Maybe I shouldn’t allow myself to have high expectations, but I’m looking forward to the Chargers-Raiders game.
10 thoughts on “2025-2026 NFL Week 2”
Commanders@Packers
Packers looked in control for the whole game, and yet the Commanders stayed in the game. It’s only week 2, but I would say the Packers are a tier 1 team, and they might be the best team in the league.
I’m stiff iffy on Jordan Love, although I thought he made good decisions to protect the football (throwing the ball a way and even taking a sack). He has a bad habit of drifting backward and then throwing off his back foot. His deep ball accuracy wasn’t very good yesterday, and I feel like that’s a footwork issue.
Raiders face a real challenge against the Chargers. I just hope they play well, and they don’t get run over. I also don’t want them to lose because of Geno’s turnovers (or turnovers in general).
For the Seahawks, I’m a bit deflated as they won’t have Witherspoon and Emmanwori. I’m not sure what to expect from the offense as well, but I am concerned with the OL facing the Steeler front seven. If one of the front sevens dominates, that team will win (although maybe you could say that about a lot of games?).
This seemed like a battle of heavyweights. I thought the Chiefs defense looked great for most of the game. The decisive play the INT off of Kelce’s hands near the goal line.
I don’t know, maybe the Eagles are not that great,and I know the Chiefs offense is not a juggernaut. But this seemed like an epic battle, and was one of the best games I saw (so far).
Giants@Cowboys
Crazy game. I was rooting for the Giants because I was rooting for Russ.
Seahawks@Steelers
Darnold’s two turnovers were bad, but I thought he made some key throws that the team needed to win the game. The defense was solid, but not great (although they were missing Witherspoon and Emmanwori).
Giants, Cowboys
The Cowboys defense stunk almost all night. But the last TD Russ threw was classic long ball Russ. It was gorgeous and Dallas was actually playing good defense on that play. That being said, Russ lost the game with his fumble out-of-bounds and then the interception in the OT.
Wonder if Reid would agree, but the Giants play defense, at least in terms of aggressiveness, like the championship Seattle teams. No matter how much their cornerbacks was getting toasted , the Giants continued to keep seven in the box and play man-to-man on the outside. The CBs are super handsy and aggressive. I want to say they had five pass interference calls. Seattle used to play their single high, with Chancellor dropping in the box, which I don’t think the Giants were doing. But with that Seattle team, they would get a lot of stops for loss since they were so willing to have guys at the line-of-scrimmage. The Giants play that way as well. If Dallas didn’t break some of their runs, their run stats would have been horrible.
The fumble that Russ had was not good, but I’m not sure if I’d go so far as saying Russ loss the game. If he didn’t throw a pick there and the Giants eventually had to punt, I feel like the Cowboys would have won. The Giants pass rush seemed gassed by that point, and the Cowboys wouldn’t have to move the ball much to win. (I’m thinking this was part of Russ’s thought when he thew the ball. Of course, had he not fumbled, they would have been in better position to extend the drive. So actually, I think it’s fair to blame the loss on that fumble.)
As for the Giants defense, I wasn’t really paying close attention, so I don’t really have an opinion.
What do you think of Prescott’s performance so far? To me, he looks like a top tier QB, or very close to it. We’ll see if he can sustain this.
What the heck was that (Raiders) offense? “We don’t care if you know we’er going to pass, and we’re going to keep doing that.” Utterly hate it. I don’t know if I can watch this team if they continue to play like this.
There were some crazy moments. With about 4 minutes (or more?) with the Raiders down by 11, Herbert throws the ball right to Pratt, but Pratt can’t bring it down. But the Chargers go for it on 4th in their own territory, get cute and call jet sweep and lose yards. So Raiders get the ball anyway in a similar place (unless Pratt could have advanced the ball quite a bit). Later the Chargers fumble on a hand-off. The way the Raiders offense played, though, I kinda knew they didn’t have a chance.
On a positive note, the defense looks solid. If they keep improving, they could be a good defense.
Falcons@Vikings
The only thing that could stop the Falcons running was the Falcons–when they decided not to run the ball. That’s not completely true, but it’s not that far off in my view. The Vikings run defense did not look good. I hope their game plan was to ignore the run, believing that the Falcons wouldn’t stick with it (which seemed true at times).
McCarthy had some nice throws, but some bad ones as well.
Bears@Lions
What stood out to me was the time and space that Goff had to throw. It wasn’t fair. I think I like the Lions OL better than the Eagles; I would say they have the best OL.
Raiders, Chargers
I didn’t think either team looked all that good. I do agree in this case that the Raiders should have run the ball more. I thought Jeanty looked good at times. He runs with great balance. So, here’s the conundrum, the Raiders o-line struggled at times on obvious passing downs. Does running on early downs increase or decrease the number of obvious passing downs? I think there’s a case on both sides.
