Week 2 on Sunday saw ten NFL teams that were favorites win their games with five losing, and of the 10 teams that were victorious, there were two teams that somewhat struggled and they were the Denver Broncos 2-0 (1st AFC West) and the Green Bay Packers 1-1 (1st NFC North) and both played at home.
Broncos Escape the Chiefs
The top ranked Denver Broncos were favorites at -11 ½ Ov/Un 50 ½ in their win over the Kansas City Chiefs 0-2 (3rd AFC West) in a game that the Broncos defense had to hold off the Chiefs at QB Smith in a goal line stand in the final minutes of the game.
The hero of the game for Denver was TE Knighton who reached high and blocked the Chief’s QB Smiths’ fourth and goal pass from the 2 yard line to receiver Bowe with 15 seconds left in the game. This was a game that the Broncos had no idea it would end with a successive goal line stand to beat the Chiefs.
In the second half of the game the Chiefs had two extensive drives that ended up with 0 points, and had they scored on either it could have very easily been an upset of the top ranked Broncos.
This is one game in particular where the team statistics don’t favor the score, as the Chiefs had 28 first downs, with 75 total plays for a total of 380 yards, 247 passing and 133 rushing, while the Broncos had 19 first downs with 46 total plays and 325 total yards, 237 passing and 88 rushing.
The player statistics have Chiefs QB Smith with 26 of 42 passes for 255 yards with 2 sacks while Broncos QB Manning was 21 of 26 for 242 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 sack. Chiefs RB’s had 31 carries for 133 yards with 2 touchdowns score by RB Davis while the Bronco RB’s managed 19 carries for 88 yards. Receivers for the Chiefs had 26 receptions for 255 yards while the Broncos receivers had 21 receptions for 242 yards 3 touchdowns.
The Broncos WR Demaryius scored on an 80 yard TD pass that was nullified as the Denver RT was flagged as being downfield. Also WR Sanders who led the receiving for the Broncos has his 1st career 100 yard game. A very exciting game that was close to the end.
Packers Come Back Against Jets
The second close call of the week was the Green Bay Packers 1-1 (1st NFC North) who were favored at -7 ½ with the O/U at 46 ½ at home playing the New York Jets 1-1 (2nd AFC East) and the Packers had to rally and come back from trailing the Jets 21-3 to win the game 31-24, as the Jets had a late TD nullified by a timeout.
The star of the game for Green Bay was WR Jody Nelson who’s career high reception day of 200 yards and an 80 TD in crunch time, late 3rd quarter. In the first half he caught 4 of 10 for 66 yards and in the second half he had 5 of 6 for 143 yards and the TD. Packers QB Rodgers was 25 of 42 for 346 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The Jets started the scoring early with 21 points in the first two quarters and the Jets tried backup QB Vick for one play and he was sacked. However, in the second half of the game the Jets could not seem to get it going as they only managed a field goal in the third quarter. They actually had a chance to tie the game late in the 4th quarter when a TD of 37 yards by Kerley on 4th down was nullified as the referees said the Jets had called a time out. With the TD called back the Jets had one more shot to win as Smith passed again to Kerley who had double coverage this time and the Packers tipped the ball away and gained possession. In the first half of the game the Jets drives net 21 points from 28 plays that totalled 180 yards and in the 2nd half the Jets had 9 drives that scored 3 points from 44 plays that totalled 132 yards in the half.
The Packers had 25 first downs and 68 total offensive plays for 390 total yards, while the Jets had 19 first downs on 72 plays and 312 total offensive yards. Green Bay had 80 yards rushing and 310 passing yards and New York had 146 yards rushing 166 yards passing.
Thus, sports fans, whether you’re a Broncos or Packers booster who bet on NFL at SBG Global or at any other online sportsbook take the time to check the Week #3 odds on your favorite team as their will again be some surprise, upsets and losses.