April 26, 2024

NFL Wrap-up Week #2: NY Jets and Other Teams Brought Down to Earth

Upon Further Review: New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos, Tim Tebow

Well, that didn't last long! Not saying that the New York Jets acted and celebrated like they won their second Super Bowl in team history but after a pre-season that saw them score 1 offensive touchdown they were absolutely giddy slamming the Buffalo Bills in their home opener. They were brought back to reality quickly when they traveled to Pittsburgh to face a Steelers team that had a chip on their shoulders for a couple of reasons: First, they lost to a quarterback (Peyton Manning) who hadn't played a down in the previous year. Second, the last time they stepped on Heinz Field, they saw Tim Tebow throw the game-winning touchdown in overtime to end their season.

From the start, it appeared the Jets picked up right where they left off in their demolishing of the Bills. They spotted the Steelers a 3-0 lead then saw QB Mark Sanchez march them down 80 yards for a 7-3 lead. Pittsburgh responded with another field goal and from that point on, it was all downhill for Gang Green.

The offense that moved so fluidly on their first possession (Mark Sanchez completed 4 of 5 passes for 80 yards and 1 touchdown) sputtered the rest of the game. Defensively, they could not come up with the big stops when they needed them. Pittsburgh was 8 of 15 on third down conversions. Of the eight completions, the Steelers had to go at least eight yards.

Now for the second time in this early season, the Jets have to face another division rival in the Miami Dolphins, this time on the road. The Fish are coming off an impressive win over the Raiders. The Jets are shaking their heads trying to figure out how they could look so good against the Bills and so bad against the Steelers. Another shaky Sanchez performance and you know the name that the fans will be screaming for...

Lost in the second half offensive explosion when the Giants came back in their game against Tampa Bay was the performance by backup running back Andre Brown. He was forced into action after starter Ahmad Bradshaw left the game in the second quarter with a neck injury. Brown finished with 71 yards on 13 carries and 1 touchdown. When the Giants faced Carolina Thursday night, they did so without Bradshaw, David Diehl, Dominic Hixon, and Hakeem Nicks...

Of all the teams to start 2-0, none is more surprising than the Arizona Cardinals. They went into New England to face a Patriots team that had not lost a home opener since 2002. The Cardinals did give the Pats a chance to steal a win after Arizona running back Vince Wilfolk fumbled with 1:01 left in the game. Two Patriots penalties, the first a 30-yard Danny Woodhead touchdown run called back as tight end Ron Gronkowski was caught holding and the second, Gronkowski is called for a false start, moved the ball back to the Cardinals 24-yard line. The normally reliable field goal kicker Stephen Gostkowski pushed the attempt wide left. The number of fans who got bumped from their suicide pool is still being counted...

Houston, San Diego, Philadelphia (both of the Eagles wins were by 1 point), Atlanta and San Francisco are the other undefeated teams heading into week 3...Dallas, Washington, Baltimore, Denver, Chicago, Detroit, and Minnesota were brought back to reality in their week 2 losses...New Orleans is one of six teams that are 0-2 after losing to Carolina. The other five, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Oakland are just plain bad...Finally, not much was made after week 1 about the job the replacement refs did. It was quite different after week 2 when the mistakes were glaring. From shaky pass interference calls, non-holding calls to simply failing to spot the ball correctly on the yard line, it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better. Still, the powers that be, namely Commissioner Roger Goodell is intent on squeezing the referee's union. You have the best players on the planet being officiated by division 3 refs. One ref was removed prior to the Saints/Panthers game as he posted pictures of himself wearing Saints gear and claiming his allegiance to the team. The NFL, claiming they are doing everything they can to protect the players, are putting them at severe risk with 3rd tier referees.

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