Texas Two Step : TEXANS/COWBOYS WEEK 2
“Keep your Saddle oiled and your gun greased” (Texas slang for be prepared)
The Cowboys demolished the Browns last week. They thoroughly decimated the Browns on both sides of the ball. Dak got his contract that he wanted and hopes to take the Cowboys to the promised land known as the Super Bowl. The Browns Defense was in the top five in the NFL last year. Dak picked them apart on each drive with most of them leading to points on the board. Dallas won and now they have their home opener this Sunday against the New Orleans Saints that looked impressive against the Panthers during week 1. Now there are high school teams who can give the Panthers a good challenge. The Cowboys take on a formidable team in the Saints. The offense is loaded with weapons from Kamara to Olave and if either one of them get going the Saints are hard to stop. Now with the Saints playing the Panthers the Offense and Defense were as scary as Wile E Coyote with any of his many devices. The Saints chewed up the Panthers pretty much the same way the Cowboys did to the Browns.
Derrick Carr played well last week throwing for 200 yards and 3 TD’s and Kamara 15/83/1 and Rashid Shaheed lead all receivers 3/72/1. The biggest surprise was Olave only has 2/11 on the day. First things first is the Saints defense was perfect week 1 but could but find them up against a very scary team. This is a game where we could see each and every offensive major talent shut down by this top three Defense in the NFL. Look for the Cowboys to do the same things on defense as they did to the Browns in the first week and that is to swarm Derek Carr. Carr is an above average Quarterback and has a plethora of weapons to use. Carr and the Saints were up against probably the worst team in the NFL today. The Cowboys will control this game from the first drive until the final gun. MY predictions for this game are dak will throw for more than 300 yards with 4 td’s. The running game does exactly what it did in week one and that creates shorter 2nd downs and 3rd downs. The longer drives go the more the opposition has to keep changing its game plan. Look for the Cowboys to obliterate the Saints by at least two scores and the Defense comes away with a pick six as well and Kevonte Turpin to drive special teams wild. The Cowboy’s will be victorious and win 42-17.
Now on the other side of the dance floor we have the Houston Texans and the Dallas Cowboys putting up notice of their plays as they fight for the best NFL team in Texas. The Texans take on the Chicago Bears from the NFC North. The Chicago Bears are a completely rebuilt offense. Chicago wasn’t passing up on the chance to be able to draft Caleb Williams (the NFL version of Lebron James and thanks Panthers) arguably the best player in the draft that took place back in April of this year and Chicago was one of the teams who were considered to have had one of the best drafts according to ESPN and Sports Illustrated. The Bears came out and this offense that everyone and their mother has been talking about could not get into the endzone. Call it first game jitters, maybe the offense wasn’t fully in sync or call it whatever but the Bears (mind you they played the panthers) offense came out and contributed nothing for the first game. The Bears Defense and Special Teams scored all the points. If the Bears think they are going to be able to do this against Houston and come out with a win then they are dreaming. Houston is a complete team at every level and we saw that on week 1 as Stroud got everyone involved in the victory.
This Game is the primetime Sunday night game and I am truly looking forward to seeing these young QB’s play at their best and maybe see some real explosive plays. Look for the Texans to score early and the Defense shuts down the young rookie to a score of 31-20.
DETROIT LIONS VS TAMPA BAY
The Lions picked up right where they left off last season by beating the Rams in overtime in week one. The Lions took the same attitude as they did in game one this season as they did in the NFC Title game last year. Goff hasn’t lost a step and the combo of Montgomery and Gibbs. Montgomery got the bulk of the carries with 17 while Gibbs had 11 rushing attempts but Gibbs Chipped in 4 receptions as well. Even though Montgomery got 8 more carries if you watched the game you could clearly see that Montgomery is the 1st down back and then it’s by committee. I said in my earlier articles the more complete Running Back back will lead the way by week 7. When I say complete that rush and receive out of the back field. Gibbs and Montgomery can and have proven they could do it but in the NFL now teams have to be balanced at not only offense but defense as well.
