As teams begin to settle, the true colors of each squad begin to show, for some expectations are being made and for some the verdict is still unknown.
Week two has officially ended and what a week it was. There were quite a few surprises, blowouts, and overall good and bad performances.
Here’s a breakdown of every week two game.
Los Angeles Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs
The first Amazon Prime game of the year and it didn’t disappoint… but it did for those without prime, because they missed it.
Los Angeles started the day off with the first two scores. Justin Herbert threw 334 yards on 33/48 for three touchdowns and a pick. But it wasn’t enough as Kansas City snuck in and won 27-24.
The game could’ve been a Chargers win, but Herbert’s interception happened to be a 99-yard pick six to but Kansas City up 24-17, which would be the final. That would be the first point in the game Kansas City had the lead.
The Chiefs comeback started early in the third when the Chargers offense stagnated.
Herbert when down in this one after a hard hit from a Chief’s defender that caused him to get X-Rays after the game.
This was a prove it game for L.A., but things didn’t work out in their favor as Patrick Mahomes continues his dominance of the AFC West.
Outlook for Week 3
The Chargers host the Jaguars, who come off a shutout victory. This should be an easy win for L.A. but if Herbert’s injury is more serious then thought, it could get dicey.
Kansas City heads northeast to face the winless Colts. After the Colts got shut out by Jacksonville, I’d expect Patrick Mahomes to throw for video game numbers in a blowout.
New York Jets vs. Cleveland Browns
All hope seemed to be lost for the Jets. They were down 13 points with less than two minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Then the unthinkable happened.
It all started with a missed extra-point kick from the Browns Cade York. With a minute and 22 seconds on the clock Joe Flacco connected a 66-yard pass to Corey Davis to bring them within one score. The Jets then elected for the onside kick which they converted successfully. Flacco then led a successful 53-yard drive to put the Jets up 31-30.
New York made a miracle comeback, stunning the Browns fans and players. Both teams’ offenses were playing extremely well. Cleveland had a more balanced attack running the ball while New York’s attack was 70% in the air.
The Jets defense does not have the expectation to hold opposing squads to a few scores, but the Browns do. The fact that Cleveland’s defense was unable to hold the Jets under 30 points is surprising.
Flacco had 307 passing yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. This is the second week in-a-row he’s thrown for more than 300 yards. The Brown’s Nick Chubb had 113 yards from scrimmage and three rushing touchdowns.
Outlook for Week 3
The Jets welcome Cincinnati at home. The way the Bengals are playing I’d expect another close game that the Jets could potentially win.
Cleveland sticks home for a short off week against Pittsburgh for Thursday Night Football. Yes, the Browns had an epic meltdown on Sunday, but they should be able to contain the Steelers.
Washington Commanders vs. Detroit Lions
Detroit’s defense was, by far, the weak point of this team heading into the season. But after limiting Washington to one first down and 39 total yards in the first half, they’ve raised heads.
Heading into halftime the Lions were up 22-0. The offense started off hot in the scoring column, near the end of the second quarter and start of the third they stagnated.
This allowed the Carson Wentz and the Commanders to get within reach. Just as soon as the game became close, the Lions offense turned back up and closed out the game 36-27.
There were many franchise and NFL records set for Lions, as a team, and individual players. This game was the clear indicator that “the same old Lions” are no longer what they used to be.
Washington recovered well in the second half, but it was too little, too late. Wentz finished 337 passing yards, three touchdowns, one interception and was sacked five times. Three of those sacks came from rookie Aidan Hutchinson, who was criticized after his subpar performance last week.
Amon-Ra St. Brown was electric finishing with 184 yards-from-scrimmage and two receiving touchdowns. St. Brown was the spark plug the Lions needed when the Commanders decided to play football in the second half.
Outlook for Week 3
Philadelphia flies over to Washington for an NFC East matchup, that won’t disappoint. The Commanders were lulled to sleep by the Lions, but don’t expect that next week. This should be a close rivalry matchup.
