Sunday featured one of the most memorable days of football for several reasons, one which goes beyond football.

I’ll address that first.

Rarely will I use “I” or write from a first-person narrative, but this week’s intro will be one of the few exceptions.

After President Donald Trump, or “45” many call him, decided to infuriate the sports world with his takes on the NBA, NFL and national anthem, several owners, coaches, players and reporters galvanized as a group united against racism, bigotry and the oppression of minorities. The results were heartwarming and incredible.

The NBA has done a better job than the NFL at being outspoken in promoting social equality, there’s no denying that. LeBron James sticking up for Steph Curry was just the latest example.

With the exception of Colin Kaepernick taking a knee and other players supporting him through the media, the NFL had been criticized for not taking a stand, specifically the owners.

Today, several owners showed their hand in sticking with their players. Not all, but some.  Certain owners did it better than others in their official statements. Some called out Trump specifically, while some shied away from tackling the issue head-on, but still supported the players they compensate.

Overall, I believe the league came together in what will be remembered as one of the more special Sundays in the history of pro football.

Most teams had one or both of a group of players kneeling or players of all creeds and color locking arms while the anthem played.

It was a beautiful site.

Some may take offense that others would “disrespect” the flag, but that’s no what’s happening. It’s never been about that for these peaceful protesters. Many players knelt with their hands over their hearts, choosing both to bring awareness to the oppression minorities while also paying homage to the men and women of service, who are among the most brave beings in the history of this planet.

Frankly, I believe Trump’s “son of a bitch” comments were outrageous as much as  they were disappointing. Just one month ago, Trump refused to use such terms against an angry group of protestors that marched through the University of Virginia’s campus in Charlottesville. Although I respect the President, no matter who is in office, it appears his comments and actions are continuing on a downward spiral in terms of public approval. I don’t have much to say on topics I know minimal about, but as far as his meddling in the sports world, it’s ill-advised.

To see the NFL, including commissioner Roger Goodell, unite in such a way that they demonstrated on Sunday, was a shining light on what seems to be an impending era of doom for the most popular sport in our country.

The NFL is a brotherhood. Yesterday was a prime example. While some may not agree with me on this, I know many do. I was proud of the National Football League and its players for using their rights to stand together for a good cause.

Now….football.

Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers come through in the clutch

In two different time slots on the same Sunday, the NFL’s two best quarterbacks faced late deficits at home against teams they were fully expected to beat. Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Both picked up the slack from their team’s deficiencies to lead memorable comebacks.

In New England, the start of what may be Brady’s most impressive regular season drive ever began at the 25-yard line. Texans 33, Patriots 28 with 2:24 remaining on the clock. Brady converted a masterful 3rd-and-18 to the always-clutch Danny Amendola before finding Brandin Cooks for a 25-yard score to take the lead with 23 seconds remaining.

In just two games, Brady has flung to the top of just about every passing category at 40-years old. The kicker is that instead of working the short and intermediate middle of the field, he’s consistently throwing deep, and better than he ever has.

Above is a list of Brady’s deep threats and their 2016 statistics. We should have known the Patriots were going to throw more deep passes, but Brady is bombing throws downfield with pinpoint accuracy and peak velocity.

Brady now ranks second in the NFL in yards per attempt (9.9 YPA) while Brandin Cooks leads the NFL in yards per catch (25.6 YPC).

For a team that’s allowed an average of 31.6 points per game through Week 3, the Patriots still have a lot to be happy about. That starts with what looks to be an all-time great passing offense. The Patriots are doing it again on offense in a different way. That’s all thanks to Brady, who still has some magic left.

The Packers 27-24 overtime win over the Bengals began ugly. The Bengals led 21-7 after a 75-yard pick-six by William Jackson, and the Bengals had gotten a few of their eventual six sacks on Rodgers already.

Still, the Packers kept fighting and Rodgers ultimately got his chance to tie the game on his last possession. He delivered with a magnificent drive ending in a patented game-tying touchdown to Jordy Nelson with just 17 seconds remaining.

In overtime, Rodgers made a play that should almost be copyrighted to his name. After baiting the Bengals to jump offsides, he bought enough time evading the Bengals pass rush, to throw an off-balance heave right on the money to Geronimo Allison. The play accounted for 72 yards. After a strategic knee to set up better position for a field goal, Mason Crosby promptly delivered a Packers victory.

There is no one better at improvising and making downfield plays than Aaron Rodgers. Possibly no one in NFL history. Whether it be Hail Mary’s, low-risk “free plays” or just incredible extended plays, Rodgers is the best. His 28 free plays are the most in the NFL since he became a starter in 2008, and this last one to Allison set up his first career overtime victory. He was previously 0-7 in overtime games.

