Tuesday 27 September 2016 05:45, UK
Week 2 in the NFL did not quite match the drama of the opening weekend, but it did serve up some significant performances and quite a few notable results.
From the Rams' LA return to Big Ben's route to the Hall of Fame, there was plenty to enjoy during eight hours in the Sky Sports studios on Sunday evening
Here are just half-a-dozen story-lines that captured my attention...
Narrative-busting games
The Los Angeles Rams were supposed to be an awful team that might be forced to wait a long time for their opening win. The Atlanta Falcons were supposed to choke with Matt Ryan at the helm. And the Jacksonville Jaguars were supposed to follow up their impressive Week 1 display to even their record with a win over San Diego.
The only thing we know for sure in the NFL is that we never know for sure what is going to happen in the NFL. And that's the beauty of the league.
The Rams have still not scored a touchdown this season, but they are 1-1 after their 9-3 victory over Seattle, Ryan delivered big-time down the stretch for the Falcons as they beat the Raiders 35-28 and the Jags were truly awful on America's west coast, losing 38-14 to the Chargers in a game that was not even as close as that scoreline might suggest.
Winning the close games
The Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants flashed talent at times in 2015, but simply couldn't win the close games. And that meant they were on the receiving end of a couple of frustrating campaigns.
Fast forward to 2016 and both teams are 2-0 and both have found a way to secure the close victories that eluded them a year ago.
After a 20-19 win over Dallas in Week 1, the Giants stymied the New Orleans Saints and won on a chip-shot Josh Brown field goal as time expired.
With very little offense of their own, the Giants found a way to win, scoring on a 65-yard return off a blocked field goal by Janoris Jenkins.
The Ravens have played 10 straight one-score games and after losing most of them in 2015, they are 2-0 this year. Baltimore are far from perfect, as falling 20-0 down to Cleveland would prove, but they did show tremendous character to score the final 25 points in the game.
Winning such close games is vital in the NFL and can prove to be the difference between making or missing the playoffs.
Cam goes big
Cam Newton threw for 353 yards and four touchdowns on Sunday as the Carolina Panthers romped to a 46-27 win over the San Francisco 49ers. And all four of those scores went to big-bodied receivers who are going to play a huge role in Charlotte this season.
We know all about the skills of tight end Greg Olsen and he scored from 78 yards. But the star of the show was 6ft 5in receiver Kelvin Benjamin, who missed all of last year with a knee injury. He scored on two catches and topped 100 yards receiving on the night. Fellow 6ft 5in wideout Devin Funchess also found the end zone on a 16-yard grab.
What these players give Newton is some room for error in his throws because of their large catching radius and the freedom to drill it into tight spaces in the defence. Super Cam did both to good effect on Sunday.
Money talk
During the NFL off-season, much was made of contracts signed by three players who enjoyed mixed fortunes on Sunday. Quarterback Kirk Cousins signed a one-year franchise tag deal with the Washington Redskins that was worth a cool $19.95m, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck became the highest-paid player in NFL history with a $140m deal and Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller became the highest-paid defender in the league with a $114m contract.
Cousins and Luck saw their teams fall to 0-2 on Sunday, while the Broncos bullied their way to 2-0.
Cousins put up impressive numbers (364 yards) but was disappointing when it mattered the most - in the fourth quarter, with the game on the line and on the verge of putting the Dallas Cowboys away.
The Redskins led 23-20 with just under six minutes remaining when Cousins threw a horrible interception into the end zone to Barry Church. It was a wasted opportunity and Dallas promptly marched the length of the field for the game-winning touchdown.
Luck continues to play an aggressive and gambling form of football, probably because he understands he has little in the way of help around him. He saw his lone interception of the night returned for a Denver touchdown by Aqib Talib and, in a contest the Broncos would go on to win 34-20, he was strip-sacked by Miller and Shane Ray scored another defensive touchdown.
Miller certainly earned his money on Sunday with three sacks of Luck in that Denver victory. But questions could start to be asked about the other two and their salaries if their teams continue to make a poor start to the year.
Blount steps up
The New England Patriots were sticking it to the Miami Dolphins in the first half in Foxborough as Jimmy Garoppolo, subbing for the suspended Tom Brady, threw three touchdown strikes. But then Jimmy G suffered a shoulder injury and the Pats had to turn to rookie passer Jacoby Brissett.
No problem. Next man up, do your job and all that. The Patriots turned to veteran running back LeGarrette Blount and he answered to the tune of 29 carries for 123 yards and what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown.
There was a late rally from Miami but New England held on to win 31-24 and you get the sense this is a team that can survive any adversity thrown their way.
Big Ben strikes
The miserable conditions at Heinz Field meant the first instalment of Pittsburgh vs Cincinnati was not a classic, but it offered up enough to remind me that Ben Roethlisberger is heading to the Hall of Fame someday.
The two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the Steelers did not get great production from star receiver Antonio Brown (four receptions for 39 yards on Sunday), but he did spread the ball around in order to record a 24-16 win over the Bengals.
Big Ben hit nine different receivers and threw touchdown passes to Heath Miller clone tight end Jesse James, rookie tight end Xavier Grimble and veteran running back DeAngelo Williams.
It doesn't always look pretty and he certainly makes some of it up as he goes along, but Roethlisberger consistently delivers and should be mentioned in the same breath as the Aaron Rodgers and Tom Bradys of the NFL world when discussing the best in the business today.
