NFL Week 2 take away: Derek Carr grabs a bad shot, the Panthers are for real

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Welcome to the opening season edition of Sunday FreakOut, where we overreact and overreact to everything that happened on Sunday afternoon Games. For the full Sunday podcast style, be sure to subscribe to The MMQB podcast, in your feed every Monday morning …

The things that made me dizzy

Derek Carr changes: At times it seemed like he had walked a tightrope during Jon Gruden’s second era (would they go for Brady? Rodgers? Watson?), But there’s no doubt that Gruden got the most out of Carr. And over the past two seasons, Carr has delivered some courageous performances in response. Entering Pittsburgh for a short week, racking up 382 yards and throwing that punch while playing on the wrong wheel (great design, by the way, similar to a long Henry Ruggs TD in the upset against Kansas City last year) is the sign of a special brewing:

Raiders beat Pittsburgh and the NFL schedule: Bringing a team across the country for a short week to kick off at 11 a.m. is just plain stupid. Vegas arrived in the east after a physical overtime game Monday night, and now comes home sitting 2-0.

Rams goal line brackets: An impressive stand of four stops in the 1 in the first quarter against that Indy’s offensive line, and an interception on a blown shovel pass in the second quarter on the third and goal of the 3, played a big part against the Colts.

Bear Defense does what it needs to do: For this team to qualify for the playoffs, they need to do what they did in 2018 but haven’t done since: take the ball in clusters. On Sunday, they took him away from the Bengals four times, including a sixth pick in the fourth quarter to walk away.

Generally, Sam Darnold looks sharp: His turnover was excruciating – he tried to drop the ball to a protector in heavy traffic, turning it into a lineman D interception. But other than that, he operates within a structure and has the look… at ease. His ball placement was excellent on Sunday and on a few occasions he opened receivers in ways we just haven’t seen from him.

DeMeco Ryans has answers: Jalen Hurts won’t be fun to plan, especially in the early Nick Sirianni era (just ask Dean Pees). Ryans, who has big shoes to fill in San Francisco to replace Robert Saleh, was up to the task on Sunday. Ryans dotted Hurts with a blitz and it worked – they allowed a long pass where they got beaten, and a missed tackle from Fred Warner in the backfield allowed another play to come off. But the defense didn’t give up anything else, the Eagles never got a beat, the Ryans squad were prepared for a Philly Special fourth and baseman, and the Niners went 2-0 in a defensive battle. .

The Broncos come east and get two: Neither the Giants nor the Jaguars are world champions, but the Broncos are 2-0, both on the road, and it’s a great place to be.

Matt Rhule, Joe Brady and Phil Snow: Right now, the Panthers brain trust looks like the best power trio we’ve seen since Rush released “Moving Pictures.”

Regrets

Jameis never had any luck: To be clear, he looked terrible, even when he had time in his pocket. But the Saints’ defense, a week after dominating the Packers, couldn’t leave the field in the first half. One thing was clear on Sunday: The Saints cannot rely on Winston to bail them out.

Trevor Lawrence’s total lack of comfort: Once again, it cannot be said enough: as a prospect, Trevor Lawrence was as close to the test of idiots as a coaching staff could be; you had to to try to screw it up. The Jaguars chose to waste half the summer, giving first-team shots to Gardner Minshew as part of a sort of “motivation theater.” A week ago that attack made it seem like they hadn’t realized they had a game on Sunday. This week has been better, in that they have at least been beaten by a very good defense, with inclement weather conditions. But after a solid opening, things fell apart again. Lawrence doesn’t trust what he sees, and rightly so because what he sees doesn’t work. As the season progresses, we’ll learn if this is a young quarterback who hasn’t had enough reps, or just a broken plan.

Wentz can’t go: The Colts recovered the ball with 2:27 left and a three-point deficit, but Wentz was unable to go due to a right ankle injury. Jacob Eason arrived and there was simply no hope.

Absence of TJ Watt: The Steelers were deprived of one of football’s five most valuable second-half non-quarterbacks, and it showed.

