NIAGARA FALLS, NY: Happy Monday. The first Monday in October, so it’s time to do things a little different. We will start with the Week in review for the New York Rangers, then continue with the NY Football State Mind.
Rangers Opening Week Review
If you’re like me and really don’t bother with preseason until the games matter—regardless of the sport—you have no idea who’s on this current Rangers squad. According to my time as a student at Google University, here’s what I found out.
Key Offseason Additions (Who’s In)
· Pavel Dorofeyev (Forward)
· Oliver Bjorkstrand (Right Wing)
· Eeli Tolvanen (Left Wing / Forward)
· Joe Veleno (Center / Forward)
· Sean Durzi (Defenseman)
· Marcus Pettersson (Defenseman)
· Alberts Šmits (Defenseman)
· Joonas Korpisalo (Goaltender)
· Scott Morrow (Defenseman, via trade from Carolina)
Key Departures (Who’s Out)
· Vincent Trocheck (Forward)
· Jonny Brodzinski (Forward)
· Conor Sheary (Forward)
· Adam Edström (Forward)
· Brett Berard (Forward)
· Jonathan Quick (Goaltender)
· Chris Kreider (Traded to Anaheim in June 2025)
So what did this first week of the regular season look like? Well, after getting shut out in Boston 2-0 on opening night on Tuesday, they managed to go on a three-game win streak, culminating with winning the second leg of a back-to-back against Utah last night at home, 2-0.
Has Mike Sullivan—who really sounds like he should be a lieutenant at a firehouse in the North Bronx—figured out what will make the Rangers contenders? It’s way too early to tell; it’s been the first week. But after blowing up the team following a very disappointing season last year, we were told this wasn’t a rebuild, this is retooling. So far, so good in this first week. But we will see how well they play and how long they can ride Igor Shesterkin and his brilliant goalkeeping.
The J-E-T-S took on the Bears yesterday in a battle of former Detroit Lions coordinators. Ben Johnson was the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions when they won the one seed and made the NFC Championship Game. Then Johnson went to the Bears, who are honestly a pretty solid team—they already have a very good number one draft pick QB but were underperforming, so the fact that he’s got them performing better already shouldn’t surprise anybody. Glenn took the Jets job, and the team is now in year 3 of their 3-year rebuild with everyone under Glenn.
They have struggled against the NFC North teams—losing a game to Green Bay they shouldn’t have, fighting very hard and coming up just short against Detroit. But this game against the Bears was ugly. It wasn’t a blowout, but the Bears were led by their backup, Tyson Bagent. And just so you know, the Bears won the week before with the third-string quarterback, Case Keenum. So it shows the depth and quality of the team and their playbook.
The Bears just dominated in the trenches, on the ground, stopping the Jets attack. The Jets offense couldn’t get anything started, settling for four field goals, while the Bears rolled up 250 yards rushing and just did what they wanted when they wanted or needed. It was a real punch-in-the-face kind of game, and it was the first time the Jets defense looked a little bit underwhelmed. The defense is still miles better than last year, but the offense has to start moving some bodies, especially because they have to start moving some bodies.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills have somehow let the Patriots back into contention. Now, I’m not saying the Patriots are a good team yet—last year they ended up like… variable—but I just don’t believe this turnaround is that fast. With the Jets and Dolphins still floundering, the Bills were really on top of the AFC East since Brady left. But the Patriots won last year’s season series, and yesterday they went into Buffalo, where the Bills were undefeated, and came out with a win.
It was tough to watch that game and understand what was happening. But I would say the Bills had bad turnovers, and the Bills have been saved by their bend-but-don’t-break model while also making the clutch plays—getting that sack and fumble when it was needed, getting that stop and recovering the ball, that kind of stuff. But yesterday they couldn’t do it against the Patriots on the Patriots’ last drive, and the Patriots did it again on the Bills’ final drive. So the Bills go from 3-0 to 3-1, and everybody panics – while the Bills still lead the division at 3-1.
New York Giants
John Harbaugh is known for supposedly being a really good offensive guy. But in Baltimore and now here, he’s had/has a really good defense. His hires of offensive coordinators have been less than exciting. Maybe that’s the thing. But in his time with the Giants, he’s managed to get this team to win while not looking impressive. After beating the Cowboys, then losing Jackson Dart in the second game against the Rams, they’re now 2-0 under Jameis Winston.
Winston has not looked super impressive. Last week, the offense settled for field goals for a win. This week, they did get in the end zone a couple of times and he made some big throws, but he also had three interceptions. But the defense helped them beat the Titans last weekend.
This week against the Cardinals, the defense brought enough pressure, enough plays, and with the Cardinals on first and goal from the 3-yard line with 30 seconds or so left, the Giants held them out and even got a pick-six on a pass from Jacoby Brissett on the final play of the game to make the scoreboard look bigger than it was. But them missing some key guys on defense, then getting their scheming right, guys have been stepping up—that I think is different from what Harbaugh brings to this team last year.
Come back tomorrow for The Big Aristotle.
