The NFL Sunday Review: Week 2 - Callum Squires

The Sunday Review: Week 2

What. A. Sunday.

Honestly, a truly incredible day. There was carnage all over the shop, including the Jacksonville Jaguars getting a shutout win (…excuse me?!), significant injuries (T’s and P’s to Trey Lance), and THREE insane 4th quarter comebacks. Those will draw most of our focus, but we’ll touch on all the big headlines and stories from Sunday of Week 2 of the 2022 NFL Season. We begin in Baltimore…

Dolphins Stun Ravens To Go Tu-0

But WHERE do we even begin with this game? Before Week 1, I really didn’t imagine that I would be writing about Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins in the “featured games” section of this column in both of the first two weeks of the NFL season. Admittedly, I control that, and I’m a Dolphins fan, but I profess to be (largely) professional and wouldn’t focus on a game that I truly didn’t believe deserved that attention. So… imagine my surprise that focusing on the Dolphins’ visit to the Ravens was … the EASIEST decision to make for this week’s column!

Before we talk about Mike McDaniel, Tua Tagovailoa, Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill, we have to acknowledge the greatness that was displayed by Lamar Jackson on sunday. A list of NFL players with a 75+ yard rush TD and a 75+ yard pass TD in the same game: Lamar Jackson. That’s it. EVER. Incredible. HEY – Ravens Front Office! PAY THE MAN. I get it. The contract the Browns just gave out has ruined the market for everyone else, but you can figure that out. He deserves every dime you’re going to end up paying him.

Lamar’s connection with both Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman looks to be the lifeblood of the Ravens’ offense, at least until JK Dobbins is back healthy, which might be as soon as next week. Lamar’s game breaking rushing ability is obviously still a key factor, as exhibited by his 3rd quarter scamper that looked to have put the Dolphins away, as the Ravens went up 35-14 with just 26 second left in the 3rd quarter… but alas, the Ravens would only score 3 points in the 4th quarter, and the Dolphins started attempting to prove that miracles do exist.

Clearly, Baltimore will feel like they threw this victory away, but there weren’t really any egregious moments. Sure, they got burned deep twice by Tyreek Hill, but that’s hardly the first time that’s happened in the league. I guess you could question Harbaugh going for it on 4th and 1 up 14? It gave Tua a slightly shortened field which Miami quickly cashed in on, but I understood the call and if the Ravens had converted that, they could have bled the clock and potentially won this game. The Ravens will be fine long term, and I remain firmly convinced they will represent the AFC North in the playoffs this season.

BUT… we HAVE to talk about Tua. Wow. THIS is the breakout moment Dolphins fans have been waiting for. 36/50, 469yds, 6TDs (and 2 INTs). The poise in the pocket, the accurate dart throws, the arm strength to air it out and push the ball deep downfield, the evasiveness vs the rush when needed… it was all on show in the 2nd half. After a disappointing first stanza, Tua came out on absolute fire and never let up. It was an absolutely mind-blowing performance that showed he really CAN be the franchise QB Miami thought they were drafting two years ago. This was the statement Tagovailoa needed to make, and he did so… Loudly.

Mike McDaniel must also take a bow. Brought in to rejuvenate the Miami offense, he went and got the most explosive playmaker in the league, a slew of new backfield threats (Raheem Mostert had a nice game, and Chase Edmonds’ one big play was to burst into the red zone with less than 30 seconds to play to set up the game-winning TD), and the Dolphins just two games in to the McDaniel era look like a team transformed. A very fair criticism of McDaniel’s “happy-go-lucky” and effusively positive attitude has been “how does that work when things go wrong?” Well, we’ve discovered that the answer is put your heads down, grind away, never give up, and see where we end up.

Yesterday, that was the perfect storm for Miami. Obviously, having arguably the two fastest receivers in the league on the same offense is causing significant problems for opposing teams. Hill’s 11-190-2TD performance coupled with Waddle’s own 11-171-2TD showing are bananas stat lines individually, before you realise these were accomplished by two teammates in the same GAME. Unreal. Now… next week? The Litmus Test. Buffalo vs Miami. Bills vs Dolphins. I can’t wait. What a game it should be. That said, it’ll be a while before I forget this afternoon in Baltimore. Thank you, Mike McDaniel. I love this team.

