NFL Week 2 Recap: Expect the Unexpected
Jaws dropped this week after several unbelievable outcomes and breathtaking plays throughout the league.
The madness began during the Thursday Night Football game when the Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Denver Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Peyton Manning led the Broncos to a stunning, late comeback. After struggling in the first half, Manning threw his third touchdown with 40 seconds left in the game. Emmanuel Sanders caught the critical pass and scored a 19-yard touchdown. When Jamaal Charles fumbled the ball with just a few seconds left on the game clock, Bradley Roby recovered it and ran it to the opposite end zone for a touchdown securing the Bronco win. On Sunday, Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston both got their first career wins. The two Heisman winners both improved their respective team’s records to 1-1. Despite the expectation for the Saints to dominate Winston and his Buccaneers, Drew Brees was held back due a shoulder injury that will reportedly take multiple weeks to heal.
Giants fans suffered another close loss on Sunday after the Falcons scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. For the second week in a row, the Giants’ offense and defense crumbled in the fourth quarter. They’ll look to improve their 0-2 record on Thursday night against the Redskins. The Jaguars and Raiders also won with dominant fourth-quarter performances. Jacksonville beat Miami 23-30 with a field goal in the final minute. Likewise, Oakland beat Baltimore 37-33 with a touchdown pass to Seth Roberts with 30 seconds left in the game. Both of these wins were quite surprising, especially the Jaguars’ victory, since it’s their first in the month of September since 2012.
On the other hand, Tom Brady embarrassed Rex Ryan and his Bills by throwing 3 touchdowns and 466 yards. New England improved to 2-0, while Buffalo fell to 1-1. Surprisingly, the Cowboys were able to beat the Eagles 20-10, despite Tony Romo’s significant collarbone fracture halfway through the game.
In a rematch of last year’s NFC Championship, the Packers beat the Seahawks 27- 17 during the Sunday night game. The victory is mostly because of Green Bay’s 11 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. The Super Bowl runner-ups fell to 0-2, and the Packers got their second win of the season.
After a stunning performance from the Jets’ defense and a pathetic show from the Colts’ offense, the Jets improved to a 2-0 start with a 20-7 win over the Colts on Monday night. The Jets’ phenomenal secondary grabbed three interceptions, two of them coming in the second-half. The AFC Championship runner-ups were expected to beat the Jets by a landslide, but the dominant defensive coverage stopped Andrew Luck from thriving.
All in all, there were several astonishing victories because of countless vital performances in the fourth quarter during Week 2 of what is shaking up to be an extraordinary NFL season.