After two weeks of action, there are compelling storylines surrounding the remaining unbeatens.
The Cincinnati Bengals are playing the best among the 2-0 teams. The Arizona Cardinals, who didn't have QB Carson Palmer Sunday but knocked off the New York Giants on the road, are a surprise. The same can be said for the Buffalo Bills, who have given their fans a memorable week (see below), and the Houston Texans.
The Carolina Panthers are playing some of the league's best defense. The Denver Broncos, to no one's surprise, are also 2-0.
Here are five things we learned in Week 2.
1. Bengals take "Hard Knocks" battle: This was a telling meeting of the two most recent subjects of HBO's "Hard Knocks" series. While the 2014 Atlanta Falcons tried to show the cameras their efforts to be a tougher, meaner team, the Cincinnati Bengals, stars of the 2013 show, showed they're meaner, deeper and better in a 24-10 victory.
In the first half, some of the themes Falcons coach Mike Smith expressed during the series showed up. The Falcons' defensive and offensive lines were able to match up against Bengals' front lines that have been among the best in football the past couple of years. General manager Tom Dimitroff went out this offseason to get bigger defensive linemen and more physical offensive linemen. Until the final minutes of the first half, the Bengals and Falcons were tied 3-3. The plan was working.
What the Falcons are trying to build, the Bengals have already achieved over the past four years. They have big offensive linemen. They have big defensive linemen. Slowly but surely, the Bengals made the harder knocks from the end of the first half on.
"I told the guys on Monday that we had to win the football game up front -- both sides of the ball," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "After looking at these guys and what they are, we had to win the game up front."
They did. The Bengals took a 10-3 lead after a physical, 91-yard touchdown drive in which they had nine runs and one pass -- a 46-yard Andy Dalton short toss to halfback Giovani Bernard. The second half was a tribute to the Bengals' big defensive line and the team's overall depth. With a mix of blitzes and powerful inside rushes, the Bengals started to take away the pocket from Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, forcing either rushed throws or scrambles. Two three-and-outs and an interception pretty much put Ryan and the Falcons out of contention before the nine-minute mark of the third quarter.
How deep are the Bengals? They started the game without wide receiver Marvin Jones and tight end Tyler Eifert. In the first quarter, wide receiver A.J. Green went down with a toe injury and later guard Kevin Zeitler left with a calf injury. Backups stepped up and Cincinnati is 2-0.
2. Saints still road-weary: The New Orleans Saints' Week 1 loss at Atlanta wasn't a surprise, but Sunday's 26-24 loss to Cleveland was a stunner. Quarterback Drew Brees threw a pick-six to Browns safety Tashaun Gipson, his 10th interception that was returned for a touchdown in the past five years.
"There's a fine line between winning and losing," Brees said. "A fine line. Last year at this time, we had two really close games [in] Week 1 and Week 2. We made that play that resulted in wins and we started off 2-0."
With the Saints' well-known tendency to lose playoff road games, it's vital they secure home-field advantage in the playoffs. With the second-easiest schedule in the NFC, they were well-positioned for that to happen. But the loss to the Browns damages that.
"We have to look at the concept of situational football," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "For the past two games, we haven't been very good at this. The issue is that we never specifically know which plays are coming, but we certainly didn't react to them as well as we should have. This is the most disappointing part of the loss."
Brees was great getting the ball to tight end Jimmy Graham, but not to the Saints' other pass-catchers. He was 10-of-13 for 118 yards throwing to Graham but only 17-of-27 for 119 yards to the rest of the team, according to ESPN Stats & Information. There were communication problems, breakdowns on defense, you name it.
There is no doubt the Saints can start fixing their problems and get in position to win the NFC South. But to have a real shot at getting to the Super Bowl, they can't let teams such as Seattle, San Francisco and Green Bay get ahead of them for playoff seedings.
3. Those feel-good Bills: In a week filled with negative stories, a positive one was the tentative agreement for the Buffalo Bills to be sold to Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula for $1.4 billion. A season-opening upset of the Bears in Chicago and a 29-10 win over the Miami Dolphins capped an incredible week for Bills fans. Not only are the Bills staying in Buffalo, New York, but all of a sudden, they are contending.
