Two games down. Fourteen more to go.
Nine teams are off to strong starts at 2-0: Arizona, Atlanta, Carolina, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Green Bay, New England and the New York Jets.
“I’m happy to be on a team that really has an opportunity to do something special,” says Cardinals wide receiver LARRY FITZGERALD, who had 112 receiving yards and three touchdown catches in the team’s 48-23 win at Chicago. “I’ve never been on a team that’s this deep. We’ve got guys that can really play.”
Among the 2-0 teams are the Falcons and Jets, who both missed the playoffs last season and are candidates to be turnaround teams in 2015. Since the 12-team playoff format began in 1990, at least four teams have qualified for the playoffs in every season that were not in the postseason the year before.
Atlanta, under new head coach DAN QUINN, has started the season with consecutive come-from-behind fourth-quarter wins for the second time in franchise history (1979).
“It feels great to be 2-0,” says Falcons wide receiver JULIO JONES, who had 13 catches for 135 yards in the Falcons’ 24-20 win at the New York Giants last week. “It’s a new year and a new start.”
The Jets and new head coach TODD BOWLES have recorded five takeaways in each of their first two games, the first team to accomplish that feat since Pittsburgh in 1992.
“There’s no better place to be than 2-0,” says Jets cornerback DARRELLE REVIS, who had three takeaways in the team’s 20-7 Week 2 win at Indianapolis on Monday Night Football. “We feel confident and this is where we want to be.”
The chances of making the playoffs after a 2-0 start are good but far from a sure thing. Since 1990, when the current playoff format was adopted, 128 of the 203 teams (63.1 percent) to start 2-0 have qualified for the postseason.
“You look at the schedule and you want to start fast,” says Bengals quarterback ANDY DALTON, who threw three touchdown passes in the club’s 24-19 win over San Diego in Week 2. “Our goal was to be 2-0 and that’s where we are. Next week, our goal is to be 3-0.”
However, with 14 games remaining, there’s plenty of time to turn things around. Since realignment in 2002, more than 60 percent of the playoff teams (60.3 percent, 94 of 156) started the season at either 1-1 or 0-2. That includes six of the eight division champions from last year: Dallas (NFC East), Green Bay (NFC North), Indianapolis (AFC South), New England (AFC East), Pittsburgh (AFC North) and Seattle (NFC West).
“It’s a long season,” says San Diego head coach MIKE MC COY, whose team fell to 1-1 with a loss at Cincinnati last week. “We’re 1-1 and we’ll bounce back. We’ve got great character on our football team. We’ll fight to the bitter end.”
Week 3 gets underway on Thursday night (8:25 PM ET, CBS/NFLN) when the Washington Redskins visit the New York Giants. It concludes on Monday night (8:30 PM ET, ESPN) when the Green Bay Packers host the Kansas City Chiefs.
Here’s a look at some of the key showdowns in Week 3:
OAKLAND RAIDERS (1-1) at CLEVELAND BROWNS (1-1) (Sunday, CBS, 1:00 PM ET)
The Raiders notched their first win of the season last week with a come-from-behind 37-33 victory over Baltimore. Quarterback DEREK CARR threw for 351 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning score to wide receiver SETH ROBERTS with 26 seconds remaining in the game. Rookie wide receiver AMARI COOPER registered his first career 100-yard game by hauling in seven balls for 109 yards and a touchdown (68 yards).
“Derek showed poise and he stood there in the pocket and made some great throws,” says Raiders veteran safety CHARLES WOODSON about Carr. “This guy, he’s special. You saw that with that last drive.”
Cleveland’s TRAVIS BENJAMIN sparked the Browns to the club’s first victory of the season, a 28-14 triumph over Tennessee. Benjamin had touchdown catches of 60 and 50 yards and added a 78-yard punt-return score in the victory.
“As an offensive unit, we know that it takes 11 guys to run a play,” says Benjamin when asked about his success. “We know the goals we set for ourselves as an offense. I’m always confident and just go out there and play at my highest ability possible. Good things are going to happen.”
