How fitting that a Seattle-New England game came down to the final play on the one-yard line just like their Super Bowl classic.
This time, the Seahawks won when they stuffed Cam Newton. But the interesting thing is Bill Belichick cost his team 20 seconds on the final drive when he failed to call time out with the team at the 29.
They might have had more than one play at the one if he hadn’t waited until there were three seconds left to call his final time out.
–Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes pulled out another comeback over the Chargers to go to 2-0 and set up what could be a preview of the AFC title game when the Chiefs meet 2-0 Ravens next Monday night. The Ravens beat Houston.
–Chargers coach Anthony Lynn blew a chance to upset the Chiefs when he punted on 4th-and-1 in overtime. Better to go for it than to give the ball to Mahomes.
–Despite the loss, the Chargers seemed to find out that rookie quarterback Justin Herbert is the quarterback they thought he was when they picked him on the first round. He made an impressive showing as last-minute replacement for Tyrod Taylor. Taylor was sidelined when the team doctor punctured his lung when he tried to give him a pain killing shot for his cracked ribs. Taylor may never get the job back.
–Two aging quarterbacks who changed teams, Tom Brady and Philip Rivers, bounced back from opening game losses to post victories. Meanwhile, another old quarterback, Drew Brees, lost so all three quarterbacks at 1-1.
–Dan Quinn of Atlanta and Matt Patricia are on the hot seat as they both blew leads to fall to 0-2. The Falcons became the first team to score 39 points and not get a turnover and lose. And the players apparently weren’t drilled on the onside kick rules when they watched as Dallas recovered the ball. Patricia has now lost 11 in a row and the Lions have blown double digit leads four games in a row.
–Coaches keep making mistakes on when to go for two. New Dallas coach Mike McCarthy went for two while down nine points. They failed to make it, remaining two scores down but were rescued when Atlanta botched an onside kick.
–Eleven teams — Jets, Dolphins, Broncos, Bengals, Texans, Giants, Eagles, Lions, Vikings, Falcons and Panthers – are off to an 0-2. With the playoffs expanded from 12 to 14 teams, it may be easier to overcome an 0-2 this year, but none of these teams have the look of a playoff contender. But it is likely that 21 teams are now fighting for 14 playoff spots.
–It’s interesting that there are not only 11 teams at 0-2, there are the same number at 2-0. They are the Cards, Rams, Seahawks, Packers, Bears, Bills, Chiefs, Raiders, Ravens, Steelers and Titans. Look for the majority of them to make the 14-team playoffs although I would never bet on a team with Mitch Trubisky at quarterback.