Detroit is on the road for the first time this season against a familiar opponent in the Minnesota Vikings. While the Lions defense showed what they’re capable of, don’t expect the same performance. The Lions will have to play their very best for this one to be close.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints
This was a scrapy game, both in play and literal “scraps.” The first half was a pure defensive battle as New Orleans went into the half with a 3-0 lead.
Second half play is when things intensified for both teams. Players were getting under each-others skin on both sides and the Saints finally showed some life.
The Saints Marshon Lattimore and the Buccaneers Mike Evans were both ejected after an altercation during the game. These two players have a well-documented history of distain for each other.
Tampa scored the first touchdown of the game, after an interception from Jameis Winston. The pressure for the Saints offense to produce became apparent. Unfortunately, the pressure was too much for Winston, who reverted to his old ways. He threw another interception two plays into their next possession, then threw a pick-six in the next.
New Orleans finally scored late in the fourth, but the game was already over as Tampa Bay won 20-10.
Outlook for Week 3
Tom Brady and the Buccaneers should be able to handle the Packers at home. But if the defense has an off week, this one could easily slip out of their hands.
New Orleans heads to Charlotte to face the Panthers in another NFC South matchup. At first glance the Saints should run away with this game. But if “interception machine Winston” shows up again, it’d be the same result as this game.
Carolina Panthers vs. New York Giants
Right off the bat things went sideways for Carolina. The Panthers were set to receive the opening kickoff and they fumbled it. Their next possession would also result in a fumble.
The Giants were able to take advantage of the stellar field position caused by their defense, with two short field goals. But Carolina was able to respond with two field goals of their own to tie the game at halftime.
Honestly both teams are very similar in the way they operate on offense. They both have subpar quarterback, who must prove they deserve to stay. They both have solid receivers, each have a superstar running back and both offensive line are worse than expected.
Both squads were able to find the end-zone and an offensive rhythm in the third quarter. Christian McCaffrey finally broke out early in the fourth that led to a field goal to tie.
New York scored the final field goal with three minutes on the clock, effectively sealing their second victory 19-16.
The Giants defense were able to make big plays in crunch time, allowing Daniel Jones’ 176 yards and one touchdown slide by for the win. The scoring came mostly from both squads’ kickers, who were a combined seven-of-seven, New York’s Graham Gano just had one more.
Outlook for Week 3
Baker Mayfield and the Panthers face New Orleans next. This game is totally dependent on quarterback play.
Monday Night Football against the Cowboys at home. Honestly, if the Giants play exactly like they did this week they could probably win. The offense will have to get more than one touchdown though.
New England Patriots vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Past Mac Jones interception in the first quarter, he looked very solid against a strong Pittsburgh defense. On the other hand, Mitch Trubisky looks like his time might be ending as the Steelers starter.
New England took down Pittsburgh 17-14. The score was close; therefore, it wouldn’t be outlandish to assume it was a competitive game. But that wasn’t the case. After a poor week one performance the Patriots really picked up their play.
Their offense was effective, special teams made some nice plays and their defense was able get to Trubisky multiple times. Trubisky struggled to make any game changing decisions while in the pocket and every time he would scramble it was a disaster.
Jones finished with 21/35 for 252 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Patriots’ receiver Nelson Agholor had 110 yards and a touchdown on six receptions.
Outlook for Week 3
The Patriots have their word cut out as they welcome the Ravens into town. If their defense can limit Baltimore to three or less touchdowns, they can win this game. But the offense will need to be firing on all cylinders.
Pittsburgh heads to Cleveland for an AFC North matchup. The biggest question mark on the outcome of this game will be if the Steelers decide to activate rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett for the start.
Indianapolis Colts vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Absolute dominance, by the… Jacksonville Jaguars? The performance no-one, outside of the Jacksonville locker room, expected. The Jaguars tore up Indianapolis 24-0.
