The New England Patriots lost Jimmy Garoppolo just as they were demolishing the Miami Dolphins and still managed to hang on for the win. The Dallas Cowboys got their first win of the Dak Prescott era thanks to a late Alfred Morris touchdown against his former team, the Washington Redskins. And speaking of overcoming injuries, Sam Bradford had a terrific debut for the Minnesota Vikings who also debuted their new stadium, beating the Green Bay Packers.
New York Jets (1-1) 37 Buffalo Bills (0-2) 31: A Thursday Night Football game that led to OC Greg Roman getting fired, although the Bills defense was the bigger problem. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 374 yards and one touchdown, Matt Forte ran for 100 yards and 3 scores.
Cincinnati Bengals (1-1) 16 Pittsburgh Steelers (2-0) 24: A Ben Roethlisberger touchdown pass to Xavier Grimble in the first quarter put the Steelers in front, and they slowly grinded towards victory, despite two interceptions from their quarterbacks, and getting outgained by the Bengals on offense.
Tennessee Titans (1-1) 16 Detroit Lions (1-1) 15: The Titans were behind 15-3 entering the fourth quarter, but Marcus Mariota stepped up, first with a 30-yard TD pass to Delanie Walker early in the quarter, and then a 9-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to Andre Johnson, winning the game with 1:13 left.
Baltimore Ravens (2-0) 25 Cleveland Browns (0-2) 20: The first quarter was all Browns, taking a 20-2 with two touchdown passes from Josh McCown to Corey Coleman. The rest of the game was all Ravens: Two touchdown passes from Joe Flacco to Mike Wallace, and two fourth quarter field goals by Justin Tucker to win the game.
Dallas Cowboys (1-1) 27 Washington Redskins (0-2) 23: Dak Prescott didn’t throw any touchdowns, but no interceptions either, running for one. Kirk Cousins did throw an interception, and the hero of the game was former Redskins running back Alfred Morris, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 4:45 on the clock.
New Orleans Saints (0-2) 13 New York Giants (2-0) 16: The expensive Giants don’t impress, but they keep winning, this time with defense, holding the Saints to 288 yards, and a game winning field goal as time expired from Josh Brown.
San Francisco 49ers (1-1) 27 Carolina Panthers (1-1) 46: The Panthers overcame a bad start and a Jonathan Stewart injury, as Cam Newton threw four touchdown passes (2 to Kelvin Benjamin) while Fozzy Whittaker ran for 100 yards.
Miami Dolphins (0-2) 24 New England Patriots (2-0) 31: Jimmy Garoppolo was injured in the middle of the game, which has later consequences. In the game itself, it allowed the Dolphins to come back from 3-31 down, but the Pats win even with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. Garoppolo threw 3 touchdown passes.
Kansas City Chiefs (1-1) 12 Houston Texans (2-0) 19: The Texans had some avenging to do after last season’s playoffs. Brock Osweiler wasn’t very good (1 TD, 2 INT) but defense, Nick Novak field goals and 3 Chiefs turnovers did the work.
Seattle Seahawks (1-1) 3 Los Angeles Rams (1-1) 9: The annual Seahawks loss to the Rams came early this year, in an ugly game without any touchdowns. Russell Wilson had 254 yards but couldn’t run, Case Keenum avoided mistakes, and it all came down to one or two more stops by the Rams defense to make the difference, in their first LA home game since 1994.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1) 7 Arizona Cardinals (1-1) 40: The Cardinals stayed at home for another week, and crushed the visitors, as Jameis Winston tossed four interceptions, one of them returned for a touchdown. Carson Palmer looked terrific, throwing 3 touchdown passes, while Chris Johnson ran for another. The Bucs finished with 5 turnovers.
Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2) 14 San Diego Chargers (1-1) 38: Philip Rivers was at his best with four touchdown passes and a 138.9 passer rating. Blake Bortles turned the ball over 3 times, throwing two garbage time touchdowns after the Chargers already had a 35-0 lead going on.
Atlanta Falcons (1-1) 35 Oakland Raiders (1-1) 28: The Raiders defense betrayed them again, giving up 528 yards. Derek Carr played well and the ground game got 155 yards, but Matt Ryan had an easy day with 3 touchdown passes, while Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman combined for 139 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Indianapolis Colts (0-2) 20 Denver Broncos (2-0) 34: The Broncos tailed away from the Colts after Aqib Talib took an interception 46 yards for a big touchdown, putting his team 23-13 up. Shane Ray scored on a late fumble return as well, with Andrew Luck struggling, like most quarterbacks do against the Broncos defense.
Green Bay Packers (1-1) 14 Minnesota Vikings (1-1) 17: Despite losing Adrian Peterson to a knee injury, the Vikings got exactly what they needed from Sam Bradford, throwing two touchdown passes on his debut, while Aaron Rodgers was held to only 212 yards on 36 throws, throwing one touchdown and one interception.
NFC Standings
| NFC East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| New York Giants | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 36 | 32 | W2 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 29 | 10 | W1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 46 | 43 | W1 |
| Washington Redskins | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 39 | 65 | L2 |
| NFC North | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Minnesota Vikings | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 42 | 30 | W2 |
| Detroit Lions | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 54 | 51 | L1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 41 | 40 | L1 |
| Chicago Bears | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 14 | 23 | L1 |
| NFC South | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Carolina Panthers | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 66 | 48 | W1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 38 | 64 | L1 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 59 | 59 | W1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 47 | 51 | L2 |
| NFC West | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Arizona Cardinals | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 61 | 30 | W1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 55 | 46 | L1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 9 | 31 | W1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 15 | 19 | L1 |
AFC Standings
| AFC East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| New England Patriots | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 54 | 45 | W2 |
| New York Jets | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 59 | 54 | W1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 34 | 43 | L2 |
| Buffalo Bills | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 38 | 50 | L2 |
| AFC North | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Baltimore Ravens | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 38 | 27 | W2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 62 | 32 | W2 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 39 | 46 | L1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 30 | 54 | L2 |
| AFC South | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Houston Texans | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 42 | 26 | W2 |
| Tennessee Titans | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 32 | 40 | W1 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 55 | 73 | L2 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 37 | 65 | L2 |
| AFC West | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Denver Broncos | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 55 | 40 | W2 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 45 | 46 | L1 |
| San Diego Chargers | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 65 | 47 | W1 |
| Oakland Raiders | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 63 | 69 | L1 |