| More huge ratings for the NFL – this time on FOX. Dan Shanoff of The Athletic: The Week 2 Super Bowl LIX rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles on Fox during Sunday’s late-afternoon window earned a staggering audience total of 33.8 million viewers, per Nielsen. The audience total matches the best regular-season Sunday since the league started tracking TV ratings nearly 40 years ago, in 1988. A November 2007 game between the Patriots and Colts on CBS also had 33.8 million viewers. Fox has never had a Sunday regular-season game with this many viewers. The only games ahead of those two on the NFL regular-season Top 10 are eight Thanksgiving games and a Monday Night Football game in 1990. Sunday’s game smashed the NFL’s viewership for a single game in September — a 1993 Monday Night Football game between Dallas and Washington. The highest-ever Week 2 game was last year’s Chiefs-Bengals game, which drew nearly 28 million viewers. Heading into Sunday, media industry sources told The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch they were projecting around 30 million viewers. Multiple factors contributed: • The quality of the matchup: Two wildly popular teams who last met in the Super Bowl, generating a record 127.7 million viewers across Fox, Fox Deportes, Telemundo, Tubi and the NFL’s digital platforms. • Lack of competition: No other games were scheduled on Fox, and CBS was offering two games featuring teams outside of the Top 10 media markets (Denver-Indianapolis and Arizona-Carolina). • Nielsen measurement modifications: Nielsen’s adjustment to its methodology (known as “Big Data + Panel”) more accurately captures viewership on digital platforms, creating an uptick (if not surge) of improved live-sports ratings across a wide swath of televised sports. (Sports Media Watch’s Jon Lewis has a great explainer.) The record-setting ratings this season may not be finished. Thanksgiving’s Chiefs-Cowboys game in Dallas at 4:30 p.m. ET has the potential to be the most-watched NFL game since the league started tracking, with the mark to beat 42.1 million, set in 2022 on Thanksgiving in a game between the Giants and Cowboys. Imagine how the rating might have sustained if it had been a really good game… |
| NFC EAST |
| DALLASIs one game reason to panic about the Dallas defense? Frank Schwab ofYahooSports.com: Cowboys defense cratersThe Cowboys weren’t that bad on defense in Week 1, even in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. They were bad against the New York Giants in Week 2. Through two weeks both of their starting cornerbacks, Trevon Diggs and Kaiir Elam, are among the top 15 in receiving yards allowed this season according to PFF. That will happen after giving up 450 yards to Russell Wilson. Of course, not having Micah Parsons doesn’t help. The Cowboys have just four sacks in two games, and only eight teams have less than that. The Cowboys shouldn’t be this bad on defense all season, but we’ll find out if they make Caleb Williams and the Bears look good on Sunday. Panic meter: Still early, but it might get ugly |
| WASHINGTONThe Commanders will be once again fighting for old DC in 2030 – not Landover, Maryland. Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com: The Commanders officially are returning to D.C. After a marathon meeting, the D.C. City Council approved the $3.7 billion project to redevelop the RFK Stadium site, 11-2, according to multiple reports. The vote authorizes the use of $1.1 billion in taxpayer money to bring the team back to the city. “Today is a historic day for D.C., the Commanders organization and our fans,” owner Josh Harris said in a statement. “With the council’s approval, we can now move forward on the transformative RFK project that will bring lasting economic growth for our city. This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication and collaboration between Mayor Bowser, Chairman Mendelson, the council and the countless community, business and labor leaders whose voices and input helped shape the process every step of the way. “We are deeply grateful for the warm return to the District, and the center of the DMV, and look forward to officially bringing the team back to its spiritual home in 2030.” Groundbreaking is expected to begin next year on a 65,000-seat covered stadium with a targeted completion date of 2030. The deal appeared in doubt Wednesday morning when Commanders President Mark Clouse sent a letter to council members expressing frustration at “last-minute demands.” “Less than 24 hours before the final vote, the Commanders organization was presented with a list of unworkable and impractical last-minute demands by Councilmembers, which we simply cannot agree to as it jeopardizes the deal,” the letter reads. “Given our deep engagement with the council over many months and our proven willingness to address any Councilmember feedback, this is unexpected and unfortunate.” It all worked out Wednesday evening, though. The team relocated to Landover, Maryland, in 1997, and the current lease is set to expire in 2027. The new stadium will occupy 11 percent of the 180-acre site. The Commanders will be responsible for developing land around the stadium to attract restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues.– – -Conor Orr of SI.com with a look at QB JAYDEN DANIELS and his agent/mother: Jayden, now 24, was—and still very much is—a homebody. This is further evidenced by the fact that, outside of the upsizing of his bed, his childhood bedroom in San Bernardino, Calif., remains largely untouched. Laying around are letters of interest from colleges all over the country. Old cleats that don’t fit anymore. Ribbons from track and field meets. Conference awards from his days at LSU. The plain piece of paper hanging over the doorframe on which Daniels wrote—and rewrote—about his intention to play in the NFL. A lucent 2024 validated that ambition. Daniels followed a Heisman Trophy win as LSU’s quarterback in December 2023 by gifting the Washington football franchise its best season since the Gulf War (Daniels was born nine years after the Commanders last posted more than 10 wins in a season). He starred in what was arguably the signature moment of the season—a Week 8 Hail Mary against the Bears that, even by Hail Mary standards, took on a deeply religious meaning with the way it sent tens of thousands of people into delirious rapture and put his club on a path toward the playoffs. His next act was quarterbacking a 45–31 divisional-round win over the Lions in one of the biggest postseason upsets of the last decade. He won the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award. He finished seventh in MVP voting, just behind Patrick Mahomes. He made the Pro Bowl. And perhaps the biggest headline for someone who prefers being at home: He boarded a flight to Paris this offseason and toured France for a few days, meeting up with the football club Paris Saint-Germain. “That was my first time out of the country,” he says in August, just a few minutes before driving into the Commanders’ practice facility for some off-day work. “Long flight from California all the way to Paris.” While he has remained remarkably in the moment, he has clearly had time to consider how he wants his life to go from here. Calling it a star rise is a bit of a misnomer because the creation of an actual star is bound by science. We can quantify and understand what leads to the final radiant burst of energy. But in the NFL, the entire star-making enterprise can feel like riding alongside a New York City delivery cyclist weaving through the streets of the Upper West Side. There is a moment each year when a player seems to become less himself and more a product of the NFL’s