Week 1 always gives us something to overreact to. This year, it practically begged us to.

The NFL tied the Super Bowl-era record for points in an opening week. Ten teams scored at least 30, and three of them still lost. Chicago put up 59. Baltimore gained more than 500 yards. Jacksonville extended the league’s longest active winning streak. Meanwhile, preseason favorites in Los Angeles, Green Bay, and Denver looked nothing like the teams we expected to see.

But here’s the thing: Week 1 can make almost anything feel real. Just last year, the Patriots lost to a Raiders team that would win only two more games, while New England eventually climbed all the way to the Super Bowl.

That’s why Week 2 matters. It gives those first impressions somewhere to go.

The schedule opens inside a brand-new stadium with two of the league’s most dangerous offenses. Two NFC North teams coming off completely different kinds of statement wins meet in Chicago. Several teams that we thought would be contenders need to respond immediately, and the weekend closes with a Rams team already facing way more pressure than anyone expected in September.

One game can start a story. The second usually tells us whether we should believe it.

Buffalo’s New Home Gets A Serious First Guest

The first regular-season game at the new Highmark Stadium was always going to be a big deal in Buffalo. Add the Detroit Lions to the other sideline, and this should be a pretty good football game to go with all the ceremony.

Detroit and Buffalo open Week 2 on Thursday night at 8:15 p.m. ET on Prime Video, and both offenses already look ready to turn this into a track meet.

Josh Allen kicked off the Joe Brady era with 334 passing yards and four total touchdowns against one of the league’s better defenses. Buffalo scored 36 points and answered Houston’s late lead with a 96-yard touchdown drive. New additions DJ Moore and Joshua Palmer both made big plays, and even Dalton Kincaid set a career high with 130 receiving yards.

That was pretty close to the version of this offense Buffalo hoped to build around Allen all offseason. The Bills still needed their quarterback to bail them out, but this time he had a lot more help.

Detroit’s opener was a little more chaotic. The Lions built a three-score lead and somehow still needed overtime to get out of New Orleans with a 31-30 win. Jahmyr Gibbs carried the offense for long stretches, finishing with a career-high 29 carries for 156 yards and two touchdowns. He added another 30 yards as a receiver.

The bigger concern came on defense. Tyler Shough threw for 410 yards, and New Orleans scored on five of their final six possessions. Buffalo’s defense wasn’t exactly airtight against Houston either, giving up 31 points before Gregory Rousseau’s strip-sack finally ended the game.

So Thursday night's about more than celebrating a new stadium. It’s a real test for both of these defenses.

Chicago Gets The Week’s Best Reality Check

The Bears couldn’t have made a louder opening statement if they tried.

Chicago scored 59 points against Carolina, their most since 1980. D’Andre Swift ran for 124 yards and three touchdowns. Kyle Monangai added 100 yards and a score. Caleb Williams ran for 65 yards and two more touchdowns. It was the first time in the Super Bowl era that a quarterback and two teammates all finished with at least 65 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Williams also threw for 269 yards and two scores. Chicago didn’t even punt until the fourth quarter. Against Carolina, Ben Johnson’s offense pretty much did whatever they wanted.

Minnesota’s going to make things a lot harder Sunday at Soldier Field.

Brian Flores blitzed Jordan Love on 78.3% of his dropbacks in Week 1, the fourth-highest rate by a defense in any game since at least 2018. Green Bay led 22-10 late in the third quarter, then the pressure took over. The Vikings scored the final 29 points and won 39-22.

Now Flores gets Williams, whose ability to escape pressure and make something happen after the play breaks down was a big reason Chicago looked so dangerous. If Williams finds room behind those blitzes, the Bears can make Minnesota pay. But if the protection starts missing assignments, the Vikings could make this uncomfortable in a hurry.

Kyler Murray’s status adds another wrinkle. He suffered a concussion on Minnesota’s 11th offensive play and likely won't make it out of the league’s protocol in time. Carson Wentz stepped in and threw three touchdown passes, so the Vikings know they can survive with their backup. Still, their ceiling is higher with Murray.

Either way, one of these teams will leave Sunday at 2-0 with an early division win.

Sunday Has Questions Everywhere You Look

Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans — 1:00 PM ET on CBS and Paramount+

Cincinnati at Houston might be the best early game nobody’s talking about enough.

The Bengals finally got some help from their defense against Tampa Bay, forcing four turnovers in a 33-27 win. Three of them came on Baker Mayfield fumbles. Cincinnati didn’t force a single punt, so there’s still plenty to clean up, but Joe Burrow didn’t have to play a perfect game just to keep the Bengals alive. That’s progress.

Houston had a much weirder afternoon. C.J. Stroud threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns, and David Montgomery scored three times in his Texans debut. But Stroud also fumbled on Houston’s opening possession and then again when the Texans had a chance to steal the game late.

