Where did all the scoring go? After a record-breaking opening week for offenses, defenses hit back in Week 2. The league scoring average dropped by about eight points per game, and only three games on Sunday saw both teams score at least 20. Despite the lack of scoring, Week 2 still delivered plenty of drama and memorable plays, including the Eagles\u2019 last-second touchdown to beat the Titans, the return of the Chiefs’ downfield passing game, and Ja\u2019Marr Chase\u2019s jaw-dropping catch in Houston. As always, we\u2019ll dive into the strategies, the matchups, and everything else that created Sunday\u2019s most memorable moments \u2013 along with what those moments mean for the future. The Eagles are masters of drama. A week after the defense prevented overtime with a two-point stand, Hurts stepped into the hero role with a game-winning touchdown pass in the final seconds. That was a bit of redemption for Hurts, who played well despite throwing two costly interceptions that kept the Titans in the game. But the first pick \u2013 which cost the Eagles at least three points and set up Tennessee\u2019s first touchdown \u2013 may have provided Hurts with the intel he needed for the game-winning play. Philadelphia lined up in the same formation on both plays: a bunch set to the right with Hurts lined up in the gun. On both plays, the Titans put seven defenders on the line of scrimmage in an all-out blitz look. Here\u2019s the pre-snap look on the first-quarter interception: And here\u2019s the pre-snap picture before Hurts\u2019s game-winning throw: Tennessee played the same coverage on both plays. The secondary is technically in man-to-man coverage across the board but can switch assignments if needed. The corners also have inside help from two defenders dropping off the line of scrimmage to pick up quick in-breaking routes. On the interception, Titans safety Amani Hooker sees the help is taking care of his man, so he falls off his original man to undercut Hurts\u2019s throw. Hurts and first-year offensive coordinator Sean Mannion banked that information for later in the game. Fast-forward to the end of the fourth, and the Eagles bust out that same formation, only this time, wide receiver DeVonta Smith motions into the bunch. The aim was to cross Tennessee\u2019s wires by forcing some last-second communication on who\u2019s covering who. And that\u2019s exactly what happened with two defenders picking up Smith\u2019s quick out-breaker. Smith slips, but it doesn\u2019t matter with Darius Cooper running wide open in the back of the end zone. Hurts quickly adjusted and found the open man. Ball game. The takeaway: It\u2019s still early, and the Eagles offense has been overly reliant on explosive plays and late-down magic, but I like what I\u2019m seeing from this Hurts-Mannion partnership through two games. Hurts is making throws we haven\u2019t really seen from him before, and Mannion has shown a knack for calling the right play at the right time. The game-winner against the Titans shows the young play-caller isn\u2019t just going through the motions. He\u2019s reacting to what he sees from the defense and coming up with counters on the fly. If Mannion can just get the run game going \u2013 which looks like a big \u2018if\u2019 after two bad weeks for the ground game \u2013 this offense will take off. The deep ball is back in Kansas City! At least it was for one night. If you squinted, you might have thought you were watching a game from the early days of the Mahomes era, back when the Chiefs quarterback used to chuck the ball downfield with regularity. These days, it\u2019s rare for Mahomes to hit one deep pass in a game, but in Sunday night\u2019s overtime win over the Colts, he hit\u00a0two. Wide receiver Tyquan Thornton, who was doing his best impression of Tyreek Hill against Indy, caught both. Thornton\u2019s second big catch may have saved the day for Kansas City. With the Chiefs facing third-and-12 on their first overtime possession, they dialed up the most famous play call in franchise history to move the chains: Wasp. Any Chiefs fan will instantly recognize that design from the biggest play of Mahomes\u2019s first Super Bowl win over the 49ers back in 2020. Kansas City runs it out of a trips formation, with the middle receiver running the “Wasp” route. That receiver starts as if he\u2019s running a deep over route across the field, then breaks back toward the sideline. It\u2019s really designed as a counter against defenses sitting on those deep crossers the Chiefs were known for when Hill was on the team. Obviously, Hill is no longer around, but the play was just as effective with Thornton burning the Colts secondary on a\u00a0deep crosser earlier in the game. On the Wasp play in overtime, the Chiefs line up in the same formation. At first, it looks like they\u2019re running the same play, with three in-breaking routes working across the field, right before Thornton breaks off the route, leaving Colts safety Kapena Gushiken a few steps behind. The takeaway:\u00a0We\u2019ll have to see the Chiefs do it again before we can say the deep passing game is officially back, but Kenneth Walker III’s presence has changed the math for opponents, who can no longer sit back in deep zone coverages against this offense. Mahomes hitting one deep ball would have been a good sign on its own. That he also hit the counter play for another big gain is the most significant sign of life this deep passing game has produced in years. Whether Thornton can sustain the downfield attack on his own is a fair question, but it\u2019s nice to know Mahomes can still hit those big plays when given the opportunity. Typically, I focus on plays in high-leverage situations, but I\u2019m making an exception for this Chase touchdown reception that opened the scoring in Cincinnati\u2019s impressive win in Houston. First off, holy crap. I shouldn\u2019t be surprised by anything Chase does on a football field anymore, but that play left my jaw on the