I think one of the biggest moments of the game was the score was 10-6 Chargers, and the Raiders rush three and let Quentin Johnson get behind them and score. Give credit to Herbert who throws a dart, but you cannot be playing 2, 3, or 4 deep (not sure what) and still let the guy get behind you. That and the two long drives by both teams to start the second half which resulted in just field goals greatly contributed to the Raiders abandoning the run.
Does running on early downs increase or decrease the number of obvious passing downs?
The question, and the broader issue it taps into, are valid concerns. But being more balanced or one-dimensional is the bigger question to me, and I’m going with the former all day. Will that lead to 2nd or 3rd and longer situations? Yes, at least to some degree, but that can’t be helped. I think the Raiders and Geno have little chance of being successful if they’re one-dimensional, with Geno slinging it over 35 times a game. (He’s going to turn the ball over, maybe multiple times.)
…but you cannot be playing 2, 3, or 4 deep (not sure what) and still let the guy get behind you.
100%. This pissed me off. And I’m not really giving too much credit to Herbert on this, as he didn’t seem to take long to find the guy. (If you’re rushing 3, at the very least, the QB should have to take some time.)
Baker Mayfield had a great year last year. And so far this year, he has been great as well. If I had to win a game today, I think I would take him over guys like Stafford and Herbert. When healthy the Bucs have a better o-line than the Rams or Chargers though. But Mayfield is better than Stafford outside the pocket and seems to be more competitive than Herbert.
I also want to give props to Rattler from what I’ve seen against the Niners. He’s a legitimate starting QB. I think right now I would take him over JJ McCarty and Michael Penix. They all have a long way to go, but right now I will choose Rattler.
If I had to win a game today, I think I would take him over guys like Stafford and Herbert.
This goes too far for me. I’d rather have Stafford with McVay. Maybe it’s a little closer with Herbert, primarily because I think Baker has a really good supporting cast. (I think of the Bucs as a kind of Detroit-lite.) Also, while Herbert has all the tools and athleticism, something about him seems lacking. I don’t know what it is.
e’s a legitimate starting QB. I think right now I would take him over JJ McCarty and Michael Penix. They all have a long way to go, but right now I will choose Rattler.
I watched Rattler a lot last year, and I liked what I saw. Good feet, and a stronger arm than I thought. But I’m not sure he’s going to be more than a decent starter or good back-up. I don’t really have strong feelings about Penix or McCarthy as I haven’t seen enough of them to have a strong opinion.
Commanders@Packers
Packers looked in control for the whole game, and yet the Commanders stayed in the game. It’s only week 2, but I would say the Packers are a tier 1 team, and they might be the best team in the league.
I’m stiff iffy on Jordan Love, although I thought he made good decisions to protect the football (throwing the ball a way and even taking a sack). He has a bad habit of drifting backward and then throwing off his back foot. His deep ball accuracy wasn’t very good yesterday, and I feel like that’s a footwork issue.
Raiders face a real challenge against the Chargers. I just hope they play well, and they don’t get run over. I also don’t want them to lose because of Geno’s turnovers (or turnovers in general).
For the Seahawks, I’m a bit deflated as they won’t have Witherspoon and Emmanwori. I’m not sure what to expect from the offense as well, but I am concerned with the OL facing the Steeler front seven. If one of the front sevens dominates, that team will win (although maybe you could say that about a lot of games?).
Eagles@Chiefs
This seemed like a battle of heavyweights. I thought the Chiefs defense looked great for most of the game. The decisive play the INT off of Kelce’s hands near the goal line.
I don’t know, maybe the Eagles are not that great,and I know the Chiefs offense is not a juggernaut. But this seemed like an epic battle, and was one of the best games I saw (so far).
Giants@Cowboys
Crazy game. I was rooting for the Giants because I was rooting for Russ.
Seahawks@Steelers
Darnold’s two turnovers were bad, but I thought he made some key throws that the team needed to win the game. The defense was solid, but not great (although they were missing Witherspoon and Emmanwori).
Giants, Cowboys
The Cowboys defense stunk almost all night. But the last TD Russ threw was classic long ball Russ. It was gorgeous and Dallas was actually playing good defense on that play. That being said, Russ lost the game with his fumble out-of-bounds and then the interception in the OT.
