The Sunday nighter is a no-brainer. But picking between games in the packed day schedule can be daunting. Never fear. Here are three marquee matchups to keep an eye on this week.
New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills
1:00 p.m., Sunday
Buffalo hosts the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots in Week 2, and that means trying to defend the best tight end in the NFL: Rob Gronkowski.
Gronk had five catches for 94 yards and three touchdowns (which meant triple Gronk spikes) in New England’s season-opening victory against Pittsburgh. Ryan concedes that No. 87’s going to make catches, but the goal for the Bills is not to let him go off. Ryan won’t use one single player in coverage on Gronkowski, but if had a giant movie monster that might be different.
“No, we’re not going to ask just one guy and say, ‘Hey this is your guy.’ Shoot, he’d have to look like King Kong. ‘You got him, we’ve got the Gronk, we’re putting Kong on him,’” Ryan said at his weekly press conference.
If any defence (shy of the one that boasts King Kong…), has a shot at slowing down Gronk, it might be the Bills’. Buffalo’s defence flew around the field and held a high-powered Colts offence to just 14 points in a Week 1 win.
The Bills hit Andrew Luck six times and sacked him twice, but Brady presents a different challenge. New England’s quarterback knows Buffalo and Ryan-coached defensive units well.
While Ryan was the head coach of the Jets, Brady was very successful against gang green, completing 59.7 percent of his passes and tossing 21 touchdowns compared to just six interceptions—overall the Patriots had a 9-4 mark versus Ryan in Jets green. In 26 career games against Buffalo, No. 12 has a 23-3 record—he’s dominated the Bills.
Sexy Rexy can drop juicy quotes all he wants but if Buffalo is going to emerge as a legitimate contender in the AFC East the Bills have to find a way to neutralize Brady and ultimately beat Belichick—Ryan’s arch nemesis.
Meanwhile, the Bills’ merch shop is doing its part, engaging in a little psychological warfare:
Atlanta Falcons @ New York Giants
1:00 p.m., Sunday
This game counts as our upset special of the week. Atlanta travels to New York as 2.5-point dogs, but the Falcons can leave MetLife Stadium with a 2-0 mark.
Few people were giving defensive guru Dan Quinn a chance in his head-coaching debut against Philly a week ago, but Atlanta’s D looked like a totally different unit compared to years past. The Falcons hit Sam Bradford eight times and picked him off twice while displaying an attacking style. It really seems like Quinn has infused new energy into the entire Falcons roster, especially on defence where the birds needed help the most.
Turnovers were the main reason the G-Men somehow made a game of it in Dallas. Yes, New York would’ve won in Week 1 if Eli Manning hadn’t inexplicably throw an incomplete pass out of the back of the end zone to stop the clock and allow Dallas time to drive for the game-winning touchdown, but the truth is the Cowboys outplayed them by a large margin.
Julio Jones looks to be in the best physical shape of his NFL career. He shed five lb. for the 2015 season and said that’s added another gear to his speed. Philadelphia saw that firsthand when Jones torched the Eagles for 141 yards and two touchdowns last week. Jones missed practice Thursday but was back on the field Friday, so expect him to keep it rolling against a Giants defence with a lackluster pass rush and an uninspiring secondary.
Dallas Cowboys @ Philadelphia Eagles
4:00 p.m., Sunday
DeMarco Murray revenge game No. 1.
The 2014 NFL rushing champion was a free agent after rushing for 1,845 yards and he signed with Philadelphia in the off-season because the Eagles offered a lot more money. Dallas reportedly tabled a four-year, $24-million deal with $12-million guaranteed. Chip Kelly wanted Murray badly and inked him to a five-year, $42-million pact that included $21-million guaranteed. The Cowboys’ small offer clearly showed the team was OK with moving on from Murray. Time and victories will tell us if Dallas made the right choice.
Murray has played it cool in front of the media all week, but you know he would like nothing more than to rip through that Cowboys defence and put up an impressive stat line in a Philadelphia win. Plus, I feel like Kelly wouldn’t mind riding Murray to a victory and then sitting back and cackling maniacally.
Dallas suffered a big blow when Dez Bryant went down with a broken foot in Week 1, although that didn’t stop their star wideout from being fired up about the Cowboys getting a win.
It appears that six-foot-two, 208-lb. Terrance Williams jumps into the No. 1 receiver role for Dallas in Bryant’s absence. Expect Jason Witten—five receptions for 60 yards and two touchdowns in the Cowboys’ season-opening victory—to see more targets. In five career games Bryant has missed, Witten has 36 receptions for 402 yards and five touchdowns.