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American Football

Five things learned from Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season

Philip Marsh
Five things learned from Week 2 of the 2024 NFL seasonGetty Images
The season has already thrown up some surprises.

Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season finished in dramatic style, as the Atlanta Falcons secured a road win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football.

It was another week of surprise wins, the best and worst quarterback play, and for some teams the stepping stone to a 2-0 record.

Here DAZN breaks down five talking points from Week 2.

1. The New Orleans Saints offense is legit

Even the most optimistic New Orleans Saints fan would have struggled to predict how elite their offense would be in the opening two weeks of the 2024 NFL season.

The Saints have scored 91 points in their first two games - 47 in Week 1 and 44 in Week 2 - tied for the fourth-most points scored by a team through the opening two weeks of a season.

The first 15 drives of the season all ended in scores, it took until the fourth quarter of the Saints' second game of the season before their first punt of the season.

Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak has got his team ticking, and they look like they can pose a threat to any defense moving forward.

2. Is Kyler Murray back to his best?

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray had one of the best games of his NFL career in Week 2, as he completed 17 of 21 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions.

Murray's performance was so good that he became just the second player in NFL history with over 250 passing yards, 50 rushing yards and a perfect passer rating of 158.3 - the highest possible mark.

Murray's best season in the NFL to date came back in 2020, where he threw just under 4,000 passing yards and 12 touchdowns, as well as adding 819 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.

If Week 2's performance against the Los Angeles Rams is anything to go by, Murray could be on to better that campaign at the age of 27.

3. Mahomes one win away from another NFL record 

By now we all know how good Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is, and the back-to-back Super Bowl winner is closing in on yet another NFL record.

In Week 2 the Chiefs came from behind to beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth quarter, a win which was Mahomes' 76th in 98 career starts.

Tom Brady and Roger Staubach hold the current NFL record for the most wins by a quarterback in their first 100 career starts with 76 - the same figure Mahomes reached on Sunday.

If Mahomes can lead his Chiefs to victory against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3 or the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4, he will claim the record for himself.

4. Surprise teams to make and miss the 2024 playoffs?

Success in one season does not guarantee success the following year, and while it may be early days, there are some surprising records through two weeks.

The Los Angeles Rams and Baltimore Ravens - both playoff teams from 2023 - have started the 2024 season 0-2.

On the flip side, four teams have started the season 2-0 after missing the 2023 postseason - the highest number of teams to do so since 2021.

The Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks will all be hoping to continue their resurgence in Week 3.

5. Injuries haunting NFL's stars again

Week 2 proved to be full of injuries on offense for multiple franchises, some of which will be without their star players moving forward.

Elite wide receivers A.J. Brown, Justin Jefferson, Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, Deebo Samuel, Tee Higgins, Keenan Allen, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jordan Addison all had injury designations before or during Week 2 action.

Running backs Christian McCaffrey, Isiah Pacheco and Kenneth Walker are all expected to miss time, while Joe Mixon also suffered an injury on Sunday Night Football for the Houston Texans.

And tight ends did not fare much better, with David Njoku, George Kittle, Evan Engram and Jake Ferguson all now questionable to play in Week 3.