The NFL made it through just five snaps before a team had to start scrambling at quarterback. It didn't get much better as the weekend went on.

Sam Darnold came out in that first drive in Seattle drive for Seattle. Kyler Murray made it 11 snaps into his Minnesota debut. Tua Tagovailoa didn’t even make it to Atlanta’s opener after hurting his oblique in practice.

And just like that, three teams are heading into Week 2 with very different questions.

Seattle got through it. Drew Lock settled in, the defense picked off Drake Maye three times, and the Seahawks escaped with a 13-10 win. Minnesota watched Carson Wentz turn a 12-point deficit into a 39-22 comeback against Green Bay. Atlanta, well, they started Cooper Rush and lost 20-13 after one of his interceptions turned into a T.J. Watt touchdown.

Now the emergency plans have to become real game plans.

Seattle already knows Lock will start against Arizona. Minnesota's technically waiting to see whether Murray can clear concussion protocol — but anyone who watched that hit knows he's got no business playing this week. Wentz looks like the safer bet against Chicago. Atlanta has four quarterbacks on their roster and still doesn’t have an obvious answer for Thursday.

It’s only Week 2, but Seattle, Minnesota, and Atlanta are already finding out how quickly one injury can change an entire season.

Seattle Already Knows Drew Lock Can Survive This

Of the three teams, Seattle should feel the best about their immediate answer.

That doesn’t mean losing Darnold is no big deal. The Seahawks are defending champions because their defense was outstanding and their offense eventually found the right balance around him. Darnold gave them stability at the most important position and played some of his best football when the season was on the line.

His second season in Seattle lasted five plays. He left after getting sacked with what was initially called a hip injury and later learned he’d suffered a strange glute injury instead. The hip joint itself wasn’t damaged, but the injury will keep him out against Arizona. The Seahawks don’t plan to put him on injured reserve though.

For now, they’re going with Lock and Jalen Milroe.

Lock already got through the hardest part of the transition. He came into the opener without starter’s reps and took over an offense that wasn’t expecting to need him. He completed 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards and a 45-yard touchdown to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on fourth-and-1.

That throw probably mattered more than anything else Lock did — and he didn't have to do much. Smith-Njigba finished with eight catches for 122 yards despite the quarterback change. Seattle didn’t have to hide their best receiver or turn the passing game into a bunch of checkdowns. When they needed one throw to flip the game, Lock made it.

The offense was still pretty limited. Seattle finished with 13 first downs and converted just two of 11 third downs. With Lock coming in cold, leaning on the run early made sense. Rookie Jadarian Price ran for 52 yards on 10 carries, but the Seahawks never really kept the offense moving for long stretches.

He Has a Chance to Open Things Up

Lock will get a full week of practice reps with the starters this time around, which should give offensive coordinator Brian Fleury a lot more room to work than he had after Darnold left on the opening drive.

Seattle could also carve out a role for Milroe. Mike Macdonald said the second-year quarterback will get practice reps as the backup, and his athleticism gives the Seahawks an easy way to change the math in short-yardage and red-zone situations. This doesn’t need to turn into a full-blown two-quarterback offense. Even a small Milroe package would give Arizona one more thing to worry about.

The Cardinals have earned that extra attention, too. They held Justin Herbert to 209 passing yards in a 26-14 win over the Chargers, grabbed an interception, blocked a punt, and gave up just 81 rushing yards. Seattle isn’t walking into an easy afternoon just because Lock looked comfortable last week.

This is an NFC West game between two 1-0 teams. The Seahawks can’t treat it like a free week while Darnold recovers.

Carson Wentz Changed Minnesota’s Emergency Plan

Minnesota’s situation would feel a lot worse if Wentz hadn’t just stepped in and completely changed the game.

Murray’s Vikings debut couldn’t have gone much worse. He completed three of five passes for 18 yards, threw an interception and then took a hard hit while sliding late in the first quarter. His helmet came off as he was getting hit and he had all the telltale signs of someone who had been knocked unconscious. He was quickly ruled out with a concussion.

Green Bay eventually took a 22-10 lead. Then Minnesota scored the final 29 points.

Wentz finished 12 of 19 for 133 yards and three touchdowns. He found T.J. Hockenson for one score and Justin Jefferson for two more, including a 39-yard touchdown. Minnesota’s defense helped by creating short fields, but Wentz still had to finish those drives. He didn’t turn the ball over, and he didn’t give Green Bay a chance to stop the comeback.

That performance changed the whole conversation around Murray’s availability.

Murray was a limited participant Wednesday and remains in concussion protocol. Kevin O’Connell wants him cleared by Friday if he’s going to play Sunday, so the Vikings should spend the week preparing as if Wentz will start.