all-possessing, all-encompassing algorithm of content. That moment does not always feel conscious or even consented to. At the very least, it can be disorienting. When asked about his own concept of personal power heading into his second NFL season, though, Daniels’s response is both incredibly thoughtful and ambitious. “I would just say the concept of power is more so just being able to control your own narrative,” he says. “And really do what you want to do and tell your story.” This is another reason why the story of Jayden as a young kid and the comfort he felt at home is important because, in his quest to do the NFL his own way—in maybe the greatest flex of his personal power—he made the decision to have his mother become an instrumental part of the process. Regina is not just his mom, after all, but an NFLPA-certified agent who co-represents Daniels with Ron Butler of Agency 1 Sports. She is also the cofounder of a collective called Athletes In Control, which, she says, has 10 current clients who have sought guidance in the nebulous world of NIL and the spillover into professional football. She was also on the trip to Paris. It makes sense that the person Daniels has helping protect his narrative is the one who understands him better than anyone else. Jackson is by far the highest-profile example of a parent taking on an official, licensed role in their child’s business and on-field interests in NFL history. (Felicia Jones, the mother of Lamar Jackson, is famously the Ravens quarterback’s most trusted consigliere but is not an NFLPA-certified agent, which prevents her from having active contact with an NFL team.) If this all goes the way the family is expecting, she will not be the last. “This is a life that chose us …” Regina is talking about how the family arrived here. The past year has been both surprising and unsurprising. When anyone tries to challenge an orthodoxy there is pushback, even if those people feel they did not really have a choice. This would seem, in the NFL, to be especially true for a woman and a mother trying to cross the cement barrier into a negotiation room that may one day contain the best football player in the world. Jackson has made candid appearances on podcasts and docuseries, with most of what she’s said being subject to the typical internet shredder, such as her thoughts on why she feels protective over Jayden in his dating life. However, she has always been backed by the endorsement of her son, who once told the Boardroom podcast that “nothing gets past my mama. She reads people, she doesn’t want to put people around me that she doesn’t feel will benefit me.” Says Daniels, “My mom is an agent. I have an agent, Ron Butler, but my mom is a big part of the team. She was going to be a big part regardless, because that’s my mom and my family in general.” His father, Javon Daniels, who played football at Washington and Iowa State, has also been instrumental in shaping his burgeoning career. And Jayden also talks about his reverence for his grandparents. “The people close to me, they know who I am, they know how I operate,” he says. “So why not have somebody [around] that has known me for 24 years of my life and knows what I can do and just have honest conversations with [them]? And then obviously their opinions matter a lot.” Jackson has opinions, too. But she wants to make one thing clear, especially after being so visible in Jayden’s journey through the perilous world of NIL and now his NFL career. “I don’t want the spotlight,” she says. “I hate it, to be honest with you. But I know that’s what comes with it. And there is some good that I can share there to get my story out, because I do want to influence women—and not just women, but mothers and fathers that maybe thought they could do it or maybe don’t want to. But we have to still be those instillers of life lessons in these kids. “There’s a lot of things that have happened in this world that we’re so taken aback by. How did this happen? Why is this happening? … I think we need to be that pillar [by] asking our kids more stuff. We’re in a generation [where] these kids don’t speak, they don’t talk. So we have to be those parents to say, Are you good? And then we can’t just say, O.K, they’re good. We have to be like, No, let’s talk this through. What’s going on?” Regina has an undergraduate degree in business administration and two master’s, one in public health administration and the other with a focus on entrepreneurship—a path she started on when Jayden was very young. She says she would take 20 units per quarter out of a desire to “level up” for her kids, while still taking them out for Dippin’ Dots after track practice. She served as the treasurer and president of Jayden’s Pop Warner team. She found her background useful when, all of a sudden, she started working on a marketing agreement with a car dealership for Jayden when he was in college at Arizona State. (Daniels spent three seasons there before transferring to LSU.) Then came setting up Jayden’s LLC. Making sure his entity structures were correct. Aligning his bank accounts. From there, it felt like a matter of personal responsibility to further her education when the lawlessness of payment for college athletes kept everyone up at night. Lately, her time has been spent collaborating on the Jayden Daniels Foundation, which orchestrated a back-to-school giveaway in San Bernardino in July. But in a larger sense, Jackson is essential in Daniels’s orbit because she can understand him in a way others cannot, knowing when to push him toward certain opportunities even if he may not feel like it in the moment. “She can pick up on little things. There’s times where I might have to kick people out and just have a conversation with her,” Daniels says. “Like, Hey, let’s try to wrap this thing up as fast as possible. I’m tired. For sure, there’s times where we kind of butt heads if she has to ask me to do some stuff that I don’t want to do. She always has my best interests at heart.” It’s a choice that—because of NIL—is now present in the lives of parents who fear becoming the victim of a predatory scheme. Faux agents posing as players without their permission. Getting charged 20% on deals. Finding themselves, like the family of quarterback Nico Iamaleava, losing the most high-profile game of contractual chicken in the NIL era after painfully misunderstanding his market. (Now at UCLA, Iamaleava tried to rework his NIL deal at Tennessee, which cost him his starting job with the Vols.) All of it represents a kind of simultaneous pull to take charge and protect the kid, and push away, fearing that getting involved amounts to some sort of malpractice. Back in 2022, Regina told Jayden, “One day I’m going to represent you.” In September 2024, she was officially notified that she passed the NFLPA agent certification exam. Jackson says she now gets compared to the character Tasha Mack from The Game, a TV show about a mother of a superstar quarterback who starts her own management firm. The development has Daniels in a position where the hermit in him—the one who would like control over his narrative and keep everything in neat little buckets—gets challenged a bit. His ultimate preference would be that every football-adjacent conversation remain strictly about football (“I like to really just be low-key and stay out the way and keep people guessing of my next move,” he says). He generally dislikes talking about his personal life, which includes discussions about his mom. “As I grew up, more people became more accustomed to knowing who my family was, my mom and my dad and stuff like that—they’re very curious,” Jayden says. “And obviously now my mom’s a certified agent, so they want to ask me these