Impressive performances, shocking upsets and disastrous coaching decisions: Week 2 had it all.
The Ravens and Bengals are both 0-2 after many considered them Super Bowl contenders. Week 3 is now a must-win for both AFC North squads.
This is where we recap Week 2. Hint: There was more bad than good.
Week 2 Winners
Jim Harbaugh
The Chargers may have gone from the worst-coached team in the league under Brandon Staley to the best.
Jim Harbaugh has the Chargers humming and perhaps the makings of a double-digit win team that could contend for playoff spot or even the division after a 26-3 dismantling of the hapless Panthers on the road.
Former first-round pick Quentin Johnston was dubbed a bust after looking lost in his rookie season a year ago.
The former TCU star, who torched Harbaugh’s Michigan team in the 2023 College Football Playoffs, looks like a different player under his new coach.
Johnston has the look of a budding star No. 1 receiver as he leads the team in receiving yards after a two-touchdown performance in Carolina.
Justin Herbert is now finally in the right spot to launch himself into superstardom.
Buy all your Chargers stock now––that playoff 27-0 blown lead against the Jaguars from 2023 looks to be a thing of the past.
Kyler Murray to Marvin Harrison Jr. combo
It’s someone’s job to get Marvin Harrison Jr. the ball, and the results were sparkling Sunday.
Harrison brought in four receptions––two touchdowns––for 130 yards, with some of the more eye-popping plays of the early season coming from Murray and the Ohio State rookie in a 41-10 drubbing of the Rams.
Murray’s dart to Harrison in the end zone was among the best catch and throws Sunday.
Don’t look now, but the Cardinals looks surprisingly solid — they lost 34-28 in Buffalo in Week 1 — and could contend for a wild-card spot in the NFC.
Alvin Kamara
Pro Football Focus already had the Saints’ offensive line rated among the best in the NFL and we expect this grade to improve in Week 2.
The Saints boat raced the Cowboys by putting up 35 first-half points while Alvin Kamara ran for four touchdowns in a dominant 44-19 victory.
Dallas loves a good shootout, but not like this. Their run defense is a disaster: It has allowed 4.9 yards per carry for two weeks.
Good luck to Mike McCarthy solving that one.
Week 2 losers
Every Survivor Pool
If you survived Week 1 when the Patriots upset the Bengals, it was only tougher with the Ravens’ dumbfounding performance in Week 2 against the Raiders.
Baltimore fell apart at the seams in the fourth quarter, allowing Gardner Minshew to go 30-for-38 for 276 yards and a touchdown in a stunning 26-23 loss.
Las Vegas scored 13 unanswered points to close the game as they busted survivor pools around the country.
Circa Sports Survivor, the most prominent contest in the United States, has a survivor pool with prizes of over $5 million and half of the contestants are out after just two weeks.
Of the remaining players, 26.5 percent had the Ravens in Week 2 — that’s before 34.3 percent lost when the Bengals embarrassed themselves in Week 1.
Shane Steichen
Losing to the Malk Willis-led Packers is about as disappointing as can be, especially considering Green Bay clearly chose not to run a real offense in Week 2 and the Colts still allowed more than eight yards per carry and quickly fell behind by two scores.
The curious coaching decisions did not end there.
Down 13-3 with seven minutes remaining, head coach Shane Steichen was riding running back Jonathan Taylor down the field before inexplicably calling a run-pass-option on third-and-1.
Quarterback Anthony Richardson pitched to Trey Sermon for a four-yard loss, and instead of going for it on fourth-and-5, he settled for a field goal which missed and that was essentially the game.
The long field goal try was certainly a choice, but the drive was lost on an RPO to their third-string running back.
Steichen was considered among the best and brightest young coaches in the league last year, but this felt like a step backwards for 0-2 Indianapolis.
Will Levis
You might not be long for the league when your coach has to run up to the quarterback in front of the whole team, screaming, “Hey, what the f–k are you doing?”
Will Levis made another bonehead, unforgivable turnover against the Jets, pitching the ball to an offensive lineman and fumbling it on third and goal from the seven-yard line.
Just last week, he made an eerily similar blunder throwing a pick-six to the Bears while falling down on a play that cost the Titans a game.
We’re approaching last-straw territory for Levis. One more dumb mistake, and Tennessee will start calling Deion Sanders to see if they are allowed to draft Shedeur Sanders.
Joe Schoen-Brian Daboll partnerhsip
John Mara deserves plenty of blame for the Giants’ poor performance over the past 10 years, but general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll did themselves no favors by again being without a kicker.
Here’s a real stat: The Giants became the first-ever team to score three or more touchdowns, not allow a touchdown and lose the game.