And honestly, that’s not exactly a disaster after what Wentz just did.

Wentz Bought Minnesota Some Breathing Room

The bigger question is how much of Minnesota’s comeback came from Wentz and how much came from everything happening around him. The Vikings scored 29 straight points, but their defense helped flip the game with a fumble and an interception. Wentz being able to get to three touchdowns on just 19 attempts tells you everything you need to know. He was efficient when Minnesota needed him, but he also wasn’t asked to carry the entire comeback on his back.

Chicago could make that a lot harder to repeat.

The Bears scored 59 points in their opener, so Minnesota may have to keep answering all afternoon. Chicago also gave up 361 passing yards and three touchdowns to Bryce Young while Carolina piled up 478 total yards. The offense looked dangerous. The defense, though, gave the Panthers plenty of chances to hang around in a game that was tied at 31 midway through the third quarter.

Wentz should have chances, especially with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson around him. But if Caleb Williams and Chicago’s running game get going early, Minnesota may need more than 133 passing yards from their quarterback.

The Vikings will also be without Jordan Mason, who had thumb surgery after rushing for 59 yards and a touchdown in the opener. Aaron Jones can handle more work, but losing one of the backs who helped settle the offense puts a little more pressure on whoever starts at quarterback.

That still doesn’t seem to have reopened the door for J.J. McCarthy. Minnesota made Wentz the backup before Week 1 and designated McCarthy as the emergency third quarterback. Wentz then backed up that decision by saving the opener.

Atlanta’s Insurance Plan Is Already Falling Apart

The Falcons carried four quarterbacks because they knew this situation might get messy.

One week into the season, they’re already finding out they might need all of them.

Penix tore his ACL against Carolina in Week 11 last season. It was his third ACL reconstruction, and this time he needed a quadriceps graft because both of his patellar tendons had already been used. He also had a tenodesis procedure to give the knee some extra stability.

That’s not a recovery Atlanta should rush just because they lost one game.

Tagovailoa was supposed to buy Penix time. He won the starting job after taking most of the full-team reps during camp and looked like a natural fit for an offense built around getting the ball out quickly. Bijan Robinson, Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and Zachariah Branch can all make things happen after the catch. Tua’s job was simple enough: find the right answer and get the ball there on time.

Then he aggravated his oblique three days before the opener.

Rush stepped in and completed 12 of 22 passes for 143 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He was sacked four times and finished with a 51.9 passer rating. One interception came when he overthrew Jahan Dotson. The other turned into Watt’s 35-yard pick-six early in the fourth quarter that pretty much sealed the deal.

Rush wasn’t Atlanta’s only problem, either. The Falcons committed seven first-half penalties, Nick Folk missed two field goals, and Bijan fumbled twice. Their defense held Pittsburgh to three conversions on 13 third downs and gave the offense enough chances to win.

But the quarterback play made all of those mistakes a lot harder to overcome.

They Knew This Was A Possibility

Atlanta would probably like to be getting Tagovailoa back against Carolina, but he missed Wednesday’s practice and is still day-to-day. Rush is dealing with back spasms. Penix is practicing fully and splitting first-team reps, but he’s also said there are still physical benchmarks he needs to hit before he feels ready to play.

Just some goals I want to hit. I'm going to keep those to myself and the training staff, but I'm close. Like I said, I'm close. I'm working extremely hard. I want to be out there. I'm dying to be out there. But at the same time, I've got to think about how I feel and think about things that I need to work on to make sure, you know, I hit before I go out there onto that football field.

That’s understandable. Wanting to play and being ready for live NFL contact after a third ACL reconstruction are two very different things. Penix is supposed to be Atlanta’s long-term answer. Throwing him back out there because the short-term insurance plan fell apart would be a massive gamble.

The matchup makes that decision even more tempting.

Carolina just gave up 291 rushing yards and six touchdowns to Chicago. Robinson had 173 scrimmage yards against Pittsburgh even with just about everything around him going sideways. Atlanta shouldn’t need their quarterback to throw 40 times Sunday. They can build the game plan around Robinson, Brian Robinson Jr., play-action, and easy throws into space.

That plan gets a little shakier if right guard Chris Lindstrom stays in the concussion protocol. And it still doesn’t solve the bigger quarterback problem hanging over this team.

A healthy Tua gives Atlanta the most functional version of Stefanski’s offense right now. A healthy Penix gives them the biggest arm and the clearest link to their future.

Undrafted rookie Jack Strand is technically in the mix, too. That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about how unsettled this has become.

The Falcons are 0-1, and they’re playing the reigning division champions at home and then have to travel to Green Bay on a short week. This quarterback decision isn’t just about finding a starter for one favorable matchup.

All stats courtesy of Fantasy Points Data.

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