questions, and I try to not really talk about her that much because at the end of the day, she’s my mom. “I wanted to keep that private and make sure she’s always straight with people trying to come after me and wanting to see me fail or see me succeed, and they might go after her. So I don’t really try to talk about her that much.” His instinct to protect is more obvious behind the scenes, Regina says, leading to a strange parenthood moment as he has begun repeating aphorisms to her that she once used to soothe and motivate him. If there is some unnecessary criticism, an inappropriate comment on social media or some invasive moment, he steps in. “I have to tell Jayden that you can’t fight all your mom’s battles because your voice is very powerful,” she says. “We have to be able to pick and choose when we use that voice.” The refrain? “Mom, we don’t fold. We don’t back down.” – – –In this way, Williams, Jackson and Daniels sound particularly aligned. By taking on an active role, according to both mothers, their children have the ability to be more of their authentic selves—exactly what Jayden himself hopes for in the coming months and years of his career. It’s less about control, the way they explain it, and more about filtering out the invasive, the toothiness of the business side that would bring them back to their childhood home as anything but the person who left. And that is something that tends to make parents in this position more relentless. “[Coaches and GMs] look at us as just a mom,” says Williams, “but they don’t realize that we are the ones that they should be worried about.” Jayden says that Regina still calls him every day if he doesn’t check in first. She gives him space—Jayden says they do not see each other much during the offseason—but there will still be times when he slips off into a nap and wakes up to five notifications. “I’ll always call back,” he says. |
| NFC SOUTH |
| TAMPA BAYThe Buccaneers are dealing with injuries. DT CALIJAH KANCEY has gone on IR, and now G CODY MAUCH is done for the year. Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com: Buccaneers starting right guard Cody Mauch played every offensive snap against the Texans on Monday night. He played at least some of those snaps with a knee injury that will end his season. Mauch underwent medical testing this week, and it revealed his knee injury will require surgery, Greg Auman of Fox Sports reports. It is unclear exactly what the injury is. Mauch had never missed a start since arriving to Tampa in the 2023 draft, and he had played all but nine snaps in 36 games. But he is expected to miss the final 15 games of this season. The Bucs, who are down three starters in their offensive line, are signing center/guard Dan Feeney off the Bills’ practice squad on Thursday, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Times reports. In eight seasons, Feeney has started 65 of 120 games played but only three the past three seasons. The Bucs have not had left tackle Tristan Wirfs yet this season as he works his way back from July knee surgery. Luke Goedeke started Monday despite a foot injury, but he didn’t last long after aggravating his injury.– – -Earlier this week a radio personality in Cleveland, one Aaron Goldhammer, tried to spin QB BAKER MAYFIELD’s departure from the Browns as a good thing – the evidence of the won-loss record notwithstanding. @ESPNCleveland@HammerNation19 is over the revisionist history with the Browns/Baker story. “He had a lot of growing up to do, he totally split and turned off the locker room, he played terrible, and the Browns didn’t want to give him a big contract.” We don’t know about the growing up and the big contract. But we think most of Cleveland’s locker room disfunction at the time can be traced more to WR ODELL BECKHAM, Jr. than Mayfield. Former TE Austin Hooper backed up the DB’s contention this week as reported by Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com: It’s been a little while since quarterback Baker Mayfield and tight end Austin Hooper were teammates. But Hooper still has positive feelings about the QB who threw him passes in Cleveland. The Browns elected to release Hooper last March after a pair of seasons with the team. That happened around the same time as the club elected to move on from Mayfield as its quarterback in favor of Deshaun Watson — though Mayfield technically remained on the roster for a few more months until the Browns traded him to the Panthers. In an interview with Jim Rome last week, Hooper said Mayfield didn’t have issues with his teammates in Cleveland and he’s glad the quarterback has found more opportunities to excel. “Everything that came out about him, it was nothing from guys on the team. It was just once decisions were made, certain people within the building had to justify their decisions — that’s all I’m going to say about that piece,” Hooper said. “But he’s never had any issues with anyone in the locker room. He’s a great teammate, good dude, always checks in on everyone. And, you’ve seen him, he gets his opportunities, especially with the Rams coming in on short notice and getting his opportunity, going and succeeding. “So, I was just super happy for him. He’s the type of dude that can hop in and assimilate with any locker room. Fun spirit, works hard. Yeah, he’ll chirp a little bit but that’s a part of it and that’s why guys love him — because he’s not a robot. He’s a real person. And a lot of…at least the vast majority of the teammates I played with really appreciated that about him. Because I feel like, in my opinion, most quarterbacks kind of have this malaise to them. And Baker exudes life and brings energy into every room at least I was in with him. I really appreciate that about him, just the way he goes about his business. And I’m wishing him the best. Good dude.” Hooper, who signed with the Raiders last month, caught 84 passes for 780 yards with seven touchdowns from 2020-2021 while playing with Mayfield on the Browns. He spent last year with the Titans. After playing with the Panthers and Rams in 2022, Mayfield signed a one-year deal with the Buccaneers in March. As for “playing terrible” – Mayfield played almost all of 2021 with a completely torn left labrum and a bulky shoulder harness. The DB has spoken to students of the throwing – and they all agree that it may be the “non-throwing” shoulder, but a labrum injury there can still hinder accuracy. This from ProFootballTalk.com back in 2022: For teams assessing whether to pursue quarterback Baker Mayfield, the challenge becomes understanding the differences between two good seasons (2018 and 2020) and two bad ones (2019 and 2021). It’s a little easier to understand why things went poorly for Mayfield in 2021. His left shoulder was messed up, badly. Yes, it was his own fault for trying to make a tackle after throwing a Week Two interception against the Texans. It happened in the first half of a September game. Definitely not the occasion to throw caution to the wind by hurling his body into the fray. The shoulder injury plagued him for the rest of the year, and it clearly affected his performance. Consider this quote from his recent appearance on the Ya Neva Know podcast: “So I tore my labrum completely, like full front and like basically 90 percent in the back. That was Week Two. I did that in the first half. Played the rest of the game, I was fine. . . . Four weeks later, we were playing the Cardinals, and I dislocated my shoulder again. But I dislocated it so bad and at a different angle that the bone, like the humerus that goes up into your shoulder socket, like the big bone right here [that] comes up into your ball and socket and it forced its way out. And I fractured the bone because it wasn’t