15 Sep Week 2 NFL Action: Cowboys scramble to replace Prescott, as Bengals look for improvement

The first week of the 2022 NFL season was just as amazing as you could probably expect. There are a ton of new storylines around the league as we anxiously await Week 2. So, let’s dive a little deeper on the biggest things to watch out for during this second week of football, starting out with two teams that severely underperformed a few days ago. 

The first thing that we need to discuss is the entirety of the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys upcoming matchup. The Bengals had a horrific showing in the first half against the Pittsburgh Steelers with five turnovers on the afternoon. This was a team that didn’t look great offensively to start before getting some things going down the fourth quarter. So, can they bounce back in Week 2? That’s a similar question that Dallas will need to answer after Dak Prescott suffered a hand injury that will require surgery. Cooper Rush will be taking over the starting job for this game to try and make them competitive still. Though, even with Dak in the line-up, they were desperately missing Amari Cooper, Cedrick Wilson, and Michael Gallup out there. These two teams have a lot of questions to answer here.

The second thing to watch for is the Green Bay Packers rebound. Aaron Rodgers and this group looked lost out there against the Minnesota Vikings. It was the second straight year that they’ve been dominated in the season opener. Rodgers clearly missed Davante Adams running routes for him. That was apparent early on when the rookie Christian Watson dropped a would-be long touchdown. If Rodgers can’t connect with his fellow wideouts soon, they could genuinely fall to 0-2 if they lose to another division rival, the Chicago Bears. 

Then we have the New England Patriots. The Patriots were completely whooped by the Miami Dolphins in their season opener. The defense played well enough for the score to look decent, but the offense was entirely out of it throughout the game. Mac Jones was unable to connect with newly signed DeVante Parker much at all and the turnovers were piling up for them. To top it all off, Jones suffered a back injury that required X-Rays after the ga me to make sure it wasn’t serious. All in all, they are in dire need for a wake-up game and the match against the tough Pittsburgh Steelers is going to make it very hard. 

Then finally, I would talk about the New York Giants. The Giants took on the heavily favoured Tennessee Titans and Derrick Henry in the season opener and came out with a ballsy win. New head coach Brian Daboll showed his confidence in the squad when he elected to go for a two-point conversion to take the lead rather than play for a tie. Daniel Jones made some questionable throws on the day, but it was Saquon Barkley that came alive to drag them offensively. If he can stay healthy in this game with the offensive line playing as solid as they did last week, the Giants are a surprising team. They get to play in their home opener against the Carolina Panthers now, a team that they could genuinely beat and go up to 2-0 on the year. I’m sure this was something that nobody even anticipated being in the discussion at this point in the season but here we are. 

Photo copyright: James D. Smith/Dallas Cowboys