NFL Week 2: Thoughts and observations

With the second NFL weekend upon us, here are some thoughts on what we will see come Sunday afternoon:

The Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks are basically getting free wins. Nothing against the San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets, but neither team is anywhere near being ready to go on the road an beat a future playoff team. Seattle is coming off a tough loss on the road against the Green Bay Packers, and needs to get this game. San Francisco is in a very tough spot. Meanwhile, the Raiders have to win to keep pace with the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.

Speaking of Kansas City, it comes home to take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Arrowhead Stadium. Both teams are 1-0, with the Chiefs having pulled off the 42-27 upset of the New England Patriots last Thursday. This game will tell us whether Kansas City is really one of (if not) the best teams in the NFL that has real hope of winning Super Bowl LII, or if the Chiefs remain a good team with fatal flaws. If Alex Smith, Kareem Hunt and Tyreek Hill can keep playing the way they did in Week 1, look out.

ThePatriots are looking for their first win on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. New England is playing without Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and Dont’a Hightower, the latter two injured against Kansas City. It’s easy to expect the Patriots to go on the road and handle their business, but can the defense hold up? We could see 70 points in this one.

In the NFC, what should we make of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?After going 9-7 last season and then adding DeSean Jackson, T.J. Ward and O.J. Howard in the offseason, many believe the Buccaneers are destined to reach the postseason for the first time since 2007. This week, Tampa Bay hosts the Chicago Bears in its season opener. The Buccaneers have a chance to get off on the right foot against a Bears team that is without a litany of important talents, including Cam Meredith, Jerrell Freeman and Kevin White.

Finally, what is going on in the AFC South. The Houston Texans beat the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night, evening their record at 1-1. Now, the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars will do battle at EverBank Field. Should Jacksonville win, it would be 2-0 while dropping Tennessee to 0-2. The Titans have to win this game to get back to square, while taking a road division game. It’s going to be ugly in the AFC South this season.