gonna be a clean exit. So I fractured the bone. So when I had the labrum done and that fracture, the inflammation and everything, I had no function in my left shoulder. And we were going into a Thursday game that week. Monday, I couldn’t lift my arm. When I couldn’t raise my arm, I was like, ‘I can’t do this.’” To his credit, Mayfield spent much of the 2021 season downplaying the injury. Indeed, even when he knew he wouldn’t be able to play in a Thursday night game against the Broncos, he kept speaking as if he could and would. On the same Monday that he decided he “can’t do this,” he said that the arm “feels like shit” but that he believes he’ll be able to play through it. The next day, he said he expects to play in the Thursday night game. His quotes created the clear impression that he believed he could play with the injury — and that he regarded it as his call and his call alone. “I have to make that decision,” Mayfield said at the time. “Only I know how my body feels. If anyone questions whether I am hindering the team and going out there injured, that is just not right. It is my decision. I get to say whether I am able to play or not, and that is just how it is.” We now know that, before he said that, he already had decided, “I can’t do this.” The only way to reconcile his past words with his present words is that, in the moment, players like Mayfield are wired to play. It’s an admirable trait. And he played as much as he could. That quality — the determination and the toughness and the refusal to make excuses — needs to be weighed by any team that is wondering whether it wants to roll the dice with Mayfield. While there clearly are some drawbacks (otherwise, Cleveland wouldn’t have decided to move on from him), there definitely are some positives. |
| NFC WEST |
| ARIZONAWR MARVIN HARRISON, Jr. has not had an extensive workload so far. Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com: One of the talking points of the Cardinals offseason was wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.’s physical transformation, but he hasn’t had many opportunities to show it off in the passing game through two weeks of play. Harrison has been targeted 11 times in Arizona’s two wins, which ranks him behind 62 other players in the league. Stats can be a bit deceptive — Harrison has drawn two pass interference penalties that don’t go into that total — but that’s not where you’d expect the fourth overall pick of the 2024 draft to be in his second season. Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said earlier this week that Harrison “needs his touches,” but Harrison said on Wednesday that he thinks the team’s 2-0 record is what matters the most. “That’s a silly conversation really,” Harrison said, via Tyler Drake of ArizonaSports.com. “We’re 2-0. That’s the most important thing. We’ve got a big game this week, so that’s really my only focus. Anybody that’s a competitor loves the game, loves what they do. Everybody wants the ball. They want to impact the game. But most importantly, it’s all about winning.” The Cardinals have led for most of the first two weeks, which impacts how often they’re putting the ball in the air to any player. This Sunday’s road game against the 49ers could play out differently and that might be a chance for Harrison’s volume to increase as well. He has 7 catches for 98 yards. It’s a bit early to do the “on pace for”, but at that rate he is on track for 60 catches for 833 yards. Let’s say he went for 6-100 this week. Then he would be on pace for 74-1,122. So one good game would get him to wear some would say he should be. |
| SAN FRANCISCOIt seems that QB BROCK PURDY is more likely to start Sunday than not. Matt Barrows of The Athletic: Brock Purdy’s toe injury has improved to the point that he participated in Wednesday’s practice. Coach Kyle Shanahan said roughly an hour before the session was scheduled to begin that Purdy would take part on a limited basis. That suggests Purdy, who sat out the San Francisco 49ers’ Week 2 win over the New Orleans Saints, could at least serve as a backup Sunday against the 2-0 Arizona Cardinals. Or he could start the game. The injury, which Shanahan previously described as similar to turf toe, improved over the last week. Shanahan said the team would gauge Purdy’s progress and base Sunday’s role on how he reacts. “There’s a chance,” Shanahan said of Purdy playing against the Cardinals. He said the same thing a week ago, though Purdy didn’t practice last week. If the 49ers hold Purdy out another week, Mac Jones will make his second consecutive start. He started slowly in New Orleans — 0-for-4 on his first passing attempts — but found his groove in hitting tight end Luke Farrell, tailback Christian McCaffrey and receiver Jauan Jennings for touchdowns in the 26-21 win over the Saints. Jones completed 67 percent of his passes for 279 yards. Purdy could serve as an emergency backup if he’s not quite ready to play a full game. Practice squad quarterback Adrian Martinez, who served as Jones’ backup in New Orleans, also remains a backup option. Former New York Jets quarterback Mike White, who worked out for the 49ers last week, has since been signed to the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad. |
| AFC WEST |
| KANSAS CITYCount Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com among those who don’t see the Chiefs falling apart: Somebody asked me the other day if the Kansas City Chiefs’ dynasty is over. Yeah, right. The 0-2 start is cause for concern, but the Chiefs will find their way out of the hole. It’s not like they didn’t just go toe-to-toe with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, a game they might have won if Travis Kelce actually caught the football for what should have been a touchdown and a 17-13 lead in the fourth quarter. As it turned out, the Eagles intercepted the Kelce drop and turned it into a touchdown that led to a 20-17 victory that has the Chiefs 0-2 for the first time since 2014. It’s also the first time Patrick Mahomes has lost three straight games since his college days at Texas Tech. So, the cause for concern is understandable. But let’s look at it deeper. The Chiefs lost a close one to the Chargers in Brazil and then did little on offense against the Eagles and still were in it in the fourth quarter. 0-2 isn’t as bad as it looks. What is bad is the lack of playmakers they have on the offense for Mahomes. They don’t scare anybody. But there might be good news this week. Speedy receiver Xavier Worthy could be back against the New York Giants, and Rashee Rice will be back in four weeks. The Chiefs have to hold on until then. That will put more pressure on the defense to play like it did Sunday and for Mahomes and Kelce and whoever else is on the field to do enough to score more points. Kansas City started at No. 4 in my Power Rankings this season, but now has fallen out of the top 10. The Eagles remain in the top spot. I think the Chiefs will find a way to turn it around. With Andy Reid as head coach and Mahomes at quarterback, doesn’t it seem like they always do? The dynasty isn’t dead. It’s just in the ER for a bit, but my opinion is that they will be back to health in a big way come mid-October. |
| AFC SOUTH |