Surprises across the league

Yesterday five 2-0 teams lost to teams that were 1-1 or worse. Throw in losses for the Lions, Dolphins and Buccaneers and now there are just two undefeated teams through Week 3. Both the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons are 3-0 and look like the best teams in football at the moment.

But to focus in on some of the surprising losses: the Jaguars destroyed the Ravens in London, the Jets basically shut out the Dolphins and the Bears upended the Steelers.

But none were more surprising than the statistical beatdown the Washington football team gave to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday night. The final score read 27-10 in favor of Washginton, but easily could have been around the likes of 44-0.

The Raiders were manhandled in every statistical category. The loss, along with many other for 2-0 teams on the day, forces us to re-examine the Raiders and other teams that looked great throughout the first two games of the season.

The Raiders, along with the Steelers, are in the best shape of any of the teams with disappointing losses. But nonetheless, the bad loss leaves the reeling Raiders 2-1 with a trip to Denver next week. Pittsburgh will travel to Baltimore, as one of those clubs will look to bounce back.

As for Washington? They’ll go to Kansas City next Monday night to prove that last night was no fluke.

Brent and Dylan discuss Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams (5:00), next week’s games (10:26) and Cumberland Soccer (16:54).

Last year the Detroit Lions walked off Century Link Field in Seattle short of their ultimate goal for what feels like the millionth time for the team’s fans.

The Lions had just lost 26-6 to the Seahawks in an NFC Wild Card matchup on the road, which should have been at home, and at one point during the 2016 season, shouldn’t have existed.

The Lions fought hard at every moment in 2016.

One of the best stories in football, Detroit battled back from a 1-3 start to win six of their next seven games en route to a 9-4 record and a two-game lead over the Packers and Vikings for the NFC North crown, with just three games to go.

Much like other big games in Matthew Stafford’s career, the Lions lost their next three games, including a Week 17 de facto NFC North title bout at home versus the Packers. The loss forced them to go to Seattle, where they lost their fourth straight game of the season. Hardly the ending this team envisioned at 9-4.

Led by Stafford, the Lions produced an NFL-record 8 fourth-quarter comebacks last season, meaning many of their games could go either way, and Stafford delivered.

But where Stafford most struggles is big games against above-average teams. Stafford is 6-46 in his career against teams finishing above .500. That includes an 0-3 record in the postseason.

Stafford is a good enough quarterback that the Lions would be silly to let him go in this passers market, hence his five-year extension worth $135 million, the most lucrative contract in NFL history.

But Stafford is also far enough down the passer rankings for the Lions to wonder if Stafford is good enough to lead the Lions to the franchise’s first Super Bowl.

After a somewhat-surprising 2-0 start, Detroit has a chance to turn some heads when the defending-NFC champion Falcons arrive this Sunday afternoon.

But even with a win there, the Lions have five tough games ahead.

If the first two weeks are any indication, the Lions have a legitimate shot at the NFC North crown once again. The Packers again look like a team entirely built around Aaron Rodgers, with the rest of the team’s personnel mediocre at best.

But even if the Packers struggle early, Rodgers will make his surge. Last year the Packers were a helpless 4-6 bunch before rattling off eight consecutive wins until losing in Atlanta in the NFC Championship Game.

That’s what good teams do, they find a way. That’s the level of success the Lions are trying to achieve. It begins this Sunday versus Atlanta, and carries over into a five-game span which may decide the Lions season.

For Stafford and the Lions, the opportunity is there to prove they belong among the NFC’s true contenders.

Since the NFL’s realignment in 2002, the NFC East was considered the best division in football for a few years. Then it was the the AFC North. Then the NFC West. But for the second year in a row, it looks like the AFC West is overwhelming the best division in the NFL.

The Chiefs appear the best of the bunch just two weeks in. The Raiders are the most exciting with the most potential in January. But it was the Broncos who made the biggest statement in Week 2, with a 42-17 thumping of the Cowboys at home.

The Broncos are a different beast at home. Denver is one of the hardest places to play, and that defense makes it tougher. The pass defense has been one of the league’s best in all areas (coverage, pass rush) but it was the run defense that stepped up mightily, holding Ezekiel Elliot (nine carries, eight yards) to a shockingly bad game.

