The Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills treated us to a game for the ages to complete the Sunday opening week action in the National Football League. The Miami Dolphins look like they are dead in the water and Russell Wilson looks like the oldest person still standing in New York.
What did that tell us about what to expect in second week and ongoing NFL action?
Well, the Ravens are just like they have always been; dynamic and look like world-beaters one moment, and then finding a way to lose in the most disheartening manner. Last year, they opened the season with a loss in Kansas City when Isaiah Likely was found to be out of bounds on the game's last play instead of scoring a touchdown that could have won the game for John Harbaugh’s team. He had already motioned to go for game deciding two-point conversion attempt.
If that wasn’t enough of a blow to send Baltimore fans into the bars, they ended the season with usually sure-handed Mark Andrews dropping an open pass that would have tied the game in Buffalo and sent the Ravens possibly onto Kansas City for a chance to earn a Super Bowl berth.
You think that hurts? Try this; the Ravens lead those same Bills in the same stadium eight months later and build a 40-25 bulge on the scoreboard with four minutes left on the game clock. Baltimore’s star runningback, Derek Henry, who is getting all sorts of acknowledgements during the NBC telecast for moving up on the all-time rushing touchdown list and having another game with more than 150 yards gained on the ground is about to become the goat. That is a goat when that group of letters indicated a negative.
Uncharacteristically, Henry fumbled, and Baltimore suffered their only turnover of the night … which invigorated the Bills like a new slip-and-slide does a six-year-old on a hot sunny day. Total meltdown by the visitors and a Josh Allen led victory for a Buffalo team still looking for their first Super Bowl berth since dropping four straight Roman Numeral games beginning in the 1990 season.
What did we learn from this epic battle? The Bills and Ravens remain two of the best teams in the league and are still looking for whatever it takes to get through their conference playoffs and represent the AFC in a Super Bowl with either Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen leading the way.
This week, the Ravens are double-digit favorites at home against the Cleveland Browns. Easy. Right?
Well they were big favorites at home in the second week after their season opening crushing loss to the Chiefs last year too. They lost that second week of the season game against a Raiders squad that would go on to win only four games in 2024 and start this season without either the quarterback or head coach that led that upset win over Baltimore last September.
It looks easy for the Ravens … it’s not.
We lost a game I liked a lot on Sunday with the New York Giants at Washington Commanders. Why did I like it? Well, the Ravens defense was highly suspect both last year when they advanced all the way to the NFC Championship Game and on my charts entering this season. I am not anticipating Washington Quarterback Jayden Daniels to back up his spectacular rookie season with another campaign quite to that level. So, without unbelievable quarterback play and a loose stop unit I liked the Giants chances of keeping this one close with the real possibility of a straight-up win.
Didn’t happen.
Watching the game and rooting for the Giants was like being in the dentist chair for a root canal. It was painful, but seemingly always had a chance to at least win on the spread if Russell Wilson could just lead one touchdown drive for the Giants. Unfortunately, Wilson doesn’t appear to have any touchdowns left in the tank as New York was limited to just three points in each half enroute to a 21-6 loss.
What did we learn?
This is a tough one. Is the Commanders defense that much improved, or were they simply playing against an anemic Giants offense? This week, Washington travels to Green Bay for a Thursday night primetime matchup. The Packers hammered the winningest team in the league last year, the Detroit Lions, in their opener and we’ll get a much better read on the strength of the Commanders defense after they challenge Jordan Love and company.
Same argument for the Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins, what does their lopsided score mean? We can deduce the Dolphins are no good, but are the Colts behind newly acquired quarterback Daniel Jones special? They sliced, diced and mutilated Miami in their season opener, 33-8. If that result really is a sign that the Colts are good the Denver Broncos could be roadkill on Sunday.
Then there is the Kansas City Chiefs. The team that fell short of winning a record third straight Super Bowl last February and failed in their season opener in Brazil against the Los Angeles Chargers.
We think the Chargers are special this year, and their win over Kansas City, which was the first ever victory for Los Angeles Quarterback Justin Herbert over his division rivals, could signal good things to come for Jim Harbaugh’s squad. The Chiefs are graded down a notch from recent years by our calculations and the Chargers significantly up.
Now the real test for Andy Reid’s men. On Sunday afternoon they host the same team that blew them out in last year’s Super Bowl, the Philadelphia Eagles. If the Chiefs can’t win at home and drop to oh-and-two … well so much to do before we get to that matchup.