NFL Week 2 Takeaways: Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs fall behind in early hole
Plenty of storylines came out of Week 2 of the 2025 NFL season from high-flying offences to bonehead blunders.
Here’s our biggest takeaways from Week 2.
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Chiefs fall to 0-2
Dating back to last year’s Super Bowl, the Chiefs have now dropped three straight games, including two against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Schedule makers did Kansas City no favours this year, starting them in Brazil against the Chargers in Week 1 and at home against the Eagles in Week 2.
Sunday’s 20-17 loss wasn’t the beatdown the Chiefs received in the Super Bowl, but it did nothing to stop the questions surrounding KC.
Kansas City was completely dominated by Philadelphia’s defence, with Patrick Mahomes completing just 16 of 29 passes for 187 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Chiefs’ running backs finished with just 55 yards on 19 carries. In contrast, Mahomes had 66 yards and a score on seven carries.
But for fans who are quick to panic, relax, it’s still early. Kansas City’s offence played Week 2 without wide receivers Rashee Rice (suspension) and Xavier Worthy (shoulder), while a rare Travis Kelce dropped pass could have been the difference between a win and a loss.
An 0-2 start certainly isn’t ideal, but it doesn’t mean the Chiefs won’t make the playoffs. Remember, just last season the Broncos, Ravens and Rams all started 0-2 and went on to play postseason football.
Lions offence back on track
Before the season there were significant doubts the Lions offence would remain as effective without offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who is now the head coach of the Chicago Bears.
Those fears only escalated when Detroit was blown out 27-13 in Week 1 against Green Bay.
Well, the Lions silenced the doubters with a 52-21 Week 2 win over Johnson and the Bears.
Jared Goff was surgical, completing 23 of 28 passes for 334 yards and five touchdowns, while Amon-Ra St. Brown (115 yards, three TDs) and Jameson Williams (103 yards, TD) each cracked the century mark in receiving yards.
The ground attack also did it’s part. Jahmyr Gibbs finished with 94 rushing yards and a touchdown and David Montgomery added 57 rushing yards and a score.
Overall, Detroit put up 511 yards of offence with five passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns against a Chicago head coach who knows the Lions’ offence as well as anybody.
Detroit’s offence will be just fine.
Bittersweet Bengals
The Bengals are off to their first 2-0 start since the 2018 season, but their 31-27 Week 2 victory over Jacksonville came at a huge loss with quarterback Joe Burrow suffering a significant injury.
Burrow left the game in the second quarterback and he will now undergo toe surgery which will sideline him for at least three months.
With Burrow out for the majority of the season, Cincinnati is now relying on backup QB Jake Browning to shoulder the load.
In addition to Browning, the only other quarterback the Bengals have under contract is Brett Rypien on the practice squad.
The team is reportedly looking into other free agent QBs, but it will be tough to stay in playoff contention without Burrow.
Russell Wilson turns back the clock
Surprisingly, the game of the week went down in Dallas on Sunday, with the Cowboys earning a thrilling 40-37 overtime win over the Giants.
It’s New York quarterback Russell Wilson’s performance, however, that is the most surprising.
After laying an egg with 168 passing yards and no touchdowns in the Giants’ season-opening loss against Washington, Wilson balled out in Week 2 with 450 passing yards and three TDs. It was the second-highest passing yards total in Wilson’s 14-year career.
Wilson really only made one mistake against Dallas, but it cost New York the game. He threw an unwise deep ball in overtime that was picked off and led to the Cowboys’ game-winning field goal.
Outside of the interception, Wilson’s performance should turn down the heat a bit on the critics calling for the Giants to bench the veteran quarterback for rookie Jaxson Dart.
Bonehead blunders
Football is full of great plays, but it’s also full of mistakes and two big blunders cost teams wins in Week 2.
Pittsburgh Steelers rookie Kaleb Johnson touched the ball on the kickoff before letting it go past him in the endzone. Seattle was then able to jump on the live ball for a game-altering touchdown in a 31-17 Seahawks win.
Denver Broncos linebacker Dondrea Tillman also had egg on his face in Week 2. Indianapolis Colts kicker Spencer Shrader missed a 60-yard attempt which should have sealed the win for Denver. However, Tillman received a 15-yard leverage penalty and Shrader nailed his second chance to secure a 29-28 win for the Colts.
Week 3 and a shot at redemption can’t come soon enough for Johnson and Tillman.
