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Buy or sell the NFL’s 7 undefeated teams after Week 2

By Cody Williams

Sep 19, 2021; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (5) reacts against the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 19, 2021; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (5) reacts against the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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Las Vegas Raiders. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

Las Vegas Raiders: Sell

Speaking of teams that have already out-performed preseason expectations, the Las Vegas Raiders, and Derek Carr in particular, have come out of the gate like gangbusters. They’ve played extremely well with their quarterback leading the way on offense but it’s the defense that has been truly surprising. Even with injuries and overhauling the unit this offseason, Maxx Crosby has led the way to two impressive performances from the silver and black.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure the defense with holes at linebacker and lingering questions in the secondary outside of Casey Heyward are going to be able to sustain this. More importantly, it has to be noted that their wins came against a Ravens team trying to pick up the pieces after a wild slew of injuries hit them and then a Steelers team that’s intensely overrated.

All told, the Raiders could compete for a playoff spot but I can’t see them as true contenders.

Los Angeles Rams: Buy

This might actually be colored by my own preseason biases in which I had the Rams making it to the Super Bowl out of the NFC, but they’ve not shown me anything that makes me think otherwise through the first two weeks. After all, they’re the only NFL team that ranks in the top five of both Offensive (5) and Defensive (4) DVOA to this point, per Football Outsiders.

Matthew Stafford has indeed taken this offense to new levels as they’ve been an outright force through two wins. More importantly, that’s something that should only further improve as the year goes on. The defense has felt the loss of Brandon Staley a bit but I do have faith in the coaching staff to tighten that up moving forward as well.

In the simplest terms, the Rams have looked exactly like what I thought they would to start the 2021 NFL season. So why would I change my tune about a team I pegged as a contender going into the year?

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