Winner: Arizona Cardinals
It is always satisfying to see shaky NFL narratives proven false shortly after they bubble up, especially when it concerns a first-round draft pick. The knives were out for Arizona’s rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr fafter his one-catch debut against the Buffalo Bills in week one. Some assessments were unkind to say the least: “shockingly slow and uncertain” was one of the more gentle ones on social media. But some grace for a difficult debut was due considering how a fierce Bills defense limited his impact. On Sunday, he put in a redo for the record books as he torched the LA Rams with two touchdowns and 130 yards in the opening quarter, more than his father gained in any quarter in his Hall of Fame career. The highlight was a 60-yard score in which Harrison’s raw speed turned tight coverage into a yawning runway. Rams safety Kamren Curl is still asking for directions to the nearest end zone.
Loser: Baltimore Ravens
Isaiah Likely cannot catch a break. A week after a toenail out of bounds ruled out a touchdown and the chance of upsetting the Kansas City Chiefs, the shoulder of Jack Jones arrived to disrupt Likely’s stunning sideline catch. The Las Vegas cornerback’s rude arrival upset a play that would have given Justin Tucker a makeable field goal to tie the game with one second remaining. After losing two winnable games, the Ravens are now scratching their heads at 0-2. There is no shame in losing to Patrick Mahomes and none, on paper, to the Raiders either. The added context of John Harbaugh’s team turning a 10-point final quarter lead into a 26-23 defeat, a familiar trend for a team who often struggle to put opponents away, is where things turn sour for the Ravens. Since the start of the 2022 season Baltimore have blown a double-figure lead seven times. Sure, Maxx Crosby helped bulldoze the Raiders back into contention, but killer errors, such as Brandon Stephens’ pass interference giving Las Vegas a gimme touchdown, mean a tough trip to Dallas now looks like a must win with the Bills and Bengals waiting in the wings.
Winner: kickers
Is it just me or are kickers enjoying a hot streak, wrapped in a golden age, inside an apex? Everywhere you look 50-yard bombs are thundering through the uprights. The numbers are incredible: as of Sunday, 136 field goals had been made from 146 attempts at a 93% success rate. Last season the success rate was 89% over the opening two weeks and 86% across the season as a whole – the second-highest hit rate after 2013’s 86.5% (the average season success rate since 2013 is 84%.)
The numbers only get you so far though. The Commanders brought in Austin Siebert after Cade York’s two misses in week one. First-day jitters? Nope. The new kid scored every point of Washington’s 21-18 win over the New York Giants, with seven field goals. Veteran Chris Boswell did something similar for Pittsburgh, with six from six in week one. The NFL’s elite feet have gone from making 80% of total field goals in just one season last century to now forming an army of Justin Tucker clones (although Baltimore’s historically accurate boot is one of only three kickers to have missed twice this season). Harrison Butker’s game-winning 51-yarder for the Chiefs against the Bengals neatly tied a double bow on things. His kick hit the safety net so high up it looked as if it might have challenged Tucker’s 66-yard NFL record. How much better can these kickers get?
Loser: Anthony Richardson
Would the Colts have been better off keeping Gardner Minshew? It feels wrong to suggest so, considering the upside of Anthony Richardson’s ridiculous arm – the overhead view of his 60-yard score last week has to be seen to be believed. But his former backup did have some success last season as the Colts just missed out on the playoffs, a scenario that feels unlikely under the prevailing wind in 2024, with the Colts at 0-2. On Sunday Richardson’s high stakes style delivered all of the risk and none of the reward with three interceptions in an embarrassing loss to the Packers, who were led by backup Malik Willis. While QB suitability is always going to be questioned after such a defeat, the bigger issue for the Colts is how much pressure their flimsy defense is putting on Richardson. Behind the limited capacity of Willis, Green Bay’s plan was always going to be to run the ball. A lot. Yet Indy laid down to such an extent they allowed 164 rushing yards in one quarter and 261 in total, missing 16 tackles in the process. And this after they gifted 213 rushing yards to the Texans in the first week of the season. Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley’s run defense regressed despite knowing what Green Bay would do. The Packers just hogged the ball, chewing up an immense 40 minutes of possession to Indy’s 20, the exact energy-sapping split as against Houston. Richardson or any other quarterback will fail if the defense continues to skew games so wildly away from the Colts’ control.
Winner: defensive disciples
New Orleans and Minnesota were given intimidating defensive assignments on Sunday. The Saints had to stop a Cowboys team on a 16-game regular-season home winning streak, while the Vikings had a visit from Kyle Shanahan’s mighty 49ers. Both teams were huge underdogs. Both were driven to stunning wins through defensive might. While Derek Carr pitched an MVP innings on one side of the ball, his defensive counterparts pulled their weight with three sacks and two interceptions. Dak Prescott looked shot to pieces as he came back with nothing from three trips to the red zone. The Saints’ most impressive turn was cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry holding CeeDee Lamb to 90 yards on four catches. The rookie is proving a more than capable understudy to Marshon Lattimore.
The Vikings have their own star in defensive coordinator Brian Flores. He wrote the perfect script to disrupt Brock Purdy and the 49ers. Flores’s creative blitz schemes generated seven QB pressures and six sacks. Credit must also go to GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah whose acquisition of free-agent linebackers Blake Cashman, Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel has added bite this season. They each had one sack while Cashman also deflected three passes. Purdy’s honest post-game praise of Flores says it all: “Your scheme is crazy.”
