THE NFL is almost fully into the swing of things as week two has shown us which teams we should be taking seriously and which teams are already staring at a lost season.
Only eight teams continued their unbeaten streak, while another eight are still waiting for their first win of the season.
Monday night’s action extended two of those streaks as the Philadelphia Eagles won again to keep the Chicago Bears winless.
Rookie quarterback Carson Wentz looked very good – again – showing plenty of poise to throw for 190 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions in a comfortable 29-14 win.
Week two’s action started last Thursday when the Buffalo Bills welcomed their AFC East rivals the New York Jets.
Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor was much improved from week one, but Jets running back Matt Forte’s 100 yards rushing and three touchdowns ensured Buffalo remained without a win.
NFL football returned to Los Angeles on Sunday night as the Rams played their first game in LA in 22 years.
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They upset division rivals the Seattle Seahawks in a tightly contested 9-3 game that didn’t see a touchdown.
The New England Patriots won again but suffered a bit of injury trauma when Jimmy Garappolo – who had looked imperious – went down with a shoulder injury.
Despite going down to their third-string quarterback, Jacoby Brissett with Tom Brady still suspended, the Pats held off a late Miami Dolphins rally.
Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers dominated the San Francisco 49ers to pick up their first win of the season.
Newton threw four touchdowns, with the Panthers offence picking up 480 total yards.
The Cleveland Browns suffered another poor defeat despite leading by 20 points in the first quarter.
Mike Wallace caught two touchdown passes as the Browns collapsed.
In what was expected to be a high scoring game after their week one performances, the New York Giants narrowly beat the New Orleans Saints is a tight battle.
Kicker Josh Brown kicked a last second field goal as the Giants started with two wins for the fist time in seven years.
On a horribly wet day in Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger shook off two interceptions to throw three touchdown passes in a win over their rival Cincinnati Bengals.
The Steelers defence held star receiver AJ Green to just two catches.
Rookie Dak Prescott had the first win of his career as the Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins.
The young quarterback didn’t throw a touchdown but ran one in and was impressive as he missed with just eight of his 30 throws.
Marcus Mariota mounted a fourth quarter comeback as the Tennessee Titans beat the Lions in Detroit.
The Hawaiian connected on two scores, with veteran Andre Johnson putting the Titans in the lead with just over a minute left.
The Houston Texans defence proved it is among the best in the league with a dominant performance against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The defence had four sacks and forced two fumbles as they held the Chiefs to no touchdowns.
The Arizona Cardinals bounced back from an opening day defeat to the Patriots with a brilliant win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Jameis Winston looked nothing like the emerging star he did last week, throwing four interceptions.
Defending Super Bowl champions the Denver Broncos again dominated defensively, forcing five sacks, a pick-six and a fumble that was returned for a touchdown on Andrew Luck.
CJ Anderson also ran in a score for the Broncos.
Matt Ryan returned to top form as the Atlanta Falcons beat the Oakland Raiders to dampen their week one hype.
The Raiders had a chance late on to tie but couldn’t convert a key fourth-and-two.
Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers overcame another injury to a key playmaker to beat the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars.
Danny Woodhead was injured early – adding to the loss of Keenan Allen last week – but Rivers was brilliant in throwing four touchdowns.
In Sunday’s final game the Minnesota Vikings scored a signature win over the Green Bay Packers, but also suffered another devastating injury.
The Vikings lost quarterback Teddy Bridgwater in pre-season and may now have to contend without former league MVP Adrian Peterson after he injured his troublesome knee.
Thursday
Buffalo Bills 31 New York Jets 37
Sunday
Carolina Panthers 46 San Francisco 49ers 27
Cleveland Browns 20 Baltimore Ravens 25
Detroit Lions 15 Tennessee Titans 16
Houston Texans 19 Kansas City Chiefs 12
New England Patriots 31 Miami Dolphins 24
New York Giants 16 New Orleans Saints 13
Pittsburgh Steelers 24 Cincinnati Bengals 16
Washington Redskins 23 Dallas Cowboys 27
Arizona Cardinals 40 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7
Los Angeles Rams 9 Seattle Seahawks 3
Denver Broncos 34 Indianapolis Colts 20
Oakland Raiders 28 Atlanta Falcons 35
San Diego Chargers 38 Jacksonville Jaguars 14
Minnesota Vikings 17 Green Bay Packers 14
Monday
Chicago Bears 14 Philadelphia Eagles 29
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