Into a second week of NFL action, and some notable improvements from former Hurricanes across the NFL.
Cam Ward resurgence against the Eagles: Biggest Surprise
Through nearly 6 quarters of the season, if you would have thrown in the towel on Cam Ward, most wouldn’t blame you.
After his lackluster performance last week, Ward’s struggles continued, going 3/6 for eight passing yards through the first 28 minutes against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Then, something clicked.
The former first overall pick seemingly on the hot seat made some plays to keep the Titans in the game against the Eagles.
Ward finished the game completing 13 of his 20 throws for 183 yards and multiple gutsy runs, punching in the Titans two touchdowns of the game on the ground.
Most importantly, through the air, we saw the same zip, anticipation and accuracy that made Ward the player he was at Miami. With less than two minutes left in the first half on third-and-13, Ward made a perfect throw to Elic Ayomanor for a 28-yard catch and run.
Down late, he orchestrated a go-ahead drive to give the Titans the lead with just under two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. While the Titans lost the game on a last second touchdown connection from Jalen Hurts to Darius Cooper, Ward clearly showed a step forward.
Greg Rousseau: MVP and DPOY
Another week and another big time showing from Greg Rousseau, who notched another multi-sack game as well as another forced fumble.
The Buffalo Bills were looking for any stop they could against a Lions team that finished Thursday Night Football with 31 points.
As assumed when playing the high-powered offense in the Detroit Lions, a major focus for the Buffalo defense was limiting superstar running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard and the Bills did exactly that, holding Gibbs to 52 yards on 3.2 yards per carry.
Against the pass, Rousseau gave the right side of Detroit’s offensive line nightmares all game long. In each of his rushes you see speed, power and usage of his arms to stem and keep the tackle’s arms away from his body.
It was another impressive night from Rousseau that makes it clear that he is among the best active NFL players to come from The U.
Scott and Mesidor get on the board
While both the Los Angeles Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered frustrating losses, Akheem Mesidor and Keionte Scott showed promising signs.
Scott continued playing a big role for the Tampa defense, but did see a drop in snaps going down to 33 on Sunday. Tampa got to use Scott where he works best, coming downhill.
Five more tackles added onto Scott’s total for the year as well as his first career sack on a blitz to bring down Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. Tampa did end up losing the game after a multi-hour rain delay. but Scott flashed again in his snaps.
As for Reuben Bain, it was another quiet week for the 15th overall pick finishing the day with a couple of pressures but no highlight-worthy plays.
It was not necessarily a bad game for Bain, as he totaled a few solid rushes and didn’t look out of place in the run but was seen as more of an afterthought while fellow rookies David Walker and Josiah Trotter continue to cut into Bain’s snaps.
Mesidor, who totaled 25 sacks in his four years at Miami, made his first note on the field.
As Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins stepped up in the pocket, Mesidor beat his man to wrap him up and notch his first sack of his NFL career. Mesidor finished the evening with three tackles and a pressure. With 22 pass-rush snaps it’s a step in the right direction, but like Bain, it would be great to see Mesidor make more of a down to down impact.
Monday Night Wrap Up: Rookie of the Week Francis Mauigoa against Aaron Donald
Monday Night Football had its energy zapped pretty early when New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart was knocked out of the game early on, giving New York no chance in its 28-6 loss against the Los Angeles Rams.
Mauigoa had a little more of an uneven game as opposed to his nearly flawless week one. A cartoonish miss on Donald does get the brunt of the lowlights but overall, he held up pretty well against a Rams defensive front that features Kobie Turner, Braden Fisk, Poona Ford as well as the future Hall-of-Famer Donald.
Individually on Donald, Mauigoa again was perfect on the night in pass protection, holding Donald without a single pressure in their individual matchups. While it wasn’t a perfect night overall from Maugioa, it was still a very encouraging performance.
Other Miami alumni performances
Jaelen Phillips: Phillips tallied another sack this week for the Carolina Panthers, his second of the year for the six-year veteran at the start of a four-year, $120 million contract. Phillips continues to play a major part in the Panthers defense as they dominated the Atlanta Falcons 34-3.
Tyrique Stevenson: Bears fans might be worried with the Caleb Williams injury in their 9-3 loss, but the defense came to play against Minnesota. A physical hit from Tyrique Stevenson was a tone setter in the low scoring physical outing. With the Bears secondary riddled with injuries, Stevenson will continue to play an important role.
Jonathan Ford: On a massive fourth-and-one with less than two minutes left in the game, former Cane Joanthan Ford came up with a game-saving tackle on New York Jets running back Braelon Allen. His tackle-for-loss allowed his Green Bay Packers to force overtime and win 20-17 after trailing 17-7 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Another week down and arrow is trending up already for many of Miami’s alums. Still waiting on full breakouts from Bain and Mesidor but, across the board the path of these former Canes are trending in the right direction as we look to see what week three brings on.