Still, the Chiefs possess the greatest threat to the Patriots. Even after losing Eric Berry, Kansas City has the talent and speed on offense (Travis Kelce, Kareem Hunt, Tyreek Hill) to shred the Patriots defense again, and defensive pieces (Justin Houston, Marcus Peters, Chris Jones) to duplicate another good game against Brady in January.

But who’s convinced the Patriots will be the team to beat by then anyways? Their defense is still suspect and Tom Brady’s pass catchers are dropping like flies.

The Chiefs and Broncos have some of the NFL’s best home field advantage, and first-round bye at least by either team would be huge.

But it’s the Raiders, a team with little home field advantage that is moving to Las Vegas in 2020, that holds the highest potential to reach Super Bowl LII. On paper, the Chiefs have all the right pieces (good defense, running game) but it’s the quarterback position that yields results in January more often than not in today’s NFL. I’ll take Derek Carr over Alex Smith. But we have a long way to go before any of these teams are in position to prove my narrative wrong or right.

Rodgers, Packers continue to struggle in Atlanta

It seems the Packers may again be wasting another year of Aaron Rodgers prime. It seems silly to say this so early into the season. In two of the past three seasons Rodgers was criticized twice for early season struggles, only to lead the Packers to the NFC Championship Game both times off storylines such as “R-E-L-A-X” and “I think we can run the table.”

But what happened in those two NFC title games are all too familiar to Rodgers and Packer fans over the past seven years.

Since winning Super Bowl XLV with some of Brett Favre’s leftover weapons (Greg Jennings, Donald Driver) and veteran defensive playmakers (Charles Woodson, Nick Collins) the Packers have slowly lost a ton of talent, and have done poorly replacing said talent.

As some of the Packers stalwarts age (Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Clay Matthews) Rodgers has been forced to rely on the Aaron Ripkowski’s and Jeff Janis’s of the world, in addition to a suspect defense.

The Packers have struggled with fast and talented upstart NFC teams such as San Francisco, Seattle, Carolina and Arizona in order. The same seems to be happening with Atlanta. The Packers have lost to the Falcons in Atlanta three times in the last year, including blowouts in the last two meetings, which includes last night’s 34-23 loss.

It’s early, but Green Bay’s defensive performance against Seattle in Week 1 seems to be more about the Seahawks offensive line rather than an improving Packers defense.

It’s too early in the season to predict Green Bay’s postseason demise, but if the Packers are going to be seeded lower than the Falcons and Seahawks of the NFC, things may just go the same as recent seasons for Rodgers and company come January.

Brady strikes back

One of the more ridiculous topics leading up to the Patriots-Saints game was the potential demise of Brady this season. Even on an off night without Julian Edelman and a sluggish Rob Gronkowski, Brady put up 27 points against the Chiefs in Week 1, and should have put up more if not for a 4th-and-1 stop in the redzone.

It was the defense that should have taken most of the flack. The unit didn’t play particularly well in the 36-20 road win over the Saints, but all they needed to do was slightly improve, which they did, when Brady puts up a performance like he did.

Brady was as nimble in the pocket and accurate downfield as he’s ever been. That was with three wide receivers, with just one of those being healthy.

Looking ahead, the Patriots will need a few of Rob Gronkowski, Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett, Rex Burkhead and Danny Amendola to be healthy enough for an important stretch that includes two pretty good teams (Carolina, Tampa Bay) in their next three games.

Gronkowski, Amendola and Dorsett (believe it or not) in order are the most important of the aforementioned group of gimpy Brady passing targets. Dorsett seems to be moving along just nicely in the maturation process of new Patriots receivers. An extra few days between Week 1 and 2 helped in acclimating to the Patriots offense, as Brady looked to Dorsett a few times, including this unbelievable downfield pass in between two defenders later in the game.

Brady is passing downfield better than ever thus far in 2017, which was a trend that began with his impressive stats throwing deep last season. That’s good news for a team that will be relying on Brady and the offense more than they’d probably like this season because of the struggling defense.

Brent and Dylan Schwartz break down Week 1 of the NFL and preview Week 2 and some of the big games next week.

We talked Dylan’s fantasy football finish against his brother Kyle (0:37), and previewed Packers-Falcons (6:55), Vikings-Steelers (9:03), Patriots-Saints (11:58) and Cowboys-Broncos (16:54). We signed off with a Cumberland soccer update from Dylan at (20:14).

The NFL’s weekend of parity unexpectedly began Thursday night in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

After celebrating their fifth Super Bowl win in the last 16 seasons, the Patriots were promptly humbled at home by the Kansas City Chiefs 42-27, thanks to a career game from Alex Smith (28-35, 364 yards, four touchdown passes) and a breakthrough performance by rookie running back Kareem Hunt (246 total yards, three touchdowns).

