NFL Week 2 preview: Matchups & analysis (2024)

Week 1 of the NFL season is complete and we're on to Week 2! Check in with The Athletic for all the latest news, game previews, injury updates and analysis from our team of experts and insiders.

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Brock Purdy has impressive thighs.

They’re not quite Nick Bosa– or Javon Hargrave-level gams, mind you, but they’ve certainly caught the attention of teammates, including noted quad connoisseur Bosa.

“I have noticed them. A hundred percent,” said the San Francisco 49ers defensive end, whose thighs look like century-old tree trunks. “There’s a lot of large human beings in this locker room. But Brock is definitely part of the quad club.”

Those big thighs have been a big deal in Purdy’s career.

Read more here.

Defensively, the Chargers have to improve in all areas after a disastrous performance against the Dolphins. The positive for the Chargers is they will not be facing Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle this week. The negative is that they will be taking on a virtually polar opposite offense Sunday, led by Titans running back Derrick Henry, who rushed for 104 yards on 21 carries when the teams met last year.

The Chargers run defense played well in Week 1, but the Dolphins were not exactly committing to the run considering they were getting whatever they wanted in the passing game. The run defense will be tested in a different way Sunday. In the passing game, the Chargers have to be substantially cleaner in their coverages. All the defensive issues stemmed from poor play from the back seven. If the Chargers can cover better, that will force Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill to hold onto the ball longer, creating opportunities for the pass rush. It all starts with limiting Henry on first and second down.

In Week 1, the Detroit Lions put the league on notice, Aaron Rodgers’ season lasted four plays and the New York Giants landed on the wrong side of franchise history. What could Week 2 bring?

The Athletic’s NFL writers Mike Sando, Jeff Howe and Kalyn Kahler discuss some of the upcoming week’s most interesting storylines and more.

By the time Brett Favre became a Minnesota Viking, he was already 40 years old and had started more than 300 games in his NFL career. He had never thrown fewer than 13 interceptions or had a season with an interception percentage lower than 2.3 percent. Then-Vikings head coach Brad Childress would have been justified in thinking he wouldn’t be able to rein in the adventurous nature of Favre’s game.

Yet at 40 years old, Favre had the highest completion percentage of his career and threw for 4,202 yards and 33 touchdowns. He did all of that while throwing seven interceptions and having an interception percentage of 1.3, both career bests.

So maybe there’s hope for Josh Allen after all.

Read more here.

The closest major airport to Nacogdoches, Texas, is more than an hour’s drive, but Brant Boyer felt like it was worth the trip. It’s a small town, with a population of just over 30,000. There is no interstate running through the town, which is mostly occupied by churches and Stephen F. Austin University.

One day in the spring, a storm was coming. Boyer, the New York Jets special teams coordinator, had set up a private pre-NFL Draft workout with Xavier Gipson for 8 a.m., but it was pushed back because of the weather. The SFA football team was practicing that morning, and they needed the field at 8 to avoid the conditions. So, Boyer told Gipson to show up an hour earlier and to make sure the lights were on by the time he arrived.

When Boyer showed up at 6:15 — 45 minutes early — Gipson was already there, lights turned on, ready to practice.

“That’s something you don’t see very often,” Boyer said.

Neither is what Gipson did in his NFL debut for the Jets on Monday night, even if it’s something Boyer envisioned when he first watched his film.

Read more here.

Seated in his stall in the corner of the Chicago Bears’ locker room, wide receiver DJ Moore smiled at the question.

How fast is Darnell Mooney on the field?

“That’s funny that you just asked that,” Moore said. “We were just talking about that between me, him and Tyler (Scott). I asked a funny question: ‘Who’s really faster out of us three?’ Of course, me. They all just laughed, but I was serious.”

Moore loves what the Bears have in their wide receivers room.

“It’s a lot of energy,” Moore said. “It’s a lot of hunger.”

That’s what Moore said more than a week ago at Halas Hall — a Thursday afternoon before a hyped game against the rival Green Bay Packers. After the Bears’ 38-20 loss, Moore stood at his stall by the exit of the team’s locker room at Soldier Field. He made only two catches in the game, not much to discuss.

From coach Matt Eberflus to quarterback Justin Fields to offensive coordinator Luke Getsy to Moore himself, it’s one of the few topics that lingered this week, as another loss to the Packers — the first involving Moore — was scrutinized. Getsy described Moore’s lack of targets as a disappointment.

Read more here.

Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper has been added to the injury report after Cooper left practice Saturday with a groin injury.

