Each week, the Wildcat Chronicle provides an in-depth look at the NFC teams and how they fared. This week, two teams saw a major increase in their grades: the New York Giants, who won against the Cardinals, and the Seattle Seahawks, who put in a great performance against the Lions.
NFC NORTH
Green Bay Packers. C-
The Packers were without RB1 Aaron Jones, and WR1 Christian Watson for the second game in a row, Jones and Watson both have hamstring injuries, and offensive tackle David Bakhtiari did not play because the game was played on artificial turf, he says, but did also have swelling in his knee because of a prior ACL injury he has been fighting for a little over a year.
Even with the absence of star players, they started off the game strong with QB Jordan Love throwing for a touchdown to rookie WR out of Michigan State Jayden Reed to take the lead in the second quarter. Love finished with 3 touchdowns, 2 to Reed and 1 to another rookie Dontayvion Wicks out of Virginia University, and threw for 151 yards. Love did everything he had to, to win the game but the loss fell on the defense and defensive coordinator Joe Barry who should have been fired a long time ago, by letting the Falcons‘ rookie running back Bijan Robinson rush for 124 yards when they knew that the Falcons were a run-heavy offense.
Loss 25-24
Record 1-1
Detroit Lions. C
The Lions fell to the Seattle Seahawks in overtime after a long hard-fought game. Jared Goff has thrown 383 pass attempts without throwing an interception, but that streak ended in week 2 when he threw a pick 6 to Seattle’s Tre Brown to put the Seahawks up by 10 with 8 minutes left in the game which the Lions would come back to tie but lose in overtime by a Geno Smith role out pass to Tyler Lockett on 3rd & 2. Amon-Ra St. Brown finished with 6 receptions and 106 yards, his afternoon started off a slow start but picked the thing up before leaving the game late due to cramping, which was a big loss for the Lions heading into overtime.
Loss 37-31 OT
Record (1-1)
Minnesota Vikings. B-
On Thursday Night Football, the Vikings went on to face the Philadelphia Eagles. Kirk Cousins‘s record in primetime road games is a disappointing 2-6, but that might be a stat that does not mean anything. Cousins threw for 364 yards and 4 touchdowns to 3 different receivers but evidently was not good enough versus Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense. The Vikings‘ run defense was atrocious versus Eagles running back D’Andre Swift when he rushed for 175 yards.
Luckily for the NFC North, every team lost so it wasn’t a total loss. This Vikings team might shock some people this year if Kirk Cousins keeps this level of production up.
Loss 34-28
Record (0-2)
Chicago Bears. D+
The Bears in week 2 were trying to redeem themselves with a win down in Tampa Bay after the week 1 loss to the division rival the Packers. Apparently, the Bears‘ defense had an okay performance versus Baker Mayfield and the Tampa offense, but far from lights out. Chicago‘s offense was better than last week but still not impressive: Justin Fields threw for 211 yards 1 touchdown but 2 interceptions – one of them was a pick 6 with 2 minutes left in that game on the possible game-winning drive. WR DJ Moore had more targets than last week and broke over 100 yards receiving on 6 receptions. A 0-2 start is not a good way to start a “new era”, but anything can happen.
Loss 27-17
Record (0-2)
NFC SOUTH
Atlanta Falcons. B
The Falcons came back from a 12-point deficit versus the Packers on Sunday afternoon. QB Desmond Ridder threw for 237 and one touchdown to WR Drake London and rushed for another but did throw an interception to Rasul Douglas in the first quarter and got lucky with 2 dropped interceptions from CB Jaire Alexander and LB Quay Walker that could have led to more Packers points.
The star of the game was the Atlanta rushing attack in Bijan Robinson. Robinson ran for 124 yards on Green Bay’s defense.
The Falcons‘ defense really came together in the 4th quarter by shutting down the Packers‘ offense but did not get any takeaways.
Won 25-24
Record (2-0)
New Orleans Saints. C-
On Monday night the Saints went to Charlotte, North Carolina to try to improve their record to 2-0 versus a really young Divisional rival in the Carolina Panthers. Even though they came out on top they did not show a lot of promise for the next upcoming weeks by barely slipping away with the win. Derek Carr and the rest of the offense had an okay game, but nothing jumped out about their performance. Carr threw for 228 yards with no touchdowns and an interception, their leading rusher was Taysom Hill who is a TE, RB, WR, and QB with 75 yards on 9 carries mostly because their starting RB Jamal Williams left the game early with a hamstring injury and their leading receiver was Chris Olave with 86 yards on 6 receptions. If the Saints can barely squeak out wins versus mediocre teams, there is not a lot of hope when they play average to above-average teams.
Won 20-17
Record (2-0)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. C+
QB Baker Mayfield shined in the sun, down in Tampa Bay by throwing for 317 yards and a touchdown on 26 completions. Mayfield‘s favorite target on Sunday was Mike Evans by completed 6 passes to him for 171 yards and 1 touchdown.
The Buccaneers’ defense was okay versus the Chicago Bears even though they got 2 interceptions, of which one got taken back for 6 by LB Shaquil Barrett in a clutch moment in the 4th quarter they let WR DJ Moore get 106 yards on 6 receptions which is a 17.3 yard per catch average which is not the best when a team is playing a mostly running QB.
Buccaneers fans should be a little worried about their secondary because they let Justin Jefferson in week 1 get 150 yards and now letting DJ Moore get 106 yards is not a good look.
Won 27-17
Record (2-0)
Carolina Panthers. C-
It is kind of hard to grade the Panthers’ Monday night performance versus the New Orleans Saints. The Panthers did not have a good game on either side of the ball; it just was not a good game in general if anyone wanted to see 2 competent teams.
