Recapping the worst performances and the best performances after the second week

_{Marvin Harrison Jr. catching his first career touchdown, image from Jess Root and CardsWire}

Week 2 of the NFL season wrapped up on Monday night and week 3 will kick off tonight, here’s a recap of the three worst and three best performances, keep in mind some teams had multiple players capable of making this list, but I am choosing one player from teams.

The Worst

At number three is Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, making this list for the second week in a row.

In Williams’ second game as the Bears starter, he completed 23 passes on 37 attempts for 174 yards, 4.7 yards per attempt, 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, the minimal production out of Williams and the Bears runningback D’Andre Swift resulted in a 13-19 loss to the Houston Texans.

In all fairness to Williams, the offensive line did him no favors, allowing the defense to pressure him 36 times, and that’s on 37 pass attempts, meaning he only had 1 attempt where there was no pressure.

At number two Is Denver Broncos rookie QB Bo Nix, who didn’t make this list in week 1 but almost did.

In Nix’s second game, he completed 20 passes out of 35 attempts for 246 pass yards, 7 yards per attempt, 0 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Just like with Williams, the minimal production resulted in a 13-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In all fairness to Nix, the Steelers have one of the best defenses in the league, allowing 8 points per game throughout the first two weeks, but moving forward the Broncos would probably prefer if Nix was playing even a little better.

At number one is Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young, for the second straight week making this list, good news for him is he won’t be on this list anymore in the future, sad news is the reasoning for that is because he was benched.

In week 2 Young was faced with playing the Los Angeles Chargers where he completed 18 passes on 26 attempts for 84 yards, 4.6 yards per attempt, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Another game where a lackluster performance led to a loss with a score of 26-3.

In all fairness to Young, the Panthers are by far the worst team in the NFL, and have done Young no favors, giving him average play-makers, a bad offensive line, and a not so great defense to go along with that. As much as Young may be upset about being benched, the Panthers finally did the right thing by doing so, saving any little bit of confidence he may still have in himself and not completely ruining him.

The Best

At number three is Detroit Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, the first defensive player to make these lists so far, and definitely deserves it for how he played in week 2.

In week 2 the Detroit Lions were barely beaten by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-16, despite that Hutchinson played a great game, sacking Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield 4.5 times, with 3 of those sacks being in the first quarter alone, he also had 4 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, and 1 forced fumble.

Hutchinson has developed into an amazing player and probably one of the best defenders in the league, the Lions have to be happy with their first round pick from 2023.

At number two is Arizona Cardinals rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. who has now already had a breakout game.

In week two the Cardinals destroyed the Los Angeles Rams 10-41, and Harrison seemed unstoppable, he only had 4 catches, but on those 4 he put up 130 yards and 2 touchdowns, averaging 32.5 yards per catch.

After having a rough week 1 against the Buffalo Bills, with only having 1 catch for 4 yards, he was upset with himself for not doing better and was bound to have a great game in week 2 against the very injured Rams.

At number one is New Orleans Saints runningback Alvin Kamara who the Dallas Cowboys could not seem to stop.

Against the Dallas Cowboys, Kamara ran for 115 yards on 20 attempts, averaging 5.8 yards per carry, and had 3 touchdowns on the ground, but he was also a threat through the air as he caught 2 passes for 65 yards and a touchdown, and 3 of Kamara’s 4 touchdowns came in the first half alone.

A lot of people weren’t completely sold on the Saints being good even after scoring 47 points in week 1, and that’s because they played the Panthers, most people expected the Cowboys to be a harder game for the Saints but they treated them like the Panthers winning 44-19, the Cowboys run defense has been an issue for years now, so Kamara and the Saints new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak exploited that perfectly.

Looking Forward to Week 3

There are quite a few players now who many people had higher expectations for but aren’t doing so well, so going into week 3 it is probably time for those guys to step up and be the player people expect them to be, and those players who are performing way better than expected will hopefully keep it up.