NFL Week 2 Recap: Plan B

What now?

Those two words had to have been repeated on a loop by fans of the New York Jets after Monday's season opener. The Jets, their fans, and every football fan (myself included and especially)--all of us were eagerly wondering how the Jets would fare with Aaron Rodgers as their QB. After months of anticipation, Rodgers made his Jets debut on the Monday Night Football opener, had four plays...and then the injury happened. That was a shocking blow to the Jets and their fans, as Rodgers ended up in the tent and later carted off. Out for the rest of the game. The Jets had to persevere with Zach Wilson at QB, and for that night, they did--winning in comeback fashion in overtime over the Buffalo Bills.

Unfortunately, Jets fans couldn't drink in that win, because the news they feared the most was announced right after that game. Torn Achilles, Rodgers is done for the season. Triple H said it best on the evening of June 2, 2014: "There is always a Plan B." In the case of the Jets, Plan B was Zach Wilson, and he took the reins at AT&T Stadium against the Dallas Cowboys. Needless to say, it was not a pretty sight. 170 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 38.1. The Jets lost 30-10 to the Cowboys. Even worse, they have 15 more games of this.

Jets fans are begging for something...anything. Mike Greenberg, a diehard Jets fan, literally begged for the Jets to trade for Kirk Cousins, who is currently with the Vikings. Let's be blunt, this is a nightmare for the Jets. They were on the highest of highs when the GOAT ended up as their quarterback. Now that he's out for the year, there is doom and gloom in the Jets fanbase. The ironic thing: this team had a pretty decent season last year, but despite that, the feeling going around is, the Jets are...well...screwed.

Week 2 kicked off with Amazon Prime's first game of the season, an NFC battle between the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles. The game started off as a laugher until Minnesota made it close late, but they still came up short, as the Eagles held on to win, 34-28. I want to talk about Justin Jefferson. Justin Jefferson was high on my Fantasy Wish List for this season, and thankfully, I have him in two leagues this year. Unsurprisingly, he has been a marvel for this fantasy owner. How, you ask? Let's look at the numbers.

Fantasy leagues often instill PPR (Points Per Reception), which definitely helps if you have one of the top receivers in the league. Some leagues award a half PPR, while others award a full PPR. Of course, one point is awarded for every 10 receiving yards, and touchdowns are six points each. Jefferson had 11 receptions for 159 yards, but he lost a fumble, which is a two point deduction. In half PPR leagues, that's a grand total of 19.4 points, but in full PPR leagues, that's 24.9 points. Mind you, this is without a touchdown; Jefferson has yet to find the end zone this season.

Week 2 didn't quite go well for the Green Bay Packers. The Packers were in Atlanta facing the Falcons, and the team was cruising to a 12-point lead, but the Falcons managed to come back and take a 25-24 lead with over a minute left in regulation. This allowed Jordan Love to make his first attempt at a game winning drive, and while the effort was definitely there, the Packers could not get to field goal range, and the Falcons ended up winning to improve to 2-0.

I want to say this with every fiber of my Green and Gold being. I am so proud and happy that Jordan Love is our quarterback. He has passed every test thrown to him. After two weeks, he is tied for the league lead in touchdown passes with six (sharing the lead with Cousins), and he actually leads the league in passer rating. Love has done so well so far, and I truly think there's more to come. Also, the Packers were without Aaron Jones and Christian Watson, yet we still only lost by one. That says it all. This was a week that saw no one in the NFC North win. The Bears lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to drop to 0-2, and the Detroit Lions lost in overtime to the Seattle Seahawks. As a result, the Packers are still the first place team in the NFC North.

The Kansas City Chiefs did get Travis Kelce back after he missed Opening Night, though while he did find the end zone, they barely survived the Jacksonville Jaguars in a rematch of last year's Divisional Playoff. The Buffalo Bills trounced the Las Vegas Raiders, making up for their overtime loss to the New York Jets, but the team who is really in trouble is the Cincinnati Bengals. For the second straight week, the Bengals lost a key divisional matchup, this time to the Baltimore Ravens, 27-24. Even worse, Joe Burrow may be out for a while. I remember when the news broke about Burrow's injury during preseason, and that had Bengals fans panicking. He was able to start the season, but honestly, his tepid performance against the Browns should have been a sign that something was wrong. In any event, there is talk about Burrow possibly going on injured reserved. Oh boy.

Week 2 was a week full of comeback wins, as the New York Giants managed to come back from a 21 point deficit to defeat the Arizona Cardinals. The Washington Commanders also came back from a double digit deficit to take the lead over the Denver Broncos, but with no time remaining, Russell Wilson delivered with a Hail Mary touchdown, only for their two-point conversion attempt to force overtime to come up short. The Commanders are 2-0 in their first season with Josh Harris as owner. This is their first 2-0 start since 2011, though ironically, they finished 5-11 that year. The late window also saw the San Francisco 49ers continue their ownership of the Los Angeles Rams, winning 30-23 for their ninth straight win over their NFC West rivals.

Sunday Night Football saw Tua Tagovailoa continue his ownership of the New England Patriots, winning 24-17 to improve to 5-0 against his division rival. We were treated to two Monday Night games, with the first one being an NFC South battle between the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers, with the Saints surviving the Panthers, 20-17, and improving to 2-0. The main event was the AFC North clash between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers, and that game saw the Steelers defense totally dominate the Browns: six sacks, an interception, three fumble recoveries, and two defensive touchdowns--one of them scored by TJ Watt, which served as the game-winning score. The Steelers won, 26-22; a game they needed after they were blasted in Week 1 by the 49ers.

So after two weeks, the number of unbeatens was reduced from 16 to 9. Out of the nine 2-0 teams, three of them are in the NFC East (Cowboys, Eagles, and Commanders) and the NFC South (Falcons, Saints, and Buccaneers), while the entire AFC only has two 2-0 teams: the Dolphins and Ravens. There are nine 0-2 teams, with three of them being playoff teams from last year (Bengals, Chargers, and Vikings). The AFC is wide open this year, while the NFC is quite interesting. It's a long season, only two weeks are in the books, with sixteen to go.

Week 3 will kick off with the New York Giants (sans Saquon Barkley, unfortunately) facing the superpowered San Francisco Giants on Thursday Night Football, while the Green Bay Packers finally have their home opener against the New Orleans Saints this upcoming Sunday. On Sunday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers head to Sin City to face the Las Vegas Raiders, and we will see two Monday Night games in Week 3. First off, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the Philadelphia Eagles, and later on, the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals will face each other for the first time since Super Bowl LVI.

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