Tampa Bay Bucs Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick – (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
The 2018 NFL season is only two weeks old with plenty of storylines. A handful of teams are out the gate with 2-0 records. There’s a young quarterback tearing it up, and a journeyman quarterback turning heads again. The Josh Gordon saga in Cleveland reached a surprising conclusion.
Here’s a look at a few storylines Baseline Perspective feels will be worth watching heading into Week 3…
On The Rise
The Kansas City Chiefs are off to a 2-0 start thanks to their young quarterback and explosive offense. Patrick Mahomes has thrown 10 touchdowns in the last two weeks, that’s crazy! The Chiefs are spreading the football around which makes their offense tough to prepare for. Seven different Chiefs players caught passes from Mahomes in their 42-37 win over the Steelers.
It’s not the Patriots sitting on top of the AFC East, that’s currently occupied by the Miami Dolphins. Ryan Tannehill isn’t playing like a quarterback returning from ACL surgery. Tannehill went 17 of 23 passing for 168 yards and two touchdowns in Miami’s road win over the Jets. He also pulled off a couple of runs for big gains, finishing with 44 rushing yards on 8 carries. There’s no denying that Tannehill looks good so far.
Had a chance to watch him in person yesterday and, yes, this shouldn’t be overlooked. Tannehill is getting it done. https://t.co/34wGbuz4SH
— Anthony Rushing Jr. (@TonyRushingNY) September 17, 2018
How real are the Bengals, at 2-0? Quarterback Andy Dalton looks good and the defense gave Joe Flacco and the Ravens fits on Thursday night football. But until the Bengals show they can win a postseason game under the leadership of Marvin Lewis, it’s buyer beware.
The Rams are expected to be a playoff team again this season. So, their 34-0 beatdown of the lowly Arizona Cardinals won’t get too many brownie points from me. Jared Goff threw for 354 yards and the defense held Arizona to just 138 total yards for the entire game.
Did the Broncos get it right with Case Keenum?
The jury is out on the Denver Broncos. I love Von Miller, he’s an impact player for their defense. But I’m just wondering do they have enough on offense, especially at quarterback. Case Keenum was money in the fourth quarter for each of Denver’s first two wins. His stats are ugly but he’s finding a way.
Reason to Worry
The Pittsburgh Steelers don’t look like a team having fun. They almost lost their season-opener to the Browns and had to settle for a tie. In week 2, they played host to the Patrick Mahomes show and came away losers to Kansas City. The Le’Veon Bell drama dominated the headlines leading into week one. No one knows when Bell will decide to return, meanwhile James Conner is making the most of his time to shine. But if all of that isn’t enough, star wide receiver Antonio Brown is beginning to show signs of frustration.
Antonio Brown in Fichtner’s face. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/dIIMZvL51s
— SteelVideos (@SteelVideos) September 16, 2018
This doesn’t look like a Mike Tomlin team, at all.
The New York Giants are in trouble, a familiar storyline from just a year ago has returned. 0-2 is never where an NFL team with playoff aspirations want to find themselves. The Giants, for all their re-tooling on offense, still have the same issues on the offensive line. They can’t run-block or pass protect. That’s bad for Eli Manning and really bad for everyone having to watch dreadful performances like their dud in Dallas on Sunday Night Football.
Fitzpatrick up to his old tricks
Ryan Fitzpatrick at the podium. (Image Credit: Mark LoMoglio/AP)
Tampa Bay is benefiting from some familiar “Fitz-Magic” to start their season. Journeyman quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, filling in for the suspended Jameis Winston, is on one of his hot streaks again. He’s thrown for over 800 yards and eight touchdowns to help the Bucs get off to a 2-0 start.
Fitzpatrick did this with Buffalo and the Jets, he parlayed both of those storylines saw him parlay opportunities into contract extensions. It appears he’s working his magic again. But Winston isn’t guaranteed to get his starting job back when he returns after week 3. Legal troubles off the field, and inconsistent play on the field, have contributed to the team’s tolerance of Winston growing shorter by the day.
Wide receiver DeSean Jackson has already voiced his support for Fitzpatrick.
“He’s been playing on fire right now,” Jackson said on NFL Network this week. “With the way the team is rallying behind him and just playing lights-out football, you have to kind of honor it…”
Jackson, currently leading the league in receiving yards with 275, continued by even taking it back in the day when presenting his case for more Fitzpatrick.
You can’t take the hot man out,” Jackson continued. “You got the hot fire right now. It’s like ‘NBA Jam’. We used to play ‘NBA Jam’—whoever’s got that hot fire shot, you got to keep shooting, man.”
I expect the Bucs are going to take this decision down to the wire.
And if Fitzpatrick lights it up again, this time in prime time on Monday Night Football against the Steelers, then it’s a no-brainer. They should stick with him until that fire goes out.
Additional Storylines to Watch
Josh Gordon (Image Credit – Diamond Images / Getty)
You have to start here with the New England Patriots and former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon.. The troubled, but talented Gordon has a chance to make good on a fresh start with Tom Brady. If Gordon is focused and ready to ball, it benefits the opportunistic Pats greatly. A legitimate deep threat is what Brady’s missing. Gordon, along with the eventual return of Julian Edleman from suspension, could put New England’s offense back on-track. The flip side to this storyline is how quickly Gordon adapts to “Patriots Way”.
The defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles announced quarterback Carson Wentz is healthy and cleared to play. The Eagles will start Wentz this Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. Wentz was having an MVP-type season before tearing the ACL and LCL in his left knee. Nick Foles stepped in for Wentz and kept the Eagles on-course all the way to the Super Bowl. But Wentz is this team’s present and future. How quickly he regains his form from before the injury will be worth watching.
Return of the Mack won’t be on Jon Gruden’s playlist
The Khalil Mack storyline has the potential to give Jon Gruden nightmares, if he’s not already having them. No matter how much Gruden tells the media he has no regrets about trading the league’s best pass rusher away from Raiders nation, we don’t believe you – you need more people!
The Chicago Bears, at 1-1, are scary on defense with Mack added to an already dangerous unit. He’s been dominant in his first two games as a Bear. The rest of the defense is benefiting because of it. When Mack’s not sacking the quarterback, he’s creating opportunities for his teammates. It’s because of the havoc Mack’s creating that has everyone on Chicago’s defense eating.
Mack has two sacks for the season, that’s as many as the entire Raiders defense has. Gruden got back first-round picks in 2019 and 2020, a third-round pick in 2020, and a sixth-round pick in 2019. Therefore, he better hope the Raiders hit pay dirt on at least three of those picks, because it may take that much just to help their fans move on from trading Mack.