Flacco x Wilson Shocks The Dawg Pound

This one, I’m still struggling to believe really happened 8 hours after the game has finished. Would you believe that Nick Chubb scoring his third touchdown of the day with ONE MINUTE AND FIFTY FIVE SECONDS TO GO IN THE FOURTH QUARTER would actually lead directly to the Cleveland Browns losing this game? It was utter insanity.

If Chubb had gone down without scoring (something he HAS done before, as did Todd Gurley famously a few years back), the Browns could have run the clock out, and taken their 24-17 win to the bank. Instead, Cade York misses the extra point, Joe Flacco throws a bomb to Corey Davis (who somehow got behind the Browns secondary), the Jets recover the onside kick, and then Garrett Wilson has his “I have arrived in the NFL” moment, with the game-winning touchdown with just 22 seconds left on the clock. In a shade over a minute and a half of game time, Joe Flacco had become elite again, the Browns had become THOSE Browns again, and the debut of Brownie the Elf was RUINED. Un-f*cking-believable.

OF COURSE, a lot had to happen in order for the Jets to get from that Chubb touchdown to get to the Wilson touchdown, but can you imagine how different the world is if Chubb goes down rather than scoring? This is such a weird and wonderful sport. Personally, I’m always elated to see onside kicks being recovered. I’m not sure how they make this happen, but someone needs to find a way to make the success rate go up nearer to like… 35%? Games would be so much more fun if we could more consistently get extra possessions and chances to steal games like the Jets got today.

And speaking of those Jets, congratulations! What a win for Gang Green. Joe Flacco looked REBORN vs his performance last week against Baltimore… which is weird as this Browns defense is no joke either. Robert Saleh said this week he was “keeping receipts” of all those who have slandered the Jets over the last year and a half. I’ll proudly say I’m part of that group, and probably will be next week again, but I’m happy Saleh got to have a big moment today. He deserves that. Losing Zach Wilson for an extended period of time was really unfair on them after a very exciting off-season. The Jets are moving steadily in the right direction, and this result exemplifies that clearly.

For Cleveland… maybe Juju was right? Maybe the Browns IS the Browns… I mean… this was a shocker. I’m not sure if Kevin Stefanski will have been able to sleep on Sunday evening. What a killer. The Browns obviously did themselves no favours with their acquisition of he-who-shall-not-be-named-in-this-column-until-absolutely-necessary this summer, and it’s crazy how public perception of the franchise has flipped from “lovable underdogs” with Baker a couple of years ago, to “the enemy” now. A silver-lining… Amari Cooper had a really nice first “big game” for Cleveland?! I guess?! But this was a real momentum killer for the Browns. I think if they’re completely honest, the Browns front office would admit they just want to get through the storm of 2022 and hope to compete seriously in 2023 and beyond.

Murray Magic Sees Off The Raiders

Kyler Murray. That’s really all I want to talk about, but doing that would be doing a disservice to how nutty this game was, and to the contributing factors that allowed the Cardinals to steal this game out from under the collective nose of the Las Vegas Raiders. This game would have been the biggest story of the day had the Jets and the Dolphins not done the absolute nonsense that they did in the early window.

Down 23-7 with a little over 8 minutes to play, the Cardinals finally clicked into life and started the third improbable 4th quarter comeback of the day. With James Conner stricken with an ankle knock, Darrel Williams took centre stage in the backfield, and scored the touchdown that led to one of the most remarkable plays I’ve ever seen…

Arizona’s 1st 2pt conversion attempt is the play that you should show someone if you ever want to explain why Kyler Murray is a 1 of 1 talent. Absolutely unbelievable. Kyler took the snap, waited in the pocket, scrambled right, scrambled back left, scrambled BACKWARDS ten yards to evade the rusher, before rolling right again, then noticing that the defense was all at sea, and running from the middle of the field all the way to the left front corner of the endzone to convert. The play lasted TWENTY SECONDS and Murray covered EIGHTY FOUR YARDS to get the two yards needed for the 2 points. Absolutely out of this world. The Raiders couldn’t find the answer they needed to Murray’s mobility and plays like that are why I remain convinced he is a future SuperBowl winning QB.

