In week 2 of the NFL season, the age-old adage “every dog has its day” rang truer than ever! What an electrifying week filled with jaw-dropping upsets that have left football fans everywhere utterly speechless! Underdog teams shattered expectations and proved that in the NFL, anything can happen. Week 2 of the NFL season truly epitomized the essence of “any given Sunday.
The biggest upset of the day came in M&T Bank Stadium, the home of the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens, who were 9.5-point favorites, unexpectedly lost to the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders started Gardner Minshew II at quarterback, and believe it or not, he outplayed the reigning MVP, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Jackson finished the game by completing 21 out of 34 passes for 247 yards, throwing one touchdown and one interception. Minshew finished the game by completing 30 out of 38 passes for 276 yards, throwing one touchdown and one interception. It appeared that they were evenly matched, but in reality, things played out quite differently. Jackson showed promise in the early stages, but when it came down to the wire in the fourth quarter, he faced challenges in making game-changing plays for his team. The Ravens were in the lead with a score of 23-13 at the 12:11 minute mark of the final quarter, but unfortunately, that was all they had. Meanwhile, Minshew rallied the Raiders to three fourth-quarter scores that concluded with a Daniel Carlson 38-yard field goal to make the score 26-23. After the field goal, the Ravens had 34 seconds of clock left to at least get them in field goal range with a chance to tie the game, but unfortunately, the Ravens couldn’t get it done and starts the season 0-2 for the first time since 2015, when they lost their first three games and missed the playoffs. Next week, they go into Jerry’s world to take on a Dallas Cowboys team that also suffered an upset loss in week 2.
America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys, got embarrassed on national TV while all of America tuned in. The New Orleans Saints, a team who dropped 47 points on the Carolina Panthers in week 1, came into AT&T stadium as 6.5-point underdogs. Who came up with that idea? I wonder who came up with the idea to give the Saints 6.5 points because it was not a good decision. The Saints dominated against the Cowboys and blew them out 44-19. The game was never close. In the first half, the Saints scored 35 points, and they made it look effortless. Derek Carr only threw the ball 16 times but completed 11 of those passes for 243 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. One of the passes was a 70-yard bomb to Rashid Shaheed, resulting in a first-quarter touchdown. In the second quarter, Carr threw a 57-yard pass to Alvin Kamara, which also resulted in a touchdown. The Cowboys looked hapless. The only touchdown they scored came in the first half on a 65-yard pass Dak Prescott threw to CeDe Lamb. Every other point the Cowboys scored came on field goals. Prescott finished the game by completing 27 of 39 passes for 293 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. The Cowboys have now lost two consecutive home games embarrassingly. The last home game they lost happened in the playoff when the Green Bay Packers beat them 48-32. Next week, the 1-1 Cowboys will have a chance to end their home-game losing streak against the 0-2 Ravens, who are favored by 2 points.
Another shocking upset happened in Minnesota. The Minnesota Vikings were 4.5 underdogs and defeated the San Fransico 49ers 23-17. The 9ers, as they call themselves, have one of the best rosters in all of football, despite their Pro Bowl running back Christan McCaffery being out. They still had Deebo Samuels, George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk, and Brock Purdy. On defense, they still have Frank Wanner and Nick Bosa. Plus Frank Mason, the backup running back who filled in for McCaffery, rushed for 100 yards that game. The Vikings started Sam Darnold at quarterback, their starting running back Aaron Jones only had nine carries, and the league’s best receiver, Justin Jefferson got injured in the third quarter. So how did the Vikings upset the 49ers? Coach Kevin O’Connell got the best out of his players that’s how. Darnold finished the game by completing 17 of his 26 passes for 268 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. One of his passes came on a 97-yard play to Jefferson for a touchdown. Jefferson gave a Randy Moss-like effort by catching only three passes for 133 yards. The 49ers didn’t put up the high-powered numbers like normally and they couldn’t get the stops they needed. Purdy completed 26 of his 36 passes for 319 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. In addition to Mason’s 100 yards, he scored a touchdown, and Samuels, who didn’t have a touchdown, caught over 100 receiving yards. They just couldn’t get any stops early in the game. The Vikings, who won at home last year without Jefferson, came into the game with more energy. After the first quarter, they led 3-0. Then they went up 10-0 on Jefferson’s 97-yard play before the 49ers finally scored on a 7-yard pass from Purdy to Kittle. The Vikings then answered with a 39-yard field from Will Reichard to end the half with the score 13-7. In the middle of the third quarter, the Vikings struck again with a 10-yard pass from Darnold to Jalen Nailor, bringing the score to 20-7. But then the 49ers decided to turn up the heat. They managed to score a 10-yard touchdown with Mason, but unfortunately, they couldn’t make the necessary stops. Although the Vikings didn’t respond with a touchdown, they clinched the game with a 27-yard field goal, putting them ahead 23-14 with just 3:30 left. The 49ers rallied with a field goal of their own, but in the end, they just couldn’t make the crucial stop, and Darnold took a knee to run out the clock and secure the victory.
I know the saying is every dog has its day, but the day rolled over to Monday. The last upset of the week happened in Philadelphia, where the 5.5-point favored Eagles lost to the Atlanta Falcons 22-21. In all fairness, the Eagles did play without their best player AJ Brown, but like the 49ers, their team is also star-studded. They have a Pro Bowl quarterback Jalen Hurts, a speedster wide receiver in DaVonte Smith, and their newest acquisition Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley. Who does the Flacons have? Veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins and a bunch of young bucks, that came ready to play. Cousins finished the game by completing 20 of 29 passes for 241 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. His most impressive touchdown came late in the fourth quarter. With 1:05 left on the playing clock, Cousin capped off a 6-play 70-yard heroic drive by finding second-year receiver Drake London in the endzone to give the Falcons a 22-21 lead. Hurts did have 34 seconds to get his team in the scoring position, but he threw an interception with 15 seconds on the clock and literally handed the Falcons the w. The Eagles lost this game to bad late-game execution. The game could’ve been over at the 1:36 mark in the fourth quarter if Barkley, who finished the game with 22 carries for 95 rushing yards and four catches for 21 yards, caught the ball that would’ve given the Eagles the first down. They would’ve kneeled the game out. The Vikings had no timeouts and no way to stop the clock. They also could have won the game after Cousin’s heroic play. Hurts could have done the same thing if he could’ve driven his team to field goal range and given his team a chance to in. Instead, he throws a pick.
What a week 2 for the NFL! Who would have expected all of these outright upset winners? Not me. I didn’t even mention the Green Bay Packers winning with their backup quarterback Malik Willis, but they were only 2.5-point underdogs against the Indianapolis Colts and the Buffalo Bills, who were also 2.5-point favored underdogs against the Miami Dolphins. But in addition to the underdog winners, there were a few underdogs that didn’t win but covered their Vegas spread like the Chicago Bears their 6.5 spread covering against the Houston Texans. The New England Patriots covered their 2.5 spread against the Seattle Seahawks, and the Cincinnati Bengals covered their 6.5 spread against the Kansas City Chiefs. We’ll see what week 3 in the NFL brings.