Benjamin, who also had a 54-yard touchdown catch in Week 1, is the first player to score four 50+ yard touchdowns in the first two games of a season since Pro Football Hall of Famer JIM BROWN in 1963.
ATLANTA FALCONS (2-0) at DALLAS COWBOYS (2-0) (Sunday, FOX, 1:00 PM ET)
Both the Falcons and Cowboys enter Week 3 with 2-0 records. Atlanta has produced fourth-quarter comeback victories in both games, erasing a 10-point deficit last week by scoring 14 points in the final quarter against the New York Giants. Falcons wide receiver JULIO JONES ties for the NFL lead with 22 receptions and is second with 276 receiving yards.
“Each week, we’re going to battle as hard as we can,” says Atlanta first-year head coach DAN QUINN. “We won’t look too far ahead. We’re trying to stay in the present and continue to battle for wins every week. Our goal is to see how good we can get every week and keep improving.”
The Cowboys find themselves alone in first place in the NFC East but will have to adjust with the injury to quarterback TONY ROMO. Last week, Dallas limited Philadelphia to 226 total net yards and just seven net yards rushing in a 20-10 victory. The Cowboys boast the league’s top-ranked run defense (53 yards per game) and are third in overall defense (257.5 yards per game).
“Any time you play a division team, it’s great to get a win,” says Dallas linebacker SEAN LEE, who had 14 tackles and an interception in the end zone against the Eagles. “The coaches came up with an unbelievable game plan and the defensive line did a great job in the run game.”
DENVER BRONCOS (2-0) at DETROIT LIONS (0-2) (Sunday, NBC, 8:30 PM ET)
The Broncos improved to 2-0 last week by scoring 14 points in a nine-second span in the final minute of the fourth quarter to pull out a stunning 31-24 win at Kansas City. Denver quarterback PEYTON MANNING connected with wide receiver EMMANUEL SANDERS on a 19-yard touchdown pass – the pair’s second TD connection of the game – with 36 seconds left to tie the game at 24. On the ensuing drive, Broncos cornerback BRADLEY ROBY returned a fumble 21 yards for the game-winning score with 27 seconds remaining in the game.
“I’m not quite sure I’ve ever been in one quite like that,” says Manning, who became the second quarterback in NFL history to reach 70,000 passing yards (70,122). “I’ve been involved in a couple of pretty crazy games but nothing quite like this.”
The Lions, who won 11 games and advanced to the postseason last year, are seeking their first victory of 2015. Detroit wide receiver CALVIN JOHNSON had 10 catches and a touchdown last week. Since the start of the 2011 season, Johnson leads the NFL with 6,336 receiving yards and is averaging more than 100 yards per game (103.9). Over that same span, Lions quarterback MATTHEW STAFFORD has passed for 19,444 yards, the second most in the league.
“We’ve got to be more consistent,” says Detroit head coach JIM CALDWELL. “We’re going to make sure that we get ourselves headed in the right direction.”
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (1-1) at GREEN BAY PACKERS (2-0) (Monday, ESPN, 8:30 PM ET)
The Chiefs let a late fourth-quarter lead slip away in Week 2 and dropped their first game of the season. They’ll look to rebound on Monday night when they travel to Green Bay in a rematch of Super Bowl I.
“We love the challenge of playing good football teams,” says Kansas City head coach ANDY REID. “You work like crazy to be a good team yourself and you cherish those opportunities to be challenged. That’s what kind of game this will be.”
One challenge will be shutting down Green Bay’s vaunted offense led by its quarterback and reigning NFL Most Valuable Player AARON RODGERS. Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and posted a 116.9 passer rating in last Sunday night’s 27-17 win over Seattle. Over his past 18 games at home (including the postseason), he has now thrown 43 touchdowns and no interceptions while posting a 124 passer rating.
“It was a good win for us,” says Rodgers about beating the Seahawks. “But it’s only Week 2. All it means is that we’re 2-0.”