floor. He\u2019s mid-stumble with the ball in the air, regains his balance, and somehow contorts his body to find the ball while keeping two feet in bounds \u2013 all in one seamless motion. It\u2019s an inexplicably athletic play. Even Chase couldn’t describe what he had just pulled off. “I literally don\u2019t even know what I did,” Chase said after the game. Chase\u2019s effort defies description, but even the decision to throw that ball is difficult to explain. Here\u2019s a still of the moment when Joe Burrow decides to throw it up to his star receiver. You\u2019ll see Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. in perfect position to defend the go-ball. He has about four yards of cushion over the top of Chase, and he\u2019s forcing the Bengals receiver toward the sideline, reducing the window for the throw. Most quarterbacks would see an All-Pro corner playing over the top of their guy and move on to the next read. Burrow just sees that No. 1 on the back of the jersey and says,\u00a0Screw it, Ja\u2019Marr\u2019s got me. More often than not, that strategy works out. While the play didn\u2019t come in a high-leverage spot, it did end up being the game-winning play for the Bengals, with the Texans managing just six points. The takeaway:\u00a0If it wasn\u2019t clear before the season, it is now: Chase is the best receiver in the sport. Some worthy competitors for his throne remain. Justin Jefferson is still amazing despite an untenable quarterback situation. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is one of the smoothest route runners in league history and just dropped three touchdowns on the Cardinals. But Chase breaks the rules of football. It doesn\u2019t matter if the defense throws an extra body at him or if a star cornerback has leverage on him. Chase makes his quarterback right even when he\u2019s kind of wrong. 1. Sometimes you just have to call it as you see it, and Tom Brady was right: this was an “absolute piss missile” from Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb. No defensive call is perfect, but the Commanders aren\u2019t far off here. The Cowboys are running one of their staple pass concepts. Some call it “Middle Read,” others call it “989,” but it\u2019s the same design either way. The two outside receivers run go routes, and the slot receiver reads the safety shell and either splits the safeties against two-deep coverage or runs a crossing route against single-high. Washington is playing with two deep safeties, with a linebacker running with that middle route, so the only way for Prescott to beat the coverage is to hit a hole shot along the sideline. And you\u2019re not hitting a hole shot against Cover 2 without throwing an \u2026 Prescott\u2019s touchdown that made him the all-time leader in franchise history also came on the same “Middle Read” concept. Washington\u2019s coverage made things a bit easier the second time around, and no piss missiles were necessary. 2. Bears-Vikings turned out to be a soggy dud, but let\u2019s give Brian Flores his, um,\u00a0flores\u00a0for the work he did against Ben Johnson\u2019s offense. The Vikings defensive coordinator won the first-down battle, which had a domino effect on Chicago\u2019s passing game. The Bears found themselves in several unfavorable situations, which allowed Flores to load the line of scrimmage with potential blitzers and dare Caleb Williams to figure out who was coming and who was dropping into coverage. The second-quarter interception came in one of those situations. With the Bears facing third-and-12, Flores sent a six-man pressure with five Vikings defenders dropping into coverage. That\u2019s all they needed to glove up Chicago\u2019s play call. It\u2019s as if Flores was in the huddle when Williams called the play. Linebacker Blake Cashman drops right into the throwing window to Kalif Raymond. He passes Raymond\u2019s route off to another linebacker who had just passed his initial man off to the deep safety. Meanwhile, the rush flushes Williams out of the pocket but doesn\u2019t let him turn the corner to scramble and forces the risky throw. It\u2019s a perfect snapshot of team defense. 3. Before Jets head coach Aaron Glenn\u2019s woeful clock management cost his team the game in overtime, offensive coordinator Frank Reich made a tactical blunder that got the Packers back in it. New York faced a fourth-and-1 with 1:20 left. Glenn made the right call to go for it, but Reich left many Jets fans miffed \u2013 a feeling they\u2019re undoubtedly familiar with \u2013 by lining up Geno Smith in the shotgun and calling a run straight up the gut. Fans wanted to see the Jets go under center and pound the rock. And the numbers back up that strategy in fourth-and-short situations. Over the last five years, lining up under center on fourth-and-1 has produced a 70% success rate for offenses, while shotgun formations have a success rate of just 59%, per Next Gen Stats. That’s a healthy gap. And while we\u2019re on the subject, lining up a tight end off the ball and asking him to cut off an edge rusher, as the Jets did with Jeremy Ruckert, is bad process and deserved punishment. Lukas Van Ness, who was unblockable all day, easily beat Ruckert inside to make the fourth-down stop and give the Packers life. The Jets defense held the Packers and forced overtime, but that failed fourth-down conversion cost New York a chance to win it in regulation and gave Glenn a chance to blow the game with a few odd decisions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Where did all the scoring go? After a record-breaking opening week for offenses, defenses hit back in Week 2. The league scoring average dropped by about eight points per game, and only three games on Sunday saw both teams score at least 20. Despite the lack of scoring, Week 2 still delivered plenty of drama<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33697"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33697\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}