Week 2 Recap and 5 NFL Teams Already Hitting the Panic Button

We’ve got another heart-pounding week of electrifying fantasy heroes, closing-minute drives and even our first overtime of the season to make up for not one but two rare lightning delays in the NFL world.  Personally, I’m thanking my lucky stars that the Saints are somehow 2 - 0 in the division instead of 0 - 2 at the moment.  A win is a win and no one is more thankful than Drew Brees or Tom Brady right now about that.  Let’s go ahead and kick off our Week 2 recap and our weekly feature, 5 Teams Already Hitting the Panic Button:

Week 2: The Good Stuff

The Rivers-McCoy Real McCoy - Puns.  I don’t love ‘em but I try.  The AFC West might get a little more crowded than you think this year.  All four teams are already 0.500 or better, even though two have gotten to play the Jaguars already.  Anyway, despite the Chargers’ heartbreaking  fourth quarter whiff last week with the Texans, I am loving how solid Philip Rivers looks under Coach Mike McCoy’s leadership so far.  Remember, this is the coach that got Tebow a playoff win in Denver.  In two games, Rivers already has 7 TDs to one interception with a 116 passer rating, a feat considering how rough the last few years of Norv have been on the guy.  Kudos to the Chargers for pulling off a hard fought victory in Eastern Time on Sunday.

Seattle's Best Slugfest - I didn’t catch this one with the lightning delay and my East Coast bedtime, but I was wowed by the stat line in the hotly anticipated (but quite underwhelming) bout between the 49ers and Seahawks on Sunday night.  It’s a wonder that a team could win at all--much less by 26 points--when their QB completes only 8 passes, but it ain’t so bad when your defense forces 5 turnovers and holds the high-flying 49ers to a measly 200 yards.  Just glad I had the foresight to rest Kaepernick on Fantasy Team Bakery Special this week, not that it helped against Aaron Rodgers - yeesh.

Last Minute Heroics - There were lots of fireworks from the typical QB demigods this week, especially the ever-consistent and somehow overlooked Aaron Rodgers.  But part of the glossing over was because Rodgers had a rich guy’s problem, locking up the W against the Redskins in about a quarter and a half on Sunday.  Much more exciting for the rest of us were the many stunning game-winning drives that made for an enjoyable day all around.  In particular, Jay Cutler, EJ Manuel and Drew Brees made it look easy after many trials and tribulations during the first 59 minutes of play, getting their teams to the go-ahead score in the waning seconds of the game.  There’s no better feeling if you’re cheering for the winner there.

Nailed It!  My Best Week 2 Prediction - I had one of those rare, stellar picking weeks this time around with a proud 14 - 2 record to show for myself.  I notched a few wins that were more of a gamble than this one, but I’m giving myself a golf clap for prophesying that Seattle fans would break the crowd noise world record and declaw Colin Kaepernick on Sunday night:

• The Twelfth Man is going to be in record-breaking crowd noise form on Sunday night, and if keeping Cam Newton to 125 yards last week is any indicator, the Seahawks won’t be skipping a beat on defense when Colin Kaepernick comes to visit.

Week 2: The Bad Stuff

The Buccaneers' Sloppy, Sloppy Joe, erm, Losses - There are tough breaks and then there are shameful losses like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are exemplifying so far this season.  Of course, for selfish reasons I shouldn’t complain and just send Kicker Ryan Lindley a fruit basket for giving the Saints a stolen victory.  Even so, my heart goes out to the few who still go to Raymond James Stadium every week hoping that this exceptionally talented roster will have a breakthrough.  Instead, they have seen two blown leads in the final minute of play, over 20 penalties for 220 yards and a pathetic passer rating of 63 for Josh Freeman.  I think I can hear Greg Schiano’s head rolling just now...

Suddenly Sputtering Offenses - Speaking of the above Tampa game, boy am I thrilled the Saints defense has new life so far in 2013.  Although there’s reason to hope things will get better, the NOLA offense is looking mighty suspect so far since Sean Payton’s return with some mind-blowing picks by Brees and very little running game to speak of.  The same can be said for the struggling Patriots who are down to Stevan “Butterfinger” Ridley in the backfield and receivers who wouldn’t draw a crowd in the Mountain West Conference.  Lest we forget 3) the Redskins who look like they’re in serious trouble unless Robert Griffin can get out of his own head and make some safe option reads from time to time; and 4) Joe Flacco’s regression without three deep-threat receivers and Dennis Pitta to keep the Ravens’ offensive production up.

The NFC East.  All of It. - Boy do I hate having to make any predictions about the teams in this conference.  One minute, they’re on fire in a four-way race for NFC dominance; the next minute, they’re staring down a mistake-riddled 2 - 6 record with question marks everywhere.  Per the above, RG3 is looking worse for the wear without any playing time in the preseason after having to face the lightning-fast Eagles and Packers for two weeks.  Meanwhile, the Eagles’ defense can’t seem to handle the quick snap spread pace of that offense, coughing up an average 30 points over two games.  The Cowboys... well, you know the story there.  If Jason Garrett isn’t shooting you in the foot, Romo and/or Bryant certainly will on a regular basis.  Finally, this may be the worst Giants team we’ve seen in a very long time with Eli tossing 7 picks in two games and a potentially huge RB bust in David Wilson.