But he wasn’t done. The Cardinals needed another score and another 2pt conversion in order to force OT. Murray was facing 4th and Goal with just 5 seconds left on the game clock. Murray – again – scrambled, this time for the touchdown, before finding AJ Green with an unreal throw for the 2pt conversion to tie the game. That 2pt conversion was taken from the 7yd line as the Cardinals inexplicably were called for delay of game before the snap. Arizona are a weird team, but Kyler is the X-Factor they knew they were drafting in 2019. He was levels above all the other athletes on the field.

And – give credit to Kliff Kingsbury – who gets A LOT of flack at times, but called some really nice plays down the stretch to get the Cardinals into the redzone, where Murray’s ability to run is the gamebreaker it should be. The Cards actually blew their initial chance to win the game in OT as Marquise Brown couldn’t hold on to a pass from Murray on 4th and 1, which appeared to have given the Raiders an easy path to a game-winning field goal. Enter: Isaiah Simmons and Byron Murphy. Simmons forced fumbles from Hunter Renfrow on back to back plays, the second of which Murphy scooped, and took the distance down the sideline to condemn the Raiders to a 0-2 start, and vault the Cardinals right back on track. Did he DeSean Jackson the ball as he crossed the goal line? Maybe… but not definitively!

The Cardinals completed the miraculous comeback win and will head to Week 3’s clash with the Rams rejuvenated and feeling full of vigour. With Kyler Murray at his best, they could beat anyone in the league.

Thursday Night Throwback

Justin Herbert is tough as nails isn’t he? It’s four days later and I’m still not sure how you can go from “can’t run for two yards” on 3rd down to “nails a thirty plus yard pass into the tightest possible window” on 4th down. Pretty unreal. The Chargers fell just short in their attempt to win at Arrowhead, as the Chiefs had… Gerald Everett’s fatigue(!?) to thank for the game-changing Justin Watson Pick-6 that led them to starting another season 2-0. I felt so sorry for the Chargers, who really SHOULD have won that game. That said, them’s the breaks, right? Charger nation has to be praying with all it’s got that Justin Herbert’s rib cartilage injury isn’t as serious as first feared. The Chargers face the Jags and the Texans up next… I wonder if we lean more on the run game against the supposed underdogs from the AFC South?

On the flip side, Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes remain the Kings of the AFC. Obviously, Mahomes is still a magician – see the side arm TD pass he threw to Jerick McKinnon – and the Chiefs are still the Chiefs, but clearly this is a different team to what we’ve seen in previous seasons. The Chiefs are still the team to beat in the AFC (though if the Bills keep doing what they’re doing that moniker might pass over soon), but we’ll have to see if Mahomes & Reid can continue to win big games without the apparent deep threat that was so present with Tyreek Hill. The Chiefs have the reeling Colts next, before a huge SNF against the Buccaneers in a rematch of SuperBowl LV.

Quick Hits:

