Steelers MMQB: NFL week 2 wrap up

What we learned in week 2 of the NFL regular season:

Bills fail to handle Brady
Mariota won’t be MVP after all
Miami loses sloppy game in Jacksonville
Cowboys lose Romo but beat Eagles
Ravens fall to 0-2 for the first time since 2005
Steelers drop the hammer on San Francisco

Only when the next week starts in the NFL do you really get the full extent of the overreactions from the previous week. Maybe Peyton Manning doesn’t have a wet noodle for an arm. Perhaps Jameis Winston isn’t going to stink every game he plays.

It’s possible that Marcus Mariota won’t be the second-coming of Andrew Luck after all. These things will all work themselves out over the course of the season.

For the Steelers, it was a picture perfect day on the North Side for the team to officially embark on their 2015 home schedule against the San Francisco 49ers. Maybe it was the extra four days the Steelers had to prepare since their last game, maybe it was the short week and the cross-country travel that left the 49ers flat. Either way the Steelers dominated and the city of Pittsburgh went to bed very happy on Sunday night.

The Steelers won, the Pirates won and the Ravens lost. It was a good Sunday for yinzers indeed. On to the games.

Rex is all talk, again

The Buffalo Bills were coming off of a huge win over the Indianapolis Colts and still Rex Ryan had to make this week all about his personal vendetta against the New England Patriots. Granted, no one actually likes the Patriots, or wants them to win anything.

Still, Rex Ryan proved yet again that he’s all talk when it comes to beating the Patriots. Tom Brady threw the ball 59 times for 466 yards and three touchdowns. Brady found profitable matchups all over the field with Rob Gronkowski, Dion Lewis and Julian Edleman, who accounted for 24 catches and 308 yards en route to the 40-32 victory for the Patriots.

So much for that ferocious Rex Ryan Buffalo defense, huh. Buffalo quarterback Tyrod Taylor came crashing down to earth with three touchdowns, three interceptions and two fumbles. He also got sacked a total of eight times against the Patriots suspect defense.

LeGarrette Blount made his return to the lineup following his one-game suspension with a whopping two carries. Well done.

Of course is Johnny Football time again

Marcus Mariota became the first Heisman Trophy winning quarterback to face back-to-back Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks in his first two NFL starts. Martiota’s NFL debut was damn-near perfect but his second game was much more realistic for a rookie quarterback.

Mariota’s offensive line fell asleep at the wheel leading to seven sacks and four fumbles for Tennessee’s quarterback. On the other side of the ball Johnny Manziel had touchdown passes of 60 and 50 yards and went 8 of 15 for 172 passing yards and no interceptions. Manziel did fumble the ball twice and will most likely resume backup duties when Josh McCown is cleared from his concussion.

Slop-fest in Jacksonville

You’d think with a line like 30 for 44, 359 passing yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions is the line for the winning quarterback. Dolphins Ryan Tannehill had a respectable day but the Dolphins defense gave up 123 yards on the ground to the Jaguars and committed some costly errors, leading to the 23-20 Jacksonville victory.

Defensive end Oliver Vernon was flagged for unnecessary roughness in the final minutes, changing Jacksonville’s potential game-winning field goal from a long shot to a chip shot.

The Miami Dolphins defense, who went out and upgraded to get Ndamukong Suh in the offseason, failed to get to Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles at all on Sunday.

The Jaguars traded veteran kicker Josh Scobee to the Steelers in order to hold on to rookie kicker Jason Myers. Myers kicked the 28-yard field goal with 40 seconds remaining to seal the victory for Jacksonville. I’m guessing the Jags aren’t willing to take Scobee back at this point.

Oh no Romo

Sep 20, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) is helped up by trainers after fumbling in the third quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Cowboys are 2-0 but are down two offensive stars. Last week the Cowboys lost wide receiver Dez Bryant with a foot injury and this week they’ve lost quarterback Tony Romo to a broken collar bone.

Thankfully for the Cowboys they were playing the offensively and defensively inept Philadelphia Eagles. For anyone who was hoping to see that genius Chip Kelly at work with all of the changes the team made in the offseason and his crafty ideas of an up-tempo offense. Keep waiting.

Sam Bradford had more rushing yards for the Eagles than DeMarco Murray did. As for the Cowboys and what their plans at quarterback include. They still have senior citizen Brandon Weeden hanging out and trying to figure out how to work the offensive playbook on the tablet. I’m sure that will work out fine.

FLOLacco again

If there is anything that can top a Steelers victory for Steelers fans it’s a Steelers victory plus an embarrassing loss by the Baltimore Ravens.

The Ravens found themselves in a shootout in Oakland and, in spite of Oakland’s nonexistent pass rush getting zero sacks on Flacco, still came up short when Joe “I’m totally Elite” Flacco threw and interception to seal the Raiders victory with a few ticks left of the clock .

Baltimore is still relying on 284 year-old Steve Smith to be their primary receiver and he did admirable pulling in 150 receiving yards on 10 catches. Both teams combines for over 200 yards in penalties, which is pretty impressive even for them.

Baltimore has to travel to Cincinnati next week and while I’m not all that jazzed to see the Bengals reach 3-0 I would be beyond tickled if the Ravens start the season in an 0-3 deficit coming into the Steelers game in a couple of weeks.

Dropping the hammer

The Pittsburgh Steelers started the season with some pretty big difficulties getting the ball into the end zone and getting points on the board. On Sunday, we saw what we hoped will be the 2015 Steelers going forward. The Steelers were a perfect 5 of 5 in the red zone and didn’t have to kick a field goal all day.

That was good because the only negative to come out of the game is that Josh Scobee doesn’t’ only have issues kicking field goals in New England, he also has problems giving extra friggin points in Pittsburgh.

Roethlisberger went 21 of 27 for 369 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. DeAngelo Williams broke a franchise record by scoring three touchdowns on the day with 77 yards on 20 carries.

The defense made their first appearance of the season with Ryan Shazier leading the way with 15 tackles, one sack and three forced fumbles.

Steelers kicker Josh Scobee missed his first extra point but connected on his next three after that.

Next: Steelers defense makes a statement

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