There was no shortage of talking points as in week 2 of 2026 NFL The season offered its best games on Sunday, with the New England Patriots making a statement at home, a chaotic overtime finish at MetLife Stadium and the Cincinnati Bengals putting the AFC on notice with a dismantling of the Houston Texans.
Patriots defense does the heavy lifting in 20-3 win over Steelers
For the first time since 2020, the New England Patriots won their first game at home, but it was a performance built almost entirely on defence.
Drake Maye and the offense found enough to win, capped by TreVeyon Henderson’s 39-yard touchdown run.
The Steelers managed just 188 total yards in 60 minutes and couldn’t sustainably pressure a Patriots secondary that refused to give Aaron Rodgers anything to work with.
The game of the game came early in the fourth quarter when Christian Barmore and Elijah Ponder combined for a strip-sack touchdown to end any faint hope Pittsburgh had.
New England outgained the Steelers 169 yards and moved to 1-1 on the season in a result that, despite the score, 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 team needed everything it had to beat the Jets 20-17 in overtime in East Rutherford.
Jordan Love relied heavily on his passing game again – 42 attempts for the second straight week after throwing the same number to the Vikings in Week 1 – and it was rookie running back MarShawn Lloyd who gave the Packers the screen pass.
The Jets, buoyed by a raucous home crowd and confidence from their Week 1 win over Tennessee, rallied on Braelon Allen’s six-yard run and the game went into overtime tied at 17.
The afternoon was soured by the sight of Jayden Reed and right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele both off the field on back-to-back plays in the third quarter, two significant injury blows to a Packers team that already had depth concerns.
A field goal in overtime settled it in Green Bay’s favor, but LaFleur will know the performance wasn’t convincing enough.
Bengals put AFC on notice with Texans win
The strongest statement of the weekend came from Cincinnati, which went 2-0 by exposing a vulnerable Houston team. Joe Burrow completed 20 of 31 passes for 207 yards, both touchdowns 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, who lost Nico Collins to a hamstring injury and were without Jayden Higgins, who is on season-ending injured reserve, couldn’t find a foothold in the passing game.
CJ Stroud threw a game-high 55 passes and completed 30 for 353 yards, but Cincinnati’s defense held Houston to two field goals, four trips to the red zone that produced zero touchdowns and just 60 yards rushing.
Williams limps as Vikings pull off ugly win over Bears
At Soldier Field, a biblical downpour served as the backdrop for the most forgettable 60 minutes of Week 2. The Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears 9-3 in a touchdownless game 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 extended the lead to six.
Isaiah Rodgers was the defensive hero, blocking a Cairo Santos field goal attempt in the fourth quarter that would have cut the deficit to three, and Dallas Turner recorded two of the Vikings’ four sacks in a dominant display from Brian Flores’ unit.
The afternoon got a whole lot sadder for the Bears when Caleb Williams hobbled 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 heartbroken Soldier Field crowd to watch backup Justin Fields try to salvage something.