I realised after publication last Sunday that the one game I forgot to mention was the Commanders vs the Jaguars. Makes complete sense tbh… But I’m a new man this week SO… let’s talk Jaguars first… What a performance! The Doug Pederson effect is strong. Jacksonville should have won last weekend against Washington, and could have been 2-0 right now! An unbelievable job to get a shutout win in the NFL. Good for them.
WHAT is going on with the Indianapolis Colts!? The Matt Ryan era has started… as the Carson Wentz era ended?! A tie against Houston, and an embarrassment in Jacksonville? So so strange. Admittedly, no elite WRs today didn’t help, but not being able to get Jonathan Taylor going is very weird. Something needs to change quickly, as Indy face… Kansas City next week… yikes. Prayers up for Indy.
TAKE COMMAND! The Commanders are going to be a weird team all year. Carson Wentz is gonna Carson Wentz a lot, so who knows what to expect? I guess they’ll never really be out of a game, but they also won’t win some games they should on account of his weirdness.
BUT this game was deservedly won by the Detroit Football Lions, and especially Amon-Ra St. Brown. The Sun God was unstoppable, as he joined a VERY exclusive list of players who have caught 8 or more passes in 8 straight NFL games (Antonio Brown, Michael Thomas… and that’s it). I’m elated for Dan Campbell, Jared Goff, and that entire squad. Hard Knocks does make you fall in love every year, but I’ve never been happier than I am now to have this year’s Lions as my second team for the 2022 season.
On Sunday Night Football, Aaron Rodgers’ ownership of the city of Chicago continued. The Packers bounced back nicely from their awful week 1 showing with a comfortable win over their biggest enemy. The Aaron Jones show was very enjoyable. He and AJ Dillon will be a huge part of the Pack’s success this year. Feed those two all night long. Highlight of the night? Allen Lazard’s ayahuasca-themed touchdown celebration. Very well done.
Spare a thought for the Bears who went down fighting valiantly. I love what I’m seeing from David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert (who himself would be a starting RB in many other offenses in this league). Even Justin Fields shows some signs of shaking off the stench of “Ohio State-ness” and becoming an actually functional NFL QB. The Bears are building in the right direction under new GM Ryan Poles.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when Bucs vs Saints was 3-3 in the 4th quarter. I guess that’s what happens with Chris Godwin and Alvin Kamara out, and Mike Evans ejected again because Marshon Lattimore is the greatest mind-games player against a specific individual I’ve ever seen. The Bucs managed to squeak out a victory against an under-par Jameis Winston… they’ve been far from convincing so far.
The Panthers vs Giants game was not the offensive back and forth I thought it might be. Both defenses here appear to be better than anticipated, and Baker Mayfield has clearly not yet found full rhythm in Carolina, though it was positive that DJ Moore found the endzone. I appreciate wanting to keep him on the field and… alive… but I wonder how much longer Matt Rhule can afford to NOT throw the ball to Christian McCaffrey 10+ times a game… tick tock…
Commiserations to the 49ers on the confirmation that they won’t be winning anything this year, thanks to the news that Jimmy Garoppolo will once again be their starting QB from here on out. Tough one for Trey Lance – obviously we wish him a speedy recovery – but we know what Jimmy G is; just good enough to make sure you won’t have a top-12 draft pick, and not good enough to win you a championship. Sorry Niners fans, maybe next year?
What do we think about the Denver Broncos…?! Sure, they got a bounce back win after the embarrassing loss in Seattle on Monday, but… do we really trust what we’re seeing? Russ doesn’t look comfortable yet. This team is gonna need to be carried by its young and talented defense until the offense figures out what they’re trying to do.
The Texans are scrappy as hell and I love it. Lovie Smith’s guys won’t win a lot of games this year, but they might just be in almost all of them. Dameon Pierce showed a bit more of that RB1 potential we’ve all been touting during Fantasy Draft Szn. Hopefully that continues, and Brandin Cooks sees more targets. Feed the man, Davis Mills!
Patriots vs Steelers was a battle of two teams who don’t appear to have an identity they truly believe in… and that all stems from the fact that neither Quarterback is particularly trustworthy right now. Damien Harris looked good running the ball for the Pats, and Najee Harris clearly wasn’t himself for the Steelers. Both teams are in transition. They’re both well coached enough to hang tough in some games, but not talented enough to win enough to be relevant for the postseason.
The Falcons VERY NEARLY got real frisky against the Rams. Down 28-3 at one point (ever seen that score before?!), Atlanta refused to fold and battled back to eventually succumb 31-27 to the LA Rams. The Rams underwhelming start to the season continued as they tried REALLY hard to throw this game away. I’m sure Sean McVay’s guys will figure it out, but this is a game the Rams should have been winning cleanly by two TDs. The Rams won’t be given this much lee-way by Arizona next week.
Also, Shoutout Drake London. That’s a breakout game. Welcome to the League. Sidenote… Do the Falcons… know that Kyle Pitts is on their team?!
Cooper Rush!!! Did you hear the exhalation of relief in Dallas? Jerry’s barely stopped hyperventilating. What a win for the Cowboys. Sure, it was NOT pretty, but it got the job done. As 7.5pt underdogs, Dallas fought and scratched and clawed their way to a very important win. Dallas’ next 5: Giants, Commanders, Rams, Eagles, Lions. If Rush can go 2-3 at worst, the Cowboys will still be afloat when Dak gets back. Also, Tony Pollard needs to be a starting running back in the NFL next season, whether in Dallas or somewhere else. He’s just so explosive in space.
Aaaaaaand now we get to the Bengals. Can you spell S-U-P-E-R-B-O-W-L-H-A-N-G-O-V-E-R? Weird. This roster is definitely stronger and deeper than last year, but they’ve started incredibly sluggishly. I trust Joe Burrow to figure this out (and pretty quickly) but this has to be an alarming start for Cincinnati fans.

