Will Levis’ poor decisions and other NFL Week 2 disappointments

Week 2 was flat out tumultuous for certain players and teams. We’ll take a look at the individuals and units who failed to perform, as well as certain developments that were disappointing to see. All statistics are sourced from Football Reference.

The hot topic of the weekend has centered around the latest brain injury suffered by Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Not much went right for the Dolphins last Thursday night, and things went from bad to worse when Tagovailoa scrambled headfirst into Buffalo Bills safety Demar Hamlin. The relatively mild hit left Tagovailoa in a precarious fencing position, which fans have seen from him before.

The Tagovailoa-concussion narrative has once again become headline news, just as it was back in 2022. Despite the mounting calls for Tagovailoa to walk away from the NFL, the NFL Network reported that he has no plans to retire at this time. The nature in which he was hurt, and the severity of the involuntary reaction, has many concerned about his well-being.

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It seemed like things couldn’t get much worse for Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers in Week 2. Somehow, things continued to go spiral in the same depressing direction, as Carolina was blown out by the Los Angeles Chargers 26-3. Quarterback Bryce Young has shown few, if any, signs of life as an answer under center for the franchise.

Veteran wide receiver Adam Theilen came to his teammate’s defense, telling Sports Illustrated, “I love Bryce to death, man. He works his tail off. He’s a great player. This is not a Bryce Young issue. This is an offensive team issue. We are all in this together… it’s not about an individual.” Theilen deserves credit for sticking up for Young, but fans won’t be keen to endure too many more lackluster performances. NFL Network reports that Young will not start in Week 3.

The Dallas Cowboys seemed to be in a strong position heading into their Week 2 home opener against the New Orleans Saints. Things turned quickly, as they were run off the field by the road team, falling 44-19. The defeat wasn’t so stunning as much as the manner in which they were so soundly beaten.

The New York Times wrote that Dallas’ defense “has no excuse for the unacceptable no-show performance” in Week 2. New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara had a field day, rushing for 115 yards and three touchdowns. Things won't get much easier in Week 3, as the Cowboys face a talented and desperate Baltimore Ravens squad.

In what was a rematch of their NFC playoff matchup from a year ago, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers edged out the Detroit Lions, 20-16. Somewhat surprisingly, Lions quarterback Jared Goff threw 55 passes in a game that was pretty close throughout. The Ringer’s Bill Simmons thought this was a confusing gameplan for Detroit.

The Lions are viewed as having one of, if not the best offensive line in the NFL. David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs ran the ball a combined 24 times, which Gibbs ripping off 6.5 yards per carry. Audacy called Goff’s performance one of the worst games he’s had as a Lion, which is another reason why they could have fed Gibbs the football a bit more than they did.

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Trevor Lawrence’s passing line was so bad for much of Week 2 that it was hard to believe. ESPN noted that at one point in the third quarter, he was 5-14 with 16 yards passing. His numbers would improve to respectability, but the Jaguars had little thump against a similarly inept Cleveland Browns team.

Lawrence told ESPN, “We’re standing around, we’ve got to take charge. We’re standing around waiting on somebody to make a play. Defense is playing their rear end off the last two weeks. If a team doesn’t score more than 20 points (against us), we should win every week.” Lawrence was the top pick in the 2021 draft and will need to serve as the solution rather than the problem.

It seemed pretty clear to everyone that the Green Bay Packers would dramatically alter their offensive attack without Jordan Love. Head coach Matt LaFleur would put mobile quarterback Malik Willis in the best position to succeed by installing a run-first offense. With that said, the Indianapolis Colts seemed powerless to recognize or stop the obvious.

Gus Bradley is the Colts’ defensive coordinator, and would have to take a large part of the blame for the Packers’ continued ability to run the ball down Indianapolis’ throats in Week 2. The Indianapolis Star appears resigned to the fact that the Colts have the worst rushing defense in the NFL, whether that’s due to a lack of talent up front or the coaching staff not coming up with the right schemes.

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis’ unfathomable interception in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears became a meme, and put the team in a terrible position. It seemed all but assured that he would clean up his act and play a much more disciplined game in Week 2 against the New York Jets, but that didn’t happen.

With Tennessee in the red zone looking to add to their 7-0 lead, Levis tossed the ball backwards to his running back as he was falling down. The live ball was scooped up by the Jets, robbing Tennessee of a chance to come away with points. Titans head coach Andrew Callahan said of Levis and his careless turnovers in the postgame press conference, “It was dumb, he’s a grown-up. And he knows better.”

If there was one game that was over before it ever started in Week 2, it was the Los Angeles Rams’ tilt against the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona was up 14-0 after the first quarter, and 21-3 at the half. Los Angeles had no answers for Cardinals rookie wideout Marvin Harrison, who ran through the Rams’ secondary.

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Injury was added to insult for the Rams, as wide receiver Cooper Kupp suffered an ankle injury in the contest. With fellow receiving dynamo Puka Nacua on IR, it was the last thing that Los Angeles could afford in Week 2. Things could be slipping away for Los Angeles, who will have to deal with the San Francisco 49ers in Week 3.