Zach Wilson, as the Red Hot Chili Peppers once suggested, now gives it away: The first two interceptions were a touch of bad luck (although the first pitch was risky and the second shot high), but the third and fourth against New England looked like the wheels were coming off for the rookie. Bill Belichick’s defenses do that to young quarterbacks (Jets fans know that), and Wilson has a lot on his shoulders given the Jets’ shortcomings. Sunday was definitely ugly (and, undeniably, just a little scary).

The defense of the Saints has just played 1,000 matches worth football: They were there for over 20 minutes in the first half as they couldn’t leave the pitch and the Saints’ offense couldn’t stay on the pitch. Ultimately, garbage time brought TOP possession to a slightly more reasonable statistical conclusion (38:32 for the Panthers).

Wentz’s Shovel Pass INT: It looks ugly mainly because Aaron Donald blew up the middle of the offensive line and Jack Doyle, the intended target, got caught in the resulting traffic and couldn’t get to his place. But perhaps, given Wentz’s recent history and the lack of work he got this summer, the left-handed shovel pass is the one that needs to be taken off the call sheet.

Brutal first half of the receiver of the dolphins: DeVante Parker had a ball in his hands in the end zone, Albert Wilson dropped an easy on the second and 6 in the red zone which was immediately followed by a lost fumble from Jakeem Grant on the third down, and Jaylen Waddle completed the half by missing a punt with less than 30 seconds to go, giving the Bills a field goal.

Hammy from Tyrod: He’s limited as a quarterback, but Taylor’s marriage to Tim Kelly has been going very well so far, with Taylor looking quite comfortable with Kelly’s concepts. On Sunday, Tyrod did not return to the pitch after halftime. Worse yet, the Texans’ short week means Taylor is unlikely to return for a winnable game, at home against Carolina. And now Kelly has three days to prepare Davis Mills for his first career start against a Panthers defense that has so far absolutely swallowed up opposing quarterbacks.

Relaaaaax with this Jameis INT: I know everyone has had the ‘this is the most Jameis pick ever’ waiting for the first six quarterfinals of football, but it’s the third and 10 in midfield with less than 30 seconds left. . The coin is broken and if he throws it they kick anyway. There is nothing wrong with praying and hoping for a flag.

Moments we will tell our grandchildren

2017 Carson Wentz travels back in time to 2021: Whether a human can make this throw makes us question everything we thought we knew about the universe.

Damien Harris as the Billdozer:

Josh Allen reminds dolphins that traits are important:

What we will talk about this week

America can finally see Matthew Stafford for who he really is: Even though he’s the same superstar quarterback he’s been for the past decade. But the shortcomings we saw in Detroit are also still there. It provides little as the presence of precipitation. And you just can’t plug it into the left guard and expect it to generate any kind of thrust up front.

Matt Nagy forced to do what he had to do: For some reason, Nagy thought he owed it to Andy Dalton because of a promise he made last winter more than he owed to a locker room that has suffered from more than three seasons of bad. quarterback. Now, with Dalton injured, Nagy can defer to Justin Fields, craft a plan that takes advantage of Fields’ unique mobility while bringing him in as a passer, and win matches.

Miami will be fine (enough) with Jacoby Brissett: It’s impossible to say where Tua Tagovailoa is heading for five quarters in the season, but after an ugly rookie year he was faltering in Game 1 and just wasn’t NFL-caliber at the start of Sunday. Among his six withdrawals, there were three incomplete and two sacks when he had not counted a blitz; his only completion was a third and long receiver screen and he had a recalled RPO completion due to an illegal downline man who created the receiver open. Tagovailloa injured his ribs on a fourth and short check, another miss while under pressure after an opener full of them. Relieved, Brissett looked rusty at first, and when he got hot late in the first half, his receivers let him down. But Miami can craft a more elaborate offense and trust Brissett to exploit it effectively. This will probably give them a better chance of winning matches in the short term.

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