NFL Winners and Losers Week 2: Cowboys somehow pull out a win despite defense struggling badly

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/nfl-winners-and-losers-week-2-cowboys-somehow-pull-out-a-win-despite-defense-struggling-badly-142201652.html

The Dallas Cowboys somehow pulled a win out of the fire, thanks to Brandon Aubrey. And with very little thanks to their defense.

The Cowboys are 1-1 but they have some clear issues. Dallas rallied despite Russell Wilson throwing for 450 yards and three touchdowns to get a 40-37 win in overtime. The Cowboys’ defense finally made a play in the bonus period, picking off an errant Wilson deep pass that had no chance of being completed. That was a gift, and it set up a long George Pickens catch, a Dak Prescott run and Brandon Aubrey’s fourth field goal that ended the game. Dallas’ defense didn’t make many other plays, but it didn’t flub the one Wilson handed them in overtime.

After Dallas took the lead with less than a minute to go in regulation, all the Cowboys had to do was keep the Giants out of the end zone. But Wilson hit Malik Nabers for a go-ahead 48-yard touchdown. The Cowboys got a phenomenal 64-yard field goal from Brandon Aubrey to force overtime after that, saving what would have been an embarrassing loss. Aubrey became the first kicker to hit a game-tying field goal with no time on the clock in regulation and the game-winning field goal with 0:00 left in overtime as well, according to NBC.

It’s telling that the Cowboys needed one of the longest field goals in NFL history just to force overtime at home against the Giants. Wilson was fantastic until the overtime interception. Perhaps a Cowboys pass rush from Micah Parsons on Wilson’s biggest plays would have changed things. Dallas’ defense looked pretty bad without him.

The Cowboys lost in Week 1, and that wasn’t the worst outcome or unexpected. They faced the Philadelphia Eagles on the road, and gave the defending champions a tough test. With some extra days of rest before Week 2, the Cowboys should have looked good against a Giants team that didn’t play well in Week 1 and wasn’t expected to do much this season.

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Wilson has heard calls for his job going back to the preseason. And the Cowboys had no chance to stop him. When Prescott and the offense puts up that many points at home, Dallas should easily beat anyone. And that’s especially true against the Giants. But they took until the final play of overtime to finally get the win.

The trade of Parsons will be talked about for a long, long time. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones keeps trying to defend it with various reasons, including a favored crutch of his that he wanted to fix Dallas’ run defense. The trade fixed nothing. It’s usually not the best business to trade a Hall of Fame pass rusher in his prime. The Cowboys will be reminded of that every time the defense plays like it did Sunday.

The Cowboys somehow pulled out a win. That’s good because a loss would have set off panic alarms. But it was clear Sunday that their defense has a long way to go before Dallas can start thinking about being a playoff team.

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 2 of the NFL season:

WINNERS

Shane Steichen, with some luck: The Colts had a weird strategy at the end of Sunday’s game, deciding to run the ball repeatedly and settle for a very long field goal on the final play to win it. Spencer Shrader had to try a 60-yarder and he missed it. Steichen was going to be criticized all week for his conservative approach to the final drive.

But there was a flag on the play. The Broncos were called for a questionable leverage penalty on the kick. That was a 15-yard foul, and Shrader made a much easier 45-yard kick to give Indianapolis a 29-28 win.

The win was a bit lucky due to the penalty, but the Colts played well. Jonathan Taylor had 165 rushing yards, 50 receiving yards and a touchdown. Daniel Jones did a fantastic job too. Jones had 316 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions against one of the best defenses in the NFL.

The Colts are 2-0. They were very close to that being 1-1, but they got bailed out for another shot at the win.

Eagles defense: The Philadelphia Eagles’ offense wasn’t great Sunday. It didn’t need to be.

The Eagles had just 216 yards of offense but that was enough for a 20-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Philadelphia kept KC scoreless in the second half until the final minutes, after it had taken a 20-10 lead. It wasn’t quite as dominant as its defensive performance in Super Bowl LIX, but it was enough for a win.

The Eagles are 2-0, while the Kansas City Chiefs are 0-2. It wasn’t perfect for Philadelphia on Sunday, but its defense was good enough to get the win.

Lions offense: As it turns out, the Green Bay Packers’ defense might just be really good.

The Lions struggled badly in Week 1 to get any yards and didn’t score a touchdown until a meaningless one in the final minute. When Detroit wasn’t playing Green Bay, its offense looked a lot like it did last season.

Jared Goff had a big day and the Lions cruised to an easy 52-21 win over the Chicago Bears. Goff had 334 yards and five touchdowns, including three to Amon-Ra St. Brown. The Lions had 511 yards and put up 52 points against a Bears defense that played well through three quarters in Week 1.

The Lions didn’t look good in the opener and there was a lot of concern about them going forward. There was no need to panic.

Drake Maye: In Week 1, Maye didn’t play well. Facing the Miami Dolphins’ defense can lift anyone’s spirits, though.

Maye completed 18 of 21 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns, giving him a 142.9 passer rating, and he ran for a touchdown too as the Patriots held on to a 33-27 win. The Dolphins had a fourth quarter lead but the Patriots got a big play from the special teams, as Antonio Gibson ran back a kickoff 90 yards for the go-ahead score. New England caught a big break with just over a minute remaining when it seemed like De’Von Achane had scored a touchdown, but he barely stepped out at the 26-yard line. New England got a stop after that.

The Patriots were in some danger of being an ugly 0-2 with losses to the Raiders at home and the Dolphins. They salvaged the win, with Maye looking a lot better than he did in the opener.

