Tom Brady and the Buccaneers to face the team they just can’t shake
Week 2 features another slate of great matchups, with Tom Brady’s Buccaneers (1-0) facing their Achilles’ heel New Orleans Saints (1-0), who are Bro.’s Cincinnati Bengals (0- 1) facing Dak Prescott-less Dallas Cowboys (0-1), and another installment of the NFC North rivalry between the Chicago Bears (1-0) and Green Bay Packers (0-1).
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints
Its second game of the season presents a big challenge as the Bucs travel to New Orleans to face a team they can’t shake. The Saints have won their last seven regular season games against the Bucs, four of them in the Brady era.
Most recently, the Saints handed Brady his first home shutout loss of his storied NFL career. The 45-year-old quarterback, returning for his 23rd season, hasn’t lost more than three consecutive games against a single opponent since the Patriots’ 0-3 streak against the Broncos from 2005-09.
The Bucks’ biggest challenge this Sunday? Eliminating turnovers and sacks. In Brady’s last four losses to New Orleans, the Saints have gone 11-2 in turnovers and the defense has 13 sacks to Tampa Bay’s four.
On the other hand, the Saints will need to do much better than their season opener against the Atlanta Falcons to keep the streak alive.
New Orleans fell short on both sides of the ball early in the game, putting them down 16-3 at halftime. However, led by quarterback Jameis Winston, the team rallied, mounting a 16-point fourth quarter comeback behind Winston’s 213 passing yards and two touchdowns.
The Saints left Atlanta with a narrow one-point win, but just barely. The Bucs should be much stronger opponents and the Saints will need to deliver for all four quarters if they want to come out victorious, not just the fina, bnjl minutes.
It’s also worth noting that the current Saints head coach, Dennis Allen, is a former defensive coordinator who orchestrated defenses that have been successful in shutting down Brady in the past. He has a proven history of finding and exploiting weaknesses in the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s game.
Even though it’s only week two, both teams have an early chance to fight for first place in the division. They face off on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET for the first of their two regular season meetings.
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Dallas Cowboys
Joe Burrow’s Bengals had an underwhelming start to the season, to say the least.
A strong performance by Burrow (he threw five interceptions), and a string of missed opportunities, led to the Steelers’ overtime loss.
The Cowboys also opened the season as the only team without a touchdown in a week, a testament to the underperformance of the offense.
To make matters worse, quarterback Dak Prescott sustained an injury to his throwing hand in the fourth quarter, which would see him out for several weeks.
Despite the disappointment that comes with starting the season 0-1, opening the season with a losing record is nothing to worry about for either team.
Since 2002, 59.4 percent of playoff teams have started the season 1-1 or 0-2. Just last season, the Los Angeles Rams emerged as Super Bowl champions after starting the season 0-2. All that said, getting a win in week two would be a big confidence booster.
The Cowboys will have to adapt to the offense without Prescott. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush has just one career start, which came last year during Week 8 when Prescott was sidelined with a calf strain.
Rush had an impressive showing, throwing a clutch game-winning touchdown to wide receiver Amari Cooper in the final minutes of the game. Still, his inexperience could show against a tough Bengals defense.
Kickoff is set for Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.
Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers
The Bears meet the Packers at historic Lambeau Field on Sunday night.
The Packers look to bounce back from a 23-7 loss to the Vikings and continue their reign over this one-sided NFC North rivalry.
The Packers have won 20 of their last 23 regular season games, with the Bears last winning in 2018. But the way things have looked for Green Bay, this could be a chance for the Bears to solidify the win column.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers struggled against the Vikings, notably missing wide receiver DeVante Adams. He looked visibly frustrated throughout the game as Green Bay failed to crack double-digit scoring, and Rodgers went 22-for-34 for 195 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions.
Heading into Sunday night, the Bears are riding their high point of the week to a one-game win over the 49ers, in which they had 19 unanswered second-half points at rain-soaked Soldier Field. The Bears have speed, but the Packers have history. We’ll find out Sunday night, 8:25 pm ET.
Monday Night Football preview
The Buffalo Bills defeated the reigning Super Bowl champion Rams in their season opener, with quarterback Josh Allen throwing for 297 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-10 blowout win.
What is the key to Bill’s victory? The numbers indicate Allen’s versatility. A team’s winning ratio is 20-1 when a QB rushes and passes for at least one touchdown in the same game.
Including the season opener, Allen’s 21 games with at least one rushing touchdown and at least one passing touchdown are the most in the NFL since entering the league in 2018.
Allen and the Bulls will look to make their season record 2-0 against the Tennessee Titans on Monday night at 7:15 pm ET.
How to see
Here’s how to catch these teams and others across the league in action, wherever you are.
Australia: NFL Game Pass, ESPN, 7 Plus
Brazil: NFL Game Pass, ESPN
Canada: CTV, TSN, RDS, NFL Game Pass on DAZN
Germany: NFL Game Pass, ProSieben MAXX, DAZN
Mexico: NFL Game Pass, TUDN, ESPN, Fox Sports, Sky Sports
UK: NFL Game Pass, Sky Sports, ITV, Channel 5
US: NFL Game Pass, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, ESPN, Amazon Prime