What we learned in NFL Week 2: Time to rethink Saints, Ravens beat themselves

Two weeks into the NFL season, no team has looked better than the New Orleans Saints, last year’s MVP is 0-2 and the Pittsburgh Steelers are undefeated despite scoring just one touchdown across their first eight quarters of football.

Aaron Rodgers has his first win as a New York Jet — his second if you ask him, though he didn’t have much of an impact in last year’s season-opening win over the Buffalo Bills in which he saw all of four snaps.

Jim Harbaugh already has the 2-0 Los Angeles Chargers looking and playing like a different team.

In Arizona, Marvin Harrison Jr. has arrived for the Cardinals. And his quarterback, Kyler Murray, is starting to look like one of the league’s top playmakers again.

C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans got the best of Caleb Williams and the Bears Sunday night. For the second straight week, Chicago’s defense was mostly excellent; it was the offense that looked awful. And the rookie quarterback struggled.

The game of the day took place in Kansas City, where the Chiefs needed a pass interference call on fourth-and-16 in their own territory to keep their chances alive against the Cincinnati Bengals. Four plays later, Harrison Butker was good from 51 yards, the fifth lead change of the second half. The Chiefs’ 26-25 win moves them to 2-0, while the Bengals sink to 0-2 for the third straight year.

Here’s what we learned in Week 2 of the NFL season:

Williams looks like a rookie

The Bears defense was again quite good Sunday night in Houston, especially against a deep and dangerous Texans offense. And Williams was certainly better than his bumpy debut against the Titans a week ago. But he’s still a rookie quarterback making rookie quarterback mistakes.

The flashes are there, the potential that made him the No. 1 pick last spring, but his game remains raw. He holds onto the ball too long. He misses short throws. He’s too long on some deep ones. And he took several big hits from a Texans pass rush that sacked him seven times.

Some of those mistakes should be cleaned up soon. But for now the Bears have to live with them, and Williams’ two second-half interceptions cost them their best chances at a comeback Sunday night.

Chicago’s offense took over trailing by 6 with 1:37 left and no timeouts. But after a 27-yard completion to Rome Odunze, Williams threw incomplete, was sacked, scrambled for 1 yard and threw incomplete on fourth down.

Williams finished 23 of 37 for 174 yards and two picks. Stroud connected early and often with Nico Collins and finished 22 of 36 for 260 yards and a touchdown.

Saints sizzling

In mid-January, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis sat before reporters and defended his decision to retain coach Dennis Allen, who was 16-18 in two seasons after succeeding Sean Payton. Loomis cited the rocky starts of Bill Belichick in Cleveland, Tom Landry in Dallas and Bill Walsh in San Francisco. He even noted that Payton, the winningest coach in franchise history, stumbled to records of 7-9 and 8-8 during his second and third seasons in New Orleans.

It wasn’t time to panic, Loomis vowed. He knew a good coach when he saw one. Still, most outside the Saints’ building remained skeptical. Before the season, Allen was among the betting favorites to become the first head coach fired in 2024. The Falcons and Bucs were popular picks to win the NFC South. The Saints were an afterthought.

Two games do not make a season, but they can certainly set the tone for a turnaround. So far, no team in football has looked more complete than the Saints, who’ve been flat-out dominant in a pair of resounding wins over Carolina and Dallas. Sure, it’s one thing to beat up on the hapless Panthers — who’ve taken the early pole position for next spring’s No. 1 pick and aren’t likely to give it up — but it’s another to rout the Cowboys, 44-19, in Dallas’ home opener at AT&T Stadium.

Remember, this was a Cowboys team that looked excellent last week in an easy win over the Browns.

So far, Allen’s new hire at offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak, looks like a budding star — the Saints scored on their first 15 possessions of the season, including six straight touchdowns to open Sunday. Their 91 points are the most by a team in its first two games of a season in 15 years and tied for the fourth-most in NFL history. Their margin of victory so far is a combined 62 points. Derek Carr has thrown for five touchdowns and Alvin Kamara has accounted for six, including four on Sunday.

It’s time to rethink what the Saints are capable of this season: They’re not just contenders in the NFC South, but maybe in the conference, as well.

Surprise unbeatens

Beyond the Saints, no one is stunned that the Chiefs and Bills are 2-0. Same goes for the Texans. But the rest of the league’s undefeated teams? That’s where it gets interesting.

Start with the Steelers, who named Russell Wilson their starting quarterback in late August and have since opened with a pair of victories without him. Justin Fields hasn’t been great — it’s T.J. Watt and the defense that’s carrying this team right now — but no matter: this is Pittsburgh’s best start in four years. With the Steelers atop the AFC North, it’s getting tougher to see them making a change at QB whenever Wilson is healthy.

The Vikings have opened with two straight victories without their rookie first-round QB; in this instance, J.J. McCarthy is out for the season. Minnesota’s 23-17 upset of the 49ers on Sunday speaks to the potential Sam Darnold has had since he entered the league as the third pick in 2018, not to mention the job Kevin O’Connell has done keeping the Vikings competitive. Darnold’s bomb to Justin Jefferson for a 97-yard touchdown was one of the best plays of the week.

The Bucs were almost eight-point underdogs heading into Sunday’s game in Detroit and left with a 20-16 victory in a rematch of last year’s divisional playoff game. Tampa Bay has started 2-0 in all three seasons under Todd Bowles.

