Your NFL Recap: Week 2

There were two things that were guaranteed coming into yesterday’s matchup between the Eagles and the Chargers. Any offense mentioned was going to be Philadelphia’s and that San Diego was likely to suffer from another come-from-ahead loss. Neither happened.

It came down to the wire, but for a change, Philip Rivers and the Chargers managed to hang on and come out on top, with a 33-30 win. However, they did lose Malcolm Floyd for the game (and possibly longer) after enduring a hard to watch hit that severely compressed his neck, rendering him motionless on the turf for several minutes. Reportedly, he was doing fine and a CT scan on Floyd’s neck was negative, a team source told ESPN.

On the other side, Philly showed that Chip Kelly’s offense still needs some work, but more importantly their defense needs an overhaul. It doesn’t matter how many points Michael Vick can facilitate if the defense can’t pull their end of the bargain. And thanks to the cushion that the offense is providing, they don’t have to play perfectly, but they do have to at least pretend to try to make some plays.

Meanwhile, the 49ers participated in a delayed game due to harsh weather, but there was no turning of the tides after the break. It was a defense struggle the whole way through and Russell Wilson had a tough night passing for the first half. And once everyone got reacquainted with the field post-rain delay, Seattle’s defense decimated Colin Kaepernick and the Niners. They were merciless, obliterating the wide receivers and knocking Vernon Davis clean out of the game.

Pete Caroll has had Jim Harbaugh’s number since last year’s thrashing and history repeated itself. Everyone’s best hope of beating the Seahawks in January is praying to the football Gods that they’re somehow not there. Nobody is going to want to see Seattle come playoff time. Especially not San Francisco. And of course yesterday’s beatdown brings up the question that will be brought up every time they lose.

Could Alex Smith have possibly changed the outcome…?

Quick Hits

— The Vikings were this close from improving to 1-1, kickstarted by rookie Cordarrelle Patterson opening kickoff return 105 yards for the TD. Then, Jay Cutler led a comeback victory for the second consecutive week with a touchdown to Martellus Bennett with 10 seconds left giving Chicago a 31-30 victory. Quietly as kept, Brandon Marshall is starting off this season on fire. He had seven more catches for 113 yards and a touchdown.

— Ok, Bruce Arians got his first win as Cardinals head coach after his team beat Detroit 25-21. But did they really have to give him the “Gatorade Shower?” For Detroit, Reggie Bush taking a helmet to his knee slowed him down dramatically and is something the Lions will monitor all week. If there’s any silver lining, at least Ndamukong Suh didn’t try to take anyone’s knees out this game. And Calvin Johnson did Calvin Johnson things (six catches, 116 yards and two touchdowns).

— Sam Bradford and Matt Ryan both tossed for over 350 yards, but it was Ryan’s effort that ended up with a 31-24 victory. All Julio Jones fantasy owners slept well after his 11 grabs netted 182 yards and a score.

— Peyton Manning and the Broncos are a well-oiled machine thus far topping 40 points for the second consecutive week. This time it came at the expense of little brother Eli helping Peyton improve to 3-0 all-time in the “Manning Bowl.” Aside from Manning tossing for 307 yards and two touchdowns, Knowshon Moreno looks pleasantly spry with 93 yards and two touchdowns helping Denver coast in the second half to a 41-23 W.

— Just when it appeared Carolina would escape Buffalo with a 23-17 victory. Then EJ Manuel found Stevie Johnson for a touchdown with two seconds remaining and everything went to hell in a hand basket giving the rookie his first comeback victory in a very young career. Not exactly the start of a season billed as extremely important for Cam Newton, Ron Rivera and the Panthers.

— Teddy Bridgewater best enjoy this cupcake schedule he has at Louisville this year. Things will be a lot more difficult when he inherits whatever it is they call an offense in Jacksonville next season. The Jags have scored 11 points through two games. Their latest example of offensive impotence resulted in a 19-9 loss to Terrelle Pryor and the Raiders.

— Perhaps Washington should use some sort of hypnosis to convince themselves the first half is really the second half. They’ve gotten blown out of the water the first two weeks of the season in the first half. It got so bad in Green Bay that they had to score 20 points in the second half just to pull it within 18 points (38-20). Aaron Rodgers had a career day going for 480 yards and four touchdowns.

— Mike Wallace won’t throw a hissy fit in the media this week. The high priced acquisition from Pittsburgh grabbed nine passes for 115 yards and a touchdown in a 24-20 Miami victory over the Colts. And yes, the Dolphins are 2-0 with both W’s coming on the road.

— Andy Reid returns to Philadelphia on Thursday with his Chiefs 2-0. That’s because Kansas City edged out a 17-16 over Dallas thanks to a comically bad final period for Tony Romo and company.

— The new Cleveland Browns beat the old Cleveland Browns 14-6. In other words, the Ravens beat the Browns. It wasn’t exactly the most exciting game in history, so instead, we’ll say congrats to Joe and Dana Flacco on the birth of their new baby boy.

— Start the petition to start calling them the Cardiac Texans. This makes two weeks in a row Houston wins in the game’s waning moments. This time, it took DeAndre Hopkins touchdown in overtime to give H-Town a 30-24 win over divisional foe Tennessee. Yeah, DeAndre Hopkins. Remember him?

— Thirteen points was enough for the Pats to improve to 2-0 on Thursday after beating the Jets 13-10. Tom Brady was pissed at his receiver. Geno Smith’s dropped what felt like 10 of his. It was an ugly ass game all around. The Pats need Gronkowski back in the worst way possible. You know, with Danny Amendola being made of paper-mache and all.

— Two years ago, the Saints went to Tampa and coach Sean Payton tore his ACL in a bizarre play when Jimmy Graham went careening out of bounds. Last year, the Saints won on a last minute play after the Bucs receiver stepped out of bounds before catching the potential game-winning touchdown.

I say that to say this: when the Saints come to Tampa, crazy sh*t goes down. This week was no different as Breezus recovered from two picks to lead his team to a game-winning field goal as time expired. Don’t look now, but the Saints defense has allowed 14 points (seven of them coming on a 30-yard drive) in seven quarters.

Thanks, Cowboys.

Photos, Video: Getty, The Big Lead, NFL

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