Whether you love offensive shootouts or defensive battles, high-flying aerial assaults or relentless ground attacks, NFL Week 2 had you covered.
From blown leads to shocking upsets, good and bad play was found in all 15 games heading into Monday Night Football.
We’ve broken down the most pivotal moments, the most salient performances and most surprising games this week.
These are your NFL Week 2 winners and losers.
Winner: Sam Bradford makes stunning debut with Vikings on SNF
The Vikings had to make a big move to stay competitive after Teddy Bridgewater was lost for the season. Many were skeptical about the trade they made to acquire Sam Bradford, who is one of the most injury-prone quarterbacks in the NFL.
In his first game with Minnesota, Bradford was incredible.
Finishing with 286 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions on 22-of-31 passing, he was razor sharp throughout the contest. In particular, he clicked immediately with second-year receiver Stefon Diggs, who went off for 182 yards and a touchdown on nine catches.
At one point, after his first touchdown pass, it appeared Bradford might have suffered a bad hand injury. He bolted for the locker room, and pictures of that hand did not look pretty (see here). Thankfully for the Vikings and their fans, it was not a serious injury and he didn’t even miss an offensive snap.
What makes Bradford’s performance even more impressive is the fact that the Vikings could not move the ball on the ground. Adrian Peterson was stymied all game long (19 yards on 12 carries) before being carried into the locker room with a knee injury that seems serious (more on that here).
Another impressive aspect of his performance is that Bradford did this with just a couple weeks under his belt in Norv Turner’s offensive system
If he can continue to play at this level throughout the season, then the Vikings will be quite formidable.
Loser: Hue Jackson’s game plan with a huge lead
The Cleveland Browns opened up the game with a three-touchdown lead against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday afternoon before the first quarter was concluded.
It was an unexpected start, especially considering how poorly they played in Week 1.
Isaiah Crowell helped get the stunning opening stanza, going with an 85-yard scamper for a score (watch here). Rookie Corey Coleman also made some huge plays and hauled in his first two career touchdowns.
So how in the world did the Browns lose to the Ravens? And for the love of all that is good and holy, why did the Browns abandon the run?
An injured Josh McCown (who might miss extended time going forward) ended up throwing the ball 33 times. He also threw two interceptions to go with his two touchdown strikes to Coleman.
While McCown was slinging the ball all over the place, the Browns ended up running the ball just 23 times.
Playing with a huge lead early, those numbers should be flipped. Jackson’s play-calling just doesn’t make sense. On a day in which your star running back has already busted loose with a huge touchdown, why not continue pounding the rock?
In the end, Joe Flacco and the Ravens ended up winning the time of possession battle and the game — something that should never have happened.
Winner: Marcus Mariota and Titans grind out a huge road win against the Lions
Mariota was not having a good day on the road in Detroit for most of the afternoon. The Lions sacked him three times, hit him five more times and were generally swarming around what was a tenuous pocket for most of the game.
Showing some serious resilience, Mariota ended up engineering a tremendous fourth-quarter comeback. He threw two touchdowns in the final stanza in a gutsy 16-15 win over Detroit.
Of course, he had some help, too.
DeMarco Murray, Derrick Henry and the exotic “smash mouth” had a lot to do with the big win.
67-yard @DeMarcoMurray runs?!
Yes, please. #TENvsDET https://t.co/Lit2tHa89z
— NFL (@NFL) September 18, 2016
The duo combined for 129 rushing yards and another 65 yards through the air.
It wouldn’t be right to end this conversation without mentioning the performance of Tennessee’s defense. Allowing just one touchdown, sacking Matthew Stafford four times and hitting him six times more, the Titans mounted quite the team win at Ford Field Sunday.
Loser: Alex Smith gets eaten alive by J.J. Watt and Co.
My, my, my what a difference one week makes in the NFL.
After posting insane numbers in an overtime win last weekend against the San Diego Chargers, Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs were destroyed Sunday. The Houston Texans owned the field from the opening kickoff until the final whistle.
All the Chiefs could muster on offense was four field goals in the 19-12 loss. The score would have been much more lopsided if not for two interceptions by Brock Osweiler.
J.J. Watt finished with 1.5 sacks, a tackle for a loss and two other quarterback hits. The Texans finished with four sacks, four tackles for a loss and nine quarterback hits.
Smith was battered throughout the contest. He didn’t have enough time to let plays develop downfield, because his offensive line couldn’t contain the pressure Houston’s front seven was bringing.
The Chiefs will likely bounce back. There aren’t many teams that feature the kind of defensive line Houston does, but the Chiefs will be limping home after getting thrashed Sunday.
Winner: Dak Prescott engineers fourth-quarter comeback
Playing on the road, coming from behind to win the game. This is the dream of all young quarterbacks. It’s how legends are born. It’s what Prescott accomplished Sunday when the Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins at FedExField.
The rookie didn’t throw a single touchdown pass, but he ran one in.
Making things all the sweeter for the Cowboys, former Washington running back Alfred Morris capped off the drive with the winning touchdown run. Morris and rookie Ezekiel Elliott finished with 90 yards on 26 carries.