Matt Ryan threw three interceptions, 195 yards and was sacked five times. Jonathan Taylor was held to only 54 yards on nine carries and their defense had zero sacks and zero interceptions.
The last time the Jaguars shut out an opponent was in 2018 against… the Colts. Trevor Lawrence threw two touchdown and 235 yards on 25/30. Lawrence spread the ball well across all his receivers. The standout was Christian Kirk, who continues to prove his worth and the money they spent on him.
Jacksonville barely lost last week and the way they tore up this Colts offense is eye opening.
Outlook for Week 3
The Colts head back home to Lucas Oil Stadium to face Kansas City. Indianapolis’ defense is going to struggle mightily to contain the Chiefs firepower. This will be another loss for them.
Jacksonville is set to face the Chargers next Sunday. If Herbert plays, the Chargers should take this one. But if Jacksonville proves they can hang with L.A. the conversation in the AFC South becomes complicated.
Miami Dolphins vs. Baltimore Ravens
Offense, offense, offense. Both the Ravens and Dolphins displayed the explosiveness of their offenses in this one. Miami scored with 22 seconds left in the fourth to win 42-38.
The game started out in perfect fashion as Raven receiver Devin Duvernay took the opening kickoff 103 yards to the house. The Ravens went into halftime with a 21-point lead.
Despite the loss Lamar Jackson looked like he was in top tier form. He threw for 318 yards on 21/29 with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. He was also the Ravens leading rusher with 119 yards a touchdown.
Baltimore tight end, Mark Andrews continues to be Jackson’s favorite target with nine catches, 104 yards and one touchdown. Safety Marcus Williams had a huge impact on defense, he had game highs in total tackles (10), solo tackles (seven) and had both interceptions for the Ravens.
Tua Tagovailoa played an exceptional game with six touchdown passes 469 yards and two interceptions. As well as he played, his receivers do half (if not more) of the work for him. Tagovailoa’s interceptions were blatant forced throws.
Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle had a monster game, pleasing every fantasy football owner that has them. Hill had 11 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns. Waddle also had 11 receptions for 171 yards and two touchdowns,
The Dolphins tied things up late in the fourth and Hill was a huge part of their comeback.
Outlook for Week 3
Miami vs. Buffalo. Buffalo is the clear favorite, but Miami has the potential to outscore them. The Dolphins defense will not be able to contain Buffalo, so it’s entirely up to the offense in this one.
Baltimore remains on the road to face the Patriots. If Jackson can keep the ball moving without too many turnovers, this game should be a victory.
Atlanta Falcons vs. Los Angeles Rams
Los Angeles had this game won from the very start. Atlanta’s offense just does not have the pieces to compete with the talent L.A. has.
The Rams led the whole game, but the final score was only a four-point difference, 31-27. Atlanta lagged through the first three quarters, but they started an impressive fourth quarter run with 17 points on offense and only three points allowed on defense.
It was just too late for any realistic comeback opportunities for Atlanta. The Flacons were only able to capitalize on one of three L.A. turnovers.
Marcus Mariota played okay with 196 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions and a wild throw on fourth down that was pure magic. Matthew Stafford played better than he did last week, but he still threw two picks.
The positive for L.A. is that Stafford was able to throw to more people than just Cooper Kupp, who still had 11 receptions for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
Nothing crazy in this one, the team that should’ve won got the victory.
Outlook for Week 3
Atlanta’s offense is still surprisingly good enough to hang with opponents, but it still hasn’t led to wins. But they face Seattle next, who they should beat. The only problem is that it’s an away game, so the 12th man will be a factor.
The Rams head to the desert to face the Cardinals next. This game should be very competitive as both teams are coming off their first wins of the season and have a lot to prove.
Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers
The most notable thing from this game was the unfortunate season-ending injury to Trey Lance. With Lance out for the remainder of the 2022 season, Jimmy Garoppolo was thrusted back into a starter role.
