Week 2 Recap and the Thinnest of Silver Linings From the NFL's Worst Week Ever

Good gravy. Just when things couldn't get worse for just about everyone who isn't the Buffalo Bills, etc., the NFL just had what has rightfully been dubbed the worst week in its ninety-year history.  I don't have a lot left in the tank at the moment between a brutal stretch at work and my own team's unexpected woes, but here are a few things to chew on from Week 2 including the Thinnest of Silver Linings From the NFL's Worst Week Ever.

Week 2: The Good Stuff

Philip Rivers' Guts - For just about every reason possible, this was a "nothing's sacred" kind of weekend in the NFL where the metaphorical/literal football titans of old fell and the scrappy underdogs emerged in many games.  Kudos to Philip Rivers for putting his money where his mouth is with no less than 3 TDs against the Legion of Boom.  He had the guts to go after a certain chatty but spectacularly talented cornerback and make it to the other side without an interception.  The Seahawks will do just fine this season, but the rest of us have San Diego to thank for making Seattle look at least momentarily human.

Parity - If there's just one reason I haven't already given up on the Saints going anywhere this season, it's that I'm supremely thankful that so many other esteemed teams have already lost this year.  It's been murder on my win-loss predictions, but if there's one thing I still enjoy about the modern game, it's that any given Sunday means just that.  We're already down to just seven teams (roughly 20%!) that are going into Week 3 undefeated with surprising wins by the Bills, Browns, Chargers and Bears and a whole 'nother slew of heroic plays by the backups and no-names a la Drew Stanton and Austin Davis.  Will some of these surges sputter later in the season?  No doubt, but we're primed for a January surprise or two - that's more than you can say for the MLB or NBA by a long shot.

Nailed It! My Best Week 2 Prediction: Although the final outcome is the same, I'm actually feeling better about my picks this week, namely in going against the grain with the Cowboys over the Titans.  Proof that Week 1 was not all that it seemed:

• "I don't think the Titans are as good as they looked last week, and I don't think the Cowboys are quite as bad.  If there's one guy who has superb short-term memory loss, it's Tony Romo."

Week 2: The Bad Stuff

A Kaepernick-plosion - I've come to expect every two weeks or so that I will go to bed before the Sunday or Monday night game, outcome firmly in hand, and wake up to something completely different.  The Cardinals came back to haunt the Chargers last week and then the Bears crashed the 49ers' new stadium party in the 4th quarter this time around.  As much as I hate to say it, Jay Cutler deserves a lot of credit for three late touchdown drives, but he also got some serious help from Colin Kaepernick's two consecutive interceptions and four total turnovers on the day.  In the midst of much more awful player sins, I guess I can't blame the guy for whatever that "inappropriate language" penalty was about, especially in a game featuring 26 total flags.  It probably didn't compare to what 49ers fans were saying in that Santa Clara traffic jam afterwards.

My Total Denial About the New Orleans Saints - I don't know what you're talking about, but there are probably dumpsters on wheels that are more effective shutdown corners than Patrick Robinson.  And is Rob Ryan the real Steve Spagnuolo or is Steve Spagnuolo the real Rob Ryan?

Shanked It!  My Worst Week 2 Prediction - Yet again, so many to choose from.  I don't even regret some of them like the Vikings over the Pats given what a terrible person Adrian Peterson turned out to be.  Instead, I'm flattered that Philip Rivers thought enough of my blog to read it thoroughly and then apparently sell his soul to Satan to prove me wrong on Sunday:

• "Philip Rivers often plays with no fear, and he'll need that approach--and some great plays by those receivers--to get past the defending champs.  I look forward to watching Seattle utterly terrorize him instead."
  

Week 2 Feature: The Thinnest of Silver Linings from the NFL's Worst Week Ever

Last week, I took a detour from my usual game-focused ramblings to talk about domestic violence in the wake of the Ray Rice scandal and similar but less publicized incidents with Greg Hardy and Ray McDonald.  It was by far the most hits I've had on a blog post since the Super Bowl, and I hope that is indicative of a major change in public response to domestic violence in the NFL and elsewhere in society.

It's an absolute shame that the league and these franchises had to be embarrassed publicly before taking any legitimate action against the players in question.  But there can be no doubt that social pressure led to Ray Rice's indefinite suspension and the Panthers deciding to bench Greg Hardy on Sunday.  Add to that Radisson's pulling sponsorship from the Vikings, who have taken a totally hands-off approach against Adrian Peterson's apparent child abuse - a situation that reads as even less ambiguous than that of Rice.

It's still not enough - we cannot become complacent with a handful of "statement" suspensions when players like Ray McDonald and now Peterson continue to play under the guise of due process, especially when it is clear that these organizations have the power if not the will to gather the facts on their own.  But there are now new ripples because the public is not looking away like it used to.  And if the NBA has been any guide with Donald Sterling's recent ouster, once sponsors start to walk, this becomes a whole new ball game.