A Look At All 32 NFL Team Trends In First 2 Weeks

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NFC NORTH​

Chicago Bears​

The early surprise: QB Justin Fields looks worse than he did last season

The verdict: Real. The Bears' quarterback has a 23 QBR through two games, which is 31st in the league. Fields has thrown 66 passes in their first two games, which is not something he has shown he can handle thus far in his career, but it's not like the Bears have helped him along by injecting a heavy dose of play-action or leaning on the run game. Fields' flaws are more magnified and feel worse than a year ago. He's still holding on to the ball too long -- on 43 dropbacks where he's had at least three seconds to throw, 23 plays have resulted in incompletions or sacks. It's clear Fields isn't seeing receivers downfield. -- Courtney Cronin

 

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Detroit Lions​

The early surprise: TE Sam LaPorta has 10 receptions in his first two career games

The verdict: Real. It didn't take long for Lions QB Jared Goff to establish trust in his rookie tight end, whom Detroit picked in the second round. Their chemistry developed in training camp and offseason workouts, where LaPorta proved himself early, which is why he has 102 receiving yards in his first two games. The chemistry with Goff could strengthen as the season progresses, so it certainly seems like LaPorta will continue to play a pivotal role as an impact player in this offense. -- Eric Woodyard

 

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Green Bay Packers​

The early surprise: QB Jordan Love has six touchdown passes and zero interceptions

The verdict: Real. Now, let's be even more real: He's not going to finish with 51 touchdown passes and zero interceptions. But the biggest question about most first-time starting quarterbacks is whether they can take care of the ball. And Love has been unflappable in that regard. He said before the season that he was willing to take the checkdowns if necessary and not force the ball, and he's done just that. At some point, he's going to need to connect on some deep balls, but that's about the only thing missing from Love's game right now. -- Rob Demovsky

 

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Minnesota Vikings​

The early surprise: The Vikings have committed seven turnovers and have a minus-6 turnover margin

The verdict: Mirage. They are the first team since 2003 to lose six fumbles in the first two games of a season, putting them on track to tie the NFL record for fumbles per game (36 in 12 games by the 1959 Chicago Cardinals). But there have been scores of studies that show fumble recoveries are a random event. So even if their pace of fumbles continues, history tells us they'll start recovering some of them to minimize the damage. -- Kevin Seifert

 

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NFC SOUTH​

Atlanta Falcons​

The early surprise: The Falcons have allowed 17.0 points per game

The verdict: Real. Atlanta spent a lot of money on its defense in free agency, bringing in new starters at safety (Jessie Bates III), linebacker (Kaden Elliss), edge rusher (Bud Dupree) and defensive line (Calais Campbell and David Onyemata). They've made a marked difference. Add in more depth at every position and an aggressive style with first-year coordinator Ryan Nielsen, and the Falcons' defense looks more formidable than the last two seasons, when Atlanta struggled to get off the field. The Falcons are allowing conversions on 34.8% of third downs compared to 45.9% last season. -- Michael Rothstein

 

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Carolina Panthers​

The early surprise: QB Bryce Young ranks 28th in completion percentage

The verdict: Mirage. Young completed an average of 65.8% of passes at Alabama, but he completed only 58.3% of his attempts during the preseason, and a big reason was pressure. That's still an issue in the first two games, helping contribute to his 59.2% completion percentage. He's completed only 6 of 19 (31%) attempts under pressure, with four sacks in the first two games. Once he gets better protection, it's realistic to believe his numbers will shoot up dramatically. -- David Newton

 

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New Orleans Saints​

The early surprise: The Saints have allowed eight sacks in the first two games

The verdict: Real. This seems to be a trend for the Saints in early games. At this time last season, they'd allowed 10 sacks, and they allowed seven in the first three games of 2021. The offensive line issue is certainly real, and coach Dennis Allen admitted the Saints "haven't done as good of a job at protecting the quarterback early in the game." Until the unit starts to jell, the offense will likely continue to face problems with consistency. -- Katherine Terrell

 

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers​

The early surprise: New offensive coordinator Dave Canales is the answer for QB Baker Mayfield

The verdict: Real. Under Canales, who has been largely credited for helping revive Geno Smith's career with the Seahawks, Mayfield has a top-10 ranking in Total QBR (66.4), completion percentage (69.1%) and touchdown passes (three), and he hasn't turned the ball over. He'll tell you he needs to be better in the red zone, and the Bucs were 1-for-4 in that department last week, but Mayfield is a natural in this system. -- Jenna Laine

 

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NFC WEST​

Arizona Cardinals​

The early surprise: The Cardinals' defense has nine sacks in two games

The verdict: Real. The Cardinals' pass rush has proved to be fast, effective and mighty. Arizona is second in the NFL with nine sacks, and its sack rate of 10.8% is fourth in the league. The Cardinals' front seven is deep, and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis has been creative with his fronts, which have created mismatches in the Cardinals' favor and should be sustainable as the season evolves. -- Josh Weinfuss

 

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Los Angeles Rams​

The early surprise: WR Puka Nacua is off to a record-breaking start

The verdict: Real. On Sunday against the 49ers, Nacua broke the NFL's single-game record for receptions by a rookie with 15 and set an NFL record with 25 catches in the first two games of his career. It's clear that even after Cooper Kupp returns from injured reserve, Nacua will have a big role in the Rams' offense. Of course, the target share will even out, but quarterback Matthew Stafford and coach Sean McVay have expressed the confidence they have in the fifth-round rookie receiver, who has impressed the Rams' coaches with his physicality and knowledge of the game. -- Sarah Barshop

 

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San Francisco 49ers​

The early surprise: K Jake Moody has made all 12 of his kicks

The verdict: Real. Moody is one of five kickers since the merger to make six-plus field goals and six-plus extra points without a miss in his first two career games. He's going to miss at some point, but the early fears that came with his preseason misfires and his right quad injury have been alleviated. Moody is kicking in games like he has in practice, and his 57-yarder against the Rams is the second-longest field goal in 49ers history. If he can remain consistent, Moody will wipe away all the doubts that followed San Francisco using the No. 99 pick on him in this year's draft. -- Nick Wagoner

 

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Seattle Seahawks​

The early surprise: The Seahawks have allowed 2.9 yards per carry

The verdict: Real. Or at least real-ish. That figure ranks third best in the NFL through two weeks. That low of an average hardly seems sustainable when you consider that no team allowed fewer than 3.4 yards per carry last season, and even the Legion of Boom-era Seahawks defenses allowed 3.7 YPC over their two Super Bowl seasons. So there's bound to be at least some regression, but there's no denying that Seattle's run defense is improved from the unit that was one of the league's worst a year ago. And they've done it without safety Jamal Adams, who figures to be a difference-maker against the run when he returns in Week 3 or 4. -- Brady Henderson