Editor's note: The game recaps below are transcripts from the Harris Football Week 2 film review podcasts. We would encourage you to listen to the full episodes right here. Chris has bravely accepted the burden of watching every game each week, capturing details and context not available via box scores. Here's a taste of this week's review…
Cincinnati 3, Denver 28
This game was not particularly close and if you are in pure panic mode about your Bengals…well, I understand it. But I also want to caution against overreaction. And no, I don’t mean you’re overreacting if you watched last night’s game and decided the Bengals weren’t going to score a touchdown if they’d been allowed to play with 15 players on offense. That seems very true to me. I’m going to say: Jake Browning has been rough, there is no question about it, but he’s also had to face the Vikings and the Broncos. Those defenses are not good for your backup quarterback to play against.
And yeah, now that I look at the schedule, Lions/Packers the next two weeks, not great either. Maybe you can overreact a little. But I don’t wanna go selling Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins or Chase Brown for absolutely nothing. I understand if those guys have burned you bad — really through no fault of their own but because of Joe Burrow’s big toe — and you’re 0-4 in a fantasy league, well, you probably can’t wait. You probably have to go get someone you can use and not worry about. But in the long sweep of this season, I do think we’re going to get a big Ja’Marr Chase game and I do think Chase Brown will find the end zone, almost just through the law of averages. Although based on how it looked last night, oof … I mean, the very first drive was good. Chase got a downfield shot and if the throw had been a little more out in front, it might’ve been a house call. Higgins on a 3rd and 5 made a downfield catch over Riley Moss for 20 yards, they kicked a field goal, 3-0.
Second drive, Chase drew a relatively long pass interference call. And, uh. Yeah. Higgins had a long catch eradicated by an illegal formation penalty, which is just lovely. And despite Denver really not pushing the envelope — I’ll get to them in a second — they were merciful in this game. Despite getting a bunch of possessions, Cincinnati never ran another play in Broncos territory after the first drive. And Browning was just utterly overmatched, the interior of the Bengals O-line gave up insta-pressure. It was as bad as you can look.
I think the way we play these things theoretically, if we’re gonna play it like a poker hand, is we buy when it’s dark, not sell. Fortunately, I wouldn’t imagine too many listeners of this show took Chase first overall, so I hope it’s not you who are suffering with that particular fate. But of course, it is bad.
The Broncos, I think Sean Payton knew exactly what he’d be able to do in this game. I think he even told Joe and Troy that he expected JK Dobbins to get to 100 yards rushing, Payton’s first running back with the Broncos to do that in a single game. I think he used the final three quarters of this game as a lesson in physicality for his own team, to try and get the offense untracked, to get the rookie R.J. Harvey — The Six Foot Rabbit — a bunch more touches. These included some short targets where he is obviously not that comfortable — which meant there were several times it felt like Denver could’ve given the death blow and put the thing way out of reach, but this was 21-3 for a looong time in the second half.
Denver would run and punt, run and punt, knowing the Bengals were simply never gonna threaten them. They were, in short, extremely methodical. Yeah, okay, Bo Nix did throw the one pick in the end zone. I didn’t think it was that bad, a fourth down where he rolls right near the end zone and you might as well throw it even if everyone’s covered. A rookie linebacker made a nice play and picked it off, not a horrible sin. Nix had a rushing touchdown earlier himself. In the two-minute drill at the end of the half, Nix had a laser-beam throw to Marvin Mims on a rope, which was a great throw. It lead to a really good physical Courtland Sutton touchdown catch with 8 seconds left.
Nix himself needed a game like this. Maybe one other mistake, that throw down the left side in the first half that was just past Harvey. I know Aikman said he thought Harvey pulled up, maybe that’s right, but it was a missed connection that could’ve been a long touchdown. The pair would hook up for a basura touchdown at the very end when Dobbins had hit the century mark and been taken out of the game. But even though the opposing defense was absolute donkey excrement, I think after the start to the season they have had … well, a nice steady, easy win where everyone got to feel what good plays feel like was probably much needed for everyone. Denver is headed into a tough game Sunday in Philly against the Eagles.
NY Jets 21, Miami 27
We’ll do the other Monday night game, the first one, not exactly a clash of heavyweights. The Dolphins get to 1-3 while the Jets go to 0-4. Of course the most consequential thing that happened in this game: Tyreek Hill’s knee gets dislocated, pointing the wrong way early in the third quarter. Certainly he is done for the year, and that means … well, drafting him in the fourth round was looking like a pretty good call. The reasons people thought he wouldn’t be good didn’t involve a dislocated knee. But it’s a results-oriented business and now we have to find alternatives.
