2021 NFL: Week 2

I don’t understand how the NFL does it.

Thursday’s night game on its face should have been a dud. The Giants at Washington didn’t exactly pump me up. I had never seen player prices that low for a daily fantasy contest. The smart money thought these two teams would spend a few hours tripping over each other and then someone, probably Washington, would come out victorious.

And the game was indeed poorly played. Tons of penalties, costly dropped passes and special teams snafus. It had it all. And yet, it still managed to have a thrilling ending. Taylor Heinecke looked like a superhero when he put Washington in front in the fourth quarter with a beautiful TD toss to Ricky Seals-Jones. Then he looked incompetent when he threw a pick while trying to run out the clock, giving the Giants the ball on his own 20.

He returned to hero status after New York kicked a go-ahead field goal, driving Washington into field goal range, only to have kicker Dustin Hopkins push the ball wide right as time expired. Oh well, them’s the breaks, right?

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

Wrong.

The Giants did something that can get a head coach fired (looking at you, Joe Judge). They jumped offside on the field goal try. Oof.

Hopkins didn’t screw up his second chance. He nailed the kick and Washington joyfully ran off the field with a 30-29 victory. A win that was engineered by a quarterback who couldn’t get on the field for an XFL team in 2020.

What a game. And exactly why this league is the undisputed king of sports in this country.

NFL’S TOP 10

1. Buccaneers: Defending champions start out at the top of these rankings. No exceptions. And while Tampa’s performance in Week 1 left a lot to be desired, they did end up with a last-minute win. But maybe we should ease up on the 17-0 talk.

2. Rams: Am I too excited? Perhaps. But it’s difficult not to feel optimistic after L.A. took apart the Bears in the second half of its Sunday night win. Matthew Stafford looked great, the defense held up and Sean McVay was excited. Let’s see how things go from here.

3. Chiefs: Just like the Bucs and many other excellent teams over the years, Kansas City won a game after not playing its best football. No lead is safe against the Chiefs. And Patrick Mahomes is still superhuman.

4. 49ers: It’s so simple. When Jimmy Garoppolo is under center, things are all good in San Francisco. The Niners offense looked explosive and although they lost RB Raheem Mostert to injury, Kyle Shanahan has proven he can plug in another back in his offense and have success. But let’s not make a habit of almost blowing huge leads in the fourth quarter.

5. Chargers: Head coach Brandon Staley got his first win in his first try as L.A.’s new coach and the Bolts did it against (what should be) a stout Washington defense. Their offensive line looked great, Keenan Allen was a reliable target and don’t get me started on Justin Herbert. The second-year QB is set to prove his rookie season was no fluke and the drive he led that protected a lead and killed the almost final seven minutes of the fourth quarter was epic.

6. Seahawks: I said it before, people are sleeping on this team. Russell Wilson to Tyler Lockett is still a bona fide connection as Seattle got a big win over a ballyhooed Colts team on the road. The Seahawks aren’t going anywhere.

7. Steelers: Was it the prettiest win? No, in fact it was a painful watch at times. But Pittsburgh came alive in the second half in Buffalo and won convincingly against one of the AFC’s better teams. Mike Tomlin just keeps winning and winning. He’ll be in Canton one day.

8. Saints: When you take apart a team that was in the NFC Championship game last season and make Aaron Rodgers look clueless, you’ve had a great Sunday. Jameis Winston did great in his first game of the post-Drew Brees era and it’s clear that Sean Payton is not asking him to do too much.

9. Cardinals: It’s not that I’m surprised that they won in Tennessee. I’m very surprised they blew out the Titans. Chandler Jones is a terrifying edge rusher who took apart one of the better left tackles in the league in Taylor Lewan and the rest of the defense bottled up RB Derrick Henry. The NFC West race is going to come down to the wire.

10. Bills: They’re the one team to lose in Week 1 in these rankings. I don’t care. I’m still convinced this team is among the cream of the crop.

WHAT’S THE CHATTER?