Wonder if Reid would agree, but the Giants play defense, at least in terms of aggressiveness, like the championship Seattle teams. No matter how much their cornerbacks was getting toasted , the Giants continued to keep seven in the box and play man-to-man on the outside. The CBs are super handsy and aggressive. I want to say they had five pass interference calls. Seattle used to play their single high, with Chancellor dropping in the box, which I don’t think the Giants were doing. But with that Seattle team, they would get a lot of stops for loss since they were so willing to have guys at the line-of-scrimmage. The Giants play that way as well. If Dallas didn’t break some of their runs, their run stats would have been horrible.
The fumble that Russ had was not good, but I’m not sure if I’d go so far as saying Russ loss the game. If he didn’t throw a pick there and the Giants eventually had to punt, I feel like the Cowboys would have won. The Giants pass rush seemed gassed by that point, and the Cowboys wouldn’t have to move the ball much to win. (I’m thinking this was part of Russ’s thought when he thew the ball. Of course, had he not fumbled, they would have been in better position to extend the drive. So actually, I think it’s fair to blame the loss on that fumble.)
As for the Giants defense, I wasn’t really paying close attention, so I don’t really have an opinion.
What do you think of Prescott’s performance so far? To me, he looks like a top tier QB, or very close to it. We’ll see if he can sustain this.
Chargers@Raiders
What the heck was that (Raiders) offense? “We don’t care if you know we’er going to pass, and we’re going to keep doing that.” Utterly hate it. I don’t know if I can watch this team if they continue to play like this.
There were some crazy moments. With about 4 minutes (or more?) with the Raiders down by 11, Herbert throws the ball right to Pratt, but Pratt can’t bring it down. But the Chargers go for it on 4th in their own territory, get cute and call jet sweep and lose yards. So Raiders get the ball anyway in a similar place (unless Pratt could have advanced the ball quite a bit). Later the Chargers fumble on a hand-off. The way the Raiders offense played, though, I kinda knew they didn’t have a chance.
On a positive note, the defense looks solid. If they keep improving, they could be a good defense.
Falcons@Vikings
The only thing that could stop the Falcons running was the Falcons–when they decided not to run the ball. That’s not completely true, but it’s not that far off in my view. The Vikings run defense did not look good. I hope their game plan was to ignore the run, believing that the Falcons wouldn’t stick with it (which seemed true at times).
McCarthy had some nice throws, but some bad ones as well.
Bears@Lions
What stood out to me was the time and space that Goff had to throw. It wasn’t fair. I think I like the Lions OL better than the Eagles; I would say they have the best OL.
Raiders, Chargers
I didn’t think either team looked all that good. I do agree in this case that the Raiders should have run the ball more. I thought Jeanty looked good at times. He runs with great balance. So, here’s the conundrum, the Raiders o-line struggled at times on obvious passing downs. Does running on early downs increase or decrease the number of obvious passing downs? I think there’s a case on both sides.
I think one of the biggest moments of the game was the score was 10-6 Chargers, and the Raiders rush three and let Quentin Johnson get behind them and score. Give credit to Herbert who throws a dart, but you cannot be playing 2, 3, or 4 deep (not sure what) and still let the guy get behind you. That and the two long drives by both teams to start the second half which resulted in just field goals greatly contributed to the Raiders abandoning the run.
The question, and the broader issue it taps into, are valid concerns. But being more balanced or one-dimensional is the bigger question to me, and I’m going with the former all day. Will that lead to 2nd or 3rd and longer situations? Yes, at least to some degree, but that can’t be helped. I think the Raiders and Geno have little chance of being successful if they’re one-dimensional, with Geno slinging it over 35 times a game. (He’s going to turn the ball over, maybe multiple times.)
100%. This pissed me off. And I’m not really giving too much credit to Herbert on this, as he didn’t seem to take long to find the guy. (If you’re rushing 3, at the very least, the QB should have to take some time.)
Baker Mayfield had a great year last year. And so far this year, he has been great as well. If I had to win a game today, I think I would take him over guys like Stafford and Herbert. When healthy the Bucs have a better o-line than the Rams or Chargers though. But Mayfield is better than Stafford outside the pocket and seems to be more competitive than Herbert.
I also want to give props to Rattler from what I’ve seen against the Niners. He’s a legitimate starting QB. I think right now I would take him over JJ McCarty and Michael Penix. They all have a long way to go, but right now I will choose Rattler.
This goes too far for me. I’d rather have Stafford with McVay. Maybe it’s a little closer with Herbert, primarily because I think Baker has a really good supporting cast. (I think of the Bucs as a kind of Detroit-lite.) Also, while Herbert has all the tools and athleticism, something about him seems lacking. I don’t know what it is.
I watched Rattler a lot last year, and I liked what I saw. Good feet, and a stronger arm than I thought. But I’m not sure he’s going to be more than a decent starter or good back-up. I don’t really have strong feelings about Penix or McCarthy as I haven’t seen enough of them to have a strong opinion.