"Today was a very emotional time," said Bills president and CEO Russ Brandon of a pregame ceremony in which late Bills owner Ralph Wilson was honored. " ... To be out there when Jim Kelly got up to the podium was pretty cool. I've seen this stadium rock at times, but I've never felt like it did today. It was awesome.'' The Pegulas had to be happy with general manager Doug Whaley and head coach Doug Marrone. They gambled next year's first-round pick to acquire wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who had eight catches for 117 yards and one touchdown against Miami.
What pleased Marrone was how well the team responded when momentum started to shift. "They do a good job of feeding off of each other -- it's one team," Marrone said of his team. "They know they've got to pull their weight in all three areas."
For complete wins, it might have been the best in the league in Week 2. Buffalo's defense contained Ryan Tannehill, who was sacked four times and limited to 241 yards passing. It helped that Dolphins halfback Knowshon Moreno dislocated his elbow and pretty much left Tannehill with last year's running attack, which wasn't good enough in 2013. Lamar Miller carried 11 times for 46 yards for Miami, which finished with 80 yards rushing.
Buffalo's offense was solid, with 113 yards rushing and 202 yards passing, and the special teams were terrific. Halfback C.J. Spiller had a 102-yard kickoff return. Any time the Dolphins did something positive, the Bills had a response.
4. RG III is the new Sam Bradford: The dislocated ankle that will sideline Washington Redskins QB Robert Griffin III indefinitely puts him in the same spot as the St. Louis Rams' Bradford. Both players will be in the final years of their contracts next year with plenty of questions about their futures.
Since the preseason, several analysts have been saying Kirk Cousins is the best quarterback for the new Jay Gruden offense in Washington. On Sunday, those people looked right. Griffin was not comfortable again before he got hurt. He had two completions and one sack. Cousins was 22-of-33 for 250 yards in a 41-10 win over Jacksonville. He was flawless. During my visit to the Redskins' camp this summer, Gruden asked for patience in turning around RG III. The left ankle injury either ends the experiment or delays it for eight to 10 weeks. The job belongs to Cousins.
The Redskins risked everything to get RG III and had a trip to the playoffs during his rookie season as a reward. Since then, it's been a nightmare. Mike Shanahan lost his job in the process. There are no financial obstacles to keeping Griffin on the team next year. The Redskins can use this season to evaluate Cousins and see where they are with him. But the RG III era appears to be on shaky ground, sad to say.
5. Wild endings: The late afternoon games turned into the most interesting of the day. We learned an assistant coach can ruin a comeback. New York Jets offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg did a great job trying to keep quarterback Geno Smith in the game with Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers. He made only one mistake. Late in the game, Mornhinweg ran down the sidelines trying to get head coach Rex Ryan to call a timeout. Ryan didn't see him. Smith took the snap and fired a game-tying touchdown pass. Officials spotted the timeout call and voided the touchdown. The Jets never got the points back and lost 31-24. There was still enough time for Rodgers to break a tie, so don't put too much on Mornhinweg, but the timeout was costly.
The 94-degree heat may have taken a little edge off the Seattle Seahawks in a 30-21 loss to the San Diego Chargers. The Seahawks had opportunities to catch up in the second half but couldn't take advantage. They will have to make it up in Week 3 against Denver. As for the Broncos, they got a more competitive game out of Kansas City than anyone thought. The Chiefs are a mess. They placed three starters on injured reserve this week and lost Jamaal Charles to an ankle injury. Despite that, they battled the Broncos to the end in a 24-17 loss.
SHORT TAKES
The worst sign of the day was the way the Oakland Raiders played. They were overrun by the Texans 30-14. For a team that brought in around 11 new starters between the ages of 29 and 31, the concern might have to shift to panic. The Raiders are 0-2 and gave up 30 points to Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Texans. ... Thought it was funny that Johnny Manziel in Cleveland and Michael Vick with the Jets made a couple of cameo performances. ... Give credit to Brian Hoyer of the Browns. He almost had a comeback victory over the Steelers last week and beat the Saints Sunday. ... Bruce Arians is doing an unbelievable job coaching the Cardinals to a 2-0 start. How about not having Carson Palmer, being down three linebackers, including John Abraham, and beating the Giants on the road 25-14. ... The most dejected team was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs love playing for Lovie Smith but are 0-2 with losses to Carolina and St. Louis.