We also got to watch Baker cook for us in Tampa where he threw 4 touchdowns against the Washington Commanders 37-20. Baker picked up where he left off last season finding Mike Evans for 2 touchdowns and Chris Godwin for 83 yards and a score as well. The Lions gave up a lot of yards to Stafford. This is a rematch of the NFC Divisional playoffs last season that saw the Lions win 31-23. Goff threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns. The Lions defense had four sacks and forced two Mayfield interceptions.
I think the Lions and Cowboys are the most complete teams in the NFL. If you’re a weaker team and try to push past the “Pride” that is Detroit. You are going to be the ones going home with their pride hurt. This will be a close game but watch for the Detroit Lions to edge out the Bucs 24-21 – Mark Halpern
BENGALS VS CHIEFS
After getting over a disappointing week one loss against the New England Patriots by a score of 16-10,the Cincinnati Bengals are facing off against the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs are coming off their week one win against the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 27-20. Last week The Bengals struggled with Joe Burrow having an abysmal performance and Tee Higgins missing last week with a hamstring injury . Higgins will most likely miss this week as well, but he’s not the only one who could possibly be out on Sunday , tight end Tanner Hudson is now on limited practice due to knee injury and so is linebacker Logan Wilson .
Keys To Victory
Bengals Offense: The key to victory on the Bengals offense is going to be two things , one Burrow will have to be more mobile and they will have to give the ball to Zack Moss . The reason for that is because the pass defense for Kansas City is absolutely superb holding Lamar Jackson to only 122 yds . Zack Moss did a good job last week for the Bengals running 44 yards and a touchdown in his first game replacing Bengals running back Joe Mixon who is now in Houston. This would also take pressure off of Ja’marr Chase with Tee Higgins possibly being out .
Defense: The key for the Bengals defense would be the combination of Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard on the pass defense .Last week this duo helped contain Jacoby Brissett to only 122 yards. The pass defense didn’t allow any Patriots receiver to have more than 35 yards. Whoever suits up for the defense will have to realize quickly that they aren’t playing the Patriots, they’re playing the best quarterback in the NFL , Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Chiefs
Offense: The Chiefs offensive key to victory would be rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy. Worthy should now be seen as Mahomes new favorite target , last week he rushed for 21 yards and ran for 47 yards and scored two touchdowns. Worthy can also be seen as a worthy replacement as Marquesie “ Hollywood “ Brown who was placed on the injured reserve list .
Defense : Cornerback Trent McDuffie would be the defensive key of victory to the Kansas City Chiefs . Last week McDuffe contained Raven receiver Zay Flowers , now this week he is going to take on Ja’Marr Chase . With Higgins being doubtful this could make things easier for McDuffe because he would have a lighter load. There is a chance though that McDuffe would need help from the rest of the defense in covering him .
Prediction Chiefs 28 Bengals 17 – Bill Murphy
BROWNS AT JAGS
Both of these teams are coming off of disappointing week one losses. The Jags blew a 17-7 lead to the Dolphins. The Jags offense was shutout in the second half in the 20-17 loss. Trevor Lawrence was 12-21 for 162 yards and a touchdown. One interesting note was Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby both had 12 carries each. Now whether that has to do with Etienne fumbling or not we don’t know, but Bigsby outgained the former first round pick 73-44. Gabe Davis and Brian Thomas Jr. had good debuts with their new team combining for 7 catches for 109 yards and a touchdown.
On the Other side the Browns are coming off a 33-17 thrashing at the hands of the Cowboys (20-3 at halftime). Deshaun Watson really struggled. He was 24-45 for 169 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, and was sacked six times. Watson struggled throwing the ball down the field. In seven games against Jacksonville Watson has nine touchdowns and three interceptions with a 93.4 passer rating. Watson will not have tight end David Njoku, who will miss the game with an ankle injury. The Browns defense will also need to be better than they were against the Cowboys. Two teams that can’t afford to start 0-2 go head to head in Jacksonville.
Prediction
Browns : 24 Jags : 21 – Mike Rifkin
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