Week 2 is barely in the books and the league already has its letter grades, its almost-healthy quarterback, and a head coach willing to say out loud that his starter is staying put. Three stories, one theme: September is when teams tell you what they think they are.
The Saints walked out of Week 2 with an 'A' for stunning Baltimore, and the Steelers graded near the bottom of the pile. Read the Saints' mark for what it is. Grading in September rewards the surprise, not the roster, and beating the Ravens is the loudest thing anyone did all weekend. That gets you an 'A' on Tuesday and nothing at all in December. The Steelers' low mark is the more useful item on the page, because it usually lands a week or two before a coordinator's name starts floating around a head coach's office. One grade is a souvenir. The other is a warning.
In Seattle, Mike Macdonald said Sam Darnold will be back at practice Wednesday and that "there is a chance" he plays this week at Washington. Listen to the phrasing. A head coach who expects his starter out there says the starter is playing. "A chance" is what you say when Wednesday's rep count is going to decide it, and the only thing that matters this week is whether Darnold takes the first-team snaps or spends the session behind the backup watching. If he's handing off to the twos, Seattle is planning around him, not for him. I'd bet on Darnold dressing Sunday and the Seahawks easing him back rather than handing him the full playbook on a short week.
Cleveland is the one team that got louder, and it's a strange kind of loud. Todd Monken called Deshaun Watson "still a very young player that is gonna continue to grow" and said he has "a lot of football left in him," praise that reads as a signal Watson stays QB1 for now. Circle "for now." That's the sentence doing the actual work. This is what a head coach says when he's decided the alternative is worse this week, not when he's decided he has his guy for three years. Monken is buying himself time and buying Watson a runway. The endorsement holds exactly as long as the turnovers stay off the tape. One multi-interception afternoon and the whole quote becomes the thing beat writers replay at the next podium.
My verdict, on the record: the Saints' 'A' is the least durable story of the three, Pittsburgh's grade is the one that predicts an actual change, and Cleveland's quarterback situation is settled only until it isn't. Watson starts next week. Ask me again in October.
