Josh Allen was back to himself after a terrible opener. Daniel Jones and Ryan Tannehill also rebounded from awful games to lead comeback wins. Patrick Mahomes and Geno Smith got back on the winning track.
Sunday was filled with impressive bounce-back performances.
The Bills, Giants and Titans avoided 0-2 starts. So did the defending champion Chiefs and the Seahawks.
Allen, coming off a four-turnover effort in Buffalo’s disappointing loss to the Jets, completed 83.8% of his passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers to lead the Bills to a 38-10 rout of the Raiders.
“The thing is with this game, man, it gives you the lowest lows and it gives you the highest highs,” Allen said.
Jones, who posted a career-low 32.4 passer rating in the Giants’ 40-0 loss to Dallas last week, led New York back from a 20-0 halftime deficit to a 31-28 win at Arizona. Jones threw for 321 yards and two TDs and ran for 59 yards and a score.
“We got a resilient, tough-minded group, so we trust everyone to get back focused and know what they got to do to make the play,” Jones said.
Tannehill was 20 of 24 (83.3%) for 246 yards and one TD in Tennessee’s 24-21 win over the Chargers. Last week, Tannehill threw three picks and had a career-worst 28.8 passer rating in a 16-15 loss to the Saints.
“I knew last week wasn’t who I am as a player,” Tannehill said. “I knew I was going to bounce back this week. But it’s nice to feel that support from your teammates throughout the week.”
Smith had 328 yards passing and two TDs, leading Seattle to a 37-31 overtime win in Detroit. Mahomes and Kansas City’s offense still aren’t clicking but he threw for 305 yards and two scores, including one to the returning Travis Kelce, in a 17-9 win at Jacksonville.
Several other quarterbacks, including Lamar Jackson, Dak Prescott, Baker Mayfield and Sam Howell, stepped up to help their teams get to 2-0.
Jackson and the Ravens shook off a rusty first game and upset Joe Burrow and the Bengals on the road, 27-24. Jackson tossed two TDs, including a perfect 17-yarder to Nelson Agholor for an over-the-shoulder catch in the fourth quarter.
Prescott didn’t have to do too much last week when Dallas dominated the Giants. The Cowboys routed the New York Jets 30-10 and Prescott still wasn’t happy with the offense’s red zone efficiency. But he was 31 of 38 for 255 yards and two TDs against the NFL’s No. 1 pass defense in 2022.
“We left a lot out there still,” Prescott said. “That’s the standard of this offense, standard of this team. We expect to score touchdowns on every drive. ... but overall a very efficient team win.”
Mayfield overcame a slow start and played efficient in a road win at Minnesota in Week 1. He followed up with a big game in Tampa Bay’s 27-17 victory over the Bears. Mayfield had 317 yards passing, one TD and again played mistake-free ball.
The Buccaneers are 2-0 in their first season without Tom Brady.
“Our guys are motivated,” Mayfield said. “That’s kind of been the narrative the whole time that (there were) low expectations for this team. But, inside of our locker room, we have an extremely high standard. So, we’ve got to continue to grow.”
Mayfield sees plenty of room for improvement. His confidence level is high, as usual.
“When we grow in this offense, continue to get better and better, we’re going to be able to do whatever we want,” Mayfield said.
Howell and the Commanders showed plenty of growth and resilience in Denver, rallying from a 21-3 deficit for a 35-33 victory. Howell had 299 yards passing and two TDs, leading Washington to its first 2-0 start since 2011.
The Saints and Browns will look to join them Monday night while the Steelers and Panthers try to avoid going 0-2.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl