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Most exciting matchups to watch in Week 2

Posted by on Sep 12, 2014 06:12

An array of thrilling toe-to-toe situations unfold during a given NFL weekend and Week 2 boasts plenty on the forefront. Scan below for a micro-outlook at Sunday’s upcoming games—highlighting some of the most intriguing matchups that could significantly affect the outcome of said games.

Top five matchups to watch:

Patriots-Vikings: Tom Brady vs. Mike Zimmer

Last week Tom Brady notched the lowest yards per attempt of any QB, yet still ended up with the lowest completion percentage. How does that even happen?

I’ve heard the South Florida September “Swamp Monster” invoked and the Dolphins have historically played well in early-season home contests, while Brady has suffered a few shocking losses there. And the offensive line allowing pressure on 40 percent of snaps won’t help.

So now in the considerably less humid climate of Minnesota, we get an early-season litmus test on whether some of last season’s concerns for Brady are to magnify now at age 37. Vikings Coach Mike Zimmer is just the guy to exploit Brady’s deep-passing struggles in recent years, written in 60-point bold font across the Pats’ AFC title loss in January. Across the field that day, Peyton Manning’s age and diminished arm strength didn’t preclude him from ripping teams deep with timing and accuracy.

Brady has found nowhere close to that downfield success in the latter stages of his career. Manning finished second in deep passing accuracy in 2013 according to Pro Football Focus data. Brady has finished middle-of-the-pack over the past three years.

Brady’s overall skillset allows him to remain productive with savvy short/intermediate options like Shane Vereen, Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, but there are contests where the failing of the deep ball makes a colossal difference.

Zimmer’s Bengals held Brady and the Pats to six points in their 2013 meeting, with the caveat that they were playing through a monsoon. If Zimmer didn’t already have a reputation for effective gameplans against the league’s best quarterbacks, then this would be less of a concern for the Pats’ matchup in Minnesota.

Cowboys-Titans: WR Justin Hunter vs. CBs Morris Claiborne/Brandon Carr

On Sunday, Rod Marinelli’s defensive line cleared the extremely low bar that was set, but the secondary remained predictably atrocious, missing six tackles against San Francisco and looking lost — and often losing Vernon Davis — in coverage.

It’s brutal to imagine how they will crash the official Justin Hunter breakout party: RSVP by this Sunday 1 p.m. How much confidence could one have in Morris Claiborne and Brandon Carr — 92nd and 97th in 2013 PFF cornerback grades — contending with this:

Chargers-Seahawks: RT DJ Fluker vs DE Cliff Avril

DJ Fluker was among just two right tackles not to allow a quarterback pressure in Week 1. Cliff Avril leads 4-3 DEs in PFF’s pass-rush productivity metric after basically ruining Derek Sherrod’s life on Thursday. The Cardinals rattled Philip Rivers with heavy blitzing in the fourth quarter Monday night, but Seattle will rely on its front to get there.

Avril’s been a monster since the playoff run and the Chargers’ top 2013 pick faces a much bigger test than in a promising opener. Ditto for Fluker.

Bears-49ers: Colin Kaepernick/Read-option vs. Bears DBs/LBs

Colin Kaepernick faces a different defense than the one he broke out against in Week 11 of 2012. That Bears squad knew Jason Campbell would be their quarterback on national television. Mel Tucker has since taken over a Chicago defense that invested heavily via free agency and the draft this offseason. Yet this unit still features some major questions behind the improved defensive line.

That 32-7 Kaepernick emergence — 243-yard, 133.1 passer rating night — included virtually the same personnel plus some major positives including Carlos Hyde and Anquan Boldin for San Francisco. On Chicago’s side, Charles Tillman and Lance Briggs have pushed further into their 30s, the LB youth infusion has yet to pay dividends and Chris Conte’s still there.

So a Kaepernick read-option could very well turn to 20-plus yards at the second level. And if Kaepernick decides not to keep it, imagine what Hyde could do following a couple Frank Gore runs.

Jennings
(GIF via Niners Nation)

This week we’ll see how far this Bears defense has come from its precipitous fall catalyzed by that evisceration at San Francisco in 2012. The big question is how they handle a quarterback with questions in progression-reading but absolute certainty in his ability to stretch the field with both his arm and legs. What EJ Manuel and the Bills offense managed to accomplish at Chicago last week leaves Tucker’s unit with even more doubts to dispel.

