One: Joe Burrow’s injury changes everything, doesn’t it? The AFC North, the AFC as a conference, and the NFL as a whole.

But nowhere will feel it as much as Cincinnati’s division, the AFC North. In a division that is always tough and had four teams with playoff aspirations heading into this season, Cincinnati is now a wounded animal, even at 2-0 and atop the division.

Jake Browning proved a fine backup in 2023, where he actually led the league in completion percentage at 70.4% and went 4-3. But he isn’t steady enough to give me a ton of confidence in Cincinnati’s offense.

Take Sunday for example. Browning was 21-of-32 for 241 yards, a pair of touchdowns, and a fourth-quarter, game-winning drive. But he was also picked off three times in less than a full game.

Cincinnati’s defense was able to pull it off against Jacksonville and get the win. But, and no disrespect to the Jaguars, they aren’t the toughest of tests for a Bengals defense that isn’t very good. It will get much, much harder if Browning (or I suppose anyone who steps in at quarterback) can’t cut down the turnover issue and do their best Burrow impression.

If they can’t, however, they’ll fall quickly down the ranks in a tough division and crowded playoff race.

By the way, we need to come up with a new name for the turf toe injury. That name really underscores how serious it is. It’s cut down 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy for anywhere from two to five weeks, and now it’s sidelined Burrow for three months. Not the kind of timeline you’d expect for that name.

Two: I love a night football game. The vibe is just so much better. But it’s one of those situations where more does not always equal better.

I’m not a huge fan of the Monday Night Football doubleheaders. It takes away from the spectacle of the finale of any given NFL week, and in my opinion, it waters down the product.

My main gripe with the Monday night doubleheader is that the games are on at around the same time. Yes, it’s beneficial if one of the games is a dud, but I still just don’t like it. It’s a spotlight game on Monday night, keep it just between two teams.

However, if there has to be two Monday night games, last night was the way to do it. The Buccaneers and Texans kicked off at 7pm, while the Chargers and Raiders didn’t start until 10pm. One game for the east coast, one game for the west. If you want to watch both, great! If you want to get to bed, there’s still one game you can focus on.

Unfortunately, last night was only one of two weeks where a doubleheader game is following this format. Weeks 4 and 6 have doubleheaders, but the games are only an hour apart. Week 7, however, is doing the same format as Week 2.

Hopefully it gets enough positive reception to make that the Monday night standard for doubleheaders moving forward.