Week 2 of the 2025 season has arrived, and the only, somewhat mild, surprise thus far is that the Washington Commanders, who entered Thursday night as three-point road underdogs, looked outclassed against the host Green Bay Packers in a 27-18 defeat.
The 18 points Washington scored were tied for the Commanders’ fewest in a game started by 2024 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year quarterback Jayden Daniels‘ brief career. What other unforeseen events could occur in Week 1? In accordance with popular demand, here are five bold predictions as we head into the weekend action of Week 2.
Colts upset Broncos, stingy defense behind another strong outing by Daniel Jones
Almost no one except perhaps Daniel Jones himself thought the New York Giants castoff would play well, let alone dominate like he did as the Indianapolis Colts’ starting quarterback in their 33-8 demolition of the Miami Dolphins in Week 1.
Jones went off for 272 yards passing and a touchdown on 22 of 29 passing in addition to two rushing touchdowns. That effort helped the Colts become the first team in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to score on every offensive possession of a game. Now, it’s one thing to do all that against a Miami Dolphins team with plenty of uncertainty.
It would be another for Jones to do that again in Week 2 against the Denver Broncos, a team that leads the NFL with six sacks. Well, Jones is going to ball out again and lead the Colts to a 2-0 start with an upset victory over the Broncos. Indianapolis will lean on Pro Bowl running back Jonathan Taylor early to set up the play-action pass for Jones and Co. He completed 8 of his 11 play-action throws for 121 yards (11 yards per pass attempt) in Week 1.
Offensively, the Broncos appear quite beatable following quarterback Bo Nix’s struggles in Denver’s 20-12 Week 1 win against the Tennessee Titans. Nix committed a career-high three turnovers (two interceptions and a lost fumble) while barely completing over 50% of his passes: 25 of 40 for 176 yards passing.
Jones and Taylor will drive the Colts offense to enough success over Denver, and Nix’s struggles will continue as Indianapolis topples Denver’s domineering defense.
The New England Patriots have never beaten the Miami Dolphins with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa under center. Ever. Tagovailoa is in elite company with three Pro Football Hall of Famers in the club of quarterbacks with at least a seven-game winning streak against the Patriots: Dan Marino (11 games), John Elway (10 games) and Joe Namath 10 games.
|
1989-1995 |
Dan Marino |
11 games |
|
1984-1998 |
John Elway |
10 games |
|
1966-1972 |
Joe Namath |
10 games |
|
2020-2024 |
Tua Tagovailoa* |
7 games |
* 7-0 in career vs. Patriots
On a related note, the last Patriots quarterback to win at Miami, where the two teams will square off in Week 2, was Tom Brady in 2019. New England has since lost five consecutive road trips to South Beach.
However, the underdog Patriots will upset the host Dolphins, who are currently 1.5-point favorites, per FanDuel Sportsbook, to get to 1-1 this week. New England quarterback Drake Maye, while looking uneven at times, threw for a career-high 287 yards passing, one touchdown and one interception with 30 completions on 46 pass attempts. Maye’s one interception was an overthrow targeted toward new No. 1 wide receiver Stefon Diggs, but there’s a good chance that duo’s connection could be much improved after finally getting out there in a real game together.
Miami could also be down a starting offensive lineman with right tackle Austin Jackson (toe) not practicing on Wednesday or Thursday this week. That could mean another big week for new Patriots edge rusher Harold Landry III, who racked up two-and-a-half sacks of Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith in Week 1 — the most in a New England debut all time.
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Bears upset Lions, hand Detroit consecutive losses for first time since 2022
The Detroit Lions stumbled out of the gate in 2025, losing 27-13 in Week 1 at the Green Bay Packers in a lifeless loss and their largest defeat since 2023. Good news for Detroit is it has won 10 consecutive games following a loss, the longest active streak in the NFL. The last time the Lions lost consecutive games was all the way back in October 2022.
Another positive note for Detroit is that it is 5-1 against its Week 2 opponent, the Chicago Bears since 2022. However, the Lions’ game against the Bears will be a little different: Detroit will welcome back former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to Ford Field as the new coach of the Bears. The Lions averaged 29 points per game in Johnson’s three seasons at the controls, the most in the NFL from 2022 to 2024.
Despite Lions quarterback Jared Goff carving up the Bears last season (five touchdowns passes and no interceptions while averaging 278.5 passing yards per game), Johnson and his new quarterback Caleb Williams will get the better of Goff and coach Dan Campbell in Week 2. Packers quarterback Jordan Love was able to pick apart the Lions’ secondary early in Week 1, and Johnson, having been in the building the last three years, will have critical insight in Williams being able to do the same. Detroit’s new defensive coordinator, Kelvin Sheppard, was an internal promotion from the role of linebackers coach after all.
Plus, Chicago is primed to get No. 1 cornerback Jaylon Johnson (calf/groin) back in action in Week 2. He fully practiced on both Wednesday and Thursday after missing Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings. The Bears will give Ben Johnson the last laugh with a shocking Week 2 victory.
Aaron Rodgers throws at least four pass TD for third consecutive game for first time in career
Despite being 41 years old, it appears four-time NFL MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers still has it. He threw for 244 yards and four touchdowns on 22 of 30 passing in the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-32 victory in Week 1. Those four touchdowns without an interception made Rodgers the fourth quarterback in NFL history to hit those numbers in a team debut.
That production also gave Rodgers 507 career passing touchdowns, putting him one away from tying Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame predecessor Brett Favre for the fourth-most in NFL history and two away from surpassing him for the fourth-most ever. It’s remarkable given Rodgers has played over 50 fewer career games, 302 for Favre and 249 for Rodgers, than Favre.
Facing a solid Seattle Seahawks defense in Week 2, Rodgers will leave Favre in the dust and throw for at least four touchdowns for the third consecutive game for the first time in his career. How rare of a feat is this? No player has done so since Tom Brady across the 2020 and 2021 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowl wide receiver DK Metcalf, who spent the first six seasons of his career (2019-24) with the Seahawks before being traded to Steelers in March, will certainly be crucial to this bold prediction coming true. He already showed he’s better off with Rodgers after catching four passes for 83 yards in his Steelers debut after producing 70 or fewer receiving yards in his final eight games in Seattle.
Yes, the Seahawks have a decent defense under coach Mike Macdonald. Seattle’s 21.4 points per game allowed under Macdonald since 2024 rank as the ninth-fewest in the NFL. However, Rodgers goes off for four touchdowns once again.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is a long shot to play in Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints, and he could reportedly miss multiple weeks while dealing with shoulder and toe ailments.
That’s a big deal because San Francisco went 0-2 without Purdy in the lineup last season with both of those losses coming by at least 23 points. Those performances line up with how coach Kyle Shanahan’s offenses have performed without Purdy and previous longtime starter Jimmy Garoppolo. Shanahan’s 49ers are 62-30 while averaging 27.2 points per game with either Purdy or Garoppolo starting and just 9-32 without either of them in the lineup while averaging under 20 points per game (19.6) in those 41 games.
However, the 49ers will not only win but also score 20 or more points against the New Orleans Saints despite the history. The Saints put up a fight against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1, losing by one score. Yes, Mac Jones, who will fill in for Purdy, threw as many interceptions (eight) as touchdowns last season (eight) while losing five of his seven starts in place of an injured Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville.
That’s OK because 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year running back Christian McCaffrey looked to be close to peak form in Week 1, going off for 142 scrimmage yards on 31 touches. Shanahan will pound the football with CMC, and his 49ers will win and score over 20 points without Purdy.