| HOUSTONFrank Schwab of YahooSports.com says the Texans are not supporting QB C.J. STROUD: The Houston Texans had a curious offseason plan to build around their young franchise quarterback, C.J. Stroud. The Texans didn’t like their offensive line last season, and they shouldn’t have. It might have been the worst line in the NFL. So they made changes, including trading their best lineman, left tackle Laremy Tunsil. It’s fine to dismantle a bad line, but they didn’t do a ton to fix it. Their plan was to pick up players who struggled elsewhere and use a mid second-round pick on tackle Aireontae Ersery. The Texans also lost two of their three receivers from last season. Tank Dell suffered an awful knee injury that will keep him out for all or most of the season, and Stefon Diggs left in free agency. They did use an early second-round pick on Jayden Higgins and a third-round pick on Jaylin Noel, but it’s tough to depend on rookies, especially those picked outside of the first round. The Texans did get Christian Kirk from the Jacksonville Jaguars for a 2026 seventh-round pick, but there’s a reason he was available at that price. Kirk hasn’t played yet due to injury. Their receiving corps as a whole unsurprisingly looks subpar. When a team gets a good quarterback on a rookie contract, normally that team pours resources into building around that quarterback. The Texans have done some things, but watching them to start this season, it’s clearly not enough. Houston’s offense looks broken. The Texans have scored two touchdowns on 18 possessions, not including a kneeldown, and one of the touchdowns came on a short drive after a long punt return. Generally, a quarterback playing poorly in that stretch would deserve some criticism, but Stroud really doesn’t deserve it. For the second straight season, Stroud isn’t getting much help. The line is bad again; by Pro Football Focus’ rankings it’s the worst in the NFL. No receiver, including Stroud’s lone ally Nico Collins, has more than 77 yards this season. Nick Chubb hasn’t been bad but the Texans have just 139 rushing yards not counting Stroud’s scrambles. There’s a reason Houston is 0-2, and it’s not its defense. Or its quarterback either. The offensive line, running game and receiving corps are all well below average. That’s not good. Stroud hasn’t replicated his rookie season, when he was excellent, but that seems to be an organizational issue. The Texans were given a gift with Stroud in the draft, and they’re screwing it up. Quarterbacks get too much credit or blame for their team’s record. Don’t make that mistake with Stroud. Other than Collins, Stroud simply doesn’t have enough help. Panic meter: Extremely high, in the short and long term |
| THIS AND THAT |
| RANKING THE 0-2 TEAMSFrom Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com, an opus on being 0-2 (the 10 teams are ranked from Chiefs to Browns). As always with Barnwell, we have to edit: Did you know the NFL playoffs actually start in September? Though they’ll be playing out the rest of the 2025 season regardless of what happens in Week 3, 10 teams are essentially playing to keep their hopes of advancing to the real postseason and winning Super Bowl LX alive this weekend. History tells us that starting 0-2 is a damper on your chances of making it to the playoffs, but beginning the season 0-3 is closer to a death knell. Since 2002 — if we treat the seventh-best team in each conference as a playoff qualifier before the NFL moved to the 14-team postseason format in 2020 — 13.3% of teams that started 0-2 overcame their slow starts and made the postseason. Three squads — the Broncos, Rams and Ravens — did so a year ago. Dropping to 0-3? Good luck. Since 2002, just three of the 96 teams that opened the season with three straight losses have (or would have) advanced. Two of them are Mike Tomlin-coached Steelers teams that would have snuck into the playoffs as No. 7 seeds in 2013 and 2019. The other is the 2018 Texans, who rolled off a nine-game winning streak after their ugly stretch in September. That’s a 3.1% success rate. And though the addition of a 17th game in 2021 gives these teams extra runway to overcome their starts, the reality is that 0-3 usually tells us what we need to know. If you can’t win one of those first three games, you probably don’t have the talent to win nine or 10 of the ensuing 14, either. So, with 10 teams sitting at 0-2 and fighting to keep their postseason hopes alive this weekend, let’s break down where they stand and their chances of fixing things in the weeks to come. I’ll begin with the team I think has the best chance of righting the ship and getting back into the playoff picture, which probably shouldn’t be a surprise. (I included chances to make the playoffs via ESPN’s Football Power Index.) 1. Kansas City ChiefsChances of advancing to the postseason, via ESPN’s FPI: 51.8%Well, you probably figured they would be No. 1. We could obviously talk about the Chiefs and their 0-2 start for an entire column, but there are nine other teams to hit before we finish up, so I’m going to give you the express version. (DB hint – he didn’t give an express version). Though most of the conversation has revolved around a disappointing offense, the Chiefs look even more disjointed on defense right now. – – –The spine of the defense has been tilting at windmills with the Chiefs allowing a whopping 11.5 yards per play-action dropback. Only the Bills have been worse, but they have faced just five play-action attempts in 2025 (Kansas City has seen 15).– – –Offensively, the most realistic way to describe the Chiefs’ problems is a complete and utter lack of anything to hang their hat on. – – –Here are the major issues that need to be fixed: The designed run game is a mess. The Chiefs are 24th in EPA per attempt on designed runs; Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco have a league-average success rate, but there’s virtually no juice or explosiveness coming from that part of the offense. The Chiefs’ longest carry on 28 attempts has gone for 11 yards. A rushing game that’s either average or subpar isn’t going to move the needle or scare opposing defenses. There aren’t many explosive plays in the passing game, either. Mahomes is attempting more deep passes than he has in recent years, but he has gone 3-of-8 for 136 yards on those throws. Some of those attempts have been 50-50 balls, but Mahomes badly missed an open Tyquan Thornton on a double move for what should have been a 75-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Eagles. The Chiefs were tied with the Patriots at the bottom of the deep completion rankings over the past two seasons, hitting on just 29 deep pass attempts. Mahomes’ 53.1 QBR on those throws was 31st in the league. We know Mahomes has the physical ability to make those passes, but he has been one of the league’s least impactful deep throwers since the start of 2023. That wasn’t a problem when the Chiefs were wildly successful underneath, but that also hasn’t been the case in 2025.– – –As it stands? The Chiefs aren’t hopeless, but they have to find something to build the offense around. Do they go under center and lean into more gap runs as opposed to the RPOs and shotgun rushing attack they’ve used with Mahomes? Can they use the threat of his scrambles to lean into their zone beaters? Will Mahomes start hitting enough deep throws to get safeties to sit in a different area code again? Or will we get four more weeks of this before Rice and Worthy are both presumably back and the Chiefs return to their 2024 offensive game plan? The Chiefs have a tough schedule coming up with games against the Ravens, Lions, Commanders and Bills before their Week 10 bye. They’re not going to win many of those playing the way they have through two weeks. But I would still take them making the playoffs. As for the Super Bowl? Well, three teams have begun 0-2 and won a Lombardi Trophy, although they changed significantly after their slow starts. The 1991 Cowboys were without Emmitt Smith, who held out for the first two games of the season before returning in Week 3. The 2001 Patriots gave Tom Brady his first career start in Week 3. And the 2007 Giants were an embarrassment on defense, allowing 80 points through the first two weeks and 17 more in the first half of Week 3 before launching a comeback victory over Washington and looking much more capable the rest of the way. Do the Chiefs have that in them? I think so, but this isn’t a great team enduring some bad luck. It’s an average, maybe below-average, team that has faced two clearly better opponents. The Chiefs have to be somebody else to become themselves again. 