Dear readers, we have been overreacting as much as we can about Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season. New England Patriots' He praised the unstoppable running backs, praised Sam Darnold, called Kevin O'Connell a master, evaluated rookie quarterbacks and questioned Aaron Rodgers.
Now that we have a breather, let’s pre-overreact to week two.
Here are six bold predictions for Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season.
Saints return to earth after loss to Cowboys
New Orleans is off to an ideal start in the 2024 season. Carolina Panthers The final score was 47-10.
This week things will be very different. Dallas Cowboys.
With Dak Prescott and company, the Saints will be facing a scoring offense and a quarterback who can put his team in favorable situations and hurt defenses with blitzes. Pro Football Reference of Browns Last week, they blitzed Prescott on 25.7% of the snaps. The result? Touchdowns like this one from Prescott to Brandin Cooks.
New Orleans blitzed Bryce Young on 38.5% of the snaps last week, and while it worked in Week 1, it may not be as effective in Week 2.
There is a lot Revived QB performance
Looking at the Week 2 schedule, there are plenty of opportunities for underwhelming players to step up. Bryce Young Chargers The Panthers should lose this game, but LA held Gardner Minshew to 75% completion last week. Daniel Jones should perform better against the Commanders defense. Aaron Rodgers will face the Titans, and I'm sure they can beat this team.
There's no guarantee that all of these will happen, but after some poor quarterback performances in opening week, there's plenty of reason to believe these guys will perform well in Week 2.
Patriots 2-0
One of the most surprising results from Week 1 came in Cincinnati, where the New England Patriots stormed into town and defeated the Bengals by a final score of 16 to 10. The secret to this was a solid running game, a strong defensive performance, and timely play from special teams.
This week, the Patriots Seattle Seahawkswon by one score Denver BroncosSeattle faced rookie Bo Nix in that game and benefited from two costly errors from the rookie passer, one of which came when the Broncos were already within field goal range.
West Coast teams often struggle in preseason games when they come to the East, and coupled with the Patriots' performance last week, New England has a great chance to pull off another upset.
Deshaun Watson on the bench
It's silly to think there's a “must win” game as early as Week 2, but that's exactly what the Browns-Jaguars game is in. Cleveland can't afford to fall behind at 0-2 in the AFC North, and as we saw in Week 1 against Jacksonville, this team can score.
With the Browns in a bind and the ongoing investigation into Watson, benching him and rejuvenating the offense with Jameis Winston is certainly an option, and it feels like this Deshaun experiment is nearing its end.
The Bears finally scored an offensive touchdown.
The Caleb Williams era in Chicago had arguably the most entertaining start imaginable. The Bears won 24-17, but the Bears offense didn't score a single touchdown. But looking back at the game, Williams and the passing game had chances to lead to big plays downfield, but drops and rookie inaccuracies really held them back. They play tough, but… Texans'If our defense plays well, it will create opportunities for us to make big plays downfield.
With another week to prepare and more time to build chemistry with his receivers, Williams should play better in Week 2. The Texans pass rush will give them a hard time, but if Williams gets enough time, he could make some plays downfield and the Bears could finally have some offensive firepower in 2024.
Buccaneers and Lions present a contender for the first game of the year
The last time Tampa Bay and Detroit met was in the divisional round of the playoffs, with Detroit winning a close game. This year, they meet in Week 2, and this game could be full of fireworks. Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield is playing with more confidence than ever, and the Buccaneers are coming up with concepts to get the ball downfield on the defensive end. Meanwhile, the Lions are still one of the favorites to win the NFC and are coming out with a win.
With both teams' offenses playing at such a high level, this game has the potential to be the game of the year. Imagine if you said to yourself a few years ago that Jared Goff and Baker Mayfield were going to play in a game of the year candidate.