The Browns are listing Cooper as questionable for Monday night's game in Pittsburgh. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Saturday afternoon that it was too early for the Browns to make a determination on Cooper's game status.

"We'll see how it goes over the next 48 hours," Stefanski said.

Stefanski said Cooper "aggravated" an injury, but Cooper previously wasn't on the injury report. Cooper had core muscle surgery after last season and was limited early in training camp with an undisclosed issue, but he'd been pretty much a full participant since mid-August. Cooper, 29, is one of several older Browns players who generally get a rest day early in each practice week.

Cooper is the Browns' clear No. 1 wide receiver and a big part of a pass game that's still trying to find a high gear. Deshaun Watson targeted Cooper seven times last week, and Cooper had an important third-down reception late in the first half to extend what became a touchdown drive.

If Cooper misses the game, rookie Cedric Tillman and veteran Marquise Goodwin would likely see more snaps. When the Browns are healthy, their base offense is a three-wide set with Cooper, Elijah Moore and Donovan Peoples-Jones. Goodwin only played 10 snaps last week because the Browns were in blowout mode, but Goodwin's deep speed can impact games. Watson twice missed an open Goodwin on deep throws in wet conditions against the Bengals.

The Browns are otherwise pretty healthy. Safety Juan Thornhill is also listed as questionable due to a calf injury that kept Thornhill from making his Browns debut last week. Thornhill sat out this week's first practice but was a limited participant Friday and Saturday.

Russell Wilson stood in the middle of a clean, horseshoe-shaped pocket and quickly spotted his top target.

It was a little past the midway point of the fourth quarter Sunday and the Denver Broncos, trailing the Las Vegas Raiders by one point in the Week 1 opener, faced a second-and-11 at their own 24-yard line. Courtland Sutton ran a comeback route that turned him toward the quarterback right at the first-down marker. He settled comfortably between defenders in the Las Vegas zone, free of contact. The Broncos easily picked up the blitzing Raiders linebacker, leaving Wilson with a clear view and a clear passing lane. It should have been an easy pitch-and-catch that extended a potential game-winning drive.

But Wilson appeared to rush his footwork and the throw to follow. The ball spiraled toward Sutton’s feet, and the veteran was unable to scoop the pass before it thumped into the rain-drenched grass. Two plays later, the Broncos punted, never to see the ball again, as the Raiders melted away the clock. The 17-16 defeat dropped Denver to 4-10 in one-score games since the start of the 2022 season, and the unforced error on the final drive against the Raiders was another example of what the Broncos have been missing in those scenarios.

“I always call them GAP plays, game-altering plays,” Wilson said. “There’s some plays in there, every once in a while, whether it’s a penalty — that does go against us, doesn’t go against us, whatever it may be — or a catch or a maybe a block or a throw, it’s finding those throughout the game. There are usually two to three in a game — offensively, defensively and on special teams — that change the game. Let’s find those, and let’s go win those moments.”

Read more here.

Gus Edwards and Justice Hill have been here before. When J.K. Dobbins went down with a season-ending knee injury late in the 2021 preseason, Edwards and Hill were primed to get elevated roles in the Baltimore Ravens’ backfield. Yet, in practice the following week, Hill tore his Achilles and his season was over. A week later, Edwards went down with his own significant knee injury.

Both backs know how fleeting opportunities can be, and as much as they feel for Dobbins, who tore his Achilles in the second half of the Ravens’ Week 1 victory over the Houston Texans, they also understand it’s on them to pick up the slack in his absence.

“That’s what we get paid to do,” Edwards said this week. “(It’s) the ‘next guy up’ mentality. Everybody has a family to feed, so we have to step up and do that.”

Dobbins’ injury is a significant blow to a Baltimore team that expects to have one of the league’s top rushing attacks. More than anything, the Ravens feel for Dobbins, who had worked so hard to return from the 2021 knee injury and was entering a contract year looking to prove to his own team and 31 others that he was back to his pre-injury form. They also recognize that they’ll miss Dobbins’ playmaking ability and his energy and swagger.

Read more here.

Kansas City Chiefs stars Travis Kelce and Chris Jones are expected to make their season debuts against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, coach Andy Reid said Friday. Here’s what you need to know:

• Reid said the All-Pro tight end and defensive tackle have done a good job in practice this week and “as long as nothing happens, they’ll be out there” in Jacksonville.
• Kelce missed Week 1 after dealing with knee inflammation, while Jones sat out the first game as he awaited a new contract, which he signed Monday.
• Without their two stars, Kansas City fell to the Detroit Lions in the first game of the 2023 season.

