Week 2 NFL Preview and Capsules

NEW YORK — September 9, 2025 — Close games, dramatic comebacks and memorable performances highlighted an exciting Kickoff Weekend. Four teams – Buffalo, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Tampa Bay – recorded game-winning scores in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, with the Bills becoming the first team in NFL history to overcome a 15-point deficit in the final four minutes to win in regulation.

For Week 2 capsules, click here.

Here’s a look at a few interesting storylines entering Week 2:

All-Time Aaron: Making his Pittsburgh debut in Week 1, Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers recorded his 28th career game with at least four touchdown passes and no interceptions, tied with Tom Brady for the most in NFL history. Rodgers has 507 career regular-season touchdown passes and against Seattle (1 p.m. ET, FOX), can surpass Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre (508 touchdown passes) for the fourth-most regular-season touchdown passes all-time. Additionally, Rodgers has 63,196 career regular-season passing yards and can surpass Philip Rivers (63,440 passing yards) for the sixth-most regular-season passing yards in NFL history.
Super Bowl LIX Rematch: The Kansas City Chiefs host the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon (4:25 p.m. ET, FOX) in a rematch of Super Bowl LIX. To end the 2024 season, the Eagles defeated the Chiefs, 40-22, as quarterback Jalen Hurts totaled 293 yards (221 passing, 72 rushing) and three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) to earn Super Bowl MVP honors.
- Hurts rushed for two touchdowns in the Eagles’ Week 1 victory over Dallas, his 16th career regular-season game with multiple rushing touchdowns, the most among quarterbacks in NFL history.
- Kansas City was one of two teams, along with Buffalo, to go undefeated at home last season. Since Patrick Mahomes became the starting quarterback in 2018, Kansas City has the most home wins (45) and the highest home winning percentage (.776) in the NFL.
- Mahomes enters Week 2 with 292 career touchdown passes, including the playoffs, and can surpass Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning (293 touchdown passes) for the most touchdown passes by a player in his first nine seasons, including the postseason, in NFL history.
- Chiefs-Eagles will mark the 11th rematch of a Super Bowl in the following season all-time and the fourth to occur within the first two weeks of that season. The Super Bowl winning team has won seven of the 10 previous rematches.

Super Bowl	SB Result	Rematch Date (Week)	Rematch Result
SB LIX	PHI 40, KC 22	Sept. 14, 2025 (Week 2)	KC at PHI
SB LVIII	KC 25, SF 22 (OT)	Oct. 20, 2024 (Week 7)	KC 28 at SF 18
SB LVII	KC 38, PHI 35	Nov. 20, 2023 (Week 11)	PHI 21 at KC 17
SB LI	NE 34, ATL 28 (OT)	Oct. 22, 2017 (Week 7)	ATL 7 at NE 23
SB 50	DEN 24, CAR 10	Sept. 8, 2016 (Week 1)	CAR 20 at DEN 21
SB XLVIII	SEA 43, DEN 8	Sept. 21, 2014 (Week 3)	DEN 20 at SEA 26 (OT)
SB XXXI	GB 35, NE 21	Oct. 27, 1997 (Week 9)	GB 28 at NE 10
SB XXVII	DAL 52, BUF 17	Sept. 12, 1993 (Week 2)	BUF 13 at DAL 10
SB XIII	PIT 35, DAL 31	Oct. 28, 1979 (Week 9)	DAL 3 at PIT 14
SB XI	OAK 32, MIN 14	Dec. 11, 1977 (Week 13)	MIN 13 at OAK 35
SB IV	KC 23, MIN 7	Sept. 20, 1970 (Week 1)	KC 10 at MIN 27

