NFL Today, Week 2

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SCOREBOARD

Monday, Sept. 20

Lions at Packers, 8:15 p.m. EDT. Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay, coming off a Week 1 blowout loss to New Orleans in Jacksonville, Florida, will try to win their ninth straight home opener when they host their NFC North rivals. Detroit is coming off a 41-33 home loss to San Francisco. The Packers have beaten the Lions four straight times overall. Green Bay still has high expectations after consecutive appearances in the NFC title game, which is reflected in the odds: The Packers are favored by 12 1/2 points, .

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STARS

Passing

— Tom Brady, Buccaneers, threw five touchdown passes and finished 24 of 36 for 276 yards in Tampa Bay's 48-25 win over Atlanta.

— Kyler Murray, Cardinals, went 29 of 39 for 400 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in Arizona's 34-33 win over Minnesota.

— Derek Carr, Raiders, went 28 of 37 for 382 yards and two touchdowns in Las Vegas' 26-17 win at Pittsburgh.

— Ryan Tannehill, Titans, threw for 347 yards in Tennessee's 33-30 overtime win at Seattle.

— Russell Wilson, Seahawks, went 22 of 31 for 343 yards and two touchdowns in Seattle's loss.

— Teddy Bridgewater, Broncos, was 26-for-34 for 328 yards and two TDs in Denver's 23-13 win over Jacksonville.

— Sam Darnold, Panthers, completed 26 of 38 passes for 305 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in Carolina's 26-7 win over New Orleans.

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Rushing

— Derrick Henry, Titans, rushed for 182 yards and three touchdowns on 35 carries in Tennessee's win at Seattle.

— Dalvin Cook, Vikings, had 22 carries for 131 yards in Minnesota's loss to Arizona.

— Tony Pollard, Cowboys, rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in Dallas' 20-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.

— Nick Chubb, Browns, had 95 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries in the Browns' 31-21 win over the Texans.

— Christian McCaffrey, Panthers, rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown and added five receptions for 65 yards in Carolina's win over New Orleans.

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Receiving

— Tyler Lockett, Seahawks, caught eight passes for 178 yards and a touchdown in Seattle's loss to Tennessee.

— Cooper Kupp, Rams, had nine receptions for 163 yards and two touchdowns in Los Angeles' win over Indianapolis.

— Courtland Sutton, Broncos, had 159 yards on nine receptions in Denver's win over Jacksonville.

— Julio Jones, Titans, finished with 128 yards on six receptions in Tennessee's win over Seattle.

— Michael Pittman Jr., Colts, caught eight passes for 123 yards in the loss to the Rams.

— Henry Ruggs III, Raiders, had five receptions for 113 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown, in Las Vegas' win over Pittsburgh.

— Quez Watkins, Eagles, had a 91-yard reception and finished with 117 yards on two catches in Philadelphia's 17-11 loss to San Francisco.

— Rondale Moore, Cardinals, had seven catches for 114 yards and a touchdown as Arizona beat Minnesota.

— Keenan Allen, Chargers, had 108 yards on four receptions in Los Angeles' loss to Dallas.

— Diontae Johnson, Steelers, caught nine passes for 105 yards in Pittsburgh's loss to Las Vegas.

— Mike Evans, Buccaneers, had two touchdowns among his five receptions for 75 yards in Tampa Bay's win over Atlanta.

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Special Teams

— Greg Zuerlein, Cowboys, made a 56-yard field goal as time expired to give Dallas a 20-17 victory over the Chargers. He made a 34-yarder earlier in the fourth quarter and connected on two extra points.

— Matt Prater, Cardinals, kicked a franchise-record 62-yard field goal in Arizona's win over Minnesota. He was also good from 27 yards and made all four of his extra points.

— Jamal Agnew, Jaguars, returned a kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown late in Jacksonville's 23-13 loss to Denver.

— Mitch Wishnowsky, 49ers, averaged 45.2 yards on five punts, three of them inside the 20 and with no touchbacks, in San Francisco's win at Philadelphia.

— Daniel Carlson, Raiders, made field goals of 45, 33, 41 and 45 yards and was perfect on both his extra-point tries in Las Vegas' win over Pittsburgh.

— Michael Dickson, Seahawks, averaged 51.7 yards on six punts, with a long of 66 yards, in the loss to the Titans.

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Defense

— Mike Edwards, Buccaneers, returned two interceptions for touchdowns, one from 31 yards and the other covering 15 yards, in the fourth quarter of Tampa Bay's blowout of Atlanta.

— Roquan Smith, Bears, returned an interception 53 yards for a touchdown in a 20-17 win over the Bengals.

— Nick Vigil, Vikings, returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown in Minnesota's loss to Arizona.

— Bobby Wagner, Seahawks, had 20 tackles, a sack and two quarterback hits in Seattle's overtime loss to Tennessee.

— Greg Rousseau, Bills, had two sacks and two tackles for loss in Buffalo's 35-0 win over Miami.

— J.C. Jackson, Patriots, had two interceptions in New England's 25-6 win over the Jets.

— Josh Uche, Patriots, had two sacks and two tackles for loss in the win over New York.

— Nick Bosa, 49ers, had two sacks in San Francisco's win over Philadelphia.

