NFL Week 2: What We Learned

A lot of things happened in week 1 of the NFL season, but those things left us with a lot of questions. Luckily for us, week 2 gave us a fair amount of answers. Let's go over some of the most shocking stories and what we now know going forward.

The Saints are not the real deal and neither is Winston: New Orleans' shocking performance against Green Bay in week 1 had everyone wondering if it was just a fluke or if the Saints were going to be a team to fear. It's clear after their loss in Charlotte that it was a fluke. To put it simply, the Packers defense in week 1 performed terribly. Yes, Jameis Winston threw for 5 touchdowns, but he also threw for 148 yards and his defense gave him great field position on almost every scoring drive. After his 111 passing yards, 0 passing touchdowns and 2 interceptions against Carolina, it is clear that he is not the Comeback Player of the Year nominee everyone thought he was in week 1. This also showed us that the Saints are inconsistent and should not be a team you want to place a bet on for a while.

The Texans should not be overlooked just yet: Coming into the season, everyone expected the Texans to be a bottom 3 team. So far, they have kept their doubters pretty quiet. They came out guns blazing in week 1, beating the Jaguars 37-21. They forced number 1 pick Trevor Lawrence to throw 3 interceptions all the while throwing none on offense. Tyrod Taylor proved why he shouldn't be a backup quarterback throwing for 291 yards and 2 touchdowns. He continued to prove this in his week 2 performance against the Browns. Before leaving the game with a hamstring injury, Taylor threw for 125 yards and a touchdown while completing 91% of his passes. Another factor for the Texans is Brandin Cooks who is 5th in the NFL in receiving yards and is showing no signs of slowing down. If Taylor can have a speedy recovery, Houston is definitely a team to look out for.

Zach Wilson is not good and it's not his fault: Zach Wilson had his NFL debut in week 1 against the Panthers and it started out horribly. Through his first 10 pass attempts, Wilson had only 2 completions and an interception. Starting out your NFL career like this would have almost any quarterback shaken and scared. Almost any quarterback. Wilson went on to finish the game with 258 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception while completing 54% of his passes. Not bad considering how rough of a start he had. However, he did not show out in week 2. He recorded 4 interceptions against the Patriots. 4! But like I said, it wasn’t necessarily his fault. 2 of these interceptions were simply dropped passes and he is not getting any protection in the backfield. Through just 2 weeks, the Jets O-line has already allowed Wilson to be sacked 9 times. If he does not get protected, he will continue to put up numbers like this. Just look at Sam Darnold. He constantly struggled on the Jets due to their awful O-line and now that he is on the Panthers he looks like a completely different player. I believe Zach Wilson is a good quarterback, but if he can't stop getting sacked, he is going to end up like Joe Burrow last year and the Jets will have to live with that weight on their chest.