Jim Harbaugh said something noteworthy last spring, vowing that in a league dominated by quarterbacks, receivers and pass-catching tight ends, his Chargers still viewed offensive linemen as “weapons.” Two games in and the Chargers look remade, a reflection of Harbaugh’s old-school football DNA. After Sunday’s easy 26-3 win over the Panthers, Harbaugh’s team is 2-0 for the first time in 12 years. The dominance up front has been the difference: running back J.K. Dobbins, the chief benefactor so far, has run for 266 yards and two touchdowns. He’s the first Charger to have back-to-back 100-yard rushing games in eight years.

Before Sunday, no coach in Seahawks history — no, not even Mike Holmgren or Pete Carroll — began their career 2-0. Mike Macdonald is the first after Seattle outlasted the Patriots 23-20 in overtime. Geno Smith made some terrific throws on his way to a 327-yard passing day and led two drives late that ended in field goals to spoil Jerrod Mayo’s bid to start his own career in New England 2-0.

Ravens need to find mojo

That the Giants, Titans and Broncos are 0-2 isn’t all that surprising.

As for the Colts, this seems to happen every season. After a dismal performance in Green Bay — the defense was gashed for 164 rushing yards in the first quarter — Indy’s off to another sluggish start. The Colts weren’t just outplayed but outcoached as well: the Packers’ Matt LaFleur put together a masterful gameplan for backup quarterback Malik Willis, and he was efficient when asked to be (12 of 14, 122 passing yards and a touchdown with no turnovers) while Josh Jacobs (151 rushing yards) handled the rest. Colts’ defensive coordinator Gus Bradley might soon be on the hot seat in Indy.

“We have to look ourselves in the mirror,” coach Shane Steichen said. “It’s not panic mode, but we have to be better.”

The Jaguars, meanwhile, haven’t looked right since the middle of last season. With Sunday’s 18-13 loss to the Browns, Trevor Lawrence has now lost seven consecutive starts.

No team has looked worse than the Panthers, who’ve been outscored by a combined 60 points in Weeks 1 and 2. Bryce Young hasn’t improved from last season, and you have to wonder how long it will take to get him on track — or if that ever happens. Two starts into his sophomore campaign, the 2023 No. 1 pick has thrown for 245 yards and three interceptions and been sacked six times. His passer rating is a dismal 45. Wins are going to be really hard to come by for Dave Canales’ team in 2024.

The Rams lost in overtime last week in Detroit, running out of gas late against the Lions’ rushing attack. It was an encouraging start, all things considered. Sunday was precisely the opposite: Sean McVay’s team was routed by the Cardinals, 41-10, in a game that was never even competitive. The Rams need to get their secondary shored up and fast: Murray and Harrison torched that group. The Cardinals defense also sacked Matthew Stafford five times.

For the Bengals, it’s the same old story this time of year: Joe Burrow is now 1-9 over Weeks 1 and 2 games in his career. But this looked far more like the Cincinnati team we expected to start the season, not the one we saw in a Week 1 loss in New England.

Joe Burrow and Patrick Mathomes played another classic on Sunday. (Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

For a while Sunday, it looked like Burrow (258 passing yards, two touchdowns) was going to win his fifth career game against Patrick Mahomes, something no other QB in football can say. But that was before the fourth-down penalty gave the Chiefs new life. It was Mahomes’ 76th win in 98 career starts, tied with Tom Brady and Roger Staubach for the most by a QB in his first 100 starts.

The biggest surprise of the 0-2 bunch are the Ravens, who won a league-best 13 games last season and hosted the AFC Championship Game just nine months ago. A narrow loss in Kansas City to open the year was understandable; blowing a 10-point third-quarter lead to the Raiders Sunday was not.

Most striking is how uncharacteristic this is of Baltimore: John Harbaugh’s team was whistled for 10 penalties, costing it 109 yards. Punter Jordan Stout shanked one, and even the great Justin Tucker missed a field goal. There were missed tackles and blown assignments and a costly interception from Lamar Jackson, who hasn’t quite rekindled his MVP form from a year ago.

The Ravens beat themselves, which is not something we see often. “We got to find our mojo,” Jackson said. “That’s not us at all.”

It’s the first time in three seasons Jackson has lost consecutive games he’s started and finished, and the first time since 2015 the Ravens have opened a season 0-2.

Murray, Harrison put on a show

Tapped as one of the most polished wide receiver prospects coming out of college in years, Marvin Harrison Jr. showed why on Sunday. Just weigh the rookie’s first-quarter stat line: four catches, 130 yards, two highlight-reel touchdowns. That’s Randy Moss-type stuff.

Put simply, he looks like a Pro Bowler already.

And it was nice to see the Cardinals make Harrison a focal point a week after he caught just one pass for four yards in a loss to the Bills. In fact, Harrison’s first touchdown of the day, a 23-yard snag in the back of the end zone, was Next Gen Stats’ most improbable touchdown of the season so far. Harrison had 0.7 yards of separation and was 0.7 yards from the back line when the ball arrived. He dominated as if he were still at Ohio State.

And with Harrison’s downfield potential, Murray started to look like the playmaker he was when DeAndre Hopkins was still in Arizona. Murray carved up the Rams, throwing just four incompletions on his way to 266 yards and three touchdowns. He finished with a perfect passer rating, completing every one of his deep passes (20-plus air yards).

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One of Harrison’s fellow rookies, Jayden Daniels, secured his first win as an NFL starter after the Commanders outlasted the Giants 21-18. Daniels has been solid in two starts so far in Washington, and his 132 rushing yards are the most ever by a quarterback two games into his career (he passed former Washington QB Robert Griffin III). The story of this one was kicker Austin Seibert, who was signed by the team on Monday after Washington cut Cade York. Seibert converted all seven of his field goal attempts, including a 30-yarder as time expired to deliver the win.

(Photo of Chris Olave and Alvin Kamara: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)