The second week of the season brought many close battles in the early games and featured several surprising results throughout the day.
Seven of the 10 early games were decided by eight points or less, with only the blowouts by the Chargers, Redskins and Buccaneers not staying competitive down the stretch. The late games saw the two-time defending champs drop to 0-2, the Browns continue to struggle on offense and the Niners pull out a win with a furious fourth-quarter comeback against the Saints. Sunday night found Doug Flutie working his magic against a Jets team that looks like they are headed absolutely nowhere this season without Vinny Testaverde under center.
Jacksonville, Tennessee, New England, Pittsburgh, San Diego and Miami all stayed undefeated in the AFC, while only Detroit and Dallas maintained their perfect records among those teams in the NFC who played this week.
| Week 2 NFL Recap |
| Raiders 22 (1-1), Vikings 17 (1-1) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
402: Total offense by the Raiders against what is looking like a very suspect Vikings defensive unit.
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| Player of the Game |
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Rich Gannon, QB, Oakland. Gannon played his typical smart game in leading the Raiders to the big upset win in Minneapolis, finishing with 248 yards passing and 1 touchdown and no interceptions. |
| Breakdown |
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The Raiders have now played two good games in a row, with only a miraculous Brett Favre comeback last Sunday preventing them from sitting atop the AFC West at 2-0 after the first two weeks.
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| Lions 23 (2-0), Packers 15 (1-1) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
223-62: Advantage in return yardage for the Lions.
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| Player of the Game |
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Terry Fair, CB/KR, Lions. Fair had a 36-yard punt return in the second quarter and added a 91-yard kickoff return that set up the go-ahead fourth quarter touchdown. |
| Breakdown |
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The Lions find themselves in first place in the NFC Central, with the other division teams looking up at them from a four-way tie for second place.
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| Buccaneers 19 (1-1), Eagles 5 (0-2) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
9: Number of sacks by Tampa Bay's defense of Doug Pederson and Donovan McNabb in an amazing defense performance.
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| Player of the Game |
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Warren Sapp, DT, Tampa Bay. Sapp dominated the game in every way possible, recording seven tackles and four sacks in leading the Bucs' defensive charge against the Eagles.
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| Breakdown |
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Tampa Bay's offense still couldn't get in gear this week, but with a defense this good, who needs an offense? The Bucs did manage 157 yards on the ground, but they needed 44 carries to get to that total.
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| Jaguars 22 (2-0), Panthers 20 (0-2) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
37:41: Jacksonville's time of possesion for the game. |
| Player of the Game |
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James Stewart, RB, Jacksonville. Stewart filled in for a banged-up Fred Taylor and fought his way to 124 yards and 2 TDs on 27 carries.
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| Breakdown |
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Jacksonville didn't play its prettiest game ever, but a tough road win at Carolina does nothing to derail the Jaguars' Super Bowl aspirations.
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| Steelers 23 (2-0), Ravens 20 (0-2) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
15.4: Percentage of third-down conversions for the Ravens offense in the game. |
| Player of the Game |
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Richard Huntley, RB, Pittsburgh. Huntley helped spell a still banged-up Bus for the second-straight week, and ran for 49 yards on 10 carries, adding one rushing touchdown to the cause.
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| Breakdown |
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Scott Mitchell looked awful for the second week in a row, throwing two interceptions before being pulled for backup Stoney Case in the third quarter.
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| Seahawks 14 (1-1), Bears 13 (1-1) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
13: Penalties committed by the Bears, costing them 89 yards of field position for the game. |
| Player of the Game |
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Glenn Foley, QB, Seattle. Foley got the starting nod when Jon Kitna couldn't go with an injured toe. Foley responded by completing 18-of-30 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
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| Breakdown |
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The Seahawks rallied with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull out a big road win that prevented them from dropping to a disappointing 0-2 start.
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| Chargers 34 (1-0), Bengals 7 (0-2) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
4: Fumbles lost by the Bengals on the afternoon, to go along with three sacks allowed and one interception. |
| Player of the Game |
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Natrone Means, RB, San Diego. Means earned his money on Sunday, gaining 79 hard-earned yards on 27 carries with one receiving touchdown to boot.
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| Breakdown |
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The Chargers started the season a week later than the rest of the league, but their debut was as impressive as any other team. Mike Riley's offense controlled the ball for 38:30 and forced the Bengals into several mistakes that he Chargers were able to capitalize on.
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| Dolphins 19 (2-0), Cardinals 16 (1-1) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
40.7: Jake Plummer's completion percentage on Sunday, as he went only 11-of-27 passing for 117 yards and four interceptions. |
| Player of the Game |
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Zach Thomas, LB, Miami. Thomas did his usual fine job of stuffing the run with 10 tackles, but he also added a key first-quarter interception of Jake Plummer in the endzone to kill a potential scoring drive.