After a turnover-filled, penalty-ridden Sunday that featured decimated offensive lines, poor quarterback play and more injuries, the Patriots must feel a little more confident in bouncing back, as the Chiefs do of winning the Super Bowl.

Football will always be awesome to me and to the millions of fans across the world, but how many good quarterbacks are there? Nine? Ten? How about great head coaches? That number is likely less.

The games are now closer, even if uglier, giving NFL RedZone viewers an exhilarating treat at the end of the 1pm eastern time slate of games each Sunday. But if Week 1 is any indication, although there is more parity between the middle-of-the-pack teams and bottom teams than ever before, expect the league’s five or six best teams to pull away by the season’s midway point.

Packers down Seahawks with defense

The Packers 17-9 victory over the Seahawks featured a patented Aaron Rodgers-to-Jordy Nelson touchdown….but not much else offensively, as both teams struggled to find a rhythm thanks to mostly stingy defense from Seattle and poor offensive line play from Seattle.

That’s not to say Green Bay didn’t play well defensively, they were marvelous. In particular, Mike Daniels wrecked havoc on Wilson for the entirety of the game, showing why he’s one of the best 3-4 defensive ends in football.

This is my NFC Championship Game preview, and one week of football won’t change that, but Seattle’s offensive line is beyond repair, leaving little hope that the unit will improve throughout the season. If I’m Seattle, I’m exploring other options at the tackle position. The Seahawks have zero weaknesses other than their offensive line, but that one weakness is so lopsided that it will be the team’s demise, if they are to fall short of their goal of winning Super Bowl LII. Instead of wasting an opportunity to compete for a championship, Seattle may even need to throw a first or second-round pick at Cleveland for Joe Thomas, who is still one of the best tackles at football at age 32.

As for the Packers, Rodgers remains at his peak. The Green Bay offense will only improve from here, and has the potential to be the best in football off Rodgers alone. Be it breaking up with Olivia Munn or his enlightening interview with ESPN’s Mina Kimes,  everything seems eerily aligned for Rodgers to finally return to the Super Bowl.

Next week, the Packers will visit the Atlanta Falcons on national television to determine an early NFC frontrunner.

Cowboys stymie Giants

Two weeks ago, few would have predicted that Ezekiel Elliot would play and that Odell Beckham Jr. would not.

Elliot had a good game (24 carries, 104 rushing yards) and Dak Prescott took care of the ball as the Cowboys surprisingly let their defense do most of the work against the Giants.

For New York, Brandon Marshall looked slow, while Eli Manning looked as if his career is coming to an end. One week is way too early to speculate, but for the Giants to score just three points against the Cowboys is reason for concern.

With the Eagles seemingly talented enough to cause some trouble this season, the Giants need to re-group quickly in Week 2.

Parity Part II: Conference parity

Early indications (probably too early) are that the AFC and NFC may be even this year. The AFC was the much tougher conference for the bulk of the 2000’s, but the tide turned in 2011, when the NFC became the better group.

Now, by my measure, the conferences seem even. Both teams have four top tier contenders as of now, with other teams such as Baltimore, Carolina and the New York Giants possible joining these groups.

AFC- New England, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Oakland

NFC- Atlanta, Green Bay, Seattle, Dallas

Week 2’s Game of the Week

Green Bay at Atlanta

It’s fitting that the 2016 NFC Championship Game rematch will determine the early leader in the NFC for 2017.

The Falcons will look to open up their new stadium in grand fashion, after a lukewarm 23-17 win over the Bears.

The Packers will look to play better offensively against a similar defense in terms of scheme (Atlanta head coach Dan Quinn was recently Seattle’s defensive coordinator). Defensively, they’ll look to continue their solid play against a much better offense.

I trust Rodgers more than I do Matt Ryan, but even with the way last year ended, the Falcons as a whole are now a playoff-experienced football team. The Falcons obviously have something to prove this year. Although I don’t think they’ll make it past the Divisional Round in January, I do think they’ll win this game and take control of the NFC early.

Atlanta 31 Green Bay 24

Cousin Dylan joined the podcast to preview the upcoming NFL season.

We talked about the Julian Edelman injury and what it means for the Patriots (0:40), AFC contenders (5:40), NFC East (10:30), NFC South (17:30), Super Bowl LII/Conference Championship picks (20:27) and an update on Cumberland University soccer from Dylan.

The news of Ezekiel Elliot playing on Sunday and his suspension being upheld broke during the podcast (16:24).