The Dallas Cowboys have been the NFL’s most dominant team through two weeks — and that shouldn’t change next week on the road against Arizona.
Micah Parsons had two sacks, and the Cowboys’ defense forced four turnovers while dominating a second consecutive opponent.
Dallas Cowboys 30, New York Jets 10.
They’ve outscored the Giants and Jets by 60 points, and they’re the first team to score 50 points before allowing any points since the then-San Diego Chargers and Chicago Bears in 2006.
They limited Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook to 16 yards on eight carries. Zach Wilson completed just 12 of 27 passes for 170 yards.
“This offseason, we committed,” Micah Parsons said after the game. “We said, ‘We’re going to make these guys pass the ball. We’re going to force them to let us rush.’ When we come out and come down and set the tone and say, ‘You won’t run on us,’ and then we go get our sacks, now that’s what changes everything.
“So, to all the teams with them gameplans, run at me. Run at whoever. We comin.’ ”
Dallas’ offense wasn’t quite as good, settling for five field goals from Brandon Aubrey. Dallas went 2-6 in the red zone. But Dak Prescott was efficient with 255 yards passing and two touchdowns, and CeeDee Lamb caught 11 passes for 143 yards.
“We’ve got to score more,” Prescott said after the game. “We’ve got to get more touchdowns rather than field goals. But at the end of the day, this league is about getting the job done and winning the game and being complementary [to] your defense. I think we did that.”
Here’s a look at the rest of the NFL from Week 2:
Christian McCaffrey on a rampage
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey looked great, which doesn’t bode well for the rest of the NFC.
McCaffrey rushed for 116 yards, and Brock Purdy turned in his usual steady performance — he completed 17 of 25 passes for 206 yards.
Nick Bosa, still working his way back into shape after holding out from training camp, didn’t get a sack, but he hit Stafford three times. More important, the 49ers won to keep pace with Dallas and Philadelphia.
Who needs receivers when you have Patrick Mahomes
Kansas City’s receiving corps still doesn’t seem good enough to win a Super Bowl, but Patrick Mahomes remains the great equalizer.
Mahomes passed for 305 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but the Chiefs only scored 17 points to edge Jacksonville, 17-9.
Still, the Chiefs won their first game and avoided becoming the fifth Super Bowl champ to start 0-2.
Travis Kelce, who missed last week with a knee injury, caught only four of nine targets for 26 yards.
“You play bad and win; it’s a lot better than playing bad and losing,” said Mahomes as he summed up the game. “So I was glad we were able to find a way to get a win, but there is a lot of stuff we have to be better at.”
Tua Tagovailoa continues mastery of Bill Belichick
The Miami Dolphins sent a message to New England on Sunday night: It will get worse before it gets better.
The Dolphins controlled the game and emerged with a 24-17 win.
Miami, which led 17-3 at halftime, put New England in a 0-2 hole for the first time since 2001, his second season with the Patriots. Tua Tagovailoa passed for 249 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
He’s now 5-0 against Belichick.
“It’s never a me thing,” Tagovailoa said. “Every time we face coach Belichick’s team, it’s always a challenge, and we know we’re going to get their best.”
Tagovailoa wasn’t the only reason Miami won. Raheem Mostert ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns, and the Dolphins defense did not allow a play of more than 18 yards.
New England’s offense is basic and unimaginative. They’ll have a chance to beat the New York Jets next week because their offense is just as bland with Zach Wilson starting instead of the injured Aaron Rodgers.
Time to concern in Cincinnati
Joe Burrow told us not to panic when Cincinnati lost the opener. Now, the Bengals are 0-2, and their offense looks out of sorts.
Burrow passed for 222 yards, but he needed 41 attempts. The Bengals totaled only 282 yards and played from behind for much of the game.
They’re 0-2 in the division and the season. They’re the seventh team since the new divisional format was implemented in 2002 to start the season with consecutive division losses. None of the previous six made the playoffs.
And now Burrow has aggravated the strained calf that forced him to miss the preseason.
“It’s pretty sore right now, but there’s no telling how it’s going to feel, so I think we’re going to take it day by day,” Burrow said after the game. “I’m doing everything I can to get healthy and get that thing the way I need it to be so I can go out and perform the way I need to, to win.”
It’s too soon to panic, but it’s time to be concerned with the Bengals struggling offense.
Detroit Lions get a taste of humble pie
The Detroit Lions, still learning how to be winners, blew an opportunity to start 2-0.
Ten days off and a home game against the Seattle Seahawks wasn’t enough to get the Lions a win.
“You come off a big victory, and you can preach a lot of things,” Campbell said. “But this is the NFL. This is good We’ll get a little humble pie.”
Detroit blew leads of 14-7 and 21-14 before rallying to tie the score at 31-31 as time expired on a 38-yard field goal. But Geno Smith threw a six-yard touchdown pass — his second of the game — to Rico Lockett as the Seahawks avoided an 0-2 start.
Smith passed for 328 yards and two touchdowns and looked a lot more like the comeback player of the year than he did last week.
A return to form for Josh Allen
Josh Allen threw three interceptions and lost a fumble in the Buffalo Bills’ season opener. Against Las Vegas, he played like one of the NFL’s quarterbacks.
He passed for 274 yards and three touchdowns as the Bills thumped the Raiders, 38-10.
Allen insisted he wasn’t trying to prove anything to fans, media, or teammates. He just wanted to play well.
“I didn’t see any reaction. I didn’t turn on the TV. I didn’t look at anything,” he told reporters after the game. “The thing about this game is it gives you the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I love feeling how I felt last week. I really do because it makes the ‘good’ feel that much better. I take the bad with the good, I understand it, and I’m just trying to let it fuel me and use it to my benefit.”
Young Guns
Anthony Richardson, who’s 6-foot-5 255-pound, must protect himself better or he will be dealing with injuries all season.
Richardson ran for a pair of touchdowns in a 31-20 win over Houston, but backup Gardner Minshew replaced him in the second quarter. Richardson left after a three-play drive that ended with a punt.
He reportedly sustained a concussion on a 15-yard touchdown run when his head snapped back and hit the turf as he tumbled into the end zone.
At that point, he had completed 6 of 10 passes for 56 yards and had three carries for 35 yards.
The Houston Texans trailed 28-10 at halftime, which meant C.J. Stroud had to pass. He put on a good show with 384 and two touchdowns despite being sacked six times.
He finished with a passer rating of 103.5.
Rookie watch
Bijan Robinson needed only two games to surpass 100 yards for the first time in his career.
Robinson gained 124 yards on 19 carries as the Atlanta Falcons rallied from a 24-12 deficit to beat Green Bay, 25-24. Robinson had three 13-yard runs and a 19-yard run.
Stat of the week
15
Puka Nacua set an NFL rookie record with 15 receptions in the Rams’ loss to San Francisco.
He finished with 147 yards receiving and a long of 20. Matt Stafford targted the fifth-round pick from BYU 20 times.
Monday Night Football
No. 1 pick Bryce Young makes his Monday Night Football debut against New Orleans, so he’ll have a national TV audience to how what he can do.
Young passed for only 146 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He didn’t complete a pass longer than 14 yards and no receiver had more than 41 yards.
It’s not going to get any easier against New Orleans as the young quarterback’s NFL education continues.