Lions-Panthers: WR Kelvin Benjamin vs. Lions DBs

Detroit’s thinned secondary features only one cornerback above 6-feet tall and it’s 34-year-old Rashean Mathis at 6’1″. Safeties Isa Abdul-Quddus (6-1) and rookie Jerome Couplin (6-2) both went undrafted and washed ashore Detroit this offseason. The unproven unit far surpassed expectations on Monday night, but 6’5″ Kelvin Benjamin poses a troubling mix of height advantage and ball skills for this secondary.

A step up from Larry Donnell I’d say.

Other intriguing matchups:

Jags-Skins: Robert Griffin III vs. Gus Bradley

Seattle’s defensive coordinator for the Redskins’ January 2013 wild-card loss, Gus Bradley took a couple lumps from the Redskins offense early on but eventually landed the knockout punch when his defense got after a hobbled RG III. Two seasons after knee surgery, Robert Griffin’s still struggling to find effective mobility and elude pressure to a degree anywhere close to his rookie year, as Bradley’s Jaguars loom.

Falcons-Bengals: WR AJ Green vs. CBs Desmond Trufant/Robert Alford

Desmond Trufant doesn’t care that young cornerbacks take a relatively long time adapting to the pro level, leading the NFL in passes defensed and earning PFF Defensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2013. Green will see plenty of Trufant and fellow second-year Falcons CB Robert Alford; The latter only allowed three yards receiving into his coverage last week against the Saints.

Rams-Bucs: DT Aaron Donald vs. Bucs interior OL

The Rams lost the Week 1 war but their 13th overall pick won his battle convincingly, helping ruin the weekend for many Adrian Peterson fantasy owners. Bad news for a reassembled Tampa O-line that’s yet to really gel. Donald knifed through the Vikes’ interior for three stops in his NFL debut.

Dolphins-Bills: Rookie seventh-rounder RT Seantrel Henderson vs. DE Cameron Wake

Doug Marrone would do well to roll EJ Manuel out to the left as often as possible and pound the rock. If Wake can haunt Brady’s dreams, he can haunt Manuel’s.

Texans-Raiders: Oakland’s short passing game vs. Texans CBs

Derek Carr recorded the NFL’s second-lowest yards-per-attempt in Week 1 en route to 151 passing yards, which was a smart strategy against a superior Jets defensive line.

This helped keep things respectable and even produced an early touchdown drive from repeated WR screens, reminiscent of RGIII’s debut victory over the Saints in 2012. Houston cornerbacks Johnathan Joseph, Kareem Jackson and AJ Bouye (2 missed tackles) will be on alert.

Jets-Packers: LG Josh Sitton vs. Jets defensive front

Sitton ranks second in PFF guard grading after finishing the same in 2013. Eddie Lacy met plenty of company at the line of scrimmage against Seattle but it was of little fault of Sitton, who will be crucial in making space against a Jets line featuring the class 34 front of Muhammad Wilkerson, Damon Harrison and Sheldon Richardson. This front rarely yields much run push and continues to improve after allowing the third-fewest rushing yards in 2013.

Cardinals-Giants: RB Andre Ellington vs. Giants LBs/S Antrel Rolle

Bruce Arians will look for ways to match Andre Ellington against a perennially mediocre linebacking unit. The Giants will need their instinctive strong safety to blow up opportunities before Ellington finds open grass at the second level.

Chiefs-Broncos: RB Montee Ball vs. Chiefs’ interior

Montee Ball averaged only 2.9 yards per carry on Sunday night but the Colts’ invested heavily in run D this offseason and it showed on the field, with Denver’s OL often losing at the point of attack on Ball runs. The second-year back did, however, manage a league-leading nine missed tackles in the run game that night and turned a goal-line stuff into six points.

Lanes should be easier to come by against a Chiefs front-seven that just lost two critical cogs in ILB Derrick Johnson and DE Mike DeVito.

Saints-Browns: S Kenny Vaccaro vs. WR Andrew Hawkins

After a stellar rookie season cut short by injury, the rust showed in Vaccaro’s return against Atlanta in the form of six missed tackles to lead all NFL safeties. Without Josh Gordon, this Browns offense will lean more heavily on Andrew Hawkins’ 4.34 40-speed and ability to make plays after the catch. A costly tackle to miss 10 yards downfield.

Saints fans eagerly await some Week 2 redemption for their young star.

About Thomas Emerick

Merry freelancer. NFL Lead Writer at The Sports Daily, Contributor to Sporting News. May have also seen my work at USA Today, Bleacher Report, Pro Football Focus and the late AOL FanHouse. VT grad. I am also an avid diabetic.

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