Seattle had an underwhelming 216 total yards, 14 first downs, two for seven on third downs, three turnovers and 10 penalties for 106 yards. Seattle got their first and only score in the third quarter.
Garoppolo was able to manage 153 yards and a touchdown, but the big attack for the 49ers was their rushes. As a collective San Francisco ran for 189 yards.
The obvious best performers in the game were the 49ers defense. They held Seattle to little-no offensive production or just took the ball from them. Nick Bosa’s two sacks also helped.
This was an expected blowout, with an unexpected San Francisco quarterback.
Outlook for Week 3
Seattle hosts Atlanta next. Don’t be surprised if the Seahawks win against Denver turns out to be their only win this season. Atlanta has enough on offense to run all over them.
The 49ers head to the mile high city to face to Broncos. This should be a win for them if Garoppolo can remain productive without any turnovers, which will be a challenge against Denver’s defense.
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Dallas Cowboys
Even though Cincinnati built up a new offense line it doesn’t look to be working out. Joe Burrow was sacked six times and was suffocated on nearly every pocket pass.
Cowboys’ backup quarterback Cooper Rush picked up where he left off last week. Rush has shown he’s not afraid to make aggressive throws to his receivers throwing for 235 yards and a touchdown. Rush has broken out along with teammate Noah Brown who made a few big plays and had 91 yards off five receptions for a touchdown.
On the other side of the spectrum Burrow and his cast of weapons have been rendered useless. Burrow only threw for 199 yards and a touchdown, Ja’Marr Chase had 54 yards on five receptions and Joe Mixon had 57 yards on 19 carries.
Cincinnati has not looked like the Superbowl competitor they were last year. Their expectations were high this season, but so far, they’re crashing down.
Outlook for Week 3
The Bengals are set to play the Jets next. If this was last year it would be an easy win for Burrow. But the way the Jets are playing expect a competitive matchup.
Dallas has an extended weekend to face the Giants on Monday night football. Despite New York sitting at 2-0, the Cowboy’s defense should be able to contain the Giants well enough for Rush to put a few scores on the board.
Houston Texans vs. Denver Broncos
The Broncos red zone struggles continue to hinder the potential of their offense. But they were still able to pull through for a victory over the Texans 16-9.
Some question that the deal to acquire Russell Wilson at this point. But it’s still early. Their third down efficiency is not where it should be, but Denver still was able to move the ball 350 total yards.
Both Houston and Denver defenses played well. They both got to the quarterback three times and Houston got a pick off Wilson. Both kickers went three-for three.
The biggest factor in this game was the sheer number of penalties on both sides. Denver had 13 penalties for 100 yards and Houston had eight penalties for 94 yards. For a young and inexperienced team like the Texans the penalties makes sense, but not for the Broncos.
Outlook for Week 3
Houston heads up-north to face the Bears next. This game is a toss-up, Davis Mills is by-far the better quarterback, so he should be able to move the offense better than Chicago.
Denver welcomes the 49ers to town. At the moment, San Francisco has the upper hand, but if Denver’s offense can band together and play how they’re expected to, it could easily be a Broncos victory. But from what they’ve shown thus far, it’s unlikely.
Arizona Cardinals vs. Las Vegas Raiders
What a comeback for the Cardinals. Arizona took down Las Vegas 29-23 in stunning fashion on Sunday.
The first half was reminiscent of the Lions vs. Commanders this week but differed in one major way. The Raiders were up 20-0 at halftime. Arizona didn’t move the ball well and Las Vegas scored on every one of their possessions.
But the Raiders didn’t continue to produce on offense like Detroit. They instead crumbled to the ground and allowed the Cardinals to score 29, nearly unanswered points.
The Raider defense held up well at the end of the fourth, but Kyler Murray was able to work some magic to tie things up at 23. Just when things went in Las Vegas’ favor in overtime, it somehow got worse.