MNF Prediction: (Season Record: 0-1)

Start as you mean to go on, aye!? I mean, honestly, how could I know Geno Smith has been in the lab over the summer and is now performing like prime Eli Manning? Seattle was not going to let Russ come back to Washington and walk out with a win. My bad for not seeing that. We go again… let’s get on a run now…

And what better way to do that than with a MNF double header!? Well – and this is a big complaint of mine – it’s not a true doubleheader, because for some unknown reason the games overlap…!? What are we doing? Give me six hours, back-to-back games, uninterrupted NFL football! Otherwise WHY are we having two games on Monday!?

Anyway, in the “slightly earlier” game, Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills return home to host Derrick Henry’s Tennessee Titans. The Bills were unbelievable in the kickoff game against the Rams last week, and I expect them to perform at that level fairly consistently throughout this season. On the other side, the Titans blew a big lead against the lowly Giants, and King Henry didn’t really get rolling in the ground game.

I don’t expect Mike Vrabel’s guys to be as pedestrian this week. Ryan Tannehill needs to get both Robert Woods and Treylon Burks much more involved, hopefully off play action following successful Henry runs. Tennessee even beat Buffalo last season, so there’s a formula to follow, but this Bills team is at a higher calibre now, with the huge addition of Von Miller already paying dividends. This shouldn’t be a blowout, but it will be a Buffalo Bills victory.

In the “slightly later” game, we get a battle of two highly touted teams for this season, as Jalen Hurts and the Eagles host Kirk Cousins and the Vikings. The storyline between these two franchises revolves largely around the 2020 draft, where the Eagles bafflingly selected WR Jalen Reagor one pick before the Vikings took WR Justin Jefferson. Jefferson is now a top-5 WR in the league and a certified star… Reagor now plays for the Vikings. What a world.

Reagor really really didn’t work out in Philly… which means he’ll almost certainly catch a long touchdown on Monday night. It’s the sort of thing that’s just “meant to be.” Anyway, as far as the matchup goes… I like the Eagles. Hurts and that rushing attack can do damage, just like the Packers did when they were able to run last Sunday, but they were behind so much they almost had to abandon it. Also, remember: Kirk Cousins can’t win in PrimeTime. Sorry, I’m not sorry. Cousins’ 2-9 record on Monday Night Football is literally the worst record in NFL history (minimum 10 games). This should be simple. Eagles to win.

Week 3 Preview

Okay… the Week 3 slate is a weird one, as all 3 PrimeTime games have the potential to be absolute stinkers. We start on TNF with Browns vs Steelers, get 49ers vs Broncos on SNF, and Cowboys vs Giants on MNF… errrrrrrrrm.

Well, I guess it’s fortunate that the Sunday early window is headlined by the AFC East showdown between the Buffalo Bills and… ahem… the 2-0 Miami Dolphins. Plus, the late window gives us Brady vs Rodgers V. Buccaneers vs Packers could be an NFC Championship Game preview, so will definitely be the game I’m most interested in next Sunday afternoon. Spare a thought also for Rams vs Cardinals which could be a pivotal game in the NFC West race.

As always, thanks for spending a little of your week reading my thoughts. I’m @CallumJDSquires on Twitter and Instagram. Come say hey, and watch out for my #FraudWatch Week 2 Rankings hitting Twitter on Tuesday… Have a great week everyone.

CALLUM IS FROM LONDON, BUT PLAYED COLLEGE SOCCER AT TRINITY UNIVERSITY IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, WHERE HE LEARNED NEVER TO CHEER FOR THE COWBOYS. CALLUM IS A LONG-SUFFERING DOLPHINS FAN WHO BELIEVES THE TUA HYPE. NOW BACK STATESIDE, HIT HIM UP ON TWITTER @CALLUMJDSQUIRES!

 5/5