Close games: The average margin of victory in Week 1 was 7.56 points, the third-lowest margin of victory in Week 1 since 1970, trailing only 1979 (6.79 points) and 1983 (7.00 points). On Kickoff Weekend, 12 games were decided by one score (eight points), tied with 2013 for the most such games in Week 1 all-time.
Importance of Week 1 Results: Since 1990, history has shown that teams that are victorious in their season openers are more than twice as likely to advance to the playoffs as teams that lose their opener. During that span, 54.2 percent of teams (294 of 542) to win their opener have advanced to the playoffs, including both of last year’s Super Bowl participants – the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. However, an 0-1 start is not impossible to overcome, as 25 percent of teams (136 of 541) since 1990 that lost a season opener advance to the playoffs, including five teams in 2024 – the Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Commanders
Special Teams: In Week 1, 75.6 percent of kickoffs were returned (118 of 156), up from 33.1 percent in Week 1 in 2024 (57 of 172). Last week, there were 3,074 kickoff return yards, the most in a Week 1 all-time and the most in any week in 15 years (3,233 kickoff return yards in Week 15, 2010).
1-0 matchups: Four matchups this week showcase two teams that each earned wins to open the season.
- Washington (1-0) at Green Bay (1-0) on Thursday (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video): Set to meet for the first time since the 2022 season, both Washington and Green Bay earned home victories in Week 1 after qualifying for the postseason last year. The Commanders can begin 2-0 for the third time in the past 15 seasons (2011 and 2023) while the Packers look to begin 2-0 for the first time since 2020.
  - Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels, in 11 career road starts (including the postseason), has 20 touchdowns (15 passing, five rushing) and a 104.6 passer rating, including at least two touchdown passes and a passer rating of 100-or-higher in six of those road starts.
  - Green Bay defensive lineman Micah Parsons registered a sack in his Packers debut in Week 1. In eight career games against Washington, he has 10.5 sacks – including at least a half sack in seven of eight contests. Last season with Dallas, Parsons had two sacks in Week 12 and 2.5 sacks in Week 18 against the Commanders.
- Jacksonville (1-0) at Cincinnati (1-0) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS): Both Jacksonville and Cincinnati look to begin 2-0 for the first time since 2018.
  - Jacksonville running back Travis Etienne ranked second in the NFL with 156 scrimmage yards (143 rushing, 13 receiving) in Week 1, his third-career game with at least 150 scrimmage yards.
  - Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow passed for 2,338 yards (292.3 per game) and 23 touchdowns with a 116.9 rating in 8 home starts last season, including at least three touchdown passes and a passer rating of 110-or-higher in each of his final four home starts. In NFL history, only two players have had at least three touchdown passes and a passer rating of 110-or-higher in five consecutive home starts: Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning (six consecutive games in 2014) and Aaron Rodgers (five in 2011).
- Denver (1-0) at Indianapolis (1-0) on Sunday (4:05 p.m. ET, CBS): Denver looks to begin 2-0 for the first time since 2021 while Indianapolis can start 2-0 for the first time since 2009. Last season in Week 15, the Broncos defeated the Colts, 31-13, in Denver.
  - After leading the NFL with 63 sacks last season, the Broncos defense recorded a league-high six sacks and allowed a league-low 133 total yards of offense in Week 1. It has been 26 seasons since a team recorded at least six sacks in each of its first two games of a season (Carolina and Seattle in 1998).
  - The Colts defeated Miami, 33-8, in Week 1, marking their first season-opening win since 2013. They scored on all seven of their offensive possessions, becoming the first team in at least 47 years (1978 season) to score on every offensive possession of a game.
- Los Angeles Chargers (1-0) at Las Vegas (1-0) on Monday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN): The Los Angeles Chargers look to begin 2-0 in consecutive seasons for the third time since 1970 (2001-02, 1979-81) while Las Vegas can start 2-0 for the first time since 2021. The Chargers won both matchups against the Raiders last season (Weeks 1 and 18).
  - Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert passed for 318 yards and three touchdowns with a 131.7 rating in the team’s Week 1 win over Kansas City in Brazil, the only quarterback with at least 300 passing yards and three touchdown passes on Kickoff Weekend
  - Las Vegas tight end Brock Bowers recorded five receptions for 103 yards in the Raiders’ 20-13 victory over New England last week, his third career 100-yard game. Bowers has 1,297 receiving yards in 18 career games, the second-most by a tight end in his first 20 career games in NFL history, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka (1,411 receiving yards).