NFL Week 2 Takeaways: What’s Wrong With the Chargers?

The second Sunday of the NFL season featured a few key injuries, an early contender for catch of the year and another win from a capable backup. Here are five takeaways from Week 2:

It was a nightmarish day for the Bears.

On Friday, the Bears proudly proclaimed on X that the team had a clean injury report for the first time since Week 7 of the 2022 season. That luck changed on Sunday.

The Bears lost quarterback Caleb Williams halfway through the fourth quarter of a 9–3 home defeat against the Vikings. Williams, a D.C. native who starred at Gonzaga, went down without contact in the fourth quarter and had to be helped off the field after trying to walk off under his own power.

Bears coach Ben Johnson said after the game that Williams injured his right hamstring and the team will know more on Monday after he undergoes testing.

“I’m actually happy it’s nothing with the knee,” Johnson said. “That was my first inclination. But yeah, a hamstring can be pretty damaging as well. We’ll see how bad it is tomorrow and we’ll go from there. Quickly, you’ve got to turn the page.”

The injury capped off a rough day for the Bears’ offense. After hanging a franchise-record 59 points on the Panthers last week, Chicago struggled to get anything going against Minnesota. The Vikings’ defense made Williams uncomfortable with constant pressure and finished with three sacks.

Tyson Bagent, Chicago’s backup, went 5 for 9 for 54 yards after replacing Williams. The Bears host the Eagles for Monday Night Football in Week 3, giving Williams an extra day to recover if tests show he can play next week.

Ja’Marr Chase made a highlight grab to keep the Bengals rolling.

It’s way too early to declare a catch of the year, but Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase submitted a strong early candidate on Sunday. Late in the first half of the Bengals’ 20–6 win over the Texans, Chase spun off his defender and hauled in a 32-yard pass, planting his toes in the front corner to the end zone. The highlight grab marked the first of his two touchdowns on the day as Cincinnati moved to 2-0.

“I literally don’t know what I did,” Chase said of the catch. “I couldn’t see the ball for a second and I was fighting just trying to get in position, but by the time I’d seen the ball it was in the light and it came real fast and was an adjustment.”

The Bengals went 6–11 last year in the organization’s first losing season since 2020. Joe Burrow, who missed nine games in 2025 with a toe injury, has emphasized the importance of this season and getting the Bengals back to the playoffs. So far, the team’s offense is clicking and a revamped defense has fared well. Despite losing star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson to the Ravens in free agency, the unit has eight sacks through two games.

What’s wrong with the Chargers?

Los Angeles was a popular preseason pick to make a deep playoff run this year, especially after it brought in Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator. But McDaniels’ marriage with quarterback Justin Herbert is off to a rocky start. After a 26-14 loss to the Raiders Sunday, the Chargers are 0-2. It’s the first time in Jim Harbaugh’s head coaching career that one of his teams, college or pro, has started 0-2.

Through two games, Herbert has more interceptions than touchdowns (3 to 2), and his offense is averaging just 14 points per game. Even with young playmakers like running back Omarion Hampton and wide receivers Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston, Herbert and McDaniels have struggled to get the unit going.

After Sunday’s game, Herbert called his play “uncharacteristic” and added the team has practiced better than it’s played.

“That’s not good enough, and we can’t expect to win games like that when we’re playing like that,” he said. “If we’re not playing up to our standard, that’s on us to fix it.”

With the Bills, Seahawks, Broncos and Chiefs all on the horizon, the Chargers suddenly have little margin for error.

Packers kicker Trey Smack provided the game-winning field goal in overtime Sunday. Adam Hunger/AP

The Eagles and Packers had to sweat it out.

The Titans came close to pulling off the day’s biggest upset. Jalen Hurts found Darius Cooper for a three-yard touchdown with nine seconds left in regulation to lift the Eagles to a 24–20 comeback win in Tennessee. It was a positive ending to a bad day for Hurts, who threw two interceptions and was sacked three times.

Saquon Barkley rushed for just nine yards on four carries after injuring his left arm on the Eagles’ first offensive play of the day. He returned in the third quarter to help Philadelphia fend off the Titans. A field goal gave Tennessee a three-point lead with 1:56 left, but Hurts led the Eagles 62 yards in eight plays to set up the game-winning touchdown.

In New York, another NFC contender was put to the test as the Packers needed overtime to earn a 20-17 win over the Jets. Green Bay trailed 17–7 with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter before scoring 13 unanswered points to improve to 2–0. Jordan Love threw for two touchdown passes, and rookie Trey Smack (another DMV native) hit the game-winning field goal in overtime to deny the Jets an upset.

“It’s one of those games where you just have to keep fighting,” Love said after the game. “It wasn’t pretty, a lot of that game.”

The Packers were without Micah Parsons, who is still rehabbing an ACL tear he suffered late last season. Two more players joined the injury report Sunday as wide receiver Jayden Reed and right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele went down on consecutive plays. Bako-Bewele injured his knee and didn’t return. Reed injured his neck and was hospitalized, but the team said after the game he has feeling in his extremities.

“Doing much better,” Reed posted to X. “Appreciate all the prayers and support.”

Drew Lock kept the defending champs on track.

Sam who? The defending champions are 2–0 despite the fact that Sam Darnold has played just five snaps this year. With Darnold sidelined by a glute injury, backup Drew Lock has kept the Seahawks flying. On Sunday, he threw three touchdowns to Jaxon Smith-Njigba in a 31–7 win over the Cardinals.

The Seahawks’ defense seems to have picked up where it left off last year, surrendering just two touchdowns in two games with five sacks and four interceptions.

Lock has completed 73% of his passes, throwing for 422 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. His play has given the Seahawks some leeway with Darnold’s recovery. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said on Sunday that Darnold could return to practice as early as this week, but with Seattle facing the winless Commanders and Chargers over the next two weeks there may not be reason to hurry.