You know it’s a momentous week in the NFL when the Nos. 1 and 2 overall draft picks from the 2024 NFL Draft were carted off the field with injuries. Chicago‘s Caleb Williams and Washington’s Jayden Daniels both left their respective games after suffering injuries after failed red-zone plays with their teams trailing.
We’ll have to wait to find out the severity of those injuries. But there were several other game-changing plays in Week 2 on Sunday, including ones from the Who Dat Heart Attacks, a tough moment for the league’s oldest player and some weather-delayed heartbreak in Tampa.
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1. Caleb Williams’ hamstring injury
The Bears scored 59 points in Week 1 and looked to have one of the NFL’s best offenses. Everything changed in Week 2. The Vikings made life hard on Williams all game, and in the fourth quarter he suffered a hamstring injury on 1st and goal while attempting to scramble.
Tyson Bagent replaced Williams and couldn’t get the Bears into the end zone the next two plays. Then the Vikings blocked the Bears’ short field-goal try and drove down the field to take a 9-3 lead. Bagent had one more chance to be a hero in the final minute-plus but was sacked on the game’s final play for a shocking Vikings victory.
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This play couldn’t have gone much worse for the Commanders. Trailing 17-10 in the closing seconds of the first half, Washington opted to go for it on third-and-goal from the Dallas 1-yard line instead of taking the field goal. Dropping back from center, QB Jayden Daniels was stepped on accidentally by center Nick Allegretti, and as Daniels fell back to the turf, he appeared to injure his left elbow.
Daniels was carted off after the teams had left the field for halftime, and the Commanders ruled him out before the start of the second half. The significance is that this is the same elbow Daniels injured last season — and later re-injured, which he described as “freak accidents.” It appeared that Daniels suffered another one.
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The New Orleans Saints couldn’t finish off their Week 1 upset attempt, but they were successful doing so in Week 2. The Saints scored the final 15 points of the fourth quarter to turn a 17-9 deficit into a 24-17 victory at Baltimore. The key play was QB Tyler Shough’s 1-yard sneak on fourth-and-goal with less than 90 seconds remaining, capping a 16-play drive. Ravens players argued Shough never got in, and the replay angles appeared inconclusive, so the score stood:
Shough led a wild comeback in Week 1, erasing a 21-0 deficit to the Lions on the road, but they fell in overtime when his throw to rookie Bryce Lance fell incomplete on a 2-point conversion attempt.
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In Week 2, Shough led two 68-yard TD drives that ate up nearly 12 minutes of the fourth quarter, and the Saints intercepted Lamar Jackson in the waning moments to secure a statement victory on the road.
The Patriots didn’t do a lot offensively, but they were in control of the game against the Steelers when Aaron Rodgers was strip-sacked by DT Christian Barmore. Elijah Ponder then scooped the loose ball and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown that put the game out of reach at 20-3.
Earlier in the game, the Patriots walloped Rodgers on another strip sack, which the Steelers recovered, resulting in a fourth-and-43 punt. Rodgers went 23-of-39 passing for 187 yards and an interception, taking four sacks. He was replaced by Mason Rudolph to close out the Patriots’ 20-3 victory that raised questions about Rodgers and the Steelers’ offense.
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5. Browns’ rain-delayed fourth-down stop
After a two-hour weather delay in Tampa, the Browns and Buccaneers got back to playing football. Prior to lightning and heavy rain blanketing the field, the Browns had taken a 23-19 lead and the Bucs were driving at the two-minute warning. Former Browns QB Baker Mayfield had Tampa Bay in business in the red zone, but he faced a fourth-and-11 do-or-die play to sting his ex-team. That’s when this happened:
Mayfield just missed the throw, even if the Browns deserve credit for covering most of the play well. The Buccaneers had a timeout and needed only 11 yards for the first down, but Mayfield went for the kill shot — and it appeared he had Emeka Egbkua open.
The Bucs are 0-2, while the Browns improved to 1-1.
