After a wild week of upsets in Week 1, these three NFL teams have to be very careful to avoid becoming upset victims in Week 2.
Week 1 in the NFL was topsy-turvy, as a lot of results were completely unexpected entering Sunday. Whether it was the Steelers forcing five turnovers to win on the road in Cincinnati or Seattle stunning Denver in the Russell Wilson revenge game, upsets reigned supreme around the league.
Some teams did good work to avoid upsets last week, including Philadelphia against a feisty Detroit team, but it won’t be as easy with a lot of tough matchups on tap for Week 2. Let’s take a look at three teams that could be on upset alert this Sunday, beginning with the Baltimore Ravens.
3 NFL Teams That Should Be On Upset Alert in Week 2
3. Baltimore Ravens
The final score indicates that the Ravens had an easy week against the New York Jets, but the game was actually close for a while. The Jets defense did a good job slowing down Baltimore’s running game, limiting the Ravens to just 63 yards on the ground, but the ineptitude of their offense and special teams allowed Baltimore to pull away late.
The Ravens are also significantly banged up, losing tackle Ja’Waun James and cornerback Kyle Fuller to season-ending injuries in addition to playing without J.K. Dobbins and Ronnie Stanley in Week 1. Despite all of those issues, Baltimore returns home in Week 2 as 3.5-point favorites against the Miami Dolphins.
This will be a much stiffer test for Baltimore than the Jets since Miami is a more complete team that easily handled business against the New England Patriots. Being at home will help here, but the Ravens will need to play a much more complete game if they want to avoid getting picked off in this one.
2. Indianapolis Colts
The addition of Matt Ryan, combined with a very soft open to the season, left plenty of experts projecting the Indianapolis Colts as AFC South champions. One aspect of the franchise that has gone underreported is the fact that Indianapolis has traditionally started slowly under head coach Frank Reich, a trend that continued in Week 1.
The Houston Texans, who are projected to be in the running for the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, built a 20-3 lead against the Colts before Indianapolis rallied to force overtime. Rodrigo Blankenship missed a potential game-winner in the extra session, leading to a disappointing tie that does have both teams in possession of first place in the division right now.
The Colts are on the road again this week as four-point favorites against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who lost in Washington last week but showed some signs of improvement in the contest. Trevor Lawrence looked more competent under a real NFL head coach in Doug Pederson, which should be a good sign for the Jaguars as they return home.
Jacksonville has also been a house of horrors for the Colts, who have lost seven straight trips to TIAA Bank Field dating back to 2014, including a Week 18 defeat last season that cost Indianapolis a trip to the playoffs. Failing to take the Jaguars seriously again could lead to an unwanted extension of that streak for the Colts.
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.