The NFL never fails to surprise, despite so many entering a new season thinking they know what's going to happen.
Just take a look at Week 1. No one had the Arizona Cardinals upsetting the Los Angeles Chargers 26-14 on the road, and almost no one had the preseason Super Bowl favorite Los Angeles Rams getting smoked in Australia by the San Francisco 49ers, 27-7.
To kick off Week 2, the Buffalo Bills thumped the Detroit Lions 41-31 in a game in which they led 21-0. Not a bad way to open their new home at Highmark Stadium. The football world knew the Detroit Lions defense could be rough to start 2026 with injuries to both safety Brian Branch and safety Kerby Joseph, but no one really knew how rough it could be. The 2026 Lions are the second squad in team history to allow 70-plus points and 900-plus total yards in their first two games, along with their 2008 team that went 0-16. A truly unimaginable start to a new year.
So what other crazy happenings could go down in Week 2? Let's take a look with five bold predictions.
The New York Giants upset the Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams are a perfect 4-0 against the New York Giants and average 33.0 points per game against them under head coach Sean McVay. That record will drop to 4-1 after John Harbaugh's Giants go into SoFi Stadium and leave with a "Monday Night Football" road win.
How shocking would that be? Another loss for the Rams would make them the fifth preseason Super Bowl favorite to start 0-2 in the last 50 seasons, joining the 1987 Giants, the 1993 Dallas Cowboys, the 2002 St. Louis Rams and the 2015 Seattle Seahawks. New York kept Dallas' potent offense — powered by Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens — in check in a 28-20 Week 1 home win by keeping them off the field. New York converted nine of its 11 third downs, and it won the time-of-possession battle by nearly an entire quarter: 36:40 to 23:20.
Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart also balled out with 284 total yards, three passing touchdowns and a career-high 134.2 passer rating in the victory. Dart will keep the good times rolling by throwing to Pro Bowl receiver Malik Nabers and tight end Isaiah Likely against a Rams defense without 2025 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett (Garrett is having knee surgery). That would give the Giants just their third 2-0 start to a season in the last 15 years, matching their 2016 and 2022 campaigns—their only playoff years in this span.
The Atlanta Falcons limit Bryce Young to under 250 yards passing
Bryce Young's "ownership of the Atlanta Falcons" is real. Since 2024, he is 3-0 in his starts against his NFC South rival, with 820 yards passing, six touchdown passes and no interceptions. He even had Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich comparing him to Aaron Rodgers with how good he's been against Atlanta the last two seasons.
"He's become scary in a lot of different ways…very Aaron Rodgers-like…he's gonna test us in every way from a coverage perspective," Ulbrich said Thursday, via The Nest ATL.
| Bryce Young vs. the Atlanta Falcons, since 2024 | Stats |
|---|---|
W-L | 3-0 |
Completion percentage | 69.9% |
Pass yards | 820 |
TD-INT | 6-0 |
Passer rating | 112.9 |
However, Atlanta will make Young's life uncomfortable. They generated a 42.9% quarterback pressure rate, tied for the eighth-best in the NFL, in Week 1 against Rodgers himself and the Pittsburgh Steelers — despite blitzing at the fourth-lowest rate in the league at 11.9%. Three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Za'Darius Smith sacked Rodgers twice, and six players had multiple quarterback pressures. That diverse pass rush will get the better of the Panthers' makeshift offensive line and slow Young down for the first time in years.
Packers quarterback Jordan Love sacked no more than once at New York Jets
No team's offensive line surrendered more quarterback pressure in Week 1 than the Green Bay Packers. Their offensive line allowed a league-high 25 pressures and a league-high 54.3% quarterback pressure rate. Yet, quarterback Jordan Love had Green Bay in the lead over halfway into the fourth quarter, completing miracle throw after miracle throw as the pocket collapsed against Brian Flores and the Vikings' psychotic blitz. Minnesota blitzed on 78.3% of Love's dropbacks, and he hung in there until his defense and offensive line collapsed late in a 39-22 loss that was a lot closer than the final score. Love only being sacked four times is an actual miracle.
With rain in the forecast on Sunday and the Packers heading to MetLife Stadium to face the 1-0 New York Jets, it certainly would appear as if Love could be in trouble. The Jets recorded three sacks of Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward in Week 1, tying for the ninth-most in the NFL, and generated a quarterback pressure rate of 41%, the 13th-highest in the league. That's despite blitzing at the 12th-lowest rate in the NFL at 23.1%.
However, Love will work some magic and avoid being sacked more than once despite inexperience at both guard spots along Green Bay's offensive line.
The tanking Miami Dolphins cover the spread against the San Francisco 49ers
The Miami Dolphins are paying more for players not on their roster than they are for players on their active roster in 2026. They possess a $183 million dead money cap hit while paying $104 million for players on their roster. That means 60.7% of their salary cap is dead money. Per CBS Sports Research, no team in recorded history has ever been above 45% since Spotrac began tracking this in 2011. Miami is dead last in the league in active cap spending on both offense ($52 million) and defense ($44 million).
That's how the Dolphins have just one single Pro Bowl selection on their roster: running back De'Von Achane in 2025. Meanwhile, their Week 2 opponent, the San Francisco 49ers, has a combined 54 Pro Bowl selections on their active roster. That is the largest gap in Pro Bowl selections (53) entering any game in 29 years, per CBS Sports Research.
However, Miami will hang around with San Francisco and cover the current spread of 13.5 currently available on FanDuel Sportsbook. They'll do this by taking a page out of the Giants' playbook and just run the football with Achane and dual-threat quarterback Malik Willis to keep the 49ers' offense on the sideline.
Colts QB Daniel Jones throws multiple TDs on "Sunday Night Football at Chiefs
No quarterback is worse in primetime than the Indianapolis Colts' Daniel Jones. He is 1-15 in his career as a starter in primetime, which ranks as the worst such record since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger (minimum 10 starts), per CBS Sports Research. He has thrown no touchdowns and three interceptions while his offenses have averaged 3.5 points per game in his last two Sunday night games.
However, all of that futility in the bright lights occurred when he was a New York Giant. This Week 2 "Sunday Night Football" matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs marks his first primetime game as the Colts' starting quarterback. With three-time Pro Bowl running back Jonathan Taylor at his side and facing a young Chiefs' secondary, Jones will be able to find some statistical success on "Sunday Night Football" for the first time by throwing multiple touchdowns.