Matthew Stafford: Hey, remember when everyone was panicked about Stafford’s back in August?

Stafford is one of the toughest players in the NFL and while we might not know exactly how healthy he is, he looked good Sunday. The Rams were in a tough spot, playing a non-conference foe as a big favorite on the road in an early game, and they fell behind 16-13 in the third quarter. But Stafford threw a couple touchdowns as the Rams put up 20 straight points to get out of Nashville with a 33-19 win.

The Rams have a lot to like this season. Their defense looks very strong upfront. Davante Adams is a good addition and Puka Nacua is still one of the NFL’s best receivers. Both WRs scored Sunday. And as long as Stafford’s back holds up, the Rams have nothing to worry about at quarterback.

Mac Jones: He has had his moments as an NFL quarterback. All the San Francisco 49ers want is for him to keep things afloat until Brock Purdy comes back from injury.

The first start for Jones in San Francisco went very well. The 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints 26-21 with Jones throwing for 279 yards and three touchdowns. For all of the angst of the 49ers’ injuries, they’re 2-0 to start the season.

With Purdy out between 2-5 games due to a toe injury, according to an NFL Media report, Jones will play a big part in the 49ers season. There’s plenty of talent around him to succeed.

LOSERS

Carolina Panthers: There was some excitement for the Panthers coming into this season. Bryce Young played fairly well at the end of last season. It seemed strides were being made by him and the Panthers as a whole.

The Panthers made Sunday’s game interesting at the end, but their poor play for more than three quarters was too much to overcome. The Panthers trailed 27-3 before coming to life, and had the ball trailing 27-22 in the final minute. But Bryce Young was sacked by the ageless Calais Campbell on fourth down with 26 seconds left and the Cardinals won 27-22. The Panthers are 0-2.

Maybe that fourth-quarter rally sparks something because nothing has looked particularly good for Carolina through two weeks. Young hasn’t gotten better since his promising finish to last season. Carolina’s defense is still poor. The Panthers have started with two road games, but they’ll need to play a lot better to make those home games matter.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jaguars had the lead in the fourth quarter and Joe Burrow was out of the game for the Cincinnati Bengals with a toe injury.

If we want to take the Jaguars seriously, that’s a game they should win. Instead, Jake Browning rallied the Bengals and scored on a quarterback sneak with 18 seconds left for a 31-27 victory. It was a great win for the Bengals, though with obvious concern about Burrow’s health. For the Jaguars, it was a gut punch.

The Jaguars couldn’t put the game away. Trevor Lawrence threw two interceptions in the first half, including an inexcusable one into the end zone. With a chance to put the game away with a touchdown in the final minutes, the Jaguars couldn’t punch it in and went for it on fourth down. They didn’t get it, leading to the Bengals’ game-winning drive.

The Bengals should be thrilled to be 2-0 without playing close to their best football. The Jaguars had a loss that will sting for a long time this season.

Justin Fields: In Week 1, Fields was excellent. In Week 2, it was ugly.

Fields completed 2 of 8 passes for 25 yards in the first half and also lost a fumble as the Buffalo Bills took a 20-3 halftime lead. The Bills had opened up a 30-3 lead by the time Fields went back to the locker room to be evaluated for a concussion. He was replaced by Tyrod Taylor. Fields finished 3 of 11 for 27 yards. That’s nowhere near good enough for an NFL starting quarterback. The Bills went on to win 30-10.

Fields will get at least this season to show he can be a viable starter, but his chances won’t last forever. He has always shown the ability to have good games, like he did in the opener. Consistency has eluded him. Two games into the season, the Jets can’t know what they’ll get out of Fields from week to week. And now, they don’t know if he’ll be healthy for Week 3.

Steelers defense: Pittsburgh seems to always have a good defense. That’s why the first two weeks have been so strange.

Justin Fields was great against the Steelers in Week 1, and absolutely awful when he was not facing the Steelers in Week 2. In Week 1, Sam Darnold struggled in a big way against the San Francisco 49ers. In Week 2, facing the Steelers, Darnold was much better. Darnold had 295 yards and two touchdowns as the Seahawks went on the road and won 31-17.

The common thread between Fields in the opener and Darnold on Sunday is that the Steelers’ defense has gotten wrecked twice. They’re still 1-1 thanks to Aaron Rodgers having a good game in the opener and them catching a break on a fumbled kickoff return — the opposite happened Sunday when rookie Kaleb Johnson inexplicably didn’t chase after a loose ball on a kickoff in the end zone, allowing Seattle to recover it for a score — but Pittsburgh isn’t going anywhere this season if its defense doesn’t get a lot better.

Joe Flacco and the Browns’ offense: It’s going to be a long season watching the Browns try to score.

Cleveland had a winnable game in Week 1 but its offense couldn’t score enough to overcome the Cincinnati Bengals. Week 2 was not winnable. The Baltimore Ravens didn’t even play well and the outcome was never in doubt. The Ravens slowly pulled away to win 41-17 as the Browns struggled to get anything going on offense.

The Browns face the Packers and their stellar defense next, then get the Lions, Vikings and Steelers. It’s not all Flacco’s fault that the offense isn’t very good, but if the Browns don’t play any better over the next four games then there might be a quarterback change to rookie Dillon Gabriel anyway. Not that a rookie QB would fix everything.

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/nfl-winners-and-losers-week-2-cowboys-somehow-pull-out-a-win-despite-defense-struggling-badly-142201652.html