• Browns' Misery Again
  The Saints didn't win the game Sunday. The Browns lost it. Cleveland once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when now-former PK Zane Gonzalez missed two FGs and two PATs. Since Saints kicker Will Lutz also missed a FG, that's five net points the visitors could have used in their three-point defeat. To make matters worse, when Gonzalez missed the tying FG with eight seconds left, the Browns' owner was standing under the goal posts. Afterward, it was revealed that Gonzalez had a groin injury that the coaching staff knew nothing about.
  
• Roughing the Passer?
  The Packers led the Vikings 29-21 when Minnesota QB Kirk Cousins threw an INT with 1:45 remaining to seemingly seal the victory for Green Bay. But referee Tony Corrente called Clay Mathews for roughing the passer to give the Vikes new life. They drove to a TD and two-point conversion to send the game into OT. Neither team scored again to change a possible Green Bay victory into a tie. When asked about the call after the game, Corrente said, "When he hit the QB, he lifted him and drove him into the ground." Watch the play and decide for yourself. The NFL's Senior Vice-President of Officiating Al Riveron not only defended the call but sent a video of the play to all 32 teams as a lesson. The previous two people who held Riveron's position, Dean Blandino and Mike Pereira, strongly disagreed.
• Another Controversial Call
  The Lions had just scored two straight TDs to cut their 17-point deficit against the 49ers to three. Then rookie Tracy Walker picked off Jimmy Garoppolo to give the Lions great field position in the red zone. But the play was negated by a defensive holding call on Quandre Diggs. Watch the play and decide whether the call was ticky-tacky. Detroit got the ball back with a minute left but couldn't reach midfield. 49ers 30 Lions 27
• Jaguar Revenge
  The Jacksonville Jaguars and their fans are still smarting from their loss to the Patriots in the AFC Championship game last year. The Jags blew a 20-10 Q4 lead thanks to two Tom Brady-to-Danny Amendola TD passes. Jax got some satisfaction from jumping out to a 24-3 lead at home against New England and holding on for a 31-20 victory. Watch Keelan Cole's OBJ-like one-handed grab in the game. Also watch Dede Westbrook's run down the sideline for a TD to seal the win.
  
  

  Intriguing Numbers - NFL Week 2

  34	Consecutive winless games on Sundays by the Browns
  1-32	Hue Jackson's record in 2+ years as Cleveland head coach
  1986	Last time Kansas City won in Pittsburgh before last Sunday
  29%	Percentage of times NFL coaches went for it on 4th downs during the first two weeks of the 2017 season.
  41%	Percentage of times NFL coaches went for it on 4th downs during the first two weeks of this season.
  2	Number of teams (Seahawks and Lions) who punted in opponents' territory on 4th and 2 or less the first two weeks of this season. Both punts came in 0-0 games and both teams lost the games by one score.
  28	Receptions by Saints WR Michael Thomas in two games, eight ahead of second-place Christian McCaffrey of Carolina
  14	Receptions by McCaffrey against Atlanta last week - the most by a RB since 1999
  65	Pass completions by Drew Brees in the first two games to lead second-place Ben Roethlisberger by three in the NFL standings

You need to understand the basics of the Golden Rankings system to understand the figures above.

• Each team in a game starts with 12 points.
• The winner gains points based on the number of victories of the vanquished team and margin of victory.
• The loser loses points based on the number of losses of the victor and margin of defeat.
• Teams may also gain bonus points for road wins against good teams.
• Each team's ranking is computed by dividing the total points the team has accumulated divided by the number of games.
• Each number in the table above is the average of the ratings of the teams in the conference.

• Another Bad Day for the Big Ten
  Brigham Young 24 Wisconsin 21
  Kansas 55 Rutgers 14
  Temple 35 Maryland 14
  Troy 24 Nebraska 19
  South Florida 25 Illinois 19
  Missouri 40 Purdue 37
  Akron 39 Northwestern 34
• New Coach Report
  Three new coaches with a record of success at previous schools have yet to defeat an FBS opponent the first three weeks at their new schools.
  --Chip Kelly, who compiled a 46-7 record at Oregon before moving to the NFL, is 0-3 with UCLA, having been outscored by 61 points.
  --Scott Frost, who led Central Florida to an undefeated season last year that culminated with a Peach Bowl victory over Auburn, is 0-2 in his debut with his alma mater, Nebraska, losing at home to Colorado and Troy. (Do LSU fans feel less bad about last year's loss now that the Trojans have bitten the Cornhuskers this year?)
  --Willie Taggart's Florida State Seminoles lost to Virginia Tech before coming from behind in Q4 to beat FCS Samford 36-26. Last Saturday, Syracuse spanked the Noles 30-7. Taggart keeps trying different combinations in the offensive line to no avail.
• Sometimes Icing Works
  As Wisconsin lined up with 41 seconds left for a 42y FG to tie the game against Brigham Young , Cougars coach Kalani Sitake called timeout twice to ice the Badgers' senior kicker Rafael Gaglianone. It worked. The ball sailed wide left.
• Q3 Outburst
  TCU led Ohio State 14-13 at halftime Saturday night at Jerry's World. After 15 more minutes of playing time, the Buckeyes prevailed 33-28. Do the subtraction and you get 34 points scored in Q3, including 14 by OSU in 1:04 during the period - the second coming on a 26y INT return. The final quarter was anti-climactic, the Big Ten boys scoring the only TD to win 40-28.
  
• Mean Green Trickery
  North Texas's Keegan Brewer caught a punt and stood still. Two Arkansas defenders stopped in front of him for a few seconds until they decided he must have called for a fair catch. When the Razorbacks headed to the sideline, ignoring the fact that the officials had not blown a whistle, Brewer took off and ran untouched for a TD.