Week 2 of the NFL season started off with another statement from the Green Bay Packers that they are Super Bowl contenders and finished with a couple of scratchy Monday Night games, but plenty happened in between.
From controversial calls, an overtime thriller, a reunion that didn't quote go according to plan for Ben Johnson and a Super Bowl rematch won by the Eagles, there is plenty of fallout from the second week of the season.
The Lions, Falcons and Kyle Shanahan topped the list of winners from Week 2, now it's time to dive into the losers.
Geno Smith truthers have to endure a nightmare prime time disaster
Chargers news: LA's defense gets 'suffocating' evaluation from NFL Insider
Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie
I consider myself a Geno Smith truther, a debate that has become a heated one in recent years. Smith is accurate, not afraid to be aggressive and make big-time throws into tight windows, and has become one of the best pocket managers and sack avoiders in the sport while playing behind some really terrible offensive lines.
On Monday night, Smith got a prime time game to show off what he could do to the world on his new team, and he responded with one of his worst games ever. Smith finished 24-for-43 with 180 yards and three interceptions against a very good Chargers defense, essentially throwing the Raiders out of the game every time they got a chance to get back in it.
When Smith wasn't throwing it to the guys in the wrong jersey, he spent a lot of the night missing guys high and low when he did get a chance to push it downfield. Jesse Minter and the Los Angeles defense forces you to be patient with their two-high, quarters-heavy scheme, and Smith couldn't help himself but to push it a little too much at times.
Next Sunday, Smith gets an early kickoff against the Washington Commanders. He will probably light it up and not many people will watch, leaving the Geno stans with nothing but All-22 clips once again.
Kaleb Johnson gets himself in Mike Tomlin's doghouse
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Kaleb Johnson (20) runs the ball during the 1st quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium.
Allison Lawhon-USA TODAY Sports
Kaleb Johnson was one of the top running backs in the NFL draft, so when the Steelers took him on Day 2, he figured to be a big part of the offense. The Steelers lost Najee Harris in free agency, leaving just Johnson and Jaylen Warren in the backfield.
As it turns out, Johnson has not been a big part of the offense, or even a part at all. Warren has gotten a lion's share of the snaps while Kenneth Gainwell is the established No. 2, and Johnson has been relegated to special teams.
Now, he may just be relegated to the bench. With the Steelers trailing 17-14 against the Seattle Seahawks, Johnson thought twice about fielding a kickoff off the bounce, instead allowing it to roll into the end zone. Unfortunately for the Iowa product, this is not college football and a ball bouncing in the end zone is still live, and the Seahawks recovered for a game-swinging touchdown.
The Seahawks just recovered a kickoff in the end zone for a touchdown!
SEAvsPIT on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/0J1gEbqx4r
— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025
Such a mistake, one that Mike Tomlin insisted is drilled “every day of our lives,” just cannot happen. Pittsburgh never recovered in what ended up as a 31-17 loss, and now Johnson may not be on the field at all because of it.
Brian Thomas Jr. and hospital ball discourse
Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (7) catches a pass during an NFL training camp session at the Miller Electric Center, Friday Aug. 15, 2025 in Jacksonville, Fla. with Kyren Lacy in the background
Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Brian Thomas Jr. had a spectacular rookie season, emerging as one of the most explosive young receivers in football. However, he caught just one ball on seven targets in Week 1 and hit a new low in Week 2.
Thomas had one of the worst games by a top receiver in recent memory in the Jaguars' 31-27 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, catching four passes for 49 yards on 12 targets. However, the tape is much worse than the box score is.
Thomas almost seems to have the yips coming over the middle. At one point, he completely stopped on an in-breaker and Trevor Lawrence whipped it right where he would have been for an interception.
Later in the game, Lawrence left a ball slightly high in the middle of the end zone, and instead of putting two hands up and trying to make a touchdown catch he ducked and put up one hand in a half-hearted attempt at the ball. The former LSU star then dropped a layup on fourth down that would have essentially ended the game and given the Jags a win had he caught it.
One consequence from this performance has been the discourse around “hospital balls,” a term that just needs to be retired forever. It does fit some throws, but none of the ones that Lawrence made on Sunday. Believe it or not, sometimes in the NFL you have to raise up and make a catch, and maybe you'll take a hit sometimes as a result.