Elliott scored a touchdown in his second straight game, but he also learned a costly lesson when Josh Norman stole his lunch money (watch here).
It wasn’t the prettiest win, but it was the first of Prescott’s career and it moved the Cowboys to 1-1 on the season. The gutsy performance on the road should help this young offense in the weeks to come.
Loser: Sleepless in Seattle after Seahawks stink up the joint in LA
For the second week in a row, the Seattle Seahawks looked nothing like an NFC superpower.
Barely squeaking by the Miami Dolphins in Week 1 at home, the Seahawks were abysmal again Sunday on the road against the Los Angeles Rams — a team that got blanked by the San Francisco 49ers last week — losing 9-3.
Russell Wilson was clearly hobbled in this contest, but his inability to run was not the difference in the game.
Instead, it was all about turnovers. Seattle lost two fumbles and failed to get into the end zone, while the Rams did not turn the ball over once.
Furthermore, the Seahawks were not their usual dominant self on the back end of the defense. Case Keenum, who was completely inept last week, completed passes of 36, 44 and 27 yards to Kenny Britt, Lance Kendricks and Tavon Austin respectively.
Seattle has started out slowly in recent years, even losing its first two games last year only to finish 10-4 the rest of the way and make it to the playoffs as a wild card team.
With this in mind, neither the team nor its fans should panic right now. But things are not exactly hunky dory at this point. It might be time to panic if the San Francisco 49ers beat them in Seattle next week.
Winner: Cardinals devour hapless Bucs
After a humbling experience against Jimmy Garoppolo and the New England Patriots in Week 1, the Arizona Cardinals needed a big win.
Mission accomplished.
By halftime, it was 24-0. The final score was 40-7.
It wasn’t just a blowout. It was a trip behind the woodshed for the The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This young squad won a big road game last week, but it was helplessly overmatched in this one.
Jameis Winston ended up throwing four interceptions and losing a fumble for five overall turnovers. One of his interceptions went back for six points, giving Arizona the best mark in the NFL in this category the past two years.
The Cardinals now have five pick-6's over the last two seasons, the most in the NFL over that span. pic.twitter.com/sgsaKPI7qp
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) September 18, 2016
On the other side, Carson Palmer was dealing against a befuddled Tampa Bay secondary. He finished with 308 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, even getting little-used receiver Jaron Brown into the action with a gorgeous 51-yard bomb for a touchdown (watch here).
It was a completely one-sided battle — exactly what this team needed to reassert itself as an NFC powerhouse after a bad preseason and the Week 1 loss.
Loser: The Colts are a hot mess
When the dust settled after the late game between the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos, the scoreboard read 34-20 for the home team. But this game was never even that close. The Broncos were overwhelmingly better than the Colts, who have serious issues on both sides of the ball.
Andrew Luck was awful on Sunday afternoon in Denver. Granted, he was under pressure more often than not, but he didn’t do himself any favors, either. Finishing with 197 yards, one touchdown and one interception (returned for a touchdown) on 21-of-40 passing, he was out of sync all game long.
Making matters worse for the Colts, the offensive line continues to be a problem in both pass protection and in the run game. Luck was sacked five times (one of which resulted in a fumble for a Broncos touchdown), and Indy’s running backs managed just 61 yards.
Defensively, the Colts couldn’t stop Matthew Stafford from going ham last weekend, and it couldn’t stop the Broncos from moving the ball at will Sunday. Through two weeks, Indianapolis is allowing 36.5 points per game.
The season is just getting started, and things can change in a hurry. But at this point it seems more likely they’ll change for the worse, rather than for the better.
Winner: Cam Newton goes bananas against 49ers
Shrugging off his frustrating and painful (literally) Week 1 performance, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was spectacular at home against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Greg Olsen and Kelvin Benjamin both went at least 108 yards, and Olsen’s 78-yard touchdown was a thing of beauty (watch here).
The 49ers aren’t exactly the measuring stick when it comes to dominant defenses, but San Francisco did just shut out the Rams in Week 1. In the end, after some big plays by both teams, Newton’s Panthers ran away with it, winning 46-27.
Loser: Bills building a bridge to nowhere
The Buffalo Bills are in a state of disarray.
Starting out 0-2 is bad enough, but there have been other things going on behind the scenes that could lead to quite a disastrous season.
It all started when offensive coordinator Greg Roman was fired on Friday after the New York Jets handed the Bills their second loss of the season. What was so strange about the move is that the offense wan’t the biggest area of concern, based on last year and the first two games in 2016.
Yet Roman was offered up as a sacrificial lamb, with Rex Ryan claiming the move was all his. This, of course, makes some sense. After all, Ryan isn’t going to fire himself or his brother.
But news broke Sunday morning that Ryan really wasn’t the man responsible for Roman being fired. In fact, he wasn’t even included in meetings between Bills ownership and offensive players when the move was decided — something that reportedly made him pretty upset (more on that here).
Clearly, Ryan is the next man up. If the Bills continue to lose games, he might not make it through the year.
The Bills haven’t made the playoffs since 1999. The way things are going, this streak isn’t going to end any time soon.