They proved the better, more well-coached side, as Jameis Winston lit up an awful Atlanta defence for four touchdowns and the Bucs won 31-24. Now they’re both in Tampa Bay, with Koetter in charge this time, and couldn’t have asked for a more familiar first opponent – the Falcons. The offensive coordinator for the best of those teams, the 2012 team that went 13-3 and went to the NFC title game, was Koetter. Smith was the head coach when the Atlanta Falcons enjoyed four trips to the play-offs from 2008-2012, easily the franchise’s best five-year stretch. When Dirk Koetter, the new head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired Mike Smith to be his defensive coordinator, it was a reversal of roles from a prior successful relationship. Having Brady back just means they’ll be even better than the best. It’s because Belichick can win with any player he coaches because those players are coached by Belichick. The Patriots winning without Brady isn’t because Brady is replaceable, it’s because every Patriot is. There will be a lot of annoying people saying that over the next few weeks as the Patriots keep winning without Brady. Garoppolo won’t, however, play so well that the team thinks about replacing Brady with the younger option.

He might even pull a Matt Cassell and play so well that another quarterback-desperate team comes knocking, offering the Patriots even more ammunition to keep their unimpeachable dynasty on top. Jimmy Garoppolo will be just fine in Brady’s absence, as shown by his 264-yard, 1 TD performance against the Cardinals. The result is almost always the same: the Patriots win. Arguably the league’s best-ever quarterback is out for a month? No problem. Heck, they even did so without the league's most un-guardable player, tight end Rob Gronkowski, who missed the game with a hamstring injury.īill Belichick is a magician and there’s no other explanation. They wasted no time showing why by winning on the road against a loaded Arizona Cardinals team 23-21. Speaking of Brady, it looks as though his four-game suspension, as predicted, won't hold back the New England Patriots from again being at the top of the AFC. If the offensive line can hold up and the defence can at least stay competitive, the Giants will return to January football, where under Manning they’ve been one of the toughest teams to beat. In a very winnable division, don’t count out the Giants and their arsenal of offensive weapons. In fact, it's the ninth time the hated rivals have opened a season against each other, and the first time the Giants won. Winning in Dallas in Week 1 is as good a start as the Giants could have hoped for. Typically, coaching changes are wholesale with no assistants being retained. It was a rare occurrence of an NFL team shaking up the status quo while simultaneously embracing familiarity. They fired the coach of those two titles, Tom Coughlin (or he officially resigned, but no one is buying that), after three straight losing seasons and replaced him with his former assistant and human Mr Potato Head Ben McAdoo. The time between then and when he retires would just be a victory lap, with any actual success being gravy.īut he nor the Giants have rested on their laurels. His CV is already Hall of Fame worthy, and a middling few years for both him and the Giants had seemed to indicate the book on the Eli Era was already been written. Manning is 35 years old with two memorable Super Bowl titles to his credit.

More NFL: John Elway always gets his way | Preseason predictions.

Running back Shane Vereen outshined Cowboys rookie Ezekiel Elliott, especially in the fourth quarter as he was the biggest factor in the Giants pulling off the 20-19 win over their NFC East rivals. Larry Donnell scored, too, and has often shown flashes of being a top-10 tight end. Rookie Sterling Shepard had a touchdown and looked like he belonged. But the Giants’ arsenal doesn’t end there. His return gives quarterback Eli Manning a bona fide second option to complement all-world No 1 option Odell Beckham Jr. Long a fan favourite, Cruz’s return from injury isn’t just for the feels.

Victor Cruz's first TD reception in 721 days.

Cruz ny giants