Patriots @ Jets:
New England struggled offensively and was not able to sustain any drives of consequence. Jacoby Brissett only completed 12 passes for 98 yards, and Drake Maye came in for mop-up duty in the fourth quarter. Pop Douglas had 7 receptions for 69 yards, but neither Hunter Henry nor Rhamondre Stevenson did anything of note.
Aaron Rodgers played his first game at home since the horrible injury that occurred last season. He was in complete control, throwing for 281 yards and two touchdowns. Breece Hall had 54 yards, a rushing touchdown, and 4 receptions for 29 yards. Braelon Allen looked terrific splitting time with Hall, getting 11 carries for 55 yards, and he also had three receptions. It still feels like Rodgers has not gelled yet with Garrett Wilson, but seeing him go to Tyler Conklin for five receptions for 93 yards was very encouraging. Conklin was one of my sneaky plays at the beginning of the season because Rodgers always finds a way to feature his tight end.
Giants @ Browns:
The Giants’ defense led the way, sacking Deshaun Watson eight times. Malik Nabers Roto had eight receptions for 78 yards and two touchdowns and was fantastic. Devin Singletary led the way as the Giants ran for 112 yards as a team. It’s encouraging for the Giants to play this well on the road, albeit against the team that had no offensive line.
At one point, I tweeted out that I thought the Browns should look toward Jameis Winston as their QB starter, and I still feel that way. When a team’s offensive line is as bad as the Browns is, Deshaun Watson is holding the ball way too long and he’s taking a lot of unnecessary sacks. The only Brown who played well was Amari Cooper, who had 7 receptions for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Cooper at home is always a cheat code.
Chargers @ Steelers:
This game was very close until the middle of the third quarter when Justin Herbert left the game with an injury. Herbert was very questionable all week, and after he took a rough sack, he was not able to continue play. The Steelers held the Chargers to 3.1 yards per carry. The only big play the Chargers had was a Quentin Johnston touchdown, which came on broken pass coverage. Without a better passing attack, they may have more weeks like this in the future.
Justin Fields led the Steelers with 245 passing yards and one touchdown, but it was really the Steelers’ defense that helped win the game. They sacked the Chargers five times and got in Herbert’s face all game long. Calvin Austin made a great play and had a very long touchdown reception of 55 yards. It’ll be interesting to see if he gets more opportunities moving forward, as he could be a sneaky pickup in the slot.