Fifth Down: Week Two

Welcome to Fifth Down, where we break down the biggest takeaways from a weekend full of NFL action. This week we saw Joey Burrow toss the pigskin a whopping 61 times, Tom Brady bounced back vs the Panthers and everyone in the NFL got hurt.

1. Russell Wilson is the NFL MVP through Week Two

Sunday night’s Seahawks-Patriots game was probably the best game of the weekend. It featured 65 points, a pick-6, an array of impressive throws by both quarterbacks and a goal-line stand by Seattle on the final play of the game to come away with the win. There are several takeaways you can make from this game, but as a Patriots fan, I’ll spare you my thoughts on the performance of Cam Newton and the rest of New England. Instead, I’ll focus on the best player on that field.

How do you consider a player who is the second-ranked player on the NFL Top 100 list underrated? Well, probably because he’s never gotten a single NFL MVP vote. Let that sink in, Russell Wilson, a Super Bowl champ and one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL since his arrival, has never gotten a single MVP vote. That will change this year. Through two games Wilson has thrown for 610 yards, 9 touchdowns, one pick and completed 82.5% of his passes. And one of those two games came against the Patriots who boast on of the top secondaries in the league. If Wilson can keep this up, and there’s no reason to suspect he can’t, then not only will he receive his first-ever MVP vote, he should come away with his first MVP Award.

2. Time to respect Josh Allen

The past two weeks have been tough for Josh Allen haters. You know the type. The kind of guys who see that he went to a school like Wyoming and struggled at times during his final season with the Cowboys and instead of seeing the progress and the intangibles, they decide right then and there that Allen will be a bust. And no matter how often he proves otherwise, they continue to label him a ‘bum’ just because they thought he would be when he was coming out of college.

There are still those out there that insist Sam Darnold is better than Josh Allen - *ahem* Colin Cowherd. Nevermind that Allen is one of only four quarterbacks to throw for 700+ yards, six TDs and zero interceptions through the first two weeks of a season. The other three? Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. On top of that Josh Allen currently leads the NFL in passing yards, and his 417 passing yards on sunday are the third most in Buffalo Bills franchise history. So what do you say? Maybe it’s time to start giving Josh Allen the respect he deserves.

3. Drew Brees looks, well, not great

Is it Taysom time in New Orleans? Some, including NFL analyst Brady Poppinga and numerous Saints fans are beginning to think so. Let’s be honest, Sean Payton isn’t benching Drew Brees this season. No matter what happens the Saints are going to ride this season out with Brees behind center and then once the season is over Brees si going to ride off into the sunset.

Saints fans are hoping Brees’ ride into the sunset comes after he hoists the Lomabardi trophy, much like the end of Peyton Manning’s storied career. But for that to happen Brees is going to need to get better. He looked old in Monday’s loss to the Vegas Raiders. And anytime your quarterback is looking old and a step slow in week two, that’s a bad sign for things to come. The good news is that Brees isn’t the only one for New Orleans who looked bad, and yet the Saints still had a chance to win. This is a talented roster down in the bayou and it’s the reason I picked them to win the Super Bowl. Perhaps Brees’ last season will look a lot like Manning’s. An old quarterback who has lost a step being carried by an extremely talented roster all the way to a Championship.

4. Where does Trevor Lawrence end up?

I’ve actually given this a lot of thought over the past couple of weeks and the more I think of it the most interesting it becomes. Where is Trevor Lawrence going to end up? The consensus going into this NFL season was that it would be a race to last place in order to get the number one pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and live happily over the next decade-plus with Trevor Lawrence as your franchise quarterback. But after two weeks I can’t identify what team is in desperate need of a quarterback.

The Washington Football Team is one that a lot of people will bring up but they are sitting at 1-1 and Dwayne Haskins has looked good so far. Plus, they have more pressing needs, particularly on the offensive line (hello Peni Sewell). The Jaguars’ offense has looked great with Garnder Minshew leading the way and could instead use a receiver or a defensive stud. The Giants have Daniel Jones, the Bengals have Joe Burrow, the Jets insist they have something in Sam Darnold, the Broncos like what they have in Drew Lock, the Bears are 2-0 with Trubisky and the Panthers just gave a lot of money to Teddy Bridgewater.

One team that could be in the running for Trevor Lawrence? The Atlanta Falcons. Matt Ryan in 35 years old and while we have quarterbacks playing into their 40s now, it might not be such a bad idea to bring in Lawrence and have him learn behind Ryan for a couple seasons, and then once the Clemson product is ready, you put him out there and give him Julio Jones to throw to. Not a bad way to start a career if you’re Lawrence.

Obviously someone is going to pick Lawrence very high in the NFL Draft. He’s simply too good not to draft if you even have a sliver of doubt in your current QB situation. Haskins could throw for 20 touchdowns and help Washington to a 6-10 record - double their wins from a season ago - and they would still probably take Lawrence he was available. Minshew could throw for 3,000 yards, if Lawrence is sitting there in the Draft, there’s a better chance than not he’s headed to Jacksonville. But so far, there isn’t a clear winner in the Tank for Trevor sweepstakes.

5. The Patriots continue to look foolish for drafting N’Keal Harry over DK Metcalf

If you listen to the Off-Field Generals Podcast then you know how I feel about N’Keal Harry. What’s crazy is that Harry had one of his best games of his career Sunday night against the Seahawks, and yet the Patriots still looked like fools for drafting him. Why? Because DK Metcalf is about to be a star in the league, that’s why.

Metcalf had four catches for 92 yards and a touchdown in Seattle’s win over New England on Sunday night. Not crazy numbers when you see that Edelman had eight catches for 179 yards for the Patriots. But it is impressive when you take into account that Metcalf was matched up with Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore for the majority of Sunday’s game, while Harry found his success against Seattle’s second string-guys. There’s still time for Harry to turn his career around - and having Cam Newton in town has already provided a confidence boost - but even if Harry does end up having a good career in New England, the Patriots will always look foolish for picking Harry 32 spots before Seattle picked DK Metcalf.