If Week 1 is the week of overreaction, Week 2 is when we begin to see patterns emerging. <\/p>\n
Whether it be impressive performances, breakout stars or disappointing signs, the second weekend of action is when the NFL starts to take shape. <\/p>\n
Week 2 had it all, so let\u2019s have a look at Sunday\u2019s action across the league. <\/p>\n
As is tradition, the reigning Super Bowl champions played in the season-opening game in Week 1. To start the 2023 season, this meant the Kansas City Chiefs were able to celebrate their title in front of their home crowd on Thursday Night Football. <\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t go to plan though, as the Detroit Lions stunned the Chiefs as Kansas City\u2019s new season got off to a surprising start. <\/p>\n
But, after having some time to recalibrate, the Chiefs got back to winning ways in Week 2, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 17-9. <\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t pretty, but two touchdown passes from superstar Patrick Mahomes on his 28th birthday were enough in what was a rematch of an exciting playoff game in last postseason\u2019s divisional round. <\/p>\n
One TD toss went to Skyy Moore and the other was caught by Travis Kelce, who returned to the starting lineup after missing the season-opener with a knee injury. <\/p>\n
And the Chiefs defense handled the rest, holding the Jaguars to the second-lowest points total in head coach Doug Pederson\u2019s time at the helm. <\/p>\n
In particular, the return of Chiefs star defensive lineman Chris Jones was a huge boon for the team, as he finished the game with one-and-a-half sacks, one tackle for loss and a pass defended. <\/p>\n
Four-time Pro-Bowler Jones missed the Week 1 game in a contract holdout, but the 29-year-old signed a new contract extension during the week and returned to action as a result. <\/p>\n
And he came up with the big plays in the clutch moments on Sunday, helping to force a turnover on downs late in the fourth quarter as Jacksonville drove to tie the game. <\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t the explosive offensive performance we\u2019re accustomed to with the Chiefs but the defending champs avoided falling to 0-2 with the gritty victory. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur guys really sucked it up. It was hot and humid out there. I\u2019m an offensive guy, but that was a beautiful thing defensively,\u201d Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said afterwards. <\/p>\n
\u201cOffensively, we have to take care of the penalties and the turnovers, but to battle through it shows me a little something. We\u2019ll get the other stuff fixed as we go.\u201d <\/p>\n
Both the Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks were looking to banish some opening week demons in Week 2. <\/p>\n
The Titans had narrowly lost, while the Seahawks had suffered a humbling home defeat to their division rivals, the Los Angeles Rams. <\/p>\n
Both teams took their time, but in the end, each claimed a vital overtime victory as they avoided remaining winless to start the season. <\/p>\n
The Titans edged past the Los Angeles Chargers 27-24 thanks to Nick Folk\u2019s 41-yard field goal, while Tyler Lockett\u2019s six-yard touchdown reception in OT gave the Seahawks a 37-31 victory over the Lions. <\/p>\n
Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw for 246 yards and a touchdown on 20-of-24 attempts and ran for another while Derrick Henry added one TD on the ground as the Titans kept the Chargers \u2013 who remain winless with the defeat \u2013 at bay. <\/p>\n
LA had the first opportunity in overtime to score the winning touchdown, but had to punt the ball away after not being able to create offense when it needed it, presenting an opening for the Titans. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s another disappointing result for the Chargers, who finished last season with a historic playoff defeat \u2013 despite holding a 27-0 lead late in the second quarter \u2013 to the Jaguars. <\/p>\n
But Chargers head coach Brandon Staley isn\u2019t worried about his team\u2019s mentality. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not worried about the Jacksonville loss \u2013 the Jacksonville loss hasn\u2019t carried onto the season whatsoever,\u201d Staley said during his postgame press conference when a reporter brought up last season\u2019s loss. \u201cIf you\u2019ve seen our training camp or you\u2019ve seen the way we\u2019ve played in the first two games, it hasn\u2019t had an impact on our team whatsoever. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur team is connected, our team has played its heart out in two games, and we\u2019ve lost two tough games. It has nothing to do with the Jacksonville game and, if you ask anyone in our locker room, it has nothing to do with the Jacksonville game. And that\u2019s just the truth. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a convenient storyline for you and for everybody else, but it\u2019s not the truth. We\u2019ve lost two tough games, but the guys in that locker room, the men in that locker room, they are finishers and they have what it takes and we\u2019re excited to prove ourselves.\u201d <\/p>\n
