🐺 Wolf Sports Weekly

A Week 2 recap, Tua Tagovailoa’s latest concussion, a No. 1 pick is benched, and more are covered in today’s Wolf Sports Weekly.

😅 Bengals-Chiefs highlight close Week 2

Week 2 of the NFL season included 12 one-possession games, highlighted by the Chiefs winning another down-to-the-wire battle with the Bengals on a last-second 51-yard field goal by Harrison Butker. On a fourth-and-16 earlier in the drive, a stop was negated by a controversial pass interference call against Daijahn Anthony, who many felt was playing the ball despite contact to WR Rashee Rice. Unfortunately, the victory was costly for Kansas City, with RB Isiah Pacheco out several weeks due to a fractured fibula.

In the losing effort for Cincy, CB Cam Taylor-Britt had one of the plays of the year with an insane one-handed interception while covering rookie WR Xavier Worthy, the speedy rookie that Taylor-Britt was not impressed by leading up to the game.

The Panthers lost again as Bryce Young was benched ahead of Week 3. Jim Harbaugh improved to 2-0 in his return to the NFL as the Chargers comfortably handled Carolina, 26-3.

• Young struggled again, going 18/26 for 84 yards and an interception.

• Panthers head coach Dave Canales said on Sunday that “Bryce Young is our quarterback” but decided to change course on Monday and bench Young after watching the film.

• Experienced veteran Andy Dalton steps in for Carolina as Young resets.

Bottom line: The former No. 1 overall pick has been in a horrible situation, with Carolina having three different head coaches (one interim) and playcallers since trading a ton to the Bears to trade up for him in 2023. Young has not played well, but the Panthers have not provided much support or “juice” on offense, putting a lot on the undersized quarterback’s shoulders.

On the Chargers side, RB JK Dobbins delivered with a long touchdown run after promising he’d finish the next one in the end zone after getting caught in Week 1. In his postgame press conference, Harbaugh hilariously went on about never being able to do a flip into the end zone like Dobbins did.

The Saints look legit. Following up their blowout home win over a down Panthers team in Week 1, New Orleans went on the road to blow out Dallas, 44-19, behind four total touchdowns from Alvin Kamara. New offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s offense, which is utilizing more motion and play-action, has done wonders for the Saints through two games, and the team has put up 91 points through two weeks—the most of any team since 2009—while the first-team scored points on their first 15 possessions of the season.

The Vikings upset the Niners to improve to 2-0, as Brian Flores’ aggressive defense gave Brock Purdy and the San Francisco offense—which will now be without Deebo Samuel (calf) for a couple of weeks—fits. After the game, Purdy saw Flores and told him his “scheme is crazy,” giving the Minnesota defensive coordinator props. Again, now in a great spot as a starter, Vikings QB Sam Darnold has looked very good and hit Justin Jefferson (who left with a quad contusion but should be fine) for a 97-yard touchdown in the win.

Sadly, the biggest overall story of Week 2 centers around Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa and another concussion in primetime. On Thursday night (a dominant 31-10 Bills win at Miami behind three touchdowns from James Cook, all in the first half), Tua suffered a concussion prompting a scary fencing response.

• This is a story we’ve seen before on TNF, with Tagovailoa suffering a concussion on a Thursday night against the Bengals during the 2022 season.

• Tagovailoa has suffered three diagnosed concussions in the past 24 months, and many believe he suffered another just a few days before the one in the 2022 Bengals game that went undiagnosed.

• Tua is reportedly going to meet with neurologists this week, and he’s fully expected to miss time.

While some are openly calling for Tagovailoa to retire, the Dolphins franchise quarterback has no plans to retire, and head coach Mike McDaniel says it’s not a conversation people should be having: “His career is his… bringing up his future is not in the best interest of him.”

Other Week 2 results:

• Falcons 22, Eagles 21: Up by six with 1:39 remaining, the Falcons drove down the field to get a shocking Monday night win at Philly on a game-winning touchdown from Kirk Cousins to Drake London. With a shot to ice the game with a first down on the previous drive, the Eagles decided to pass on third down instead of running to drain the clock to around a minute, and Saquon Barkley dropped a would-be game-sealing pass. On the ManningCast, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, and Matt Ryan all insisted the Eagles should not throw on that drive.

