The NFL Roundup Week 2 - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

(Brett Carlson/Getty Images)

Normally Week 2 in the NFL is the settling in period. The games are fun and there's some excitement, but this is the time of year where football just feels familiar and comfortable and we enjoy its return. Well this year Week 2 decided to buck that trend, giving us some incredible comebacks and stunning moments and stories that still have us talking. So without further ado, here are the top storylines from the field and what we learned from the second week of football in the NFL.

​The Buffalo Bills are a mess. 
We are only two games into the season and things are looking ugly for the Bills and their fans. The loss on Thursday night to the Jets spoke volumes to one thing in particular, that Head Coach Rex Ryan is in over his head and has no clue what the heck he is doing. Case in point, he fired his Offensive Coordinator, Greg Roman shortly after this game and I have to ask, why? Roman's offense put up 31 points in this loss, yet the Defense allowed the Jets to score 37. In fact, the defense had trouble stopping anything and everything the Jets threw their way, but the Defensive Coordinator is safe. Well of course he is, because the DC is Rob Ryan, Rex's brother, so heaven forbid he be held accountable for a piss poor performance. Firing Roman was a boneheaded move to say the least, and it speaks volumes to the dysfunction up there in Buffalo and it's stunning that ownership would allow for someone else to take the fall for Rob and Rex's bad coaching. But quite frankly, until Rex is let go by the Pegula family,this kind of dysfunction will continue. So buckle up tight Buffalo fans, there's a good chance you're in for one long and frustrating ride.

The Denver Broncos are still trapped in 2015...and that's a good thing for this team.
Last year, the Denver Broncos experienced perhaps the strangest season in the history of the NFL. Their hall of fame QB had trouble finding the end zone, and had a knack for turning over the ball, but the strength of their defense carried this to team new heights and a Super Bowl victory and well...not much has changed in the Mile High City. New QB Trevor Siemian is showing flashes of Manning in his play. Once he gets his offense inside the 30, he struggles finding the end zone or turns over the ball, but the defense continues to impress, forcing turnovers, and scoring in the process and quite frankly, it's eerie how much this team resembles the 2015 Broncos and that's not necessarily a bad thing. At some point the 'meh' quarterback play will come back to haunt Denver, but in the here and now, there's nothing wrong with sticking to last year's formula, it worked out pretty darn well for the team and the fans.

Rookie Quarterback Carson Wentz is looking like a seasoned pro.
Rewind the clock two weeks ago, and it seemed that any quarterback taken in the first round of the 2016 draft was going to spend their year on the bench, learning their craft. Then came the Sam Bradford trade and Carson Wentz got the nod and well...holy cow is this kid good. There seems to be no learning curve needed for this young man, he's doing a fine job of reading defenses and coverages, adjusting plays as necessary, and making one beautiful throw after another. He carved up the Chicago defense with little effort and it's equally impressive that he has yet to turn over the ball. Philadelphia definitely made all the right moves at QB this season and while I'm sure struggles are ahead, as they always are for a rookie, I'm sure they won't last long for Wentz as he continues to rack up the yards and touchdowns...and impress all of us in the process.

What the heck happened to Kirk Cousins?
This time last year, everyone was talking about Kirk Cousins' potential as a quarterback as he did his best to lead the Washington Redskins and improve his play week in and week out. It was a promising 2015 for the young man, so much in fact that he was designated the team's franchise player in the offseason via the Franchise Tag. But a long term deal was never hammered out, and Cousins landed himself a $20 million payday and now...well now he looks awful. His throws are errant or short, the leadership he exhibited last year no longer seems to be there and there's even talk now that the locker room has had enough of him...so what the hell happened? Well, if one had to speculate, you can't help but wonder if that giant contract is part of the problem. Cousins struck at just the right time to get one incredible payday, more than he would have likely made under whatever offer Washington sent his way so in a sad way it seems as though Kirk Cousins has taken the money and run if you will, and while I hope that's not the case, we've seen it happen in the NFL before and if he doesn't buckle down and start improving, we'll know his payday was more important to him than the sport or his teammates.

The Cleveland Browns season has already gone from bad...to worse. 
Well...two weeks into the new season, and it's obvious that nothing much has changed in Cleveland. The defense is still a porous mess, the coaching is sub par and they can't keep a quarterback healthy in any form or fashion. Sure Josh McCown stayed in the game after suffering a nasty shoulder injury and demonstrated how tough he is, but he wasn't the same after it happened and his performance showed it. But the ugliness of this loss doesn't rest with just McCown, an offensive line that allowed their QB to be smacked around all day is partly to blame, and a defense that blew a 20 point lead shares some of it too. If anything, the best way to describe their Sunday is a team loss, since everyone contributed in the wrong kind of way and at this point, it's hard to say what Cleveland needs to do to right the ship. As of this moment, there's simply no leader to inspire anyone on this squad, and that applies to both the players and coaches, which is shocking considering how fiery Hue Jackson can be...so until someone steps up and demands more of this team, it's business as usual; losing games in ugly fashion, making the fans unhappy and maintaining the status quo of being the laughing stock of the NFL.

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