You’d imagine Jaylen Waddle sees an uptick in volume, but also an uptick in defensive attention. This Monday game notwithstanding, we can probably still cast a side-eye and wonder if the Dolphins offense is very good. But at the very least, for Week 5, we’ll be hiking Waddle in the receiver ranks — and beyond him, you have Darren Waller playing his first game for the Dolphins last night. At the end of a 96-yard drive, a fourth and goal from the 5 and the Dolphins go for it and Tua launches one way up to the crossbar and Waller goes up and gets it, getting his feet down.
To start the third quarter, at the end of the drive where Hill got injured, Waller had another touchdown that made it 17-3. So sure, of course, Darren Waller plays fantasy’s dumbest position, so he can be our Tonyan — we’re not mad if our Tonyan turns out to be more famous than the actual Tonyan. In a deeper league I can see taking a flier on Malik Washington, who on some plays you mistake for Tyreek Hill, just because he’s shorter and fast and rocked up. One suspects he’s not headed for Tyreek Hill’s career, but it’s been obvious that Mike McDaniel has made efforts through this first month to get him the ball, so he probably considers him a playmaker. But the answer, of course, is that losing one of the most dangerous wideouts in the NFL tends to be bad for your team.
A note about Tua: Y’know, the entire Miami offense has to be graded on a curve here because the Jets defense just can’t get its act together with penalties and truly horrible tackling. Good game for Tua Tagovailoa, but in the third quarter with a lead, he loses his mind a little and scrambles and takes a blow to the head on the way to the ground. His head snaps back, and, if you were watching, of course you were dreading what was gonna happen next — fortunately he was okay. But man, Tua, please don’t scramble.
And probably the actual biggest beneficiary is a player we were already valuing quite highly, De’Von Achane. He was the biggest beneficiary of the Jets tackling, that’s for sure. His touchdown run from the 9-yard line that made it 24-10, that was a man’s run. It was absolutely awesome— basically two complete ankle-breaking cuts on the same run, then powers in. He did have a fumble in the fourth quarter, but the Dolphins recovered. He does occasionally come out for Ollie Gordon in the red zone, but we are where we are and Achane touched it 21 times. I hope he stays upright, but for as long as he does … well, Panthers next week, love that. Chargers the week after, not as sure about that one.
My point being, I guess, that every Dolphin probably has an opponent-dependent ceiling, but Achane also has a nice floor.
The Jets, y’know, apparently Aaron Glenn told ESPN they needed to win by “eliminating stupid.” Listener, I am touching my fictional earpiece and being told that they did not eliminate stupid.
I mean, the players, unbelievable … so many mental mistakes. Sixteen total penalties. Braelon Allen with a horrendous fumble at the goal line at the end of a really good first drive. And the tackling is truly the worst in the league right now, which is amazing, considering they have some name-brand players on that defense. And I’m gonna lump the coaching in there, too. The ESPN guys were saying it and it was true: at the beginning of this game, the Jets could line up and tell the Dolphins where they were gonna run it, and Miami wasn’t stopping it. That first drive, 14 rushes on one drive, 76 yards rushing. They didn’t throw their second pass of the night until the 7 minute mark of the second quarter. They were averaging something like 9 yards per carry at that point — and then they fell behind but not by that much, and they just stopped running.
They throw a couple times, they commit penalties, they’re 4th and 5 in long field goal range and they go for it. Justin Fields drops back, fumbles softly. But it’s still only 10-0, and they kick a long field goal at the half and are only down 10-3. And then they fumble the opening kickoff for the second half, which isn’t great
Down 17-3, Fields a 4th and 1, he bootlegs and it’s clogged. He spins all the way around, runs all the way the other way, and goes 43 yards for a touchdown. End of the third quarter, they just throw-throw-throw. I don’t think that was very smart — against another defense, maybe. Against Miami, I would just keep running.
It wound up being a decent amount of rookie tight end Mason Taylor, Garrett Wilson had the one incredible touchdown catch where he was called for offensive interference — which was INSANE and a bad call. He caught a basura-time TD at the very end which was justice and a great catch.
We’ll have to see the state of Braelon Allen’s knee. Breece Hall was great and simply wasn’t given the ball enough. He was hobbling around a little at the beginning of the game but played a ton after that.
The Jets are not very good.