The NFL Season Has Been Off to a HOT Start

By: Ryan Duda

Staff writer

The first two weeks of Professional football have been full of many storylines. Some teams have been off to very impressive starts, while other teams already look like they’re going to lose every single game during the 2019 season. With the season being so early, there is so much that can change week to week. 

Beginning with some of the teams that have been shaky since the first snap of the season, the Miami Dolphins have already allowed 103 points to be scored on them, with the next highest points against totals currently standing at 63 with the Redskins and Giants. By the looks of the Dolphins performance and attitudes of their players, not many people want to be associated with Miami.

Other teams have already came across injury problems. The Pittsburgh Steelers, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars have quarterbacks out for multiple weeks, and likely the rest of the 2019 season. It has been announced by NFL Insider Adam Schefter via Twitter (@adamschefter), that Ben Roethlisberger has been diagnosed with an elbow injury that will take him out for the rest of the year. With a quality receiving core, it will be challenging for the Steelers to recover from this setback. It is an unfortunate situation for the New York Jets so far this season, as they have already had two quarterbacks go down. 

There have been a number of teams who have shocked fans and viewers with their early success in the season. The Bills, Packers, and Seahawks have already been showing off that they can compete with the favorites. Josh Allen, quarterback for the Bills has been giving the wild Buffalo fans something to jump through tables for. Starting off the season beating the other two ‘New York’ teams gives the momentum to continue the successful start to the year. With the preseason storylines from football fans and reporters alike on Twitter, it seemed like the Packers were going to struggle early on with the communication between Head Coach Matt LaFleur and Aaron Rodgers. Based on the looks of the Cheeseheads late game performance in the first two weeks, these issues amongst coach and QB must be riding on the backburner. 

Onto the teams that have looked super hot coming out of the first two weeks of football. The Baltimore Ravens have been absolutely going off under the control of Lamar Jackson, ex-Louisville star and 2016 Heisman Trophy winner. With an average of winning each of the first two games by over 27 points, these 2019 Ravens are surprising many fans across the country. Looking at other games from the first two weeks of the NFL season, the Chiefs, Patriots and Cowboys have been doing nothing but scoring touchdowns. Dak Prescott being in a contract year seems to be giving him all the motivation he needs to show Cowboys owner Jerry Jones that he deserves the money. Patrick Mahomes had a quarter in Week 2 where he had four touchdowns scored in just one quarter of football. This is no surprise from the 2018 NFL MVP and Madden19 cover athlete.

The New England Patriots have begun the 2019 season just like the 2018 postseason, by winning. With all of the Antonio Brown drama going on over the past few weeks, nothing would be more in Patriots fashion than Brown catching a touchdown pass from Tom Brady in his first week of play for New England. The Patriots defense also had two interceptions for touchdowns, showing that not only their offense is talent-filled.

Games to Watch:

For the upcoming NFL games in Week 3, there aren’t too many games that are going to be super competitive. Based off of early success and struggles from teams, there are only a handful of matchups that will display immense talent on both teams. The most anticipated game in the AFC this week is between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs. Both teams have great talent on the offensive side of the ball, predicting a high scoring game under the lead of Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. Another head to head battle that could be quite close with impressive rosters will be the LA Rams heading to Cleveland to play the Browns. Baker Mayfield and the Browns just came off an impressive win in Metlife Stadium, home of the New York Jets. This Cleveland offense may come off this Monday Night win and head back home for a solid game against the Rams.

Players to Watch:

Patrick Mahomes (Home vs Ravens, Sun. 1:00 EST CBS): After an impressive start to his 2019 season so far, nothing less should be expected out of Patrick Mahomes than multiple touchdown passes and crazy completions.

Gardner Minshew (Home vs Titans, Thurs. 8:20 EST NFLN): The new starting quarterback for the Jaguars has been all of the rave the past few days. From his crazy suits to his pregame rituals, his attitude is an electric factory for Jags fans and other football fans alike. His scrambles and attitude just show fans how much fun there is in the game of football.

Dak Prescott (Home vs Dolphins, Sun. 1:00 EST FOX): Dak Prescott has had a very good season so far with the Cowboys. Matching up against the Dolphins defense, nothing will hold the Dallas offense back from scoring points at home.