For the best: Deshaun Waton’s criminal probe is unlikely to end before the trade deadline. And that means he probably won’t be moved to another team this year. The fact it’s being reported that a few teams are interested in making a deal for him amazes me. Stay far away. There’s no way you want the kind of publicity that’s coming if you bring Watson into your locker room.

He’s torturing us: Tom Brady now thinks he can play until he’s 50. “I don’t find it so difficult,” Brady said. “Plus, in Florida, it’s kind of a retiree state, so I feel like I can play and then just glide into retirement.” Sounds like he’s kind of messing with us, but maybe he isn’t. The worst part is, I can see it happening. How many Super Bowl wins will it take for him to go away?

Ain’t that the truth: Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods talked about the challenge of stopping the Chiefs offense. “You can’t cover them all,” Woods said. “There are a lot of weapons out there so again, when you game plan, there are certain calls that take away certain things they do, but there may be some guys who get some one-on-ones.” Preach, sir.

Speaking of Mr. Rodgers: Why do we do this every year? Yes, Aaron Rodgers looked bad in Week 1. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I saw him look that inept. An amazing stat from that game was if he had spiked the ball on every one of his pass attempts, he would have finished with a higher passer rating than he did. HOWEVER. We tend to see a troubling performance from Green Bay at least once a season. And every time, Rodgers and the Pack respond well. There’s no reason to believe that won’t happen again, despite all the offseason drama.

Happy where he is: I was one of countless people who thought of Urban Meyer when USC fired its head coach. I texted with a few friends who are big Trojans fans and we had fun throwing out names to fill the gig. But Meyer threw cold water on the rumors by saying there’s no chance he leaves the Jaguars for USC. And you know what? That makes sense. He’s coached one game, for crying out loud. It’s kind of ridiculous to think he’s going to leave. At least not yet. Maybe if he finishes with a 2015 record, he’ll think differently.

APPOINTMENT VIEWING FOR WEEK 2

Bengals at Bears: Not the sexiest game. But it will be interesting if the Andy Dalton clock expires and Justin Fields gets thrown into the fire.

Rams at Colts: L.A. is riding high, but now the Rams won’t have the comfort of playing in front of a raucous home crowd at beautiful SoFi Stadium. Meanwhile the Colts are looking to avoid a second straight loss to an NFC West team. They will be motivated.

Bills at Dolphins: People are going to say Buffalo is in must-win mode. Normally, I’d say no, but 11 teams started 0-2 last season and none of them made the playoffs. You don’t want to fall too far behind the pace in the AFC East.

49ers at Eagles: The schedule makers put the Niners on the road for their first two games. This week, they get to face the team that was arguably the biggest surprise of Week 1. Is Philly QB Jalen Hurts the real deal? He certainly looked the part in the opener, but he won’t be facing a bad Atlanta team on Sunday.

Raiders at Steelers: Las Vegas is coming off a dramatic Monday night win. The Silver and Black’s reward is a 1 p.m. start in Pittsburgh on a short week. Look for the Steelers defense to be stingy again.

Saints at Panthers: Both teams are coming off victories, but it will be interesting to see how Sam Darnold looks against New Orleans. What a tasty division matchup.

Cowboys at Chargers: Dallas needs to get its running game going in Week 2. You can’t keep relying on Dak Prescott to carry the offense. Meanwhile, the Chargers offense should be able to move at ease against a Cowboys defense that’s dealing with the injury bug.

Titans at Seahawks: Come on, Tennessee. Don’t make me look stupid for predicting you’ll reach the AFC title game. Let’s go, fellas.

Chiefs at Ravens: Pat Mahomes hasn’t lost yet to Lamar Jackson. Will this be the week the Ravens QB gets it done? He’ll be motivated after his two crucial fumbles on Monday night. But I don’t see it happening. I don’t want to sound fatalistic, but things could get very bad in Baltimore.

Lions at Packers: It’s Monday night. What else are you going to watch?