NFL: Teams In Panic Mode After Week 2 (2021)
The NFL season is just two weeks old and already there’s reason for many teams to panic already. While there’s still plenty of time to bounce back, certain teams have giant red flags:
New York Giants 0-2
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, the New York Giants are 0-2. That’s been their calling card for the fifth straight season now. While they lost by the smallest margin possible, that’s an 0-2 start with a loss in the division already. While the rest of the division has only 1 win, there’s a giant panic button waiting to be pushed. In a division that has no problem scoring points, the Giants are allowing almost 30 points a game to start the season while the rest of the division is approximately 21 ppg allowed. Point the finger at Daniel Jones all you want, if they could slow down other teams, they might be able to overcome his mistakes.
Miami Dolphins 1-1
If you thought their win against the Patriots was ugly, their loss against the Buffalo Bills was worse. 35-0, on your home field, in September, where the heat is supposed to be on your side. Not only did the Dolphins look like the team that was gassed out there, they couldn’t get pass protection causing an early exit for Tua Tagovailoa. For two quarters, Miami looked like they were going to be late starters, but once the 4th quarter came around it was all downhill from there. This one was the opposite of what Brian Flores has been preaching regarding mistake-free football. The Dolphins were in this one, but they couldn’t stop making mistakes to overcome the deficit.
MORE NFL: Teams In Panic Mode After Week 1 (2021)
New Orleans Saints 1-1
Whatever mojo that was there in Week 1, was gone by this game. Jameis Winston barely threw over 100 yards again but couldn’t get into the end zone either. No one thought he’d repeat the 5 touchdown game, but the two interceptions are his biggest mistake. That’s been Winston’s whole career, he’ll go out and have a 5 TD game, only to follow it up with a multi-interception game. It’s as if you could set your clock to it. He shouldn’t shoulder all the blame, but this far into his NFL career he’s got to figure out how to be more consistent.
New York Jets 0-2
Rookie quarterbacks deserve a bit more of a break than they get in the NFL. First, as much as you want to celebrate the QBs that come in and make an instant impact, it happens far less often than you think. Zach Wilson is your typical rookie QB who was thrown into the woods and told to survive with basic survival skills. The real reason to panic isn’t his fault, it’s the whole team. The Pats didn’t do a single thing special to beat them. Mac Jones, 186 yards. Their leading rusher, 62 yards. The leading receiver, 45 yards. New England did nothing but take advantage of a rookie QB and they did enough to stop one, yet it still was out of hand. These rookie mistakes will happen, they need to find ways to overcome them as a team.
Los Angeles Chargers 1-1
Its hard to put the Chargers on this list but we must. They had a big win in Week 1 and kept it close against a good Cowboys team in Week 2. However, it looks like the thing that doomed them in 2020 is carrying over to 2021. 75% of their wins/losses last year were by a touchdown or less. Fast forward to 2021 and the trend continues. Week 1 was 20-16 over the Washington Football Team where a late fumble saved the day. Week 2 was a 20-17 loss to a Cowboys team that went toe-to-toe with Tampa Bay. The Chargers need to figure out how to separate themselves in these close games if they ever want to truly contend with the top of the NFL.
Week 3 of the NFL season is on the way. Is anyone safe from panic other than the NFC West?
Rick ODonnell aka Caveman Rick has many years covering the Miami Dolphins, Sports, and all sorts of movies and television.
