In the NFL, we can become so focused on what's new -- new players, new coaches, new coordinators, new philosophies -- that we overlook what's already in place.

And we can forget that what's in place can change. Players who start slow aren't doomed to be busts. Sam Darnold won a Super Bowl after playing for five different teams in his first eight seasons. Coaches who start slow aren't doomed to get fired and never get another job. Bill Belichick went 36-44 in five years with the Browns and had to work his way back up the ladder before becoming one of the greatest coaches of all time. The NFL can be harsh, but there are, more often than not, opportunities for growth.

We're seeing it on display as two former first-round picks step up when their teams absolutely need it most, a reminder that patience is a virtue. That and more to start our six lessons from Week 2:

1. Dallas Turner and Lukas Van Ness are becoming stars

The dominant talking points surrounding the Vikings' and Packers' pass rushes entering this season were about who wasn't playing. The Vikings traded Jonathan Greenard to the Eagles, and Micah Parsons is still out as he recovers from a torn ACL.

Enter Dallas Turner and Lukas Van Ness, both of whom have been excellent this season and were especially terrific Sunday.

We'll start with Turner, who has 20(!!!) pressures already. That is not just the most in the NFL this season, but the most through two games in the Pro Football Focus database (since 2006). He also has 11 quarterback hits and three sacks, including, fittingly, this one to seal Sunday's win over the Bears. (Note to offensive coordinators: Don't have a tight end block this man.)

His Week 1 tape was a ton of fun, with the size, speed and power all on display.

Is Brian Flores doing a great job scheming advantageous situations for Turner? Yes. Is Flores a defensive mastermind overall? Yes. But someone has to actually make the plays on the field, and Turner is absolutely doing that.

After a quiet rookie year and slow start to his second year, Turner had 6.5 sacks and a 16.2% pressure rate from Week 10 onward last year. It went under the radar because the Vikings had such dire quarterback issues, but the signs were there. He's only 23 years old. What a fun player.

Van Ness, meanwhile, had flashed before, too. He dealt with a foot injury for much of 2025, but had a 16.3% pressure rate on the season overall. There's been another clear step so far in 2026: 2.5 sacks and a 19.6% pressure rate. Sunday was his finest outing yet: 1.5 sacks, nine tackles, four quarterback hits, three tackles for loss. He was everywhere, including a fourth-down stop that may have saved the game for Green Bay.

If Van Ness has finally unlocked all the potential his athleticism holds, that is a crucial boost. And once Parsons returns, the Packers could have a really dangerous duo.

2. The Bengals' defensive front is the most-improved unit in the NFL so far

Want to see why the Bengals sent the 10th pick to the Giants for Dexter Lawrence, paid Boye Mafe a lot of money and signed Jonathan Allen despite a tough year in Minnesota? Turn on the film from Cincinnati's 20-6 Week 2 win over the Texans. Cincinnati sacked C.J. Stroud four times and pressured him 28 times on his 60 dropbacks. That's not just an absurd rate (47%) but their most pressures in any game since 2019 -- before Joe Burrow was even on the team!

The Bengals made these big moves with Burrow in mind. Isn't it nice that the offense doesn't have to put up 30+ points every week -- and put Burrow in harm's way by having him drop back over and over again -- to win? Scoring 20 and winning going away is an encouraging sign.

Oh, did I mention the Bengals allowed just 3.3 yards per carry? In fact, it might have been even more impressive than the pass rush. Watch Lawrence singlehandedly destroy this fourth-and-inches.

Here's a good example of what this new-look defensive line can do against the pass: On this third and 11, the Texans have four blockers to deal with just two: Mafe and Lawrence. But Mafe splits the right tackle and right guard, forcing Stroud off his spot, and Lawrence is right there, having run by the center and left guard. Stroud commits intentional grounding.

Mafe has an 18.8% pressure rate through two games. Cedric Johnson, a 2024 sixth-rounder, has already tied his career high with two sacks. The impact of the top-end talent additions spreads throughout the entire unit. On one play, three offensive linemen (RT, RG, C) focused on Lawrence, the LG took on Allen, and the LT took on Mafe, giving linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. a free shot on Stroud.

Yes, it was the Texans sans Nico Collins. But this defensive front is really disruptive; it was also excellent in Week 1 against a good Buccaneers line. It completely changes how Cincinnati can play, and it's allowing Al Golden -- who felt a lot of heat last year -- to dial up all sorts of pressure looks.