For the Seahawks, it was an up-and-down game, which resulted in a much-needed victory after giving up a 10-point, fourth-quarter lead. <\/p>\n
Seattle quarterback Geno Smith threw for two touchdowns \u2013 including the game-winning overtime connection with Lockett \u2013 and Kenneth Walker ran for two more. <\/p>\n
Detroit quarterback Jared Goff was having his own excellent game with three touchdowns, but he was intercepted midway through the fourth quarter by Tre Brown, which was run back 40 yards for a touchdown. <\/p>\n
A clutch overtime drive from Smith and the Seahawks \u2013 10 plays and 75 yards long \u2013 ended with Lockett\u2019s touchdown and helped kickstart Seattle\u2019s season. <\/p>\n
The highlight of the game for many though was when Smith attempted to complain to lead referee Alex Kemp about a call while Kemp was announcing a penalty decision, only for Kemp to reply: \u201cI\u2019m talking to America here, excuse me.\u201d <\/p>\n
The loss of Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets was a momentous one. <\/p>\n
For a team which entered the new season with so much optimism, the four-time NFL MVP\u2019s season-ending Achilles tear on just his fourth play with his new team was a real gut punch. <\/p>\n
The shocking injury meant that Zach Wilson \u2013 the former No. 2 overall draft pick who had underwhelmed in his two previous years with the team \u2013 was thrust back into the starting lineup and the spotlight. <\/p>\n
In Week 2, Wilson demonstrated why the team traded for Rodgers during the offseason, as he threw three interceptions in the Jets\u2019 30-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. <\/p>\n
The Cowboys defense \u2013 spearheaded by Micah Parsons \u2013 is known as one of the league\u2019s best, but Wilson looked lost throughout. <\/p>\n
His one bright-spot was an exquisite 68-yard touchdown connection with Garrett Wilson, but it was the Jets\u2019 only touchdown of the day. <\/p>\n
Wilson finished with 12-of-27 passing for 170 yards and a touchdown to go along with the three picks and had a team-high 36 rushing yards on five attempts. But despite the result, Wilson believes he\u2019s better prepared to succeed this season in Rodgers\u2019 absence. <\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m seeing it well, I really do,\u201d the 24-year-old told reporters. \u201cAnd it\u2019s really unfortunate to show that as an offense because we\u2019ve got to be better, I need to be better. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019re right there, and so we\u2019re going to go back, and it\u2019s a long season, we\u2019re going to go watch this film and see how we can improve. Everyone trusts and believes in each other, and we all love each other, so we\u2019re excited for the challenge.\u201d <\/p>\n
Jets head coach Robert Saleh deflected blame away from Wilson, instead putting the blame on his shoulders. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if we gave (the offense) much of a chance,\u201d Saleh told reporters. \u201cDefensively, we just couldn\u2019t get off the field on third down today, had our opportunities. Give them credit, they were efficient, they were ahead of the chains, and, when we did catch them in third-and-long situations, they were still able to capitalize. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe just didn\u2019t give ourselves a chance defensively, to get off the field, to give our offense a chance to get any kind of rhythm going.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott impressed, throwing 31-of-38 for 255 yards and two touchdowns in the home win, which sent Dallas to 2-0 on the year. <\/p>\n
Away vs. home<\/strong> <\/p>\n Green Bay Packers 24-25 Atlanta Falcons <\/p>\n Las Vegas Raiders 10-38 Buffalo Bills <\/p>\n Baltimore Ravens 27-24 Cincinnati Bengals <\/p>\n Seattle Seahawks 37-31 Detroit Lions <\/p>\n Indianapolis Colts 31-20 Houston Texans <\/p>\n Kansas City Chiefs 17-9 Jacksonville Jaguars <\/p>\n Chicago Bears 17-27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers <\/p>\n Los Angeles Chargers 24-27 Tennessee Titans <\/p>\n New York Giants 31-28 Arizona Cardinals <\/p>\n San Francisco 49ers 30-23 Los Angeles Rams <\/p>\n New York Jets 10-30 Dallas Cowboys <\/p>\n Washington Commanders 35-33 Denver Broncos <\/p>\n Miami Dolphins 24-17 New England Patriots <\/p>\n\n If Week 1 is the week of overreaction, Week 2 is when we begin to see patterns emerging. Whether it be impressive performances, breakout stars or disappointing signs, the second weekend of action is when the NFL starts to take shape. Week 2 had it all, so let\u2019s have a look at Sunday\u2019s action across <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":8754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8753","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}