2. Houston TexansChances of advancing to the postseason, via ESPN’s FPI: 24.3%Texans fans will undoubtedly find it frustrating that their team is 0-2. In addition to the understandable preseason expectations after winning the AFC South and wild-card games in back-to-back seasons, the Texans were only a couple of plays away from starting 2-0. Running back Dare Ogunbowale fumbled in the red zone on a potential winning touchdown drive in Week 1, handing the ball to the Rams for a 14-9 victory. On Monday night, they just needed an unblocked Henry To’oTo’o to sack or even slow down Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield on a fourth-and-10. Mayfield escaped, scrambled for a first down and drove the Bucs downfield for a touchdown and a one-point win. It’s one thing to lose two close games to a pair of last season’s playoff teams. It’s another to play the way the Texans have in doing so. After devoting every resource this offseason to fixing their most obvious weaknesses, they look as if absolutely nothing has changed. Even with a new offensive coordinator and new players, the Texans still can’t sort out pressure and protect quarterback C.J. Stroud. Nick Caserio rebuilt the line over the offseason, moving out Laremy Tunsil, Kenyon Green and Shaq Mason while importing an entire line’s worth of potential new starters: tackles Cam Robinson, Trent Brown and Aireontae Ersery, guards Laken Tomlinson and Ed Ingram, and center Jake Andrews. With the Texans holding onto several of their own younger linemen, there was suddenly meaningful competition at every spot up front in camp. But the early returns on those moves aren’t promising. – – –One of the ways to keep out of those exotic pressures, and prevent teams from pinning their ears back to go after Stroud, is running the football. But after the Texans struggled to do that in 2024, they haven’t been much better in 2025. Nick Chubb did hit a 25-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to give the Texans a brief lead, but his previous 11 carries had gone for a total of 18 yards. Through two weeks, only 29% of Houston’s designed runs on first and second down have been successful in terms of keeping the offense on schedule, which ranks 31st in the league, ahead of only the Cardinals. (If you’re a Cardinals fan wondering why the offense hasn’t lived up to expectations through two weeks, here’s your answer.) As a result, the Texans are again forcing Stroud to live in second-and-long and third-and-long. On 16 of the Texans’ 18 drives this season, Stroud has faced either a second or third down with nine or more yards to go. More than 48% of their second- and third-down snaps have come with 9-plus yards to the first, a figure topped only by the Bears. The other concern for the Texans has to be that the AFC South suddenly looks more menacing than last year, when Houston went 5-1 in its division. The Colts are 2-0. The Jags were a fourth-down stop away from joining them. I’m certainly not counting out the Texans — they still have star defenders and Stroud. Maybe the offensive line gels in the weeks to come and the Texans find some sort of a running game. 3. Chicago BearsChances of advancing to the postseason, via ESPN’s FPI: 6.3%Well, it was fun for a quarter or two. The Ben Johnson era came in with a bang Monday night in Week 1, as the Bears marched down the field for an opening-drive touchdown. Despite holding a win expectancy north of 91% as they entered the fourth quarter, though, the Bears blew their lead to the Vikings before they were unmercifully stomped by the Lions in Week 2. What felt like the dawning of a new era quickly faded into the same old Bears. Of course, the Johnson hire was simultaneously about improving the team and fixing frustrating 2024 No. 1 pick Caleb Williams, who had burned through one coach and two coordinators in his first year with the organization. The goal for every team is to win as often as possible, but from a fan perspective, a successful debut season for Johnson was going to be more about getting Williams right than Chicago’s win-loss record at the end of the season. So how is Williams doing? Two things can be true. On one hand, Williams isn’t “fixed” or a finished product like the one the Bears saw on the opening drive of the season. He has a 26.6% off-target rate this season, nearly double the league average (14.2%). Williams has the third-highest expected completion percentage (70.1%, per NFL Next Gen Stats) yet is completing only 61.5% of his throws; the only quarterback underproducing his expected completion percentage by a higher margin this season is Patrick Mahomes.– – –Simultaneously, this is a much better quarterback than the one we saw raging against the light last year. Williams has a 57.5 QBR, up more than 14 points from where he finished the 2024 season. Some of that is a product of his solid work as a scrambler, but even if we leave that out of the equation, Williams’ QBR on passes and sacks is still up 10 points.– – –Though Williams isn’t good enough right now to singlehandedly drag this team into games on a weekly basis, he’s not the problem with the Bears’ offense. What’s worrying is that the issues are more pervasive. All Johnson had to do Sunday was look across the field at a Lions team that gashed the Bears on the ground. One week earlier, the same offense had been completely inept running the football against the Packers, which shut down Jared Goff and the passing attack as a result. Chicago’s run game has been virtually nonexistent through two weeks– – –The offense as a whole is still figuring things out. As Yahoo’s Matt Harmon noted, it takes time for motion-heavy offenses in new places to get settled without pre-snap penalties. The Bears are tied for the league lead with six false starts. The much-ballyhooed new interior offensive line is still gelling together, and when Johnson has had to keep things simple, teams have been able to exploit their weaknesses, like when the Vikings got a free rusher up the A-gap on Williams on the play when DJ Moore was hit hard downfield (a spectacular throw, for what it’s worth). The Bears aren’t some finished product on offense, but they’re better than public perception suggests right now. I can’t say the same about the defense, which has looked awful for the past five quarters. Even with their pick-six of J.J. McCarthy and a great three quarters to start the season against the Vikings, Dennis Allen’s unit ranks 31st in EPA per play, ahead of only the Dolphins. At times against the Lions, the Bears looked like a junior varsity squad playing bigger, faster, virtually uncatchable varsity players.