The Raiders fumbled in overtime right as they were about to get into field goal range. But it wasn’t just a fight for the football in a pile, the ball was scooped up by Arizona and returned 59 for a touchdown and the win.
Murray threw for 277 yards, one touchdown, one pick and one rushing touchdown. Zach Ertz was his favorite target with eight catches and 75 yards.
Derek Carr played solid with 252 yards and two touchdowns. Davante Adams had an early touchdown, but other than that he only had 12 yards.
Outlook for Week 3
Arizona hosts the Rams next week and it’s another toss-up. Both teams are better than what they’ve proved through two games. But the injury to James Conner could hurt the offensive pressure Arizona is known for.
Vegas is set to face Tennessee next. This should be an easy win for the raiders as the Titans look nothing like the number-one seed they were before.
Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers
This game was a no contest. Green Bay wiped the floor with their division rival Chicago, 27-10.
The Bears defense played fine and running back David Montgomery ran for 122 yards. Those are the only positives for Chicago.
Their apparent franchise quarterback Justin Fields threw for 70 yards on 7-11 attempts, threw an interception, was sacked three times, and had a quarterback rating of 6.7.
A team cannot win or even come close when quarterback play is that poor. Chicago fans deserve better.
Aaron Rodgers threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns and Aaron Jones ran for 132 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Rodgers also seems to be gelling better with his receivers.
Outlook for Week 3
Chicago hosts Houston at home next. Both squads are not best, so it could be close. If Chicago wants to win, Justin Fields is going to have to throw the ball more than 11 times, but that still won’t guarantee victory.
Tennessee Titans vs. Buffalo Bills
Another blowout that is somehow worse than Chicago vs Green Bay. The shell of a team in the Titans tried to play football against Buffalo. It did not work out in the Titans favor. Buffalo beat them 41-7.
Granted Buffalo is the best team in football as of now. But for the former one seed in the NFC to play this bad is heartbreaking.
Tennessee had 187 yards of offense, 3.5 yards a play, had one trip to the red-zone and turned the ball over four times. There’s not a single player on the Titans that played well or had a game-changing play.
On the flip side, Josh Allen continued to dominate the air with 317 yards and four touchdowns. Stefon Diggs also caught three touchdowns from Allen and 148 yards off 12 receptions.
Buffalo’s defense dominated Tennessee with two interceptions, (one was a pick-six) two sacks and eight tackles-for-loss.
Outlook for Week 3
Tennessee host Las Vegas next. Tennessee is not the team they need to be to compete. There seems to be a lot going on behind the scenes in Nashville, so expect another loss for them.
Buffalo heads on the road to Miami. This game will be an all-out offensive battle. Expect the Bills to come out victorious due to their elevated defense compared to the Dolphins.
Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The final game of the week turned out to be yet another blowout, but this time it wasn’t expected. Philadelphia shut down Minnesota 24-7.
Jalen Hurts continues to impress with 333 yards passing, with a touchdown and interception, while also rushing for 57 yards and two touchdowns. He was a one-man wrecking crew on offense this past week.
But heres the issue. All the scoring happened in the first half only. The entirety of the second half was scoreless for both teams. Minnesota had five drive opportunities in the second half and were unable to score on any of their trips.
That was due to three Kirk Cousin interceptions in the second half. Dalvin cook was held to just 17 yards and Justin Jefferson was held to 48 yards.
Philadelphia was favored to win this one throughout the entirety of the game. This game was expected to be highly competitive, but it fell flat.
Outlook for Week 3
Minnesota hosts the Lions next. If the Vikings play like this, it’ll be a sure-fire loss. But they’re going to bounce back from this game, despite the short week. But they’ll need to score because the Lions offense is dangerous.
Philadelphia travels to Washington for an NFC East matchup. Washington is better than most give them credit for, but the Eagles should come out with a win.
