CNN
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America’s favorite sport is back for another exciting season.
Week 1 of the National Football League was no exception, with seven season openers decided by three points or fewer.
Week 2 offers another list of great encounters, with Tom Brady’s Buccaneers (1-0) meeting their Achilles heel New Orleans Saints (1-0), Joe Burrows Cincinnati Bengals (0-1) against Dak Prescott-less Dallas Cowboys ( 0-1) and another episode of the NFC North rivalry between the Chicago Bears (1-0) and the Green Bay Packers (0-1).
Brady made headlines off and on the field this week, discussing his potential retirement and marriage to Gisele Bundchen and leading the Bucs to a comfortable 19-3 opening win over the Cowboys.
His second matchup of the season presents a bigger challenge as the Bucs travel to New Orleans to meet the team they just can’t shake. The Saints have won their last seven regular season games against the Bucs, four of them in the Brady era.
Most recently, the Saints gave Brady the first home loss of his legendary NFL career. The 45-year-old quarterback, returning to his 23rd season, has not lost more than three straight games against a single opponent since the Patriots’ 3-0 series against the Broncos from 2005-09.
The biggest challenge this Sunday for the Bucs? Elimination of turnovers and sacks. In Brady’s last four losses to New Orleans, the Saints have an 11-2 turnover advantage and the defense has 13 sacks against Tampa Bay’s four.
On the other hand, the Saints need to do a lot better than they did in the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons to keep the streak alive.
New Orleans came up short on both sides of the ball early in the game, laying them down 16-3 at halftime. However, led by quarterback Jameis Winston, the team rebounded and made a 16-point comeback in the fourth quarter behind Winston’s 213 passing yards and two touchdowns.
The Saints left Atlanta with a narrow one-point win, but by a narrow margin. The Bucs should be much stronger opponents and will require the Saints to deliver in all four quarters, not just the final minutes, if they want to walk away victorious.
It’s also worth noting that current Saints head coach Dennis Allen is the former defensive coordinator who has orchestrated defenses that Brady has had the ability to knock out in the past. He has a proven track record of finding and exploiting weaknesses in the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s game.
Even though it’s only week two, both teams have an early opportunity to battle for first place in the division. They compete in their first of two regular season meetings on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Joe Burrow’s Bengals had an unideal start to the season, to say the least.
A stunning performance from Burrow (he threw five interceptions) and a string of missed opportunities led to a savage overtime loss to the Steelers.
The Cowboys also opened the season with a dud as the only team in week one not to record a touchdown, a testament to a lackluster offensive performance.
To make matters worse, quarterback Dak Prescott sustained a throwing hand injury in the fourth quarter that will sideline him for several weeks.
Despite the disappointment that follows a 0-1 start to the season, starting the season with a losing record is nothing for either team to worry about.
Since 2002, 59.4 percent of playoff teams have started the season either 1-1 or 0-2. Just last season, the Los Angeles Rams became Super Bowl champions after starting the season 2-0. All of that being said, a win in week two would be a huge confidence boost.
The Cowboys will have to adjust to offense without Prescott. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush has just one career start, which came in Week 8 last year when Prescott was sidelined with a calf strain.
Rush put on an impressive performance, throwing a game-winning touchdown to wide receiver Amari Cooper in the last minute of the game. Still, his inexperience against a coarse-grained Bengals defense was able to show.
Kickoff is scheduled for Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET.
The Bears meet the Packers Sunday night at historic Lambeau Field.
The Packers are trying to recover from a 23-7 drubbing by the Vikings and continue their reign over this one-sided NFC North rivalry.
The Packers have won 20 of their last 23 regular-season matchups, the Bears’ last win of 2018. But the way things are looking for Green Bay, it could be the Bears’ chance to join the winning column.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers struggled against the Vikings, clearly missing wide receiver Davante Adams. He looked visibly frustrated throughout the game when Green Bay failed to break the double-digit score and Rogers finished 22 for 34 for 195 yards without touchdowns with an interception.
Heading into Sunday night, the Bears are riding the culmination of their week one win over the 49ers, in which they scored 19 unanswered second-half points at a rain-soaked Soldier Field. The Bears have momentum, but the Packers have history. We’ll find out Sunday night at 8:25 p.m. ET.
The Buffalo Bills defeated the reigning Super Bowl champion Rams in their season opener, with quarterback Josh Allen throwing for 297 yards and four touchdowns in the 31-10 blowout win.
What’s the key to the Bills gains? The numbers speak for Allen’s versatility. The team’s win rate is 20-1 if the QB rushes and passes for at least one touchdown in the same game.
Including the season opener, Allen’s 21 games with at least one rushing touchdown and at least one passing touchdown is the most in the NFL since joining the league in 2018.
Allen and the Bills will be looking to set their season record by beating the Tennessee Titans 2-0 Monday night at 7:15 p.m. ET.
Here’s how to catch these teams and others from across the league in action, no matter where you are.
Australia: NFL Game Pass, ESPN, 7Plus
Brazil: NFL Game Pass, ESPN
Canada: CTV, TSN, RDS, NFL Game Pass on DAZN
Germany: NFL Game Pass, ProSieben MAXX, DAZN
Mexico: NFL Game Pass, TUDN, ESPN, Fox Sports, Sky Sports
UK: NFL Game Pass, Sky Sports, ITV, Channel 5
US: NFL Game Pass, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, ESPN, Amazon Prime