There was no shortage of talking points as Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season delivered its best games on Sunday, with the New England Patriots making a statement on home soil, a chaotic overtime finish at MetLife Stadium, and the Cincinnati Bengals serving notice to the AFC with a dismantling of the Houston Texans.
Patriots defence does the heavy lifting in 20-3 win over Steelers
For the first time since 2020, the New England Patriots won their home opener, but it was a performance built almost entirely on the defense.
Drake Maye and the offense found just enough to win, with TreVeyon Henderson’s 39-yard touchdown run.
The Steelers managed only 188 total yards across 60 minutes and could not put any sustained pressure on a Patriots secondary that refused to give Aaron Rodgers anything to work with.
The play of the game came in the early fourth quarter when Christian Barmore and Elijah Ponder combined for a strip-sack touchdown to end whatever faint hope Pittsburgh retained.
New England outgained the Steelers by 169 yards and moved to 1-1 on the season with a result that, despite the scoreline, was tighter than it looked for much of the afternoon.
Packers survive Jets scare to win in overtime
Matt LaFleur had seen enough horror shows on the road over the past two seasons to know that a trip to MetLife Stadium represented danger, and his Green Bay side needed everything they had to beat the Jets 20-17 in overtime at East Rutherford.
Jordan Love leaned heavily on his passing game again – 42 attempts for the second consecutive week after throwing the same number at the Vikings in Week 1 – and it was rookie running back MarShawn Lloyd’s screen pass touchdown that gave the Packers the early lead.
The Jets, buoyed by a noisy home crowd and the confidence of their Week 1 win over Tennessee, hit back through Braelon Allen’s six-yard run and the game went to overtime tied at 17.
The afternoon was badly soured by the sight of Jayden Reed and right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele both being carted off the field on back-to-back plays in the third quarter, two significant injury blows for a Packers squad already carrying depth concerns.
A field goal in overtime settled it in Green Bay’s favour, but LaFleur will know the performance was far from convincing.
Bengals serve AFC notice with Texans win
The loudest statement of the weekend came from Cincinnati, who moved to 2-0 by exposing a vulnerable Houston side. Joe Burrow completed 20 of 31 passes for 207 yards, both touchdowns going to Ja’Marr Chase, who caught seven passes for 75 yards.
Tee Higgins filled the gaps with five catches for 95 yards, and Chase Brown added 80 rushing yards on 20 carries as the ground game kept the chains moving.
The Texans, missing Nico Collins through a hamstring injury and without Jayden Higgins, who is on season-ending injured reserve, could not find a foothold in the passing game.
C.J. Stroud threw a career-high 55 passes and completed 30 for 353 yards – but the Cincinnati defence held Houston to two field goals, four red zone trips that produced zero touchdowns, and just 60 rushing yards.
Williams limps off as Vikings grind out ugly win over Bears
At Soldier Field, a Biblical downpour served as the fitting backdrop to the most forgettable 60 minutes of Week 2. The Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears 9-3 in a game with no touchdowns, decided entirely by field goals and defensive plays.
Will Reichard accounted for all nine of Minnesota’s points with three field goals, his longest a 49-yarder in the second half that stretched the lead to six.
Isaiah Rodgers was the defensive hero, blocking a Cairo Santos field goal attempt in the fourth quarter that would have trimmed the deficit to three, and Dallas Turner recorded two of the Vikings’ four sacks in a dominant showing from Brian Flores’s unit.
The afternoon turned significantly grimmer for the Bears when Caleb Williams limped off with a right hamstring injury midway through the fourth quarter.
Williams had been 15 for 26 for 138 yards, also carrying five times for 42 yards, before leaving a drenched and disconsolate Soldier Field crowd to watch backup Justin Fields attempt to salvage something.
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