Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
There were several NFL Week 2 games that completely went off course and did not go according to plan.
This left viewers watching some amazing victories, witnessing some unfortunate injuries and enduring some embarrassing losses.
With that in mind, the following are some notable winners and losers from Week 2.
Winner: Jameis Winston redeems himself while Saints looked terrible at home
Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie quarterback Jameis Winston did a respectable job leaving his sour Week 1 performance behind, beating the New Orleans Saints on their home turf.
Winston managed two touchdowns — one passing and one rushing — to help lead the Bucs to an impressive 26-19 win over an embarrassed, error-prone Saints. The rookie completed 14-of-21 attempts for 207 yards and managed to avoid any interceptions. Winston did have one fumble, but the Saints were not able to score on the turnover after an unsuccessful field goal attempt.
As for the Saints and quarterback Drew Brees, they looked uncomfortable all game long. Many would have thought that the Saints had this game in the bag considering how poorly the Bucs played in Week 1. But thanks to the strong play of the rookie signal-caller, New Orleans has some serious soul-searching to do.
This loss at home was the sixth in a row for the Saints, and now the Buccaneers sit one win ahead of their NFC south rival.
Loser: Chicago Bears have a terrible day
The Bears started the day without No. 1 wide receiver Alshon Jeffery who is dealing with a bum hamstring, and from there, things only got worse for the struggling team.
Quarterback Jay Cutler, who was a perfect eight for eight with a touchdown pass until he threw a pick-six, had to exit the game after getting injured trying to tackle Arizona Cardinals safety Tony Jefferson, who took the errant pass in for the score.
In his stead, Jimmy Clausen was awful, completing 14-of-23 passes for just 121 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.
On the other side of the ball, Chicago’s defense was truly inept.
The Cardinals offense was able to move the ball at will, and Carson Palmer only added insult to injury by throwing for four touchdowns — three of which were caught by veteran wideout Larry Fitzgerald.
The Bears were defeated severely, 48-23.
Winner: Tom Brady and the New England Patriots
So much for anyone who bought into the smack talk the Buffalo Bills spouted off, saying their defense would shut down Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
In a high-scoring matchup that ended 40-32, Brady posted 466 yards and passed for three touchdowns. This was the second-most passing yards of his career and the most that any player has ever posted against the Buffalo Bills.
Even though Brady recorded phenomenal numbers, the Bills made him work for it. Buffalo’s offense, led by new quarterback Tyrod Taylor, was no slouch either. Taylor threw for 242 yards and scored four total touchdowns. Unfortunately, he threw three interceptions and took eight sacks.
Said Brady of his accomplishment (via ESPN):
“We had a lot of good plays, but I think we left a lot of plays out there. But it’s great to be 2-0.”
Way to keep it humble, there Brady.
Loser: Keenan Allen disappoints millions of fantasy football players
Raise your hand if you are one of the millions of people who got burned by Allen in Week 2.
For those who started Allen thinking he would perform an encore to his Week 1 show — 166 receiving yards and ridiculous 15 catches — Allen accomplished the quite the opposite. He fumbled on a punt return and only managed a total of 16 receiving yards.
Depending on the scoring system for your fantasy football league, Allen likely registered negative fantasy points in Week 2.
Just because this is how it works, the same fantasy football owners who are angry at Allen and who’ll likely dump him this week will likely be angry again in Week 3 when he puts on a show again against the Minnesota Vikings.
Winner: Antonio Brown makes the San Francisco 49ers defense look really lame
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown had a monster day versus the San Francisco 49ers, robbing them for 195 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown, along with a two-point conversion.
Brown caught nine passes and was targeted 11 times, completely dominating the secondary of the 49ers to help the Steelers win, 43-18. Entering into this game, he only needed one catch to achieve 400, which makes him the third-fastest player to get to 400 catches. He ties Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow Sr. who also hit this milestone stat in 72 games.
Loser: Dallas Cowboys keep catching the wrong breaks
In a horrible turn of events, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo sustained a broken collarbone when he attempted to recover a fumble in the third quarter of the game.
It is not determined at this time how much time Romo will miss, but his injury only adds further devastation to the team that just lost Dez Bryant in Week 1 due to a broken foot. Bryant will reportedly be out up to 12 weeks and any extended period of time that Romo will miss surely puts the team at risk of not making it to the playoffs
Fortunately for the Cowboys, and despite the injuries to their star players, the team has still managed to win its first two games — talk about fighters.