So far, Week 2 has delivered a handful of unexpected storylines in the NFL.
Raise your hand if you had the Chiefs starting 0–2 and the Colts at 2–0. Keep them up if you had the Cowboys and Giants producing a game as entertaining as last week’s thriller between the Bills and Ravens.
Yeah, it’s been a surprising Sunday, even though the betting favorites continue to win at a high rate. Shoutout to the Ravens for keeping thousands of survivor pool entries alive, destroying the Browns to bounce back from the heartbreaking Bills loss.
Sticking with the AFC North, the Bengals are 2–0, which is somewhat surprising considering how much they’ve struggled in September in recent years. But they could be on the verge of another lost season depending on the recovery timeline for Joe Burrow, who injured his toe against the Jaguars.
Here’s what else we learned in NFL Week 2.
Chiefs are no longer in the class of the Eagles
The Eagles have become a safe bet to annually make the playoffs because of how consistently they win in the margins. Their ability to automatically turn third-and-short into a new set of downs has been demoralizing to inferior competition in recent seasons.
The Eagles usually have to do more than lean on the tush push to beat the legitimate contenders, but it’s been easy for them to push around the Chiefs in their past two meetings, including Sunday’s 20–17 win and the Super Bowl LIX rout.
Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean the Chiefs are no longer contenders because of the very concerning 0–2 start. But it’s safe to say they have become inferior competition for the undefeated Eagles.
The Chiefs appeared helpless whenever the Eagles had a short-yardage situation. No one on the Eagles’ offense seemed concerned about having to convert on fourth-and-1 near the goal line after Jalen Hurts was ruled short in the fourth quarter. As for the Chiefs, they probably longed for the days when teams settled for field goals instead of going for it on fourth down. Of course, Hurts got the touchdown on the following play for a 20–10 advantage with 7:48 left in regulation.
The game was practically over at that point and there wasn’t much hope for Kansas City even after Patrick Mahomes finally connected on a deep ball, throwing a 49-yard touchdown pass in the final three minutes. The Eagles and the rest of the contenders aren’t losing sleep over Mahomes throwing bombs to Tyquan Thornton, not when the Chiefs are being bullied at the line of scrimmage. Not when Travis Kelce is making more mistakes than plays—he had a killer drop near the end zone that turned into a 41-yard interception return from rookie safety Andrew Mukuba.
These Chiefs can still—maybe—put fear into opponents. Just not against the big, bad Eagles, who clearly have their number.
Colts could become this year’s surprise team
Similar to last week, most betting favorites have handled business in Week 2. But we did get a notable upset from a surprise playoff hopeful.
Not many predicted the Colts would be 2–0 after coach Shane Steichen announced Daniel Jones as the starting quarterback over Anthony Richardson last month.
The Colts remained undefeated after capitalizing on the many mistakes from the Broncos, who fell 29–28 after Spencer Shrader’s last-second 45-yard field goal. Shrader initially missed a 60-yard attempt, but received a second chance thanks to Denver’s 15-yard penalty.
Jones knows all about self-inflicted damage from his chaotic days with the Giants. To Jones’s credit, though, he has played clean football as the starting QB in Indy. Jones, who hasn’t thrown an interception this season, again trusted Steichen’s scheme and leaned on star running back Jonathan Taylor, who galloped for 165 yards on 25 carries. Playing within the scheme has allowed Jones to establish a rhythm in games, completing 23-of-34 passes for 316 yards and one touchdown vs. Denver.
Perhaps it’s too soon to refer to the Colts as playoff contenders, but they’re limiting mistakes on both sides of the football. The defense played fundamentally sound football and waited for Bo Nix to make momentum-changing plays. This might be a costly loss for Denver (1–1) if it finds itself fighting with Indianapolis for playoff positioning later in the year.
Again, it’s surprising that we’re talking about the Colts in this light. It was also nice to see an animated Steichen on the sideline throughout the competitive Week 2 battle. It seems Indy is finally turning a corner after a rough 2024 season.
Bengals on the verge of wasting another prime Burrow season
For whatever reason, the Bengals have had rough Septembers in previous years that feature stagnant offenses and Burrow nursing injuries.
This first month of this season hasn’t been any different, with Burrow injuring his toe and exiting early in the Bengals’ come-from-behind 31–27 victory against the Jaguars. Cincinnati only generated 17 points in the ugly Week 1 win against Cleveland, which got pummeled by Baltimore, 41–17.
Actually, there’s a reason for the Bengals’ September woes. The Bengals continue to build poor rosters that look appealing on the surface because of the big three of Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. But Burrow having two star receivers hasn’t done much for this team in the win column because the offensive line can’t protect the franchise QB and the defense can’t protect leads.