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MILESTONES

Josh Allen became the sixth Bills player to throw for more than 10,000 yards, reaching the milestone in his 45th start. That's the same number of starts it took Hall of Famer Jim Kelly to reach 10,000 yards passing for Buffalo. ... Rob Gronkowski caught a pair of TD passes for the third straight game, including the Super Bowl, as he and Tom Brady continued to climb the career list for regular-season TDs by a passing duo with 88 — one behind Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates for second place behind Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison (112). ... Brady has 35 games with at least four touchdown passes, tied with Peyton Manning for the second most all time behind Drew Brees' 37. ... Matt Prater's 62-yard field goal against the Vikings was the longest in Cardinals history but not the longest of Prater's career. He holds the NFL record, a 64-yarder for Denver in 2013. ... The Cowboys led the Chargers 14-11 at halftime, the first time in NFL history a game had that score at the midpoint. ... Tennessee's Julio Jones topped 13,000 receiving yards in his 137th game, becoming the fastest in the NFL to reach that mark. Jerry Rice reached the number in 154 games.

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STREAKS & STATS

Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry left on the second offensive play against the Texans with a knee injury, ending his streak of catching at least two passes in 111 consecutive games. That was the fourth-longest such streak in NFL history. Tim Brown has the record at 147 straight games. ... Miami’s defense has registered at least one takeaway in 24 consecutive games, by far the longest active streak in the league. ... The Raiders’ Derek Carr became the fifth quarterback in the Super Bowl era with 375 or more passing yards and two or more touchdown passes in Las Vegas’ win over Pittsburgh. ... The Los Angeles Rams improved to 5-0 in road openers under coach Sean McVay. ... Teddy Bridgewater of the Broncos became the fourth player in NFL history to open a season with consecutive games in which he had two TD passes, no interceptions and completed 75% of his passes, joining Drew Brees (2018), Aaron Rodgers (2015) and Jeff George (1994). ... The Buccaneers extended their winning streak to a franchise-record 10 games, and Tom Brady improved to 9-0 lifetime against the Falcons. ... Seattle had its 12-game winning streak in home openers snapped and lost when leading by at least 15 points at halftime for the first time since 2004.

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STARTING AT QB, TBD

The Houston Texans went into the season with Tyrod Taylor as their starting quarterback and Deshaun Watson inactive for the first two games. Now, Taylor is injured, rookie Davis Mills is Houston's top option and the team will face more questions about what to do with Watson, who led the NFL in yards passing last season. Watson requested a trade and then was accused of sexual misconduct in lawsuits filed by 22 women. The team has said little publicly about Watson this season, and coach David Culley was noncommittal when asked whether it was possible Watson could play Thursday night when the Texans host Carolina. “We'll have to see,” the coach said.

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ROUGH HOME DEBUT

Zach Wilson couldn't blame Jets fans for booing during his much-anticipated MetLife Stadium debut. The No. 2 overall draft pick threw four interceptions in a 25-6 loss to fellow rookie Mac Jones and the Patriots, finishing 19 of 33 for 210 yards.

“They should be booing, right?” Wilson said. “We didn’t play well on offense. Our defense gave us a good chance to win. We didn’t execute, we didn’t move the ball well and we didn’t score any points. We’ve got to do a better job there.”

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CHANGE OF SCENERY

While his rookie replacement Zach Wilson has struggled early with the Jets, Sam Darnold is thriving with Carolina. He threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns in a 26-7 win over the Saints and improved to 2-0 as the Panthers' starter. Christian McCaffrey's presence has been key for Darnold, allowing the fourth-year QB to use more play action and bootleg rollouts than he did with the Jets.

“I’ve always had confidence, that’s never going to change,” Darnold said.

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SIDELINED

Chicago Bears quarterback Andy Dalton suffered a knee injury in the first half of the Bears' 20-17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals and did not return. Rookie Justin Fields, the preference of many Bears fans as the team's starter, took over for Dalton. ... Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was carted off the sideline with a rib injury in the first quarter of Miami's loss to Buffalo. ... Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt, one of the NFL's highest-paid defensive players, suffered a groin injury in the second quarter against Las Vegas. ... Steelers defensive tackle Tyson Alualu fractured his right ankle, likely ending his season. ... Houston Texans quarterback Tyrod Taylor suffered a hamstring injury against Cleveland. He was replaced after halftime by rookie Davis Mills. ... Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry left with a knee injury on the second offensive play against the Texans. ... Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz left with a right ankle injury in the fourth quarter of a loss to the Rams. ... Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham was carted off the field in the second quarter against San Francisco with an Achilles tendon injury. Graham tweeted that he'll miss the rest of the season. ... Standout Broncos linebacker Bradley Chubb aggravated an ankle injury in the second quarter against the Jaguars. ... Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan suffered a knee injury in pregame warmups against the Seahawks, and left guard Rodger Saffold III injured a shoulder in the first half.

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SPEAKING

“Don’t give up on us. Hang in there with us,” Jaguars coach Urban Meyer said to the team's fans after an ugly loss to the Broncos dropped Jacksonville to 0-2. “We’re going to get better. ... Go to sleep knowing there’s not going to be any group work harder to get this thing flipped.”

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“It’s fun to stay close to the game and kind of watch the game as a fan. I pull hard for the Colts and kind of pull for quarterbacks. I pull for offenses. I cringed when I saw Carson’s shuffle pass get intercepted because I’ve thrown screen passes down there and you just know what it’s like. So you find yourself pulling for quarterbacks. It’s a fun way to stay close to the game and kind of be a fan if you will.” — Peyton Manning on his work as a “Monday Night Football” broadcaster.

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