The Bengals always lose in September, even when they win
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) is assisted to the locker room with an injury in the second quarter of the NFL Week 2 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Jacksonville Jaguars at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati
Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Over the past few seasons, the narrative around the Bengals has been that they just dig themselves into deep holes in September with slow starts.
This year was supposed to be different. The Bengals played poorly in Week 1, but they still squeaked out a 17-16 win over the Cleveland Browns. In Week 2, they came back to beat the Jaguars 31-27 in a thriller at home.
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Unfortunately, the first September success in years for Cincinnati was very costly. Joe Burrow suffered a serious turf toe injury, one that will require surgery, in the second quarter against the Jags and will miss at least the next three months.
Backup quarterback Jake Browning has shown that he can win games in relief of Burrow and has done it in the past. However, it feels unlikely that the Bengals will be able to survive almost the entire regular season without the face of their franchise.
New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields (7) got sacked in back-to-back plays in the fourth quarter before exiting the game, Sunday, September 14, 2025, in East Rutherford.
© Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Jets are the latest team to think that they can fix Justin Fields, and for one week the vision was clear. Despite a Week 1 loss to the Steelers, Fields operated well in the pocket, hit a few explosive plays down the field and used his legs to keep the chains moving.
All of that put an added layer of intrigue around the AFC East clash between the Jets and the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, as everyone tuned in to see if Fields could challenge Josh Allen and the kings of the division in recent years.
The answer was a resounding no.
The Jets got absolutely nothing — and I mean literally nothing — going in the passing game all day against the Bills while Fields was out there. He played into the fourth quarter before leaving the game with a concussion and finished just 3-for-11 with 27 yards. That is not a typo; Justin Fields completed three passes in a game the Jets trailed for the entirety of the day.
The Ohio State product finished with a QBR of 1.1 — out of 100, not 10. It was one of the worst games of his career coming off of one of the best, and now he is dealing with that head injury heading into Week 3. Fields will likely settle somewhere in the middle of his last two performances over the course of the season, but any talk of a breakout is completely extinguished after Sunday.
NFL refs decide 2 games while Tush Push discourse hits all-time high
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) calls a play at the line of scrimmage against the Kansas City Chiefs during the fourth quarter of the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
NFL refs always become a talking point at some point in the season, and Week 2 was that point in 2025. A number of big calls impacted the outcome and even changed the outcomes of games, and it became a big story on Sunday which is never a good thing.
First, Jake Browning led the shorthanded Bengals on a game-winning touchdown drive that was assisted by a fourth-down pass interference call that, to be frank, was absolutely not pass interference. Travis Hunter got a clutch pass breakup to win the game for the Jags, was flagged for it, and then the Bengals went down and won the game.
Travis Hunter played this about as well as a defender can in today’s NFL.
Still got called for pass interference. 🤦🏻♂️
pic.twitter.com/2J3QWCxHcm
— Andrew Gibson (@1010XLAG) September 15, 2025
Then, in the afternoon window, Shane Steichen was inexplicably content to settle for a 60-yard field goal to win the game against the Denver Broncos. Spencer Shrader put up a prayer that never had a chance, missing way out to the side and well short, but the Broncos were flagged for a leverage penalty that gave him a do-over from 45 yards out. Shrader drilled it and the Colts moved to 2-0 with a 29-28 win.
Now, this was a penalty by the book. Denver held the center down in an attempt to get Dondrea Tillman (No. 92) over the top to block the kick. They didn't even need the block! However, leverage rarely gets called and usually is let go, and it ended up deciding a game that could be crucial in the AFC playoff race down the road.
Pretty blatant when you see the endzone view of the final penalty call. pic.twitter.com/fUSBm15uky
— Frankie Abbott (@FrankiesFilm) September 16, 2025
Shortly after the Broncos lost on the leverage call, the Eagles Tush Pushed their way to another win over the Chiefs. However, multiple clips (of different plays throughout the game) surfaced of a ridiculous number of penalties being committed by everyone involved on the Tush Push throughout the game. Philadelphia is false starting, players on both lines are lined up offsides, and nobody is happy about it.
Just call the penalties when they happen and don't call them when they don't happen, got it?