It was a Sunday of shock results in week two, showing this NFL season could be wide open as more teams join the list of contenders.
The New Orleans Saints look the real deal after they blew away the Dallas Cowboys in their own backyard, while the Houston Texans confirmed their status by seeing off Caleb Williams‘ Chicago Bears.
Nobody saw the Las Vegas Raiders beating the Ravens in Baltimore in a stunning upset, while the San Francisco 49ers also came unstuck at the Minnesota Vikings.
Defending Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs edged their big rivals Cincinnati Bengals in another thriller and the Green Bay Packers found a way to win without Jordan Love.
Kamara shines as Saints stun Cowboys
Putting 40-plus points against the lowly Carolina Panthers last week was one thing, but beating the Cowboys 44-19 in their home opener is a different story as the Saints sent out a warning to the rest of the league.
The unstoppable Alvin Kamara scored four touchdowns for this prolific Saints attack, which has now scored 91 points in their opening two games – the second most in the Super Bowl era.
Matching the 1971 Cowboys, only the Saints themselves, in 2009, scored more with 95 – and both of those teams went on to win the Super Bowl.
Being embarrassed at home was not exactly how Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott wanted to celebrate becoming the best-paid player in NFL history.
Raiders leave it late to sink Ravens
After being just a big toe away from beating the Chiefs last week, Baltimore were expected to roll over the Raiders but managed to blow a 10-point lead in the final 12 minutes to lose 26-23.
Raiders QB Gardner Minshew was sacked five times and intercepted once, but then produced a spark from nowhere as a team that scored just 10 points last week scored 13 unanswered on one of the best defences in the league.
It was a stunning defeat for Baltimore, who had the league’s best record last year and the MVP in Lamar Jackson but drop to 0-2 for the first time since 2015.
The Ravens have never made the play-offs after losing their first two games of a season.
Chiefs keep finding ways to win
It is always a tight contest between these fierce rivals, and this again went down to the wire as Harrison Butker kicked a 51-yard field goal as time expired to clinch a 26-25 Chiefs victory.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid had to dig deep into his box of tricks, with Patrick Mahomes throwing a TD pass to giant offensive tackle Wanya Morris – who weighs in at just over 22st.
Chamarri Conner returned a Joe Burrow fumble for a touchdown and a late penalty flag enabled the Chiefs to find another way to win – and start 2-0 against big AFC contenders the Ravens and Bengals despite not being at their best.
“We have full confidence that no matter how the game’s going we’re going to do enough to win,” said Mahomes. “We’re going to clean up the mistakes, especially on the offence. And we’ll be a better team for it.”
NFC favourites 49ers & Lions both lose
The San Francisco 49ers did not miss the injured Christian McCaffrey in terms of yards, but they were missing something as the Minnesota Vikings stifled them in a surprise 23-17 upset.
Jordan Mason had 100 rushing yards and a TD, Deebo Samuel topped 100 receiving yards and George Kittle found the end zone, but the Niners could not generate enough points – or keep the pressure off Brock Purdy as he was sacked six times.
Justin Jefferson scored a magnificent 97-yard touchdown and QB Sam Darnold looks transformed from player rated as the worst NFL regular QB for the last five years as the Vikings moved to 2-0.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers exacted revenge for their play-off defeat in Detroit with a 20-16 win over the Lions in similar fashion – as the hosts dominated almost all of the stat lines apart from the crucial one – the scoreboard.
Another transformed QB led the way as Baker Mayfield, who was sacked five times, showed his fighting spirit as he ran in the winning score with just 34 seconds left on the clock.
NFL Week Two round-up
Rookie running back Braelon Allen became the youngest TD scorer in the Super Bowl era as he helped Aaron Rodgers get his first win as New York Jets QB.
It was a nice touch as 40-year-old Rodgers threw a TD pass to 20-year-old Allen as the league’s oldest and youngest players combined to find the end zone in their win at Tennessee.
Missing Jordan Love, the Green Bay Packers still managed to beat the Indianapolis Colts with a defence and run game that could take them far.
It was not all fun and games for stand-in QB Malik Willis though, especially on one particular play thanks to his centre Josh Myers, as coach Matt LaFleur explained: “I asked Malik why he didn’t throw it on that third down and he told me Josh threw up on the ball. That’s the first time I ever heard that.”
Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray was perfect in their 41-10 demolition of the Los Angeles Rams as his three-touchdown performance got a 158.3 passer rating – the highest mark you can get.
Receiver Marvin Harrison Jr announced himself to the NFL with two TD catches in the first quarter, the first rookie to achieve that since his father – Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison.
The New York Giants found a new way to lose a game against the Washington Commanders as they became the first team ever to score three touchdowns and not concede one, yet still suffer defeat.
Austin Seibert kicked six field goals as Washington won 21-18.
Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence gave the most honest interview of the night after his side slumped to a lacklustre 18-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
“We suck right now,” said Lawrence. “I’m pretty shocked as we had a great off-season and great training camp, so we’ve got to figure it out.”
The Pittsburgh Steelers dished up more suffocating defence to beat the Denver Broncos to go 2-0, but have still only scored one touchdown.
JK Dobbins had another huge game to send the Los Angeles Chargers to 2-0, alongside the Seattle Seahawks after their overtime win in New England.
NFL Results – Week Two
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Las Vegas Raiders 26-23 Baltimore Ravens
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Cleveland Browns 18-13 Jacksonville Jaguars
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Los Angeles Chargers 26-3 Carolina Panthers
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New York Giants 18-21 Washington Commanders
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Seattle Seahawks 23-20 New England Patriots (OT)
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San Francisco 49ers 17-23 Minnesota Vikings
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New York Jets 24-17 Tennessee Titans
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Indianapolis Colts 10-16 Green Bay Packers
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-16 Detroit Lions
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New Orleans Saints 44-19 Dallas Cowboys
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Cincinnati Bengals 25-26 Kansas City Chiefs
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Pittsburgh Steelers 13-6 Denver Broncos
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Los Angeles Rams 10-41 Arizona Cardinals
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Chicago Bears 13-19 Houston Texans
