Sport News
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NFL Nation, ESPNSep 15, 2024, 11:38 PM ET
Week 2 of the NFL season began Thursday night with a Buffalo Bills blowout win over the Miami Dolphins. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa left the game in the third quarter with a concussion.
On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tamed the Detroit Lions, and the New Orleans Saints‘ offense proved to be too much for the Dallas Cowboys. Packers quarterback Malik Willis helped lead Green Bay to its first win of the season, while the Lamar Jackson-led Baltimore Ravens fell to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Arizona Cardinals‘ 31-point win over the Los Angeles Rams was spearheaded by big performances from quarterback Kyler Murray and rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
Sunday night featured the Houston Texans blitzing their way to a victory over Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears.
Our NFL Nation reporters are reacting to all the action, answering lingering questions coming out of each game and detailing everything else you need to know for every team. Let’s get to it.
Jump to:
BUF-MIA | LAC-CAR | NO-DAL
IND-GB | TB-DET | SF-MIN
NYJ-TEN | SEA-NE | NYG-WSH
CLE-JAX | LV-BAL | LAR-ARI
PIT-DEN | CIN-KC | CHI-HOU
Texans
How can the Texans get all three receivers involved? The Texans have a dynamic receiving trio of Stefon Diggs, Tank Dell and Nico Collins. While Collins had his second consecutive 100-yard game (135), Dell and Diggs combined for 30 yards. That’s been the theme through two weeks. Diggs has two touchdowns in 2024 but 70 yards receiving. Dell hasn’t made many plays either, totaling 33 receiving yards. Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik must figure out how to get other playmakers involved to reach their potential.
Biggest hole in the game plan: Slowik strayed from a balanced offense. C.J. Stroud dropped back 39 times but Slowik called 21 rushing plays for 76 yards. The Texans had success running the ball in Week 1 as Joe Mixon reached 159 rushing yards on 30 carries against the Colts. Mixon was battling an ankle injury Sunday.
Eye-popping advanced stat: Cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. guarded Bears receiver DJ Moore for 28 routes and allowed 52 yards while snagging an interception. Stingley followed Moore for the majority of the game. — DJ Bien-Aime
Next game: at Vikings (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
Bears
How can the offense better support Caleb Williams? The No. 1 overall pick looked better in his second outing (two of his best passes came on Chicago’s lone scoring drive and were negated by a penalty and a drop by WR Rome Odunze). Williams finished 23-of-37 for 174 yards, no touchdowns, 2 interceptions and a 51.0 passer rating. The Bears had no answer to Houston’s blitz and failed to protect Williams, who was sacked seven times. After going 0-for-5 under pressure against the Titans, Williams was 2-of-9 for 20 yards with two interceptions while pressured against Houston.
Describe the game in two words: Costly mistakes. Chicago’s nine penalties, including three on special teams, put the offense behind the chains. And two of those came on the offensive line for false starts after timeouts. Matt Eberflus threw two questionable challenge flags, and Williams forced a throw into coverage that resulted in his second interception.
Biggest hole in the game plan: Chicago’s run game was nonexistent for a second straight week. D’Andre Swift totaled 18 yards on 14 rushes (1.3 yards per carry). Williams’ scrambling (44 yards) accounted for most of the damage on a night when play design and poor run blocking made the Bears one-dimensional offensively. — Courtney Cronin
Next game: at Colts (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
Chiefs
What’s happened to tight end Travis Kelce? Kelce has disappeared from the passing game. He had just one catch for 5 yards after a three-for-34 performance last week against the Ravens. The Chiefs are deeper at wide receiver than they’ve been in recent years and have receiving alternatives at tight end in Noah Gray and Jared Wiley, so they don’t consistently need big production from Kelce every week. But it’s difficult to see them being as dynamic offensively without getting more from Kelce.
Biggest hole in the game plan: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw just 13 passes in the first half as the Chiefs attempted 18 running plays. They were mostly productive but generated just 10 first-half points. The Chiefs need their running game to help take some pressure off Mahomes and the passing attack, but when they are out of balance like this, they’re not maximizing their return from their best player.