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| Breakdown |
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The Dolphins struggled more with the Cardinals than the did with defending Super Bowl champion Broncos on Monday night. They managed to survive nine penalties committed and two lost fumbles to pull out a three-point win to stay unbeaten.
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| Patriots 31 (2-0), Colts 28 (1-1) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
15: Penalties committed by the Patriots -- for a total loss of 135 yards -- that was a large reason that they trailed by three touchdowns in the second half before starting their comeback. |
| Player of the Game |
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Drew Bledsoe, QB, New England. Bledsoe threw four touchdown passes -- including three during the spectacular second-half comeback -- and completed 27-of-45 passes for 299 yards with no interceptions.
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| Breakdown |
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New England managed to fight back from a 21-point second-half deficit, making it the second-best comeback in team history after a 23-point comeback against Seattle in 1984. The Patriots have announced themselves as a solid player in the AFC East race with two wins against their division rivals in the first two weeks of the season.
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| Redskins 50 (1-1), Giants 21 (1-1) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
71.4: Completion percentage by Brad Johnson on Sunday, as he continues to look comfortable in Norv Turner's offense. Johnson completed 20-of-28 passes for 231 yards with three touchdowns and no interception. |
| Player of the Game |
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Stephen Davis, RB, Washington. Davis ran for three touchdowns in the first quarter alone, and finished the game with 126 yards on 23 carries.
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| Breakdown |
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Washington looked great on offense for the second week in a row, but the defense decided to show up this week to aid the effort. The Redskins have rolled up 912 yards of offense in their first two games and have scored 85 points against division rivals Dallas and New York.
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| 49ers 28 (1-1), Saints 21 (1-1) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
65.7: Completion percentage by Steve Young against the Saints, significantly better than his 9-of-26 passing performance last week in Jacksonville. |
| Player of the Game |
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Lance Schulters, CB, San Francisco. Schulters recorded five tackles and returned an interception 64 yards with 1:31 remaining for the game-winning touchdown.
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| Breakdown |
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San Francisco got its 12th straight regular-season win following a loss in downing the Saints for the seventh-straight time. The Niners played better than they did last week, but had a poor showing for the second-straight week, showing their vulnerability to lesser teams in their division.
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| Chiefs 26 (1-1), Broncos 10 (1-1) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
5.9: Average yards per play for the Chiefs in the game, which allowed them to gain 365 yards on the Broncos' defense. |
| Player of the Game |
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Kimble Anders, RB, Kansas City. Anders carried 22 times for 142 yards before leaving the game with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter.
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| Breakdown |
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Terrell Davis was held below 100 yards for the second consecutive game by a tencaious Chiefs' defense that was geared to stop the run. Denver finds itself in last place in the AFC West as the only team in that division not to have won a game yet this season.
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| Titans 26 (2-0), Browns 9 (0-2) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
173: Total yards against the Titans by the struggling Browns offense, bringing their season total to a paltry 213 yards gained in two games. |
| Player of the Game |
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Jevon Kearse, DE, Tennessee. Kearse sacked Tim Couch three times and added four tackles to the Titans' defensive efforts.
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| Breakdown |
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Tennessee kept pace with Jacksonville and Pittsburgh in the AFC Central with its lackluster win today against Cleveland. Tim Couch put up better numbers than Ty Detmer did last week, but the Browns still managed only 134 yards passing in the game.
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| Bills 17 (1-1), Jets 3 (0-2) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
224: Yards rushing by the Bills on Sunday night, more than quadrupaling their total from Week 1 against the Colts. |
| Player of the Game |
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Doug Flutie, QB, Buffalo. Flutie passed for 160 yards and added a career-high 67 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
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| Breakdown |
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Buffalo's defense really buckled down after allowing 31 points and 393 yards to the Colts last week. They held the Vinny-less Jets to 190 total yards for the game. The three points allowed were the fewest given up by the Bills' defense since a 38-0 shutout of the Colts in 1992.
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| Cowboys 24 (2-0), Falcons 7 (0-2) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
98: Passing yards by the Cowboys on Monday night, only one week after the offense exploded for 362 yards in the air against the Redskins. |
| Player of the Game |
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Emmitt Smith, RB, Dallas. Smith gained 108 tough yards in 29 carries and scored two rushing touchdowns to boost his career rushing touchdown total 128.
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| Breakdown |
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The injured Jamal Anderson could only watch as Smith moved into fourth place on the all-time rushing list passing former Cowboy Tony Dorsett. The Falcons desperately missed their two offensive stars, although they did manage 316 total yards for the game. Four turnovers proved costly to Atlanta Monday night, and if Anderson misses any significant amount of time with his injury the Falcons could be in danger of missing the playoffs this season.
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