Read more here.

The Chargers take on the Tennessee Titans in Nashville on Sunday afternoon. The matchup I will be watching most closely is the Chargers run game against the Titans run defense. The Titans finished last season with the best run defense in the league by EPA per play, according to TruMedia. They held the New Orleans Saints to 2.6 yards per rush on 27 carries in their season-opening 16-15 loss.

The Chargers’ ground attack got off to an electric start in Kellen Moore’s debut as offensive coordinator. The Titans will present a much, much stiffer test than the Dolphins, who, under coordinator Vic Fangio, allocated their defensive resources to taking away the deep passing game from Moore and Herbert. Interestingly, the Titans were the best run defense in the league last season despite playing with the highest rate of light boxes of any unit, according to TruMedia. Defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons, who played 95 percent of the defensive snaps in Week 1, allows the Tennessee defense to play that way.

“A lot of big, physical dudes, so it's going to be a challenge for us,” Linsley said.

The Chargers rushed for 74 yards on 24 carries in a Week 15 win over the Titans last season.

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers thinks his rehab plan for his torn Achilles will “shock some people,” he said during a Friday appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. He also didn’t rule out attempting a return this year when asked directly by the show’s hosts if it was a possibility.

“As Kevin Garnett said, anything is possible,” Rodgers said.

Jets coach Robert Saleh confirmed in a Tuesday news conference that Rodgers tore his Achilles, ending his first season with the franchise.

Rodgers left his much-anticipated New York debut on “Monday Night Football” after just four plays. He suffered the Achilles injury when Bills defensive end Leonard Floyd sacked him on the Jets’ opening drive. After getting up, he dropped back to the turf and limped off the field with help from trainers before being sent for X-rays.

He said on the Pat McAfee show that Monday was “an amazing day to start” but “then turned into one of the toughest 24-hour stretches that I’ve ever had in my life.”

Read more here.

The Athletic has more on the growing leadership of Colts rookie QB Anthony Richardson, who bought all of his teammates Air Pods after their first game together.

COSTA MESA, Calif. — Jamaree Salyer fell into the sixth round of the 2022 draft, in part, because teams questioned what he could do as an NFL offensive lineman.

One game into his second season, the real question regarding Salyer is this: What can’t he do?

Salyer started at right guard for the Los Angeles Chargers in Sunday’s season-opening loss to the Miami Dolphins. It was his first NFL start on the right side, and he played an outstanding game. Salyer allowed just one pressure in pass protection — and it came on Justin Herbert’s 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Donald Parham Jr. in the second quarter. He was also steady and polished as a run blocker, helping lead the offense to a 234-yard performance on the ground.

Salyer executed a clean double team with Corey Linsley on Austin Ekeler’s 55-yard run, the Chargers’ longest play of the day.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills don’t care.

They don’t care what you think. They don’t care what I think. They don’t care what Las Vegas thinks.

“Me, personally, I don’t really give a darn — I almost cursed on here — about what people are saying about us outside this building,” Bills safety Jordan Poyer said Thursday with an annoyed smirk.

Bills disrespect dates back further than a few days. Long before they lost to the New York Jets on Monday night, experts had written them off as Super Bowl darlings. The 2023 Bills haven’t been sexy, chic or hot. They were last year’s crush, and their failure to dazzle in the playoffs led analysts to abandon them.

About the only place Buffalo had maintained its clout was at the betting window. The Bills commanded respect from those who were willing to put money where their predictions lie. When last season ended, consensus odds had them tied for third with the San Francisco 49ers as Super Bowl favorites behind only the defending conference champs, the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.

When the NFL season opened last week, after all the free-agent moves and the draft and various trades, the Bills still owned the fourth-best odds.

Appropriately enough, here comes Las Vegas with another test. The Bills play the Raiders six days after a performance dismal enough to make the Miami Dolphins the new favorites to win the AFC East.

“We done been the alpha dog. We done been the underdog,” Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver said Thursday while devouring a bag of Garden Salsa SunChips at his locker. “It’s never easy, one way or the other.

“This is the NFL. You have to work for everything. It’s about playing to the best of your abilities and playing together with a certain attitude, a certain resilience.”

Read more here.

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs look to throw deep more often this season as part of the chess match with opposing defenses. Read more from The Athletic on the Chiefs' offense and upcoming matchup against the Jaguars.