Now Houston gets Burrow one week after dealing with Josh Allen. That’s a rough way to start the season.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Denver Broncos — 4:05 PM ET on CBS and Paramount+

Jacksonville at Denver feels like one of those games that could tell us a lot about both teams. The Jaguars have won nine straight regular-season games going back to last year, including a 34-20 win in Denver last December. Trevor Lawrence picked up right where he left off in Week 1, throwing four touchdowns in a 34-10 win over Cleveland.

Denver, meanwhile, got pushed around in a 31-10 loss to Kansas City. The Broncos’ defense missed a mind-blowing 28 tackles and couldn’t slow down Kenneth Walker III. They were one of the AFC’s most complete teams last season, but another home loss to Jacksonville would make that label feel a lot less convincing.

Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots — 1:00 PM ET on CBS and Paramount+

Pittsburgh and New England are coming off very different kinds of Sundays. The Steelers’ offense didn’t do much against Atlanta, but T.J. Watt flipped the game with a pick-six and helped Pittsburgh escape with a 20-13 win.

The Patriots had Seattle right where they wanted them, leading 10-0, until Drake Maye threw three fourth-quarter interceptions and handed the game away. New England will also be without A.J. Brown for at least four games after putting him on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain.

There’s still plenty to watch in the rest of the early window. Carolina and Atlanta are both looking for their first NFC South win, and Bryce Young’s 361-yard day gave the Panthers at least one reason to feel good after giving up 59 points. Baker Mayfield gets another shot at his old Browns team after fumbling three times against Cincinnati.

Baltimore’s new coaching staff gets their home debut against a New Orleans team that looked a lot better than anyone expected in Detroit. Tyler Shough and Chris Olave showed some real promise during that comeback, even if the Saints couldn’t finish it.

The Late Window Has Division Rivalries Ready To Go

Raiders at Chargers — 4:05 PM ET on CBS and Paramount+

The Raiders can move to 2-0 and drop the Chargers to 0-2 after Ashton Jeanty powered their opening win with 143 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Los Angeles will need Justin Herbert to create more consistently after the Chargers scored just 17 points in their opener. A Raiders win would send shockwaves in both directions. But after last week, there's no way you can rule it out completely.

Commanders at Cowboys — 4:25 PM ET on Fox and Fox One

Dallas and Washington are both trying to avoid that same 0-2 hole after close division losses. The Cowboys got out-muscled by the new-look, John Harbaugh-led Giants, and Washington lost to Philadelphia even though they moved the ball well enough to stay in the game.

Dak Prescott and the Dallas offense should have opportunities against a Washington defense that struggled to get off the field, but Jayden Daniels showed he can still extend plays and keep the pressure on defenses. With both teams already looking up at New York and Philadelphia, this one feels like it could really set the tone for the rest of the season.

Primetime For Mahomes Again

Indianapolis Colts at Kansas City Chiefs — 8:20 PM ET on ABC, ESPN, ESPN+, and Disney+

Kansas City’s Sunday night game against Indianapolis was supposed to be about Patrick Mahomes easing his way back from a torn ACL. Then Kenneth Walker III showed up for his Chiefs debut and completely changed the conversation. After running for a career-high 173 yards, it was clear he was driving the offense.

Mahomes threw for just 184 yards in Monday’s 31-10 win over Denver, but that didn’t really matter. Kansas City didn’t need him to carry the entire offense, which is a pretty scary thought for anyone hoping the Chiefs won’t look like contenders again.

The Colts just gave up 506 yards and 41 points to Baltimore. Jonathan Taylor can still keep Indianapolis in a game, but asking Daniel Jones to keep pace with Mahomes at Arrowhead is a tough sell.

Sunday night gives Kansas City a chance to prove Week 1 wasn’t just an emotional return. Maybe the Chiefs really have found their most balanced offense in years.

The Rams Carry The Most Pressure Into MNF

Monday night won’t feel nearly as comfortable for the Rams.

Los Angeles spent the offseason being talked about like a Super Bowl team, then scored just seven points in a loss to San Francisco all the way in Australia. Myles Garrett played through knee pain, and it showed. He called it the “worst version” of himself, and now he's out at least four games after he decided to have surgery. Aaron Donald’s status for Week 2 is still up in the air too.

The Giants, on the other hand, looked like a team that finally found their footing. Jaxson Dart completed 23 of 29 passes for three touchdowns against Dallas. He finished with a 0.727 EPA per play — which is just EPA on dropbacks andrushes — which was the highest of any quarterback in Week 1. New York converted nine of 11 third downs, ran for 165 yards, and held the ball for more than 36 minutes. John Harbaugh’s first game looked a lot like a typical John Harbaugh game.

The Rams do have extra rest after playing in Australia on Thursday, but they can’t afford another slow start. They need to find more offense beyond Puka Nacua and show that one ugly international game was just that: one ugly game.

All stats courtesy of Fantasy Points Data.

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