Shanked It!  My Worst Week 2 Prediction: As I mentioned above, my ears have perked up when it comes to the Chargers’ offense so far this year.  Congrats to San Diego for hanging with an Eagles team that looked nearly impossible to beat in a track meet last week:

Chip Kelly and Mike McCoy have already given their new teams the look of contenders in a few short weeks.  But considering how impossible it continues to be for the Chargers to hang on to a significant lead, I can’t imagine they’ll have any success slowing down the Eagles enough to compete this week in Eastern Time.

Week 2 Feature: 5 Teams Already Hitting the Panic Button This Year

My only advice to the casual NFL fan around this time of year is not to get too caught up in what you see so far this season.  Teams rise and fall with more games under their belt, changing injury statuses, and trends in the strength of schedule, so we’re a long way from locking down playoff seeding to say the least.  Still, there are some troubling elements a foot for many teams that had high hopes going into this season (see, no Jaguars here) who could well take a giant step back.  Here are 5 Teams Already Hitting the Panic Button This Year:

Cleveland Browns
Why Worry?  The supposedly improved Chudzinski/Norv-led Browns offense is looking anything but reformed so far this season with a total 16 points and 1 TD over the first two games.  Now, aging sophomore QB Brandon Weeden will be out with a hand injury for a spell, making it harder to believe the Browns will finally turn the corner this year.

Reasons to Relax? The Browns are still well within reach of the AFC North title, and favorites Baltimore and Cincinnati are looking a bit more uneven than many surmised going into September.

Is It Serious?  I’m not sure to be honest.  The Browns defense looks like the real deal, and Trent Richardson is loaded with potential to anchor a team that shouldn’t be so pass-heavy anyhow.  Still, they'll have to get past the rest of the North as well as the Packers, Bears, Chiefs and Patriots and find some wins in there to look different.

Washington Redskins
Why Worry? The Washington offense that looked so efficient just a few months ago has failed to deliver in just about every sense so far this season.  RG3 is squeamish inside and outside the pocket and throwing off of his back foot far too often.  In other words, the former dual threat is hardly a single threat at the moment.

Reasons to Relax? Griffin is rusty with plenty of room for improvement as the season goes on.  Plus, the ‘Skins are still only a game back from the rest of the struggling NFC East with very winnable games against the Lions and Raiders next up on the schedule.

Is It Serious? I’d say so.  Washington still has games against the Chargers, Broncos, 49ers and Falcons on the schedule, which will be impossible to surmount if the offense doesn’t get its act together.  Despite picking these guys to win the division in the preseason, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them miss the playoffs altogether.

Pittsburgh Steelers
Why Worry? The Steelers’ offensive line has already imploded yet again before the season got going.  Ben Roethlisberger is not the kind of QB you want throwing 50 times a game, and the running game is showing few signs of life without Rashard Mendenhall or a healthy Le’Veon Bell.

Reasons to Relax?  Here's the theme of the day - the Steelers are just a game back from the rest of the uneven AFC North with plenty of games to turn it around. If Bell ends up being worth the hype, Pittsburgh can look respectable against its fellow 3rd seed AFC opponents.

Is It Serious? Absolutely.  With this kind of offensive line, there’s a Vegas line out there somewhere for the week Roethlisberger goes down with another significant injury.  And I’m going to conjecture that the Heinz Field faithful don’t want to see Bruce “Who?” Gradkowski under center.

New England Patriots
Why Worry?  But this team is 2 - 0, you say.  Yes, but only by the grace of God, so there’s a sign He didn’t really care about Tim Tebow’s NFL career anyway.  As much as I believe in Tom Brady’s ability to make most receivers look like Pro Bowlers, the Pats have barely eked out games against the woeful Bills and Jets and the offensive productivity is a shell of what it has been for the whole of the Brady-Belichick era.

Reasons to Relax?  You could definitely make the argument that the Pats’ offense will improve with time since Brady had relative milliseconds to find a rhythm with the third string during the preseason and Gronk will return soon.  Plus, they still own the AFC East until proven otherwise.

Is It Serious?  This all depends on how the rest of the division plays out.  The Bills and Jets have been surprisingly competitive in these two weeks while the Dolphins are sporting a respectable 2 - 0 alongside New England.  I think as the season goes on, the Pats will be fine in the battle of attrition, but the postseason may be another story.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Why Worry?  Remember all that stuff I said about 20 penalties for 220 yards and terrible quarterbacking?  That can’t be undone by an otherwise respectable defense and running game if things get worse than they already are in the Bucs’ locker room.

Reasons to Relax?  Tampa’s roster is absolutely loaded with the likes of Darrelle Revis, Vincent Jackson, Doug Martin, Dashon Goldson and Carl Nicks.  With two fewer mistakes, this team could have been 2 - 0 and nowhere near this list going into Week 3.

Is It Serious?  I think there’s an 80% chance of mutiny in the locker room the way things are going.  If Revis walks and Freeman’s motivation turns from getting paid next year to getting Schiano fired, these Bucs are cooked.