• Buccaneers 20, Lions 16: Down a few players in the secondary including All-Pro S Antoine Winfield Jr., Todd Bowles’ defense brought the heat and made Jared Goff (two interceptions) uncomfortable all afternoon in the playoff rematch win for Tampa Bay. Lions head coach Dan Campbell was emotional after the game and said his team—which got 4.5 sacks from Aidan Hutchinson—improved from last week and that the loss is “100% on me.”

• Cardinals 41, Rams 10: Talk about a bounce back from a quiet debut for rookie No. 4 pick Marvin Harrison Jr., who quickly caught two touchdowns during a four-reception, 130-yard day in Arizona’s blowout divisional win. Harrison became the first rookie to catch at least four passes and two touchdowns in a quarter since… his dad in 1996. The hits keep coming for the Rams, with WR Cooper Kupp (ankle), G Jonah Jackson (shoulder) and S John Johnson III (scapula) all out “an extended period of time.”

• Jets 24, Titans 17: Aaron Rodgers got his first full-game win as the Jets starter behind RBs Breece Hall (114 total yards, touchdown reception) and Braelon Allen (56 total yards, two touchdowns—youngest player to score a TD since 1930). Meanwhile, Titans head coach Brian Callahan was furious with QB Will Levis after another costly turnover where he flipped the ball backwards for a fumble instead of taking a sack.

• Raiders 26, Ravens 23: Baltimore drops to 0-2 after Vegas came back on the road, stunning the AFC’s top seed from last season on a late field goal by Daniel Carlson. The Ravens moved the ball, outgaining the Raiders 383-260, but were just 3/11 on third down.

• Browns 18, Jaguars 13: In an ugly battle between teams looking to avoid 0-2, the Browns defense stepped up with four sacks and a late safety. QB Trevor Lawrence hasn’t won a game since last November, as he was out for the Jags’ Week 17 win last season.

• Packers 16, Colts 10: Recent acquisition Malik Willis (12/14, 122 yards, one touchdown) looked very good at quarterback filling in for Jordan Love (knee), as Green Bay gets to 1-1 and sends Indy to 0-2. On a third down, Willis didn’t make a throw, and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur asked him why he didn’t throw the ball; Willis had a good reason: C Josh Myers threw up on the ball.

• Seahawks 23, Patriots 20 (OT): The Patriots are running the ball as planned and looking much better than expected, but the Seahawks ultimately came through on the road in overtime to start 2-0 under Mike Macdonald.

• Commanders 21, Giants 18: Giants rookie WR Malik Nabers had an outstanding game (10/127/1) until an unfortunate rare late drop (“I’m hurt that I let those veterans down”), and the Commanders were able to win behind seven field goals by Austin Seibert while the Giants couldn’t use their kicker Graham Gano (hamstring).

• Steelers 13, Broncos 6: Denver is playing hard but the offense again struggled to make plays versus a tough defense, and QB Justin Fields is taking care of the ball for Pittsburgh. The Steelers gave a game ball to former Broncos QB Russell Wilson (still out with a calf injury) after the victory.

• Texans 19, Bears 13: Houston’s defense sacked Caleb Williams seven times in a Sunday night defensive battle. The situations in Chicago and Denver—defenses playing well and hard while the supporting casts on offense are struggling, leading to rookie quarterbacks trying to do too much—feel very similar right now.

Through two games, the rookie starting quarterbacks (Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Bo Nix) have not thrown a touchdown. They clearly need more help around them, but it is also a good example of offenses struggling around the league early.

🔥 Top fantasy performers in Week 2

• Saints RB Alvin Kamara: 43.0 points

• Cardinals QB Kyler Murray: 28.54 points

• Bills RB James Cook: 28.0 points

• Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr.: 27.0 points

• Dolphins RB De’Von Achane: 26.0 points

(point totals are for half PPR scoring)

🩼 Injury updates

In addition to Tua, Deebo, Rams players, and Pacheco as mentioned above, there are a plethora of other injuries to note and track.

