, but you can’t sit here and not acknowledge what this Bills team is doing. Week one they march into the defending champions home and drop 31 on their head and then they just obliterate the Titans at home 41-7 on Monday Night Football. I predicted the Titans to miss the playoffs, but I didn’t expect it to be THIS bad. I was up by 30+ in fantasy tonight before Stefon Diggs happened. So thank you Stefon Diggs. I’m very upset at you right now, but what a performance. This man Diggs made the Titans defensive backs look like middle schoolers. And they have a 2x First Team All-Pro back there in Kevin Byard! The Bills are traveling to Miami next Sunday while the Titans are hosting Derek Carr and the 0-2 Las Vegas Raiders.
2. The New York Giants have a real shot at being 4-0
Now just hear me out. The Giants are currently 2-0, but it’s not like they’ve blown out their opponents. They’ve won each game by less than three points, but they have that grit. They are buying in to the Brian Daboll culture and in my humble opinion, their schedule is pretty favorable these next two weeks. They host the Cooper Rush-led Cowboys on Monday Night Football next week and then they host Justin Fields and the Bears. A VERY real chance to start their season 4-0. Against the Cowboys they just have to focus on doing their best to avoid Micah Parsons. Tackles Evan Neal and Andrew Thomas will definitely be busy, but with the way Thomas is playing the Giants should at least do better than the Bengals. Just keep feeding Saquon Barkley and give Kadarius Toney more touches. That’s all I want to see.
3. Tua Tagovailoa went ballistic
The Baltimore Ravens were leading 35-7 going into the fourth quarter. And then Tua Tagovailoa happened. Now everyone in the NFL community knows that Tua hasn’t always been the best quarterback. He hasn’t always passed the eye-test, but oh my goodness did he deliver for Miami this Sunday. And I get it, he didn’t even play that great in the first half and you could also argue that his receivers did most of the work. However, six touchdowns in the NFL is six touchdowns. It’s insanely impressive no matter how it is achieved. Tua was the first Dolphins quarterback to break a Dolphins passing record since Dan Marino. That’s how crazy the former Alabama star went on Sunday.
36/50 for 469 yards and six touchdowns.
Insane.
Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill are one scary duo. The biggest test yet will be hosting Josh Allen and the red-hot Buffalo Bills at home. While the Ravens travel to New England to take on Mac Jones and the Patriots.
4. The Indianapolis Colts are in trouble
Before I say anything about the Colts, I don’t want to take anything away from the Jaguars performance this Sunday. They executed on all levels of the game and even held reigning rushing champ Jonathan Taylor to under 55 yards on the ground. Now for the Colts, they better get their act together before it’s too late. With a solid roster and the addition of Matty Ice in the off-season, I picked this team to win the AFC South comfortably. It’s looking like it won’t be comfortable at all this year for Indy to try and claim the division title. After starting the season with a tie against Davis Mills and the Houston Texans the Colts laid a fat goose egg against the Jaguars. They were shut out 24-0 and just looked horrible out there. That’s the bottom line. And the reason why I say they’re in trouble is that their upcoming games are ROUGH. They host Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs next week, then the Titans, they travel to Denver to take on Russell Wilson and the Broncos the next week and then they play the Jaguars once again. The only game I have them possibly winning out of those four is the game against the Titans, and that’s still a maybe.
This defense needs Shaquille Leonard back and Frank Reich needs to be on the hot seat because this simply isn’t good enough. Plus, they cut my brother in rec-specs Rodrigo Blakenship so they have to suffer the consequences. In reality, this team has two playoff appearances in the last eight years and only one playoff win. I don’t know why people rate them so highly, including myself. Horrible.
5. The Detroit Lions have arrived
The Detroit Lions… are looking good? Dan Campbell has these boys playing for him and they are thriving. Aidan Hutchinson bounced back after a shaky week one performance with three first-half sacks, Amon-Ra St. Brown looked insane out there and D’Andre Swift scored a touchdown after taking a seat on the field in the middle of a play.
I don’t know who’s counting, but that is two games in a row for the Lions where they’ve put up 35+ points. The real test for this young Lions team will be next week against Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings clobbered the Packers in week 1, but then stunk it up against the Eagles on national television. This team is young, but they got some real deal talent. Jared Goff seems to be wheeling and dealing, Amon-Ra and D.J. Chark are reliable weapons on the outside and the backfield duo of Swift and Jamaal Williams is proving to be lethal. And let’s not forget about T.J. Hockenson and first-round pick Jameson Williams who is still yet to come back from his ACL injury he suffered at Alabama. On the defensive side of the ball I’m just really happy to see Jeff Okudah back out on the field. He fought through some injuries and early struggles to get back on the field and I want to see him prove his doubters wrong. Now I’m all for these new-look Lions I genuinely hope they make the playoffs, but they better suck against my Patriots week five. And shout out Dan Skipper. What a story. Practice squad guy for six years, gets cut following camp, but comes back and gets his first career start in a win. Are the Detroit Lions America’s Team??? Because I sure as hell know the Cowboys aren’t .
My New England Patriots got their first win of the season by beating the Steelers 17-14. Wasn’t the prettiest win of all time, but we got it done. Big performances from Nelson Agholor, Jakobi Meyers and Matt Judon. Next week is a HUGE test as we host Lamar Jackson and the Ravens for our home opener.
Some other notable performances I want to highlight:
- Kyler Murray: 31/49 for 277 yards and 2 total touchdowns in a 20-point comeback + OT win
- Joe Flacco: 26/44 for 307 yards and 4 touchdowns in a comeback win against the Browns
- Trevor Lawrence: 25/30 for 235 yards and 2 touchdowns (with no turnovers and no sacks)
The NFL is back in full swing ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy this right now because before you know it, it’ll be the week before the Super Bowl. Still got a long way to go until that though. IRL football (soccer) video coming soon and week three predictions video with some special guests also on the way. This is YSN, until next time, signing out.
Yanni, thanks to your articles, I am learning a lot about American Football 🙂