NFL notes and observations: What to watch in Week 2
After an eventful Week 1 in the NFL, we’re already dovetailing into the second week of the regular season with far fewer answers than questions.
For example, are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers actually good? Is Patrick Mahomes the next superstar in the NFL? Is an 0-16 waiting in the wings for the Buffalo Bills? So on and so forth, and yet we’ll only find out a small fraction of those things and more this Sunday.
Here are a few things to keep an eye out for, though, as we continue through the early part of the slate.
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Are the Tennessee Titans already cooked?
The Titans are playing their second consecutive conference opponent, this Sunday hosting the Houston Texans. Houston and Tennessee are both 0-1, with the Texans behind handled at Gillette Stadium by the New England Patriots, while the Miami Dolphins surprisingly throttled the Titans on South Beach. More alarming, though, were the injuries to Delanie Walker and Marcus Mariota. If Tennessee loses the home opener on Sunday, it’s already 0-2 with a home divisional loss. A very tough hill to climb.
Just how good are the 49ers?
The San Francisco 49ers are playing at home against the Detroit Lions, one week after losing 24-16 on the road against the Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota is one of the best teams in the league, so no shame there, but now Jimmy Garoppolo and Co. are getting a shellshocked Lions team to come out West. Detroit was blown out on national television 48-17 by the New York Jets, making everyone question if it simply isn’t going to be a good year in Motown. Can the 49ers handle business against a team it should seemingly beat?
Read: Browns to Release Josh Gordon on Monday
Are the Raiders really this bad?
The Oakland Raiders looked good for a half, and the really bad for a half against the Los Angeles Rams. The result? A 33-13 loss on Monday night, putting the silver and black in an 0-1 hole as they head out to the Rocky Mountains. There, it’s the Denver Broncos laying in wait, also hoping to move to 2-0 with a win over their AFC West rivals. Oakland doesn’t necessarily have to win this game to prove it isn’t as bad as Week 1 made the Raiders look, but another lopsided loss against an average roster would reinforce the notion that bad things are on the horizon.
Can Buffalo really be this bad?
The Bills got humiliated, 47-3, by the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1. Is it possible for Buffalo to really be that awful of a team? History and probability skew heavily that Buffalo isn’t nearly as bad as the score indicated, so what happens now? Can Josh Allen somehow win his first start in the NFL, or do the Los Angeles Chargers absolutely bury him and the team he rode in with?
