Welcome to Week 2 of Mike’s Takes, the blog where I watch football games and tell you what you should be taking away from them.

Week 2 has come and gone, and its biggest story was injuries. Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, and Nick Bosa all suffered serious injuries over the weekend. Some people are speculating that the spike in injuries is due to the cancelation of offseason activities and the preseason. I’m not sure if that’s true, but it makes sense. It sucks either way. Anyways, let’s get into the games.

Browns 35, Bengals 30

Here’s what I learned from Thursday: Joe Burrow is legit. He walked into Cleveland on a short week with a clearly inferior team and balled out. He threw the ball SIXTY ONE TIMES for 316 yards, three scores and no picks. Baker Mayfield had a pretty decent game too, but Joey B stole the show, even in a losing effort. I don’t think Cleveland is a playoff team, and I know for a fact that Cincinnati isn’t, but expect some wild games from both of these teams in the coming weeks.

Bears 17, Giants 13

The Giants lost Saquon Barkley for the season, which means that we probably won’t even have a hint of exciting football in New York this year. Mitch Trubisky had some picks, but I’ve gotta say, he’s looked surprisingly capable so far this season. I still don’t think they should pay him, but I’m happy that he’s beginning to save himself from being seen as a complete bust.

Cowboys 40, Falcons 39

Wow. Just wow. I’ve seen some bad chokes in my day, but that was brutal. Hey Atlanta, you may want to hire a Special Teams coach that recognizes that the receiving team doesn’t have to wait for the ball to roll 10 yards to dive on it. Or maybe just a Head Coach with the ability to manage a 20-point lead. Nevermind, I think I’m asking too much. You might have expected me to give Dak Prescott and the Cowboys credit for mounting such a heroic comeback, but that’s not what I’m here to do. I’m not gonna give you a pity clap. If it takes that much Falcons’ incompetence for you to sneak a win at home, you may be in trouble when you play a team that’s worth its salt.

Titans 33, Jaguars 30

Gardner Minshew wasn’t quite as magical as he was in Week 1, but still looked alright. Even though the Jags came up short, can we talk about how decent they’ve looked over the past two weeks? Everyone thought they were fully embracing the tank, but they’ve got some real fight in them. As for the Titans, Ryan Tannehill is officially the undisputed checkdown king of the NFL, and I’m here for it.

Packers 42, Lions 21

The Packers’ offense was humming like your dad’s 15-year old lawnmower. After going down 14-3 early, the Packers turned it on, and the Aarons couldn’t be stopped. Rodgers had 240 passing yards and a pair of scores, and Jones had 236 yards from scrimmage and three total touchdowns. The Lions have now lost four straight games in which the team led by double digits. I liked the Matt Patricia hire early on, but at this point I’d be surprised if he even finishes the season. They’re looking rough out there.

Colts 28, Vikings 11

Remember last week when I said the Vikings were a playoff team? Yeah, I may have jumped the gun on that take. Kirk Cousins looked terrible, throwing three picks and just 11 completions on the day. The Colts looked pretty decent, but I honestly don’t know if Philip Rivers is capable of throwing zero interceptions in a football game. Probably the most boring game of the weekend, especially if you’re a Vikings fan.

Bills 31, Dolphins 28

The Josh Allen hype train chugs on. He was throwing absolute missiles all day long, with 417 yards and four touchdowns. The Bills don’t look incredible or anything, but their defense is better than you think. Fitzmagic had a pretty good game too, which means we may have to wait a bit longer to see Tua take the field.

49ers 31, Jets 13

The injury bug has bitten several teams this season, but it has full-on eaten the Niners. They lost Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas for the season with torn ACLs, and will likely miss Jimmy Garoppolo and Raheem Mostert for a few weeks with less severe injuries. Even with the injuries, the Niners tore up the the New York little brother without much resistance. I would like to officially put the Jets on 0-16 watch. I’m not convinced they can beat anybody.