Most surprising performance: Mahomes. He threw a pair of interceptions and had a third called back because of a Bengals’ penalty. Mahomes tried but failed to get a big play downfield other than a 44-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Rashee Rice. Otherwise, the Chiefs had no pass play of more than 16 yards. — Adam Teicher
Next game: at Falcons (Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET)
Bengals
What does this performance say about QB Joe Burrow‘s wrist? Cincinnati couldn’t have asked for a more encouraging showing from Burrow. After the downfield passing attack was absent toward the end of training camp and in the season opener, Burrow was more willing to push the ball deep. He also embraced contact without any reservations, which led to some important gains (and also a fumble that was returned for a touchdown). But the outing bodes well for Burrow as he continues to come back from the right wrist injury that ended his previous season.
Describe the game in two words: Another classic. It looked like the Bengals were on the brink of pulling out an unlikely victory against despite being 6.5-point underdogs. But a late penalty by rookie Daijahn Anthony on fourth-and-16 put Kansas City in position for the winning field goal.
Eye-popping advanced stat: Burrow had an average of 2.88 seconds to throw against Kansas City, per NFL Next Gen Stats. Cincinnati’s offensive line deserves a ton of credit for giving Burrow ample time in the pocket. — Ben Baby
Next game: vs. Commanders (Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET)
Steelers
Is the defense as good as it has shown in the first two weeks? The Steelers’ defense has given up 16 points this season, the fewest points it has allowed through the first two weeks since 2007. But the second-half defensive performance didn’t quite match up with the one of the first, where the Steelers held the Broncos to 62 total yards and 29 passing yards. The Broncos found second-half success with Bo Nix in the pass game and moved the ball through chunk plays. But the defense still came up with timely plays as Cory Trice Jr. hauled in an interception after back-to-back pass plays of 26 and 49 yards. With the Chargers coming to Pittsburgh in Week 3, the Steelers will face their biggest challenge to date.
Early prediction for next week: QB Justin Fields starts against in the Steelers’ home opener. Though Fields had an uneven performance, he played well enough for the Steelers to continue to be cautious with Russell Wilson‘s calf injury. Fields completed 10 of 12 attempts for 101 yards and a touchdown pass — his first as a Steeler — in the first half.
Describe the game in two words: Inconsistent offense. The Steelers followed the game plan to near perfection — save for a slew of offensive line penalties — in the first half by dominating the time of possession, making smart throws and getting strong running back play. They entered the break with a 10-0 lead and converted 4 of 6 third downs. It didn’t continue in the second half. Penalties put the offense behind the chains and the Steelers failed to sustain drives. — Brooke Pryor
Next game: vs. Chargers (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
Broncos
What can the Broncos do on offense to help QB Bo Nix? The Broncos had three first downs and 62 yards at halftime, Nix had 39 yards passing midway through the third quarter and the Denver offense couldn’t provide much en route to a 0-2 start. For the second consecutive week, coach Sean Payton kept Nix in a bevy of three wide receiver sets and didn’t utilize the run game much (only seven rushes in the first half). The only life the Broncos’ offense showed was on 50-yard trick play between Nix and Josh Reynolds in the third quarter, but Nix threw an interception in the end zone one play later. Denver might need to play out of bulkier personnel groupings and grind it out until Nix finds his footing.
Early prediction for next week: The Buccaneers’ pass rush will come after Nix. The league’s schedule maker did Nix no favors, with his first four games coming against head coaches with long, productive defensive resumes. Mike Macdonald (Seahawks) and Mike Tomlin (Steelers) have held the Broncos to 26 points in two games, and now Tampa Bay’s Todd Bowles lurks in Week 3. Bowles routinely attacks opposing quarterbacks, and it’d be surprising if he didn’t send regular pressure at Nix.
Most surprising performance: Cornerback Pat Surtain II. It was more shocking than surprising, but Surtain might have had his most difficult day as a pro. He had two holding penalties — one on special teams — and a pass interference penalty. He also surrendered a third-down catch to George Pickens in the first half. It was out of character for Surtain, who has been the Broncos’ most consistent, impactful player since entering the NFL in 2021. — Jeff Legwold
Next game: at Buccaneers (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
Cardinals
Is this what the Cardinals’ offense can look like every week? It sure looks like it. Take what Arizona did in Buffalo in Week 1 and compound that with the showing Sunday against the Rams, in which the Cardinals put up 41 points and 489 yards while featuring a 100-yard receiver in Marvin Harrison Jr. and 100-yard rusher in James Conner. The Cardinals are averaging 34.5 points per game and 374 yards in their two games and have shown the ability to put up points and yards in a hurry.
Describe the game in two words: Rookie breakout. The Cardinals’ rookie wide receiver followed a one-catch performance in his NFL debut with 130 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter of his first home game.
