NFL winners and losers, Week 2: Ravens staring at potential 0-5 start

Each week of the NFL season, The Baltimore Sun will recap the best and worst from around the league. Here are our winners and losers from Week 2:

Loser: Ravens

You’re going to hear this stat a lot this week: In three seasons since the NFL moved to a 17-game schedule, 21 teams have started 0-2. Only two have made the playoffs.

After a stunning 26-23 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Sunday’s home opener, the Ravens will try to defy the odds and join that exclusive group.

“We will be defined by the next 15 games,” coach John Harbaugh said.

About those next 15 games. Up next are the Dallas Cowboys, who before suffering a surprising blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday had a 16-game home winning streak during the regular season. Then it’s a visit from the Buffalo Bills and NFL Most Valuable Player candidate Josh Allen on “Sunday Night Football.” In Week 5, the Ravens go to Cincinnati to face the AFC North rival Bengals, who nearly beat the two-time defending Super Bowl champs on Sunday in Kansas City.

There’s a world in which the Ravens sweep those games and are right back in the playoff conversation. There’s another in which they lose all three, perhaps in heartbreaking fashion, and are effectively eliminated from postseason contention before Halloween.

Harbaugh and the Ravens don’t sound worried, which is to be expected. This team has won a lot of games with Lamar Jackson as the starting quarterback — 60, to be exact, including the postseason — and won’t throw in the towel after two tough losses. But there are perhaps more reasons to be concerned than ever with Jackson under center, namely a porous offensive line with three new starters, head-scratching game management from Harbaugh and a revamped coaching staff. The defense, expected to again be one of the league’s best, couldn’t stop a one-dimensional offense led by journeyman quarterback Gardner Minshew II.

The Jackson-Harbaugh partnership has a long track record of success in the regular season, including a league-best 13-4 record last year and a 14-2 campaign in 2019 that included a franchise-record 12 straight wins. They deserve the benefit of the doubt, but that could all change in the next three weeks.

Winner: New Orleans Saints

What got into Derek Carr?

Last year, he was booed at times by his home crowd during a stale 9-8 campaign that ended short of a postseason berth. This year, he’s the toast of the town as the Saints have raced to a surprising 2-0 start.

In Sunday’s 44-19 win over the Cowboys, Carr threw for 243 yards on just 11 completions, including a 70-yard touchdown pass over two defenders to Rashid Shaheed in the first quarter. For a quarterback who has often been criticized for his hesitancy to throw the ball downfield and settle for checkdowns, that’s stunning.

Carr’s newfound aggressiveness has lifted a team that many picked to finish behind the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South. Don’t forget about Alvin Kamara, either. The 29-year-old running back scored four touchdowns and totaled 180 yards from scrimmage in Sunday’s win, while the defense intercepted Dak Prescott twice and recorded three sacks. New Orleans scored points on its first 15 drives of the season, making offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak the early favorite for Assistant Coach of the Year.

The Saints might be more than the default winner of one of the league’s worst divisions. They could be a legitimate contender in the NFC.

Loser: Indianapolis Colts

This was supposed to be a layup.

The Green Bay Packers entered Sunday without star quarterback Jordan Love, who injured his knee in the season opener. In his place stepped Malik Willis, now on his second team after a failed experiment as the starter in Tennessee.

In 67 career attempts, Willis had never thrown a touchdown pass. The 2022 third-round pick was known more for his rushing ability and was considered one of the worst backups in the league.

So what did he do Sunday against the Colts? He was incredibly efficient, completing 12 of 14 attempts for 122 yards and his first NFL touchdown pass while rushing for 41 yards in a 16-10 win.

Meanwhile, Anthony Richardson, the Colts’ ballyhooed young starter, completed just 17 of 34 passes for 204 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions, the last coming on a Hail Mary in the final seconds.

Indianapolis was only a 2 1/2-point favorite, so it’s not a shocking upset. But this was an opportunity for the Colts to build some momentum with their young quarterback and keep up with the rising Houston Texans in the AFC South. Richardson is incredibly raw, having only started 13 games in college before declaring for the NFL draft. But at some point, he’s going to have to prove that those flashes of talent can translate to winning games.

Winner: Running the ball

Passing and scoring numbers are down across the league through the first two weeks, a sign that defenses might finally be catching up. But that hasn’t stopped teams from running the ball effectively.

According to The Ringer’s Riley McAtee, teams are averaging 123.5 rushing yards per game, the highest mark since 1987. The average yards per carry mark of 4.5 would tie 2022 for the all-time high.

In Sunday’s win over the Colts, the Packers rushed for 261 yards, their most since 2003. The Packers gained 164 rushing yards in the first quarter alone, the highest first-quarter total for any NFL team since the Denver Broncos had 167 against the New England Patriots on Dec. 18, 2011, according to The Associated Press.

The Saints’ 91 points through the first two games are the second-most this century, in large part because of a rushing attack that has totaled 370 yards.

Defenses will have a chance to adjust, but the cyclical nature of the league suggests that running the ball might be an effective counter against lighter and faster units designed to stop the pass.

Loser: Caleb Williams

Before he entered the league, much of the talk about Williams was that he was entering one of the best situations ever for a No. 1 overall draft pick.

It was easy to understand why. The Bears finished the 2023 season 7-10, but they got the top pick via the Bryce Young trade with the Carolina Panthers the previous year. The defense had made significant improvement after acquiring defensive end Montez Sweat midseason and was poised to become one of the league’s best. Chicago acquired Keenan Allen and drafted Rome Odunze, filling out a deep group of pass catchers alongside DJ Moore and tight ends Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett.

Well, the offensive line leaves a lot to be desired.

In Sunday night’s 19-13 loss to the Houston Texans, Williams was sacked seven times and hit 11 times. It was bad enough for fans to wonder whether he’ll be able to avoid getting seriously injured if this keeps up.

Miraculously, the Bears still had a chance to win after taking possession at their 20-yard line with 1:37 to play, but Williams was under constant pressure and could not convert a fourth-and-17 with 34 seconds left.

Not every team will have as fearsome of a pass rush as the Texans, who boast Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, but Chicago must figure out a way to better protect their franchise quarterback before it’s too late.