• Chiefs WR Hollywood Brown is now expected to be out for the regular season after his shoulder injury did not heal properly and requires surgery.

• Patriots LB Ja’Whaun Bentley is done for the season with a torn pectoral.

• Jets DE Jermaine Johnson is out for the year with a torn Achilles suffered in the win over the Titans, but he has a great mindset to attack the recovery process.

• Colts CB JuJu Brents is out for the season after a knee injury in Week 1. Also for Indy, star DT DeForest Buckner is expected to miss time with an ankle injury, but it’s not thought to be long-term.

• Update: Rams WR Puka Nacua’s knee injury is expected to keep him out for five-to-seven weeks.

• Eagles WR A.J. Brown, who missed last night’s game with a hamstring injury, is set to miss at least another game or two.

• Texans RB Joe Mixon, who appeared to be hip-drop tackled on Sunday night, is getting an MRI on his ankle. It looked like a potentially bad injury, but Mixon was able to return to the game.

• Broncos OT Mike McGlinchey suffered a “significant MCL sprain” and will be out around a month.

• Placed on IR before Week 2 and out at least three more games after last week: Jaguars CB Tyson Campbell (hamstring), Cardinals OT Jonah Williams (knee), Commanders CB Emmanuel Forbes (thumb), Broncos RB Audric Estime (ankle).

• Ravens rookie CB Nate Wiggins was in a car accident last week and was held out of Week 2.

🏈 More NFL news and notes

Rest in Peace: Legendary Lions Hall of Fame linebacker Joe Schmidt passed away at 92.

Browns QB Deshaun Watson had a new sexual assault allegation from 2020 made against him, and multiple reports say that the Browns could potentially void his remaining guarantees in his contract and release him.

Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase has no plans to negotiate a new contract with the Bengals during the season and has taken out a $50 million insurance policy to protect himself in case of injury and potential lost earnings, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Suspensions over: The Rams get back QB Jimmy Garoppolo and OT Alaric Jackson following their two-game suspensions.

The Dolphins are signing Snoop Huntley off the Ravens practice squad, and he could see game action as he gets acclimated in Mike McDaniel’s offense if Tagovailoa does not return soon.

The Vikings signed DT Harrison Phillips to a two-year, $19 million contract extension, locking him up through the 2026 season.

The Raiders added former Jaguars first-round pick DE K’Lavon Chaisson.

Patriots news: Rookie QB Drake Maye is getting about 30% of the practice reps in an uncommon situation as part of his development. And OT Chukwuma Okorafor is not currently with the team, apparently leaving after he was benched during Week 1.

Other Sports Updates

🏈 College football highlights include then-No.1 Georgia barely surviving at Kentucky, 13-12; Texas QB Arch Manning lighting it up (and showing off his un-Manning-like speed on a 67-yard TD run) after entering the game for an injured Quinn Ewers; and South Alabama scoring 87 points—the most by an FBS team since 1991.

😞 Wisconsin QB Tyler Van Dyke suffered a torn ACL in the loss to Alabama.

👀 Staying alive: The Pac-12 Conference intends to keep going, with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State joining the conference in 2026.

🏒 Penguins legend Sidney Crosby signed a contract extension through 2026-2027.

🐕 Al Michaels gave a classic answer about what it’s been like having Kirk Herbstreit’s golden retriever, Ben, around for Thursday Night Football.

🫨 Blue Jays P Bowden Francis has lost two no-hitters in the ninth inning in a four-game span, and he’s having an historic stretch.

😱 Heliot Ramos became the first ever right-handed hitter to hit a home run into McCovey Cove.

⚾️ Dodgers P Tyler Glasnow (elbow) is likely done for the year, but Shohei Ohtani might be able to pitch this postseason in his comeback from Tommy John.

⚽️ The USMNT officially announced Mauricio Pochettino as its head coach.

🐺 Found on wolfsports.com

• Week 2 fantasy awards

• Fantasy ROS rankings (🔒)

• Week 3 wavier wire rankings (🔒)

• Week 4 college football power rankings

• Latest MLB power rankings