NFL Week 2 – Party Like It’s 2016

 

2020 has been a weird year. So let’s throw it back to 2016, where most of the NFL week 2 games have some type of connection.

Seahawks vs Patriots
2/7/2016 – New Patriots QB Cam Newton and Seahawks TE Greg Olsen played together with the Panthers in Super Bowl 50. Olsen and Newton were teammates in Carolina from 2011-2019.

Broncos vs Steelers
1/17/2016 – Speaking of the Panthers, that duo above lost to the Broncos, who beat the Steelers 23-16 in the Divisional Round. Denver had a 13 play drive in almost 7 minutes towards the end of the game, that was capped off by a CJ Anderson touchdown run.

Eagles vs Rams
4/28/2016 – Rams drafted Jared Goff #1 overall in the Draft. Eagles draft Carson Wentz #2 overall.

Cowboys vs Falcons
Dallas finished the 2016 season with the best record in the NFC and Atlanta finished #2 in the NFC. Dak Prescott won 2016 Rookie of the Year and Matt Ryan won 2016 regular season MVP.

Jets vs 49ers
12/11/2016 – Jets won 23-17 in overtime (1 of 3 wins all-time vs SF – 3-10). RB Bilal Powell ran for 145 yards, including a 19 yard touchdown in overtime to win the game. QB Bryce Petty started for the Jets and won his only career start (1-6). Colin Kaepernick started at QB for the 49ers (one of the final starts of his career) and RB Carlos Hyde ran for 193 yards. 49ers were coached by Chip Kelly, who would be fired after one 2-14 season.

Colts vs Vikings
12/18/2016 – Vikings lost 34-6 in Adrian Peterson’s Vikings finale. Peterson tore his meniscus during week 2, and played just 3 games in 2016, including this one. He returned just so he could get his final carries in purple and final ovation in Minneapolis. AP ran the ball 6 times for 22 yards. 

Raiders vs Saints
9/11/2016 – Raiders shocked the Saints 35-34 in a week 1 upset, when Derek Carr completed a pass to Michael Crabtree to convert game-winning two point conversation. 2016 season was the end of the Raiders’ 13 year playoff drought.

Dolphins vs Bills
12/26/2016 – Bills fired Rex Ryan, who went 15-16 in two seasons. Two days earlier, Bills lost to the Dolphins 34-31 in overtime on Christmas Eve in Ryan’s final game as a head coach.

Football Team vs Cardinals
12/4/2016 – RB David Johnson ran for 84 yards and a TD and had 91 yards receiving and a TD. 2016 was Johnson’s last great NFL season. Carson Palmer threw for 300 yards, 3 TD and Cardinals won 31-23.

Browns vs Bengals
9/17/2016 – Ohio State beat Oklahoma 45-24. OU QB Baker Mayfield struggled, completing 17-32 passes for 226 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT. Bengals rookie QB Joe Burrow was a red-shirt freshman on Ohio State, backing up JT Barrett.

Bears vs Giants
11/10/2016 – Daniel Jones and Duke beat Mitchell Trubisky and UNC. Coming into this game, Duke was 3-6 and 0-5 in the ACC, while Carolina was ranked #17 so this was a big upset for Jones and Duke. Jones completed 22-34 passes for 240 yards and a TD, plus 2 TDs rushing and 94 yards on the ground. Trubisky completed 24-33 passes for 297 yards, 3 TD and 2 INT

Texans vs Ravens
10/1/2016 – #5 Clemson beat #3 Louisville 42-36 in a primetime classic. Watson threw for 5 TDs (plus 3 INTs), threw for 300 yards and ran for 91 yards. Jackson ran for 162 yards and 2 TD and threw for 296 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT.

12/10/2016 – Lamar Jackson won the Heisman Trophy over Watson. Jackson received 526 first place votes and 2,144 points total. Watson received 269 first place votes and 1,524 points total.

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More on NFL Week 2 (non-2016 notes)

Patriots vs Seahawks – Rematch of Super Bowl XLIX. After Bill Parcells led the Patriots to the Super Bowl in 1996 and before Bill Belichick took over as head coach in 2000, Pete Carroll coached the Pats from 1997-1999, compiling a 27-21 record, going 1-2 in the playoffs.

Texans vs Ravens – Deshaun Watson faced Lamar Jackson for the first time in an instant classic on Saturday Night primetime during week 5. Both teams were 4-0, with Louisville ranked #3 and Clemson ranked #5.Watson threw 2 TDs in the final few minutes of the game. He completed 20-31 passes, 306 yards, threw 5 TDs and 3 INT and ran for 91 yards.Jackson completed 27-44 passes, 295 yards, TD, INT and ran for 162 yards and 2 TDs. But at the end, Jackson came up just inches short on the final play of the game. 

The significance of this game is that Clemson ultimately played for the National Championship and beat Alabama. If they would have lost this game, it’s questionable how the season would have played out and if they would have made it.

 Eagles vs Rams – Before the 2016 Draft, Rams made a trade with the Titans and Eagles made a trade with the Browns. And those trades became so much bigger as they ultimately turned into 17 trades, involving 16 teams and 49 players across four different drafts (2016-2020). 

Vikings vs Colts – Colts have won 5 in a row vs Vikings. Last Minny win was 1997 in week 17 to clinch a playoff spot. Colts QB was current Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh and RB Marshall Faulk ran for over 100 yards and 2 touchdowns. Vikings Hall of Fame WR Cris Carter caught 5 passes, 3 of which were touchdowns from QB Randall Cunningham.

49ers vs Jets – SF is 10-3 all-time vs Jets and 7-1 on the road. The one road loss came in 2004, when Chad Pennington and Curtis Martin led the Jets past the Tim Rattay-led Niners. 49ers finished that season 2-14 and would draft QB Alex Smith #1 overall in the 2005 Draft.

Raiders vs Saints – Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was 8-28 as Raiders head coach between 2012-2014. That includes an 0-4 record in 2014 during Derek Carr’s rookie season, in which he started those first 4 games.

Chargers vs Chiefs – KC has won 11 of 12. The one loss was in 2018, a Thursday night win for Chargers on the road to clinch a playoff spot. A late two-point conversion sealed the win for Chargers.