Bryce Young threw for 157 yards 1 touchdown and no interceptions and the highest rusher for them in Miles Sanders only had 43 yards on the ground. If fans were just looking at the stats, this was a D- game for the Panthers, but looking at the score, one might agree it was a C+ game for them.
Panthers are 0-2 to start the season and both of their losses came from their division rivals which are not good if they find themselves in a tie in the division when the season is over.
Loss 20-17
Record (0-2)
NFC EAST
Dallas Cowboys. A-
The Cowboys are looking really strong to start their season, from their offense to defense there is not much to worry about. On Sunday, the New York Jets came into Dallas with Zach Wilson as their starting QB. The Dallas defense shut down the Jets’ offense by getting 3 interceptions off of Wilson and by letting him throw for only 170 yards and 1 touchdown, also the Jets’ 4 running back ran for 28 total yards combined. On the offensive side of the ball, QB Dak Prescott had a solid day under center with 255 yards throwing and 2 touchdowns.
If this Dallas team can keep this pace for the rest of the season – which is a tall task – they will be Super Bowl favorites in late December and early January.
Won 30-10
Record (2-0)
Philadelphia Eagles. B+
The Eagles on Thursday Night Football had a good performance, which was mostly carried by their rush attack in D’Andre Swift when he ran for 175 yards and a touchdown on a whopping 28 carries. QB Jalen Hurts had a below-average day by only throwing for 193 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. WR A.J. Brown did not demonstrate productivity, only getting 29 yards on 4 receptions and he let his QB know in a sideline argument late in the game. However, another WR DeVonta Smith stepped up to the plate and delivered with 131 yards and a touchdown on only 4 receptions. The Eagles defense is the only part to worry about, but when the team is facing a top 3 WR in the league, they are bound to leave him open at least a few times in the game.
Won 34-28
Record (2-0)
Washington Commanders. B
The Commanders’ game versus the Denver Broncos in the mile-high city was definitely a game with a lot of ups and downs for both teams’ fans. Commanders QB Sam Howell had a really good day by throwing 299 yards and 2 touchdowns, but RB Brian Robinson Jr. might have beaten Howell out as the player of the game with 2 rushing touchdowns and 87 yards on the ground, and 42 yards as a receiver.
Washington’s defense was, for sure, shaky during the game versus the Broncos’ offense by letting them score 33 points, but they still won, which is all that really matters at the end of the day.
Won 35-33
Record (2-0)
New York Giants. B
In the first half of the game, when the Giants were down 20-0, it looked like we would see another week 1 blowout, but when they came out of the locker room, something switched in them, and they shocked everyone watching when they came back to win the game behind the incredible performance by QB Daniel Jones, Jones threw for 321 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception.
The only bad news on the day for the Giants was when star RB out of Penn State Saquon Barkley went down with a sprained ankle; at the time, everyone thought the worst when he could not even put weight on it and got helped off by the Giants’ athletic trainers. Although he is officially day-to-day in terms of recovery, Head Coach Brian Daboll said he will not count out Barkley for their Thursday Night game on 9/21 though it is likely the latter will not play.
Won 31-28
Record (1-1)
NFC WEST
San Francisco 49ers. B+
The 49ers went to Los Angeles for a division match-up with the Los Angeles Rams.
The 49ers were led by RB Christian McCaffrey, McCaffrey ran for 116 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. San Francisco’s defense was another key factor in the contest, they got picked off Matthew Stafford 2 times and held the Rams to only 6 points in the second half.
QB Brock Purdy had an okay day throwing the ball, Purdy had 206 yards, and no touchdowns or interceptions. When a team has such a strong run game and defense, all the quarterback has to do is keep the ball out of the defense’s hands, which Purdy has done this year.
Won 20-13
Record (2-0)
Los Angeles Rams. C-
Going into halftime in this game, it was 17-17 and looked like anyone’s game, but in the second half, the Rams did not do so well, only scoring 6 points.
QB Matthew Stafford threw 2 interceptions in the second half alone but did throw for 307 yards and a touchdown. A bright spot on the offense was rookie WR Puka Nacua, who stepped up big time in the first 2 games of the season (which he had to do, thanks to Cooper Kupp being on the IR and not allowed to play till at least week 4). The Rams’ defense was poor, versus the 49ers’ rush, and they got no takeaways.
Loss 20-13
Record (1-1)
Seattle Seahawks. B+
The Seahawks drove into the motor city on Sunday and got in a shoot-out with the Detroit Lions. The Seahawks were led by QB Geno Smith and RB Kenneth Walker III. Smith threw for 328 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions in the Seahawks overtime walk-off win. Walker only rushed for 43 yards, but he had 2 walk-in touchdowns to help his team complete their come-from-behind win on Sunday afternoon.
Seattle’s defense did well against the Lions’ offense: they snapped Jared Goff’s no-interception streak with a pick 6 by Tre Brown.
A really good performance was needed by the Seahawks in week 2 after a surprising loss in week 1 to the L.A. Rams.
Score 37-31 OT
Record (1-1)
Arizona Cardinals. C-
The Cardinals were up by 20 at halftime versus the New York Giants, but in the second half, the Cardinals were not prepared for the Giants, giving up 24 unanswered points. The C- would have been a lower grade, but being up 20-0 at halftime is really impressive for the offense and the defense. That said, blowing the game to the Giants, who were coming off an embarrassing loss in week 1 to the Cowboys, might be equally or more impressive.
QB Joshua Dobbs and RB James Conner both had a good day despite the loss. Dobbs threw for 228 yards and 1 touchdown and Connor had 106 yards on the ground and a touchdown.
Score 31-28
Record (0-2)
