Star’s injury derails Super Bowl hopes, a QB’s career renewed and time to panic in Kansas City? NFL Week 2 takeaways
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — The first week of the NFL season can often be misleading. However, the following games can begin to reveal enlightening – or uncomfortable – truths.
In Week 2 of the 2025 NFL season, a little light was shone on how the fortunes of teams may go this year, including who is well-set and who is still missing pieces to succeed.
Here are the main takeaways from Week 2 of the NFL season.
Joe Burrow injury dampens Bengals’ aspirations
You never want to see injuries in sports. You particularly don’t want to see injuries to the stars that bring eyes to the spectacle.
Unfortunately, that’s what we saw on Sunday when Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow left Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars midway through the second quarter.
Burrow suffered a turf toe injury and will undergo surgery to repair the damage, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor confirmed on Monday, although he didn’t touch on a recovery timeline for his signal-caller.
Turf toe is a stretching or tearing of the soft tissues and ligaments in a player’s big toe. The injury often occurs when players plant their toes and lift their heel, and is common among football players because of the need to push off or make sudden movements. It became more frequent during the 1970s when the sport moved from grass fields to artificial turf – hence the name.
Most turf toe injuries heal relatively quickly with rest, and the need for surgery is rare.
However, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, Burrow will miss at least three months of action. CNN Sports has reached out to the Bengals for comment.
It’s a big blow for Cincinnati which entered this season with aspirations of contending for a Super Bowl this season with their star-laden roster.
With Burrow at quarterback, the dynamic wide receiver pairing of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins and a defense led by last year’s sack leader Trey Hendrickson, the Bengals looked primed to make a deep playoff run.
But with Burrow now looking likely to miss the majority of the regular season, those chances look severely diminished.
It’ll be left to back-up quarterback Jake Browning to man the helm until Burrow returns – which could be Week 15 or 16 if he misses a full three months – with the Bengals 2-0 after the opening two weeks of the season.
Browning has had experience of stepping in when Burrow has been injured, like he did in 2023 when Burrow missed time with a wrist injury.
And Browning’s gun-slinger mentality – he threw for 241 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in the win over the Jags – is what Cincinnati fans hope will help the Bengals stay afloat in Burrow’s absence.
“If you’re wearing a Bengals uniform on Sunday, I’m going to give you a chance and go down swinging,” the third-year passer said.
Is Danny Dimes back?
When Daniel Jones was signed by the Indianapolis Colts in the offseason, it came as an underwhelming acquisition.
The sixth overall pick by the Giants in 2019 had flamed out in New York and spent the second half of last season as a back-up quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings.
So when he signed in Indy on a one-year, $14 million contract to compete with Anthony Richardson – the fourth pick in the 2023 Draft – for the starting job, it appeared as if he’d largely have to settle for another back-up role.
To the surprise of many, Jones was named QB1 ahead of Week 1. But in his first two starts, he has shown why he was so highly rated coming out of college with Duke.
Jones led the Colts to scores in each of their seven drives against the Miami Dolphins in Week 1. And on Sunday against the Denver Broncos, he provided more of the same, with the Colts scoring on their first three drives.
The 28-year-old threw 23-of-34 for 316 yards and a touchdown and ran in another score, proving a perfect foil to complement Jonathan Taylor’s rushing ability, with the running back racking up 165 yards against the Broncos.
The game ended in dramatic fashion, with the Colts winning on a field goal as the clock ran out after missing the initial attempt but a Broncos penalty caused a retake, which went through the uprights.
Jones has been the key figure in the Colts’ 2-0 start, looking much more assured and comfortable in Indianapolis under head coach Shane Steichen.
After the victory over the Broncos, Steichen sung Jones’ praises, explaining what he adds to the team.
“I think the consistency that he brings, his preparation and it’s coming to life on the field on Sundays. He works at it,” he told reporters. “I think he’s doing a really nice job of going through his reads. If the first read is not there, he’s getting to his second, third reads.
“The offensive line is doing a hell of a job for him. I think he’s communicating well with the receivers throughout the week – different looks that could come up, route adjustments, all those different things throughout the course of a week of preparation. Then to see it happen on Sundays has been good, so we’ve got to continue that.”
In a new environment and under new coaching, could Jones’ career be revitalized?
Time to panic in Kansas City?
We’re not accustomed to seeing frustrated figures in Kansas City in recent years. But 2025 has brought about different emotions for the Chiefs.
Following their loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2 in what was a Super Bowl LIX rematch, the Chiefs are 0-2 for the first time since 2014 – when Patrick Mahomes was a freshman at Texas Tech – and searching for answers.
The main concern is the stagnant nature of the offense, largely down to the absence of some key weapons – Rashee Rice is missing through suspension and Xavier Worthy suffered a freak shoulder injury in Week 1.
Travis Kelce has failed to step up in their absence, with his main contribution in the loss to the Eagles coming in the fourth quarter when his bobbled attempt at a catch went into the hands of Philadelphia safety Drew Mukuba for an interception.
Mahomes has lost three games in a row for the first time in his NFL career if you include February’s Super Bowl loss and the Chiefs look out-of-sorts through two weeks.
Now, Mahomes is an all-time great quarterback and head coach Andy Reid is known for making adjustments so this could be a blip rather than a critical issue.
But if the Chiefs are to make it to the Super Bowl for the fourth year in a row, they’ll have to work out how to get their offense firing.
Reid said he believes in his team’s ability to correct its mistakes and get back on track.
“I trust this group. I mean, this group’s a good group, (they have) got good leadership and they’ll stay together,” Reid told reporters on Monday. “And they’ll work hard on cleaning things up, there’s nobody more aware of it than the guys and we’ll make sure we get back to the drawing board. Like I said, this game here was more on the offensive side, and we’ve got to take care of that.”
Week 2 results
Home vs. away (winners in bold)
Green Bay Packers 27-18 Washington Commanders
Baltimore Ravens 41-17 Cleveland Browns
Cincinnati Bengals 31-27 Jacksonville Jaguars
Dallas Cowboys 40-37 (OT) New York Giants
Detroit Lions 52-21 Chicago Bears
Miami Dolphins 27-33 New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints 21-26 San Francisco 49ers
New York Jets 10-30 Buffalo Bills
Pittsburgh Steelers 17-31 Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans 19-33 Los Angeles Rams
Arizona Cardinals 27-22 Carolina Panthers
Indianapolis Colts 29-28 Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs 17-20 Philadelphia Eagles
Minnesota Vikings 6-22 Atlanta Falcons
Houston Texans 19-20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Las Vegas Raiders 9-20 Los Angeles Chargers
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