Week 2 of the NFL 2026 season arrives after a wild opening week.

Here, we’ll offer some of the biggest NFL questions entering Week 2:

Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season featured a ton of scoring, averaging 49.4 points per game.

Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season matched the highest-scoring opening week since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger with 791 points, or 49.4 points per game.

Read more: https://t.co/qOUoT7X5az pic.twitter.com/uoPXnf9YtT

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) September 15, 2026

That was especially on display in the Chicago Bears’ 59-37 road win over the Carolina Panthers.

There have been a lot of guesses as to why offenses look ahead of defenses to open the season, with one of the popular suggestions being that it’s related to the lack of physicality and tackling from defenses in training camp these days.

But it’s also how the game has trended in terms of roster-building, coaching, and philosophy (led by the coaching and plenty of brilliant offensive minds).

Odds are that things won’t remain quite as wild as Week 1, but there are numerous high-powered offenses, while there are numerous defenses with real concerns.

Yes. But it will be fair to panic if they lose on Sunday.

The Los Angeles Chargers suffered an embarrassing 26-14 home loss to an Arizona Cardinals team that many NFL evaluators thought would be league-worst. In Week 2, the Chargers will host the Las Vegas Raiders, another rebuilding team.

There are no such things as “must-win” games in Week 2, but this is pretty close, especially with the Chargers’ schedule that follows: at the Buffalo Bills, at the Seattle Seahawks, vs. the Denver Broncos, at the Kansas City Chiefs, at the Los Angeles Rams, vs. the Houston Texans, at the Baltimore Ravens. Grueling, and that’s why you really don’t want to lose home games to teams like the Cardinals and Raiders.

The Green Bay Packers continued a trend going back to last season of disastrous meltdowns

The Packers have lost six straight dating back to last season and including playoffs, their longest losing streak 1990-91. They led by more than one score (9+ points) in the second half of four of those losses: Week 15 at Denver, Week 16 at Chicago, the wild-card game at Chicago…

— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) September 13, 2026

Green Bay appeared to be in full control of its game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday before allowing 29 unanswered points in the second half to lose 39-22.

Jim Nantz: “Three touchdowns in a two-minute and 42-second stretch. And 29 unanswered points.”

J.J. Watt: “Just an incredible sequence of events here.”

Nantz and Watt couldn’t believe the Vikings’ late onslaught/Packers’ meltdown. pic.twitter.com/ZoBE36KuWN

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 13, 2026

A Packers loss on the road to the New York Jets in Week 2 would lead to plenty of uproar in Green Bay.

The Denver Broncos had a pretty disappointing effort across the board in a 31-10 loss to the AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night at Arrowhead Stadium. Denver’s supposedly elite defense was vulnerable, and Bo Nix was awful at quarterback.

Losing in Kansas City in primetime isn’t a big deal in itself, but starting 0-1 could quickly make things uncomfortable when you consider the Broncos’ upcoming schedule:

vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (Week 2)
vs. Los Angeles Rams (Week 3)
at San Francisco 49ers (Week 4)
at Los Angeles Chargers (Week 5)
vs. Seattle Seahawks (Week 6)

The Jaguars game is the only one the Broncos are currently favored in, and that’s by just 2.5 points. Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville offense looked great in Week 1.

Week 2 will be a tough test for the Broncos, but it’s a game they really want to win with what follows. And if the offense looks bad again, Sean Payton might take the playcalling duties back from Davis Webb.

Laura Rutledge at halftime: “How’s it been not calling plays for you?”

Sean Payton: “Ask me in another half here.”

The Broncos lost 31-10 to the Chiefs. pic.twitter.com/8ziv5dLN5w

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 15, 2026

For at least one more game, seemingly. But it seems to be a matter of when, not if, Watson is benched in favor of Shedeur Sanders.

In addition to criticizing Browns fans and the media, Watson looked bad at quarterback all camp and led Cleveland to just 10 points in Week 1.

.@Jaguars INT ALERT 🚨

CLEvsJAX on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/L0oXz3R29V

— NFL (@NFL) September 13, 2026

Watson is now 31 and was last an effective quarterback in 2020. And the Browns are a going-nowhere team that needs to think about the big picture.

Sanders probably isn’t the solution either, but there’s at least some upside there worth getting an answer on. We already have the answer on Watson.

Probably.

After a travel plan that drew plenty of criticism, the Rams were steamrolled 27-7 by the San Francisco 49ers in Australia.

Only one team failed to score double digits in Week 1:

The Los Angeles Rams pic.twitter.com/58WjFeF3O1

— Yahoo Fantasy Sports (@YahooFantasy) September 15, 2026

Additionally, the Rams placed superstar pass rusher Myles Garrett (arthroscopic knee surgery) on injured reserve on Thursday, meaning he will miss at least four games.

Still, this is a loaded Rams team that remains the betting favorite to win the Super Bowl. Even if the defense takes a step back without Garrett and while franchise legend Aaron Donald tries to get into return-from-retirement form, the offense should be able to carry the team at times.

Now, if the Rams lose at home to the New York Giants on Monday Night Football to fall to 0-2, it will be fair to wonder if this team isn’t quite the juggernaut we anticipated.