Stuff happened in the rest of the NFL this week, believe it or not.
The Carolina Panthers stole the NFL headlines this week by benching second year quarterback Bryce Young in favor of Andy Dalton. That’s obviously captured the attention of Panthers fans, but it’s also been one of if not the biggest story in national media over the past few days. That doesn’t mean other things aren’t happening though. Let’s see what else happened in Week 2.
NFC South
The Saints might just be the best team of all time
The Panthers were embarrassed by the Saints in Week 1. We didn’t know if that was the Panthers being that bad, or if the Saints were really that good. Turns out it was a little bit of both. The Saints went into Dallas to take on the 1-0 Cowboys and beat the doors off them 44-19. It essentially followed the same script too. Rashid Shaheed caught a bomb in the first quarter and the Saints put the game away before halftime. It seems Klint Kubiak was the missing piece.
The Buccaneers are pretty good too
The Bucs pulled off an upset in Detroit. They weren’t quite as explosive as they were in Week 1 against the Commanders, but they did enough to notch a road win against an NFC contender. They’ve got the Broncos up next, so they have a very real chance to start the season 3-0.
The Falcons did a reverse Falcons
Kirk Cousins may have brought some good juju to ATL. The Falcons were dead in the water on Monday night against the Eagles, but Saquon Barkley dropped a wide open pass that would have iced the game. Cousins took the team on a rapid drive down the field to score the unlikely go ahead touchdown with just 34 seconds to go. Drake London got flagged for his gun charade celebration, but his coach gave him an all time spin zone.
The rest of the NFL
The blue chip quarterback class has 0 passing touchdowns
There were six quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, and it was supposed to be one of the best crops of quarterbacks we’ve seen in a long time. That still might be true, but the class is taking their lumps early. Three of the six have played this season. All started both games, and the trio have combined to throw zero touchdowns and six interceptions. Shout out to Bo Nix for having four of those interceptions by himself.
The Giants and Commanders made history
The Commanders beat the Giants 21-18 on Sunday. It looks like a pretty normal football score on paper, but that score doesn’t do justice to what took place. Graham Gano pulled his hamstring on the opening kickoff, leaving the Giants without a kicker. They scored three touchdowns and failed every point after, be it a kick or a 2-point conversion. The Commanders added insult to injury by scoring their 21 points via seven field goals. That made the Giants the first team in NFL history to score three touchdowns to their opponent’s zero and still lose the game in regulation. Truly wild stuff.
Kareem Hunt is back in the league
The Chiefs added the former Chief to their practice squad given the long term injury to starter Isaiah Pacheco. Carson Steele and his flowing mane are the presumptive starter, but there doesn’t seem to be much confidence that he’s going to keep the job locked down.
Tua Tagovailoa is going on IR, but he seems intent on sticking around
Everyone and their mother had opinions on what Tua should do with his life after he sustained another nasty looking concussion on Thursday night. The Dolphins fumbled their handling of their starting quarterback the last time this happened, and they’re clearly being very careful not to do it again. He’ll be out for at least the next four weeks as the team and Tua take the cautious route with his recovery. Despite his history, it seems like all parties involved expect Tagovailoa to be back on the field in the coming weeks and months.