3. Jaylen Waddle will drastically alter the Broncos' offense

Jaylen Waddle's Broncos debut was stunningly underwhelming: one catch for 2 yards on three targets as the Broncos got crushed by the Chiefs.

Week 2 was much, much better: eight catches (on 10 targets) for 138 yards. It's not just the numbers, but the way they occurred. Waddle had two big catches on routes over the middle, where his speed got him behind the linebackers just in time for Bo Nix to deliver. He had a 49-yarder on a deep ball. On a third-and-2, he turned a short out route into a big gain by breaking a tackle, and on a crucial third and 3 late, he roasted Jourdan Lewis on a double move.

Waddle had five catches as the left outside wide receiver, two catches as the left slot and one catch as the right slot. He lined up all over the field, including twice in the backfield (Denver had 21 rushing yards on those two plays). Sean Payton's words afterward showed the Broncos learned their lesson after the opener.

"It was significant," Payton said. "I just gave him a game ball. You can see the explosiveness, the run after the catch, all of those things. I'm glad he's ours."

4. The new overtime rules are awesome -- and require more strategy than you would think

There were two overtime games on Sunday, with the Packers beating the Jets 20-17 and the Chiefs beating the Colts 33-30. Not only were both really fun finishes, but they were examples of why the new overtime rules are so much better than the old ones.

The Jets opted to take the ball first against the Packers, a decision that goes against the norm, but Aaron Glenn had his reasons.

"Usually, if you can get yourself in a situation like that and you can really control the clock, you can control exactly how they're going to play offense once you go and score. So, we control the clock, we go run it down; say we run it seven minutes, which we've done before, we've run a number of times off the clock, it only gives them so much time to try to rebut."

Unfortunately, Geno Smith took sacks on first and second down, the Jets punted, and Trey Smack made a short field goal. Game over.

On "SNF," the Colts opted to defer. The Chiefs scored a field goal. The Colts drove down the field and faced the issue that can make being second in the field-goal sequence difficult: fourth-and-8 in field-goal territory. If they went for it and failed, the game would be over. But if they kicked, they'd give the ball back to Patrick Mahomes and a Chiefs offense that had been playing well. The Colts kicked a field goal (that's a different discussion, and I didn't love it), and the Chiefs got the next-score-wins third possession. Harrison Butker walked it off.

When I did a story on the new overtime rules last year, some players leaned toward wanting the ball first, but there wasn't a real consensus. Varying game conditions are all factors. In Week 2, we got great examples of both. The Jets chose to take the ball first. The Colts might wish they had done the same. Both lost.

5. The Raiders are in good hands under Klint Kubiak

Trying to figure out the Raiders entering this season was difficult. They spent a fortune in free agency. They took Fernando Mendoza first overall, but were seemingly set on starting Kirk Cousins to open the season. They overhauled their staff.

Here we are, and the Raiders are 2-0. They just thumped the Chargers -- a team with much higher external preseason expectations 26-14 -- a week after cruising past the Dolphins.

The record might not be great this year. In fact, it probably won't be. But it's impossible not to be impressed with Klint Kubiak and his staff. Cousins can still move the ball, as evidenced by 10(!) completions of 10+ yards against Los Angeles. It's not always going to be pretty, considering his mobility and some of his arm strength have declined (Achilles tears in your mid-30s are no joke). Kubiak can still dial them up, too; look at the entire far side of the Chargers' secondary bamboozled on this touchdown to Cody White.

I'm very much of the belief that good coaches get the most out of players of all talent levels. Sunday ...

  • White, who has been in and out of the league since 2021, caught two touchdown passes. He had one career touchdown entering the day.
  • Tre Tucker had 119 yards and a score.
  • Fifth-round rookie Hezekiah Masses had two interceptions.

Getting those guys to play at a high level is a sign that the coaching and the culture-building are going well. Remember, this is a team that still hasn't had Brock Bowers on the field yet. Without him, Kubiak has been really creative with Ashton Jeanty; he's taken snaps lined up as a running back (duh), wide receiver and tight end. Kubiak knows how to build an offense around his best players -- he did it with Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Seattle last year -- and I'm excited to see what he'll have in store for Bowers.

Eventually, Mendoza will take over, and he'll experience ups and downs. The lack of talent/experience in some key areas might be exposed. The losses will come. But the foundation is being laid, and for a team that's been misguided and mismanaged for several years, that has to be encouraging.

6. Davante Adams still has it

Wow.

Oh yeah, and a bonus seventh lesson: Don't take a 16-hour flight that lands hours before you have to play an NFL game.

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