Rams 37, Eagles 19

This was a battle of the first two picks of the 2016 draft. Jared Goff took the win over Carson Wentz, but I think that has a lot to do with the Rams’ roster looking dramatically better than the Eagles’ roster. Can we talk about how good the NFC West is? Every team looks like a playoff team. My biggest takeaway from this game was that the third best team in the NFC West looks really, really good. Philly moves to 0-2, but after the playoff push they made last season, I wouldn’t count out Wentz just yet.

Steelers 26, Broncos 21

Drew Lock suffered a strained rotator cuff, and it looks like Cortland Sutton will miss significant time too. These injuries are so annoying. It sucks to see a developing team like the Broncos get shot in the foot before they even have time to play. But who knows? Maybe Jeff Driskell is the future in Denver. Anyways, Pittsburgh didn’t wow me, but they got the win, which I’m sure matters more to them than my approval.

Buccaneers 31, Panthers 17

The Bucs’ offense wasn’t perfect, but it looked a helluva lot better than last week. Chris Godwin was inactive with an injury, but Mike Evans and Leonard Fournette stepped up and made plays on offense. The Panthers lost Christian McCaffrey for “multiple weeks” with an ankle injury, making Matt Rhule’s first season that much harder. Expect them to struggle for the next stretch of the season.

Cardinals 30, Washington 15

Kyler Murray continues to inspire short kings everywhere with another electric performance, running for a pair of touchdowns and throwing another. The Cardinals offense is dangerous; I’ll keep saying that. Washington’s offense took a step back, but I think they’re ultimately moving in the right direction for such a chaotic organization.

Ravens 33, Texans 16

No surprise here. The Ravens walked into Houston and took care of business. This was another one of those games that made me feel for Deshaun Watson. He’s not perfect, but he does so many things right, and it sucks to watch him get a fraction of the success of quarterbacks with capable organizations. I was curious if teams would have figured out how to stop the Ravens’ pistol offense during the offseason, and it’s safe to say that Cleveland and Houston have not.

Chiefs 23, Chargers 20

The Chargers shocked the CBS broadcasters by starting rookie Justin Herbert unannounced, and he played pretty great. I didn’t expect that at all, and he honestly looked more comfortable against the reigning champs than he ever did against Arizona State last year when he was at Oregon. Kansas City wasn’t quite as dominant as we’re used to seeing, but they took care of business when they needed to against a talented Charger defense. Also, can we talk about Harrison Butker’s insane kick? My goodness; a 58-yarder in overtime with room to spare. After all the shanks last week, the world needed some kicker highlights.

Seahawks 35, Patriots 30

If you read my blog last week, you may have noticed that I picked this contest as my Week 2 game to watch, and if you took my advice, you’re welcome. What a game. The Seahawks’ fans have been berading Twitter with “Let Russ Cook”, and it seems like Pete Carroll has given him the whole kitchen. He had three separate touchdown throws that dropped my jaw. I was curious to see how the Patriots would look against a contender like Seattle, and to say they held their own is an understatement. They were about a yard and a half away from pulling off the upset, and my Seattle (-4.5) bet thanks them for coming up short.

Raiders 34, Saints 24

The Raiders hosted the first game in their brand new Las Vegas home, and it went about as well as it could have. The Saints looked unfocused pretty much the entire game, and surrendered 120 yards off of penalties. Their offense clearly missed Michael Thomas; you can only throw so many screens to Alvin Kamara. Derek Carr had one of his best games in a while, putting up nearly 300 yards and three touchdowns. I don’t want to overreact, and I still think the Saints are a good team, but that was ugly.

WEEK 2 AWARDS:

Plug of the Week: Aaron Jones (168 rushing yards, 68 receiving yards, 3 total touchdowns)

Slug of the Week: A.J. Green (3 receptions, 29 yards)

WEEK 3 GAME TO WATCH:

Chiefs vs Ravens, Monday 7:15 PM, ESPN