There were a lot of firsts in Week 2. The Cleveland Browns earned their first home opening victory in ten years while the San Francisco 49ers suffered their first loss in their new stadium. The defending Super Bowl champions were also handed their first loss of the season in San Diego.
In perhaps the biggest upset of the week, the Browns defeated the New Orleans Saints 26-24 on a last-second field goal by Billy Cundiff. Quarterback Brian Hoyer was 8-of-11 for 78 yards on the 14-play 85-yard drive that culminated in the game-winning field goal for Cleveland, giving them their first home opener victory since 2004. Johnny Manziel also made his NFL debut, but collected no statistics.
The Browns improved to 1-1 and dropped the Saints to 0-2, but New Orleans' next three games could help them gain some ground after their poor start. They'll face Minnesota at home next week, followed by the Cowboys in Dallas and then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home before entering the bye week. They'll have to minimize the turnovers - four in the first two games - if they want to get back on track.
During the 4:00 p.m. games, the biggest surprise was the San Diego Chargers defeating the Seattle Seahawks 30-21. Philip Rivers threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns in the team's first win of the year over the defending Super Bowl champions. All of his touchdown passes were to tight end Antonio Gates, who also led the team in receiving with seven receptions for 96 yards. The Chargers converted 10-of-17 third downs to keep a number of drives alive and ate up the clock. Following the game, wide receiver Keenan Allen, who had five receptions for 55 yards, said that Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman is "just a normal guy" based on the success the Chargers had throwing in his direction.
San Diego did an excellent job of keeping the Seahawks offense off of the field and held the ball for over 42 minutes compared to Seattle's 17. Seattle had the ball for just 52 seconds in the second quarter and just under four minutes in the fourth quarter.
But NBC's Sunday Night Football probably provided the most memorable conclusion. The Chicago Bears visited the San Francisco 49ers to play in the debut game at Levi's Stadium. The 49ers led the Bears 20-7 going into the fourth quarter, but Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall would quickly change that. The offense capitalized off of two Colin Kaepernick interceptions in the fourth and scored three touchdowns to win 28-20. Cutler finished with 176 passing yards and four touchdowns, and Marshall, who was a game-time decision to play, was on the receiving end of three of them. It was a much needed win for Chicago, who fell to the Buffalo Bills in overtime in their home opener last week.
Week 2 of the NFL concludes on Monday night in Indianapolis when the Colts square off against the Philadelphia Eagles.
