Dear readers, we have done all the overreacting we can about Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season. We’ve found the New England Patriots’ unstoppable run play, praised Sam Darnold, called Kevin O’Connell a maestro, graded the rookie quarterbacks, and wondered about Aaron Rodgers.
Now that we have caught our breath … let’s pre-overreact about Week 2!
Here are our six bold predictions for Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season.
Saints come crashing back to Earth against Cowboys
New Orleans enjoyed an ideal start to their 2024 season, blowing out the Carolina Panthers by a final score of 47-10.
Things will be much different this week against the Dallas Cowboys.
With Dak Prescott and company the Saints will go up against an offense that can put points on the board and a quarterback that can get his team into favorable situations, and make the defense pay when they blitz. According to Pro Football Reference the Browns blitzed Prescott on 25.7% of snaps last week. The result? Touchdowns like this one from Prescott to Brandin Cooks:
New Orleans blitzed Bryce Young on 38.5% of snaps last week. While it worked in Week 1, it might not work for them in Week 2.
There are a lot of bounce-back QB performances
If you look at the Week 2 schedule it’s prime for a lot of guys who disappointed to make strides. Bryce Young plays the Chargers in a game the Panthers should absolutely lose, but last week Los Angeles allowed Gardner Minshew to complete 75 percent of his passes. Daniel Jones should be able to perform much better against the Commanders secondary. Aaron Rodgers faces the Titans, a team he can definitely pick apart.
All of these might not happen, but after an opening week of down QB play there’s a lot of reason to believe these guys will turn out in Week 2.
Patriots get to 2-0
One of the more surprising results of Week 1 came in Cincinnati, where the New England Patriots stormed into town and upset the Bengals by a final score of 16-10. The recipe? A stout running game, a strong defensive performance, and some timely plays on special teams.
This week the Patriots host the Seattle Seahawks, who are coming off a one-score win over the Denver Broncos. Seattle faced rookie Bo Nix in that game and got the benefit of two big mistakes from the rookie passer, one of which came with the Broncos already in field goal range.
West Coast teams coming east have often struggled in games during the early window, and that coupled with what the Patriots showed last week gives New England a big chance at another upset.
Deshaun Watson gets benched
It’s ludicrous to think there’s a “must win” game as early as Week 2, but that’s where we’re at with Browns vs. Jaguars. Cleveland can’t allow itself to get into an 0-2 hole in the AFC North, and what we saw from Jacksonville in Week 1 is that this team can score.
If the Browns find themselves in a hole, while also knowing there’s an ongoing investigation into Watson, then there’s a scenario where benching him and trying to spark the offense with Jameis Winston is definitely an option. It’s feeling more and more like this Deshaun experiment is coming to a close.
The Bears finally score an offensive touchdown
The Caleb Williams era in Chicago got off to arguably the funniest start you could’ve imagined. The Bears won 24-17, but the Bears offense did not score a single touchdown. However, going back and watching the game, Williams and the passing game had their opportunities to connect for big plays downfield, but drops and the rookie inaccurate ball really slowed them down. Although they play the tough Texans’ defense, there’s going to be opportunities to hit major plays downfield.
Williams, with another week of preparation and more time to build chemistry with his receivers, should play a lot better in week two. The Texans’ pass rush will give them fits, but if Williams can get enough time, he can hit some plays downfield and the Bears will finally get their offense on the board in 2024.
The Buccaneers and Lions give us an early game of the year contender
The last time we saw Tampa Bay and Detroit face off was in the divisional round of the playoffs, with Detroit winning a thriller. This year, they face off in Week 2, and this game has the potential to give us fireworks. Bucs’ QB Baker Mayfield is playing more confident than ever, and the Bucs are designing concepts to get the ball downfield at the edges of the defense. On the flip side, the Lions are still one of the favorites in the NFC, and are coming off a win as well.
With both offenses playing at an extremely high level, this game has the potential to be the best game of the year. Imagine telling yourself a couple years ago that Jared Goff and Baker Mayfield would be playing in a game of the year contender.