– – –It’s a vicious cycle. Because the secondary is in a shambles, Allen can’t play much man coverage, which was a goal for this defense heading into the season. And without any faith in his cornerbacks, the Bears can’t send extra rushers, with Chicago running the NFL’s fourth-lowest blitz rate. And because they can’t blitz, the Bears don’t get any pressure, with their 20.8% pressure rate good for 28th in the league. And if you don’t get pressure, life’s going to be much tougher on your defensive backs. The fairest thing to say for the Bears as a whole is that they’re still very much figuring things out. The same is true for Johnson, whose game management in his debut was sorely lacking. He threw the challenge flag for a fumble that was never going to be overturned. Then, with the Bears trying to get the kickoff back to the Vikings before the two-minute warning, he didn’t instruct Cairo Santos to kick the ball out of bounds or even just a yard or two forward to immediately create a landing zone violation. Instead, he trusted Santos to boot the ball all the way through the end zone, which failed. This is a work in progress, and it’s closer to the beginning of that process than the end. 4. Miami DolphinsChances of advancing to the postseason, via ESPN’s FPI: 5.1%It seems like the Dolphins have been through a season’s worth of conflicts in two weeks. Visibly disgruntled wide receiver? Players-only meeting? Blowout loss? Blown fourth-quarter lead against a division rival at home? The Dolphins have done it all. The most popular conversation surrounding Miami is whether wide receiver Tyreek Hill or coach Mike McDaniel will be the first to leave town. I’m not sure getting rid of either makes sense, at least not right now. Hill is clearly frustrated, and the organization essentially choosing to forget when he asked out of the lineup and requested a trade at the end of last season couldn’t have done wonders for locker room morale. But this offense isn’t going to get better without Hill in the lineup. And although McDaniel is unlikely to return for another season at this rate, given owner Stephen Ross’ history of firing coaches, the Dolphins are almost surely going to be looking outside the building for their next hire — which they’d obviously do only in the offseason. Do the Dolphins have any hope of turning things around? Week 2 suggests so. The offense was completely inept in the Week 1 loss to the Colts, but one week later, it scored 20 points on eight drives against the Patriots– – –The problem for the Dolphins, at least on offense, is that it’s tough to see how they can unlock a new level of play. We saw the best version of this offense in 2022 and 2023, when they had a Pro Bowl-caliber left tackle in Terron Armstead and a solid guard in Robert Hunt. Armstead retired, Hunt left for the Panthers, and the Dolphins haven’t invested heavily in replacements. Patrick Paul and Jonah Savaiinaea are still working things out on the left side, while right tackle Austin Jackson just went on injured reserve. Tua Tagovailoa’s blind side is being protected by former Bears reserve Larry Borom.– – –After their ugly Week 1 loss, I said it was too early to rule the Dolphins out, considering how easy their schedule would be over the coming weeks. Well, one of those winnable games was at home against the Patriots, and the Dolphins just lost that one. Traveling to Western New York in September is a lot different from playing there in December or January, but the Dolphins now need to beat the Bills to save their season. If they lose to Buffalo — and follow that up with a loss to either the Jets or the Panthers over the two ensuing games — the wheels might come off entirely. Some might say they already have. 5. New York GiantsChances of advancing to the postseason, via ESPN’s FPI: 3.7%The Giants came within a 64-yard field goal of beating the Cowboys, which would have been a pleasant victory, but there’s nothing in their formula or underlying play right now suggesting they’re about to go on a run. That might change once Dart gets into the lineup, but until they start winning the line of scrimmage and get through a difficult slate of early-season opponents, I’m not sure the identity of the quarterback matters much. 6. New York JetsChances of advancing to the postseason, via ESPN’s FPI: 7.3%Well, the good vibes around the Jets’ offense lasted exactly one week. Justin Fields posted the worst QBR of his career (1.1), going 3-of-11 for 27 yards with an interception before leaving Sunday’s game against the Bills with a concussion. The Jets ran the ball reasonably well for the second consecutive week, but they went 0-for-11 on third down, matching what they did against these same Bills from November 2023. Though a few of those third downs were third-and-forever spots, the Jets were sloppier in Week 2 than they were against the Steelers in the opener. – – –Nobody in the AFC East plays a particularly difficult schedule, and the Jets have games against the Dolphins, Cowboys, Panthers and Browns coming up. The Jets outplayed the Steelers and probably deserved to win that game. If they can keep Fields in the lineup and don’t fall too far behind, they’re going to be a frustrating out. Until the defense finds its way, though, the Jets won’t be able to get out to many early leads. 7. Carolina PanthersChances of advancing to the postseason, via ESPN’s FPI: 5.5%At least it’s less depressing than it was this time last year! After Week 2 in 2024, the Panthers were benching Bryce Young for Andy Dalton, a sign that the organization had given up on its 2023 No. 1 pick after a little more than one season. The Panthers told everyone who would listen that they weren’t actually moving on from their QB of the future, and to their credit, Young came back later in the season and looked like a much better passer. And heading into 2025, there was a renewed optimism surrounding Young, who looked a lot more like the guy the Panthers were hoping to add when they traded a massive haul to the Bears to acquire him. Well, two games into 2025, some of that optimism has already evaporated. Young ranks 29th in QBR; his 36.3 mark is about halfway between where Young stood at this time a year ago (7.2) and how he played during the second half of 2024 after his return from the bench (62.7). Young doesn’t look overmatched in the way we saw during that brutal 2024 start, but he simply hasn’t been good enough. He’s averaging just 5.4 yards per attempt without completing even 60% of his passes through two games. The worst part has been turnovers. Young has thrown three picks through two games, all of which have been on ill-advised decisions. – – –Even worse, the Panthers lost two of their starting linemen, with Pro Bowl guard Robert Hunt going down because of a biceps injury that is likely to end his season, while center Austin Corbett hit injured reserve because of an MCL injury and is out indefinitely. In addition to fielding two backups in the middle of the line for the next couple of months, it’s worth noting that Ekwonu’s 2024 improvement came after the Panthers added a very good guard next door. I would be worried about the potential for regression there without Hunt in the lineup. This is a real problem for Young and the offense.– – –It seems telling that FPI is willing to give the Panthers only a 5.5% shot of landing a playoff berth in the NFC South, where nobody has looked great in several years, let alone through two games of the 2025 season. This is Year 3 with Young and Evero, and it’s Year 2 with coach Dave Canales and GM Dan Morgan. We should be seeing signs of growth. But I’m not sure there have been many on the film or in the data through two games. 