The Miami Dolphins receivers and Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett headline the winners and losers of Week 2
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Tyler Lauletta
Sep 19, 2022, 20:17 IST
Kyler Murray celebrates a successful two-point conversion against the Las Vegas Raiders.AP Photo/John Locher
Week 2 of the NFL season was a wild one.
Three teams — the Dolphins, Jets, and Cardinals — erased double-digit deficits late in the game to pull off astounding comebacks.
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There was plenty of action in Week 2 of the NFL season: Unbelievable comebacks headlined the early slate of games, led by the Dolphins and Jets, terrible coaching decisions, and a miraculous run by one of the league's most exciting young quarterbacks.
Take a look below at the winners and losers of Week 2:
WINNER: Comebacks
Week 2 was a wild one, with three games featuring double-digit comebacks late in the game.
The Dolphins erased a 21-point deficit to the Ravens, scoring 28 points in the fourth quarter to steal a 42-38 win in Baltimore. Newly acquired wide receiver Tyreek Hill paid off in a big way, beating coverage for two deep touchdowns late in the game to spark the comeback effort.
In Las Vegas, the Raiders blew a 23-7 fourth-quarter lead to the Arizona Cardinals, who were able to score 16 unanswered to force overtime, then take the game with a scoop-and-score.
But the most embarrassing loss of the day came from the Cleveland Browns, who blew a 13-point lead to the New York Jets in less than 90 seconds of football.
LOSER: Cleveland Browns
Woweee, this was a sad showing. Mistakes came from across the board. Everyone is to blame.
The Browns effort to gift the game to the Jets began late in the fourth quarter. With Cleveland holding a touchdown lead heading into the two-minute warning, the Browns were in the red zone with a chance to score again.
To be clear, they did not need to score again. With the Jets out of timeouts, three kneeldowns would put the game away for good. But running back Nick Chubb broke free and found paydirt.
Sure, the Browns were giving the Jets the ball back when they could have chosen instead to watch the clock tick to zero and take the win. But whatever, there's not way this would not come back to bite them, right?
Also, kicker Cade York missed the extra point following the touchdown, meaning the Browns lead stood at 30-17.
But again, that wouldn't matter, right? This game is basically over.
Then the Browns defense blew their coverage in truly embarrassing fashion.
Mike McDaniel's first year as an NFL head coach is off to a hot start.
Tua Tagovailoa is playing as well as he ever has. The acquisition of superstar receiver Tyreek Hill is already paying dividends, with two touchdowns in the Dolphins' comeback effort against the Ravens. Hill was matched by his fellow speedster Jaylen Waddle, who secured two touchdowns of his own.
With Waddle and Hill causing so much trouble, the rest of the offense should continue to open up. The Dolphins appear to have the most fearsome duo of receivers in the league, and McDaniel seems ready to get the most out of them.
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LOSER: Nathaniel Hackett
Broncos rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett does not look ready for the big leagues.
Somehow, this Sunday was worse for the coach. While the Broncos were eventually able to eke out a win against the Texans, it was far tougher a struggle than it should have been. Twice Denver took a delay-of-game penalty on fourth-and-short because Hackett was indecisive before sending the kicking team out. The second of those times, the delay penalty knocked the Broncos out of field-goal range, forcing them to punt.
The fans in Denver were not pleased, and took to shouting out the time left on the play clock in an effort to prevent their team from taking another stupid penalty.
After Dak Prescott went down with a thumb injury last week, it felt like the Cowboys could be dismissed for the rest of the year. Though the defense played well enough during their season opener, the offense was listless when Dak was on the field, and even moreso when backup Cooper Rush took over.
But on Sunday, getting just the second start of his professional career, Rush came through for the Cowboys, doing just enough to push his team to a 20-17 win over the Bengals.
It's still unclear how long Prescott will be out, but if Rush can sustain this level of play, the Cowboys can at least stay competitive in the interim.
LOSER: Cincinnati Bengals offensive line
The Bengals got blown up by the Steelers defense in Week 1, with quarterback Joe Burrow taking seven sacks and giving up five turnovers in a loss.
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Against the Cowboys on Sunday, Burrow got crushed again, taking six more sacks and facing a ton of pressure when he was able to stay upright.
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