It can’t be just a coincidence that Burrow has suffered costly injuries during games on multiple occasions in his career, going back to his torn ACL in his rookie season. It’s still unknown whether Burrow will miss games due to the toe injury, but if he does, the Bengals have a difficult upcoming schedule, playing the Vikings, Broncos, Lions and Packers in the next four weeks.
The 2–0 start helps and so does having a quality backup in Jake Browning, who leaned on Chase (14 catches, 165 yards, one touchdown) and Higgins (three catches, 56 yards, one touchdown) to pull out the win Sunday. Still, Browning is known for his highs and lows, evident by the three interceptions against the Jaguars. It didn’t help, however, that neither Burrow (7-of-13 for 76 yards, one touchdown) nor Browning (21-of-32 for 241 yards, two touchdowns) had much time to throw behind this lackluster offensive line.
If Burrow misses time and the Bengals again miss the playoffs because of a sluggish start to the season, maybe this time the front office will wake up and prioritize the defense and offensive line in the offseason.
Cowboys’ defense will continue to hurt Dak’s offense
So much occurred in the bonkers back-and-forth battle between the Cowboys and Giants, but I still found myself thinking about the player Dallas shipped to Green Bay two weeks before the season. Perhaps the Cowboys (1–1) wouldn’t have had to sweat until the final seconds of the 40–37 overtime victory if they had a better pass rush or a defensive difference-maker like Micah Parsons.
Dak Prescott (38-of-52 for 361 yards, two touchdowns, one interception) delivered in the first two games of the season, but this dynamic Cowboys’ offense might be this year’s version of the 2024 Bengals because the defense can’t cover or apply pressure. Dallas is likely headed for an 8–9 or 9–8 season due to the many one-score games that will likely transpire from having a stellar offense and a bad defense. Parsons would have been a huge asset for this impressive offense that has found a higher gear with the arrival of wide receiver George Pickens (five catches, 68 yards, one touchdown) and coach Brian Schottenheimer calling the plays.
Instead of being a double-digit win team, the Cowboys will probably flirt with mediocrity because quarterbacks will just do what Russell Wilson (30-of-41 for 450 yards, three touchdowns, one interception) did countless times on Sunday, dropping back for an eternity and unleashing desperate downfield shots to his star receiver. Malik Nabers (nine catches, 167 yards, two touchdowns) answered those prayers often, but Wilson’s risky approach got the best of him at the end, forcing a throw that led to a killer interception to help set up Brandon Aubrey’s game-winning field goal as time expired in overtime.
Dallas would rather talk about Pickens’s clutch plays and Aubrey’s booming kicks, but Parsons’s name will continue to come up until the Jones family improves the poor pass rush. They’re going to need a lot more help than just signing 32-year-old Jadeveon Clowney.
Lions end chatter about their demise, blow out Bears
The Week 1 overreactions surrounding the Lions were just those—overreactions.
The Lions told the rest of the league they aren’t going anywhere when it comes to Super Bowl contention after crushing the Bears, 52–21. Detroit’s high-powered offense made that statement at the expense of their former offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, who learned the hard way why the Chicago organization hasn’t done much right since the ’80s.
The Lions (1–1) earned the benefit of the doubt—unlike the Bears (0–2)—for being capable of brushing off flat losses. Still, many failed to remember what coach Dan Campbell and GM Brad Holmes have built the past four years and instead overreacted to the ugly season-opening loss to the Packers and prematurely wrote off this offense because Johnson now resides in Chicago.
As it turned out, Jared Goff wasn’t on the verge of a decline with new offensive play-caller John Morton. Goff (23-of-28 for 334 yards, five touchdowns) leaned on his top playmakers, Amon-Ra St. Brown (nine catches, 115 yards, three touchdowns) and Jameson Williams (two catches, 108 yards, one touchdown), to score 24 unanswered points and gain a 31-point advantage early in the fourth quarter. Detroit finished with a whopping 511 total yards.
New Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard also received a stellar performance from his unit. Caleb Williams (19-of-30 for 207 yards, two touchdowns, one interception) reverted to his chaotic ways away from the pocket, leading to costly mistakes in the embarrassing loss.
It’s concerning that Johnson hasn’t been able to get Williams to spread the ball around to his plethora of playmakers. Williams locked in on Rome Odunze (seven catches, 128 yards, two touchdowns) and practically ignored DJ Moore (five catches, 46 yards), and he didn’t lean on his tight ends Cole Kmet (two catches, 29 yards) and Colston Loveland (one target). It’s shaping up to be another long season in Chicago.
