NFL Week 2 2022: 3 teams on upset alert this Sunday

1. New England Patriots

Reports throughout the preseason about the miserable state of the New England offense appeared to be accurate in Week 1. The Patriots had a ton of trouble moving the football against the Dolphins, losing 20-7 in a game that saw Mac Jones suffer a back injury.

The performance was alarming since New England generated just 271 yards of offense on the afternoon, including only 78 yards on the ground. Head coach Bill Belichick wrote off the loss after the game, calling it a competitive affair that was decided by a few key plays, but anyone who watched the contest could tell the Dolphins were clearly the superior team.

Despite their poor showing, oddsmakers have installed the Patriots as 1.5-point favorites on the road in Pittsburgh against a Steelers team that just went on the road and beat the reigning AFC Champion Bengals in overtime. The Pittsburgh defense forced Joe Burrow to commit five turnovers, which is excellent work, even if T.J. Watt will miss this game with a pec injury.

The fact that the Steelers are home underdogs against a New England team that looked incompetent for most of Week 1 is downright comical — a fact that Mike Tomlin will use as motivation for his squad on Sunday. The Patriots will have a lot of work to do to avoid getting upset here and starting 0-2 for the first time since 2001.