8. Tennessee TitansChances of advancing to the postseason, via ESPN’s FPI: 3.6% Titans fans hoping Cam Ward would be the latest top draft pick to propel a moribund team from the bottom of the standings into an immediate playoff berth are probably accepting that this isn’t the 2023 Texans or 2024 Commanders. Through two weeks, Ward is last in the NFL in QBR (19.8). He’s averaging 2.8 yards per dropback; of the 625 qualifying quarterbacks who started the first two games of their teams’ seasons going back through the 2007 season, Ward ranks 624th by that metric. Only Blaine Gabbert’s 2013 season (1.9 yards per dropback, somehow) was worse. Ranking 624th out of 625 is unquestionably not great, but I don’t think he has actually been anywhere near that bad. There’s no questioning his arm talent, and while there have been a few scattershot throws, you can pretty easily see why the Titans had no qualms about making him the first pick in this year’s draft. Ward is a fun improviser and shows nice touch on throws to the sideline, including the would-be completion to Elic Ayomanor that Brian Callahan neglected to challenge against the Broncos in Week 1, seemingly out of some confusion regarding the league’s catch rules. Ward is averaging nearly 9 air yards per throw, so while his completion percentage (50.8%) is terrible, it’s at least partially mitigated by how often he is throwing downfield. He’s 5-of-24 on throws of 10 or more yards downfield, which obviously has to get better in the coming weeks if the Titans want to score more than one touchdown per game. The big problem for Ward and the offense has been taking sacks. – – –I’ve been more enthused by the Titans’ defense, which has looked solid through three quarters in consecutive games before gassing out in the fourth. The Titans are 14th in EPA per play on defense through three quarters before falling to 28th in the final stanza, where the Broncos and Rams scored 20 of their 53 combined points. And the special teams, which was disastrously bad in 2023 and 2024, has made big plays. – – –All of those things help, but the focus in 2025 will obviously be on Ward and what he does in his first year under center. Callahan has to find ways to make his life easier and put less of a load on his young QB’s shoulders, especially in obvious passing situations. The Titans will face easier defenses in the weeks to come, though the Colts do lead the league in QBR after two weeks and the Texans and their brutally devastating set of edge rushers follow. There’s certainly something compelling here with Ward, but 2025 might be more about figuring out how to harness his talent than challenging for a postseason berth. 9. New Orleans SaintsChances of advancing to the postseason, via ESPN’s FPI: 5.1%There are depressing bad teams and fun bad teams. The Saints, through two weeks, fall firmly into the latter category. Quarterback Spencer Rattler throwing the ball around 40 times per week? The Emory and Henry formation? Defensive coordinator Brandon Staley running out a defense with the highest sim pressure and creeper rate in the league? Linebacker Demario Davis thumping opposing run games the way he did in his mid-20s? The Saints have been an entertaining watch through two weeks. A lot of these teams could make the case that they’re a play or two away from being 2-0. The Saints might be a play or two away from being a play or two away from being 2-0– – –Coach Kellen Moore has the Saints playing at the fastest pace of any team by a considerable margin. Through two weeks, Rattler has thrown 80 passes and the Saints have two (Olave and Johnson) of the league’s 12 players with 20-plus targets. Leaning into tempo makes Rattler’s life easier in terms of seeing fewer exotic defensive looks and tiring out opposing pass rushes. He has been sacked on only 4.6% of his dropbacks this season, which is above league average. He also has not thrown an interception, though that’s not going to stick as long as Rattler is throwing into tight windows at one of the highest rates in the NFL. Moore’s playcalling was weirdly polarized in the 49ers game. Before the final two drives of the game, when the Saints were essentially in their two-minute drill, 21 of the Saints’ 26 first-down snaps were runs. The Saints leaned heavily into the pass on second downs, with 18 of 25 snaps producing pass dropbacks. There’s nothing wrong with running on first down and throwing on second down, and some of those snaps are going to be RPOs in which Rattler is going to make a decision based on the defensive look. But it’s another quirky thing about what has been a unique offense. Does all of that add up to a good offense? Not yet. – – –Realistically, the Saints have too many weak spots where they’re either relying on unproven young players or journeymen who wouldn’t be playing on better teams. Up front, Kelvin Banks Jr. (left tackle), Taliese Fuaga (right tackle) and Dillon Radunz (left guard) gave up 10 quick pressures against the 49ers. Banks was one-on-one on nearly 90% of his dropbacks. That’s a lot to ask of a rookie in his second NFL game, even a first-round pick. Another of the problems: The Saints can’t generate yards after the catch. – – –Staley’s defense, meanwhile, is letting its freak flag fly. According to Next Gen Stats, the Saints are having defenders drop off the line of scrimmage a league-high 51.7% of the time; they’ve also paced the NFL in creepers and sim pressures (12.4%). It’s a necessary reality for a team that doesn’t have the talent to win by simply rushing its front four. Those pressure looks help the Saints define protections and create potential one-on-ones, but they also ask a lot of Staley’s linebackers (admittedly the best part of his defense). The play that decided Sunday’s loss started with six Saints at the line of scrimmage before Davis and Pete Werner dropped into coverage, only for Mac Jones to whiz a crosser past Werner’s ear to Jauan Jennings for a 42-yard touchdown.– – –This isn’t going to be an easy season (or few seasons to come) in New Orleans. It would be a surprise if the Saints pulled out road victories over the Seahawks or Bills in the next two weeks. I don’t think anyone outside of Louisiana is expecting the Saints to start contending, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be entertaining along the way. 10. Cleveland BrownsChances of advancing to the postseason, via ESPN’s FPI: 5.4%The path to an unexpected playoff berth for the Browns was always going to come through their defense, as it did in 2023 when Cleveland started five different quarterbacks and still made the postseason. Doing that without linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and cornerback Martin Emerson Jr., both of whom are out for the 2025 season, wasn’t going to be easy. Through their first six quarters of football, it looked like Jim Schwartz’s unit was doing its best to relive 2023. After limiting the Bengals to 17 points in the opener, the Browns held the Ravens to 10 points in the first half Sunday. One week after Baltimore lit up Buffalo in a wild shootout, it picked up just four first downs and 81 net yards on seven possessions in that first half against Cleveland. Then the bottom fell out. The Ravens racked up 24 points on offense in the second half and added a touchdown on a scoop-and-score. Starting two of their four second-half drives on Cleveland’s 5- and 36-yard lines obviously helped, but when Joe Flacco is your quarterback, you have to expect to hand the opposing team some short fields with turnovers. There are positives here, naturally built around Myles Garrett, who looks every bit as terrifying as we’ve come to expect on the edge. It’s fellow edge rusher Isaiah McGuire, though, who ranks third in pass rush win rate (33.3%) behind Nik Bonitto and Isaiah McGuire. Rookie Mason Graham has flashed on the interior, helping to create a near-safety against Joe Burrow in the opener. The defensive line isn’t a problem. It’s the cornerback position that is holding the Browns’ defense back.– – –On offense, well, the expectations weren’t high, and they’re being met. – – –There are bright spots, but things might get uglier for Cleveland. The Browns’ next four games are against the Packers, Lions, Vikings and Steelers. They get three games against the AFC East afterward, but it would take an upset over what looks like the league’s best team Sunday afternoon to realistically keep their slim postseason hopes alive. |
