On Nov. 25, 2007, the Cleveland Browns, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers all won. They were quarterbacked by Derek Anderson, David Garrard, Daunte Culpepper and Jeff Garcia. Until Sunday, that was the last time those four teams all won in the same week.
From 2008 to 2014, the Browns, the Jaguars, the Raiders and the Buccaneers had four of the five worst records (the St. Louis Rams were the other team) in the NFL. In that period, there were 20 weeks when those four teams were 0-4, a feat that was repeated in Week 1 of this season
Given that those teams lost by a combined 80 points in their openers, the fact that they were 4-0 in Week 2 was one of the most shocking results of the day. But for long-suffering fans of these franchises, Week 2 not only brought about temporary satisfaction, but it also brought hope that a young franchise quarterback was on the roster.
Jameis Winston, Johnny Manziel, Blake Bortles and Derek Carr are four of the six starting quarterbacks in the NFL who will be younger than 25 when the 2015 season ends. (Minnesota’s Teddy Bridgewater and Tennessee’s Marcus Mariota are the other two.) On Sunday, those four completed 70 of 115 passes for 1,003 yards, with eight touchdowns and one interception, and two game-winning drives in the final minutes.
Manziel’s first pass of the game went 60 yards to Travis Benjamin; his last pass was a 50-yarder to Benjamin to secure the victory.
In between, Manziel played a supporting role in Cleveland’s run-heavy game plan. But on those two plays, the Manziel magic that earned him the Heisman Trophy while starring at Texas A&M was evident.
Winston struggled in his NFL debut, but was much more efficient in Week 2, averaging 8.1 net yards per pass attempt and completing two-thirds of his passes. The top overall pick in the 2015 draft, Winston also rushed for a touchdown and scrambled for a first down on two third-down plays.
Bortles helped the Jaguars upset the Miami Dolphins 23-20, courtesy of a number of big plays.
Bortles was responsible for eight plays of at least 15 yards, including a 28-yard scramble on one third down. A second-year quarterback, he was responsible for 76 percent of Jacksonville’s yards on the day, and helped drive the team to the game-winning field goal.
Carr was responsible for 83 percent of Oakland’s offensive output on a day in which the Raiders were extremely pass happy.
Carr saved his best work at the end of the game: Taking over at his 20-yard line, trailing 33-30 with 2:10 remaining, Carr marched the Raiders to the game-winning score. He was 7-of-9 for 65 yards and connected with Seth Roberts for a 12-yard touchdown with 26 seconds remaining.
For much of the last decade, there has been little reason for optimism in Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville and Oakland.
But in Week 2, the strong play of a young quarterback provided some hope that the next decade could be very different.
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