NFL Week 2 ‘Higher Register’ – Cowboys, Patriots & Packers Tepid Takes

The Higher Register take of the week is supposed to be loud. This week, the crew at The Rich Eisen Show mostly used it to insist, a little too loudly, that everything is fine.

It opened with a Patriots fan in a state of mind best described as calm on the surface. New England went up to Seattle, looked like it was headed for an upset, and then it came apart. Drake Maye kept throwing interceptions. A.J. Brown got hurt, which, yes, also wrecked someone's fantasy team. TreVeyon Henderson was out. Now Aaron Rodgers comes to town, and a look at the schedule shows a team that "really could start 0 and 4."

"I'm not worried about the football," came the take. "I'm not. I swear. I swear I'm not worried."

Nobody believed it. Especially after the shouted promise that "Romeo Doubs isn't going to drop every pass," followed by a genuine question about why Doubs is wearing Gronk's number. The rest of the desk offered sympathy of a limited kind. "How does it feel to not be great all the time?" someone asked. "The rest of the league can tell you."

Then TJ went somewhere he said he was not going to go. The Cowboys traded Micah Parsons last year, and TJ admitted he had to be talked into it. He heard about the draft picks, the equity coming back, Kenny Clark, and bought in as the season went along. Parsons then got hurt, and it seemed like maybe Dallas had dodged a bullet. The whole offseason was about how much better the defense was and how "gaudy" the offense would be.

Then came Week 1 against the Giants.

"Maybe trading Micah Parsons wasn't the right move for them," TJ said. "Players like Micah Parsons are hard to come by. No matter if you like him or you don't like him, when you let a guy like that leave your locker room, you're leaving a lot to be desired, and right now I need somebody to talk me back in."

The desk had a problem with that, mostly because TJ was the one preaching patience a day earlier. "Weren't you just telling me yesterday one game?" came the reminder. TJ owned it. "That is true. I did tell you that yesterday." The response: "But that was yesterday. Today is today." TJ blamed social media. The desk suggested not reading the comments, for his mental health.

The last take was about Green Bay, and it had real receipts. The Packers were the only NFC North team to lose in Week 1, and the concerns were specific. Another fourth quarter collapse. No running identity without Josh Jacobs, with the team rushing for about 66 yards. Jordan Love hit at least 15 times as Brian Flores blitzed like crazy. Twelve penalties for 98 yards.

"That's discipline," the take went. "It's not one step forward, two steps back. That's not how you play." Add injuries on the defensive line and a division that keeps getting better, and the verdict was "very worried," dressed up as not worried.

One member of the desk was on board, with a Packers lie saved for later in the show. The desk added that Green Bay is probably not as good as the Lions and Bears, and that losing to a Carson Wentz led Vikings team is its own kind of indictment. Wentz came off the bench and threw three touchdowns in about 10 minutes, and the Packers lost by 19 after being up 12. Love threw for 380 yards and still lost. With Matthew Golden looking good and Tucker Kraft back to 100 percent, the message was simple. "Get it together."

Green Bay gets the undefeated Jets next. The desk, rooting for the downtrodden, floated a Cardinals and Jets Super Bowl. That one got shut down fast.