Every week this NFL season, we will break down the highs and lows—and everything in between—from the most recent slate of pro football. This week, the tush push is back in the spotlight after the Eagles won the Super Bowl rematch against the Chiefs, Joe Burrow’s injured toe is a cloud over the Bengals’ 2-0 start, the Bears (still) look poorly coached, Daniel Jones and the Colts might be for real, and more. Welcome to Winners and Losers.
Loser: Andy Reid
With Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts combining for just 288 passing yards in Sunday’s Super Bowl rematch between the Chiefs and Eagles, the legality of the tush push play that clinched the win for Philadelphia is going to dominate the discussion in coming days. Here’s the sideline angle of the shove, which clearly shows several Eagles linemen moving and entering the neutral zone before the ball is snapped.
That wasn’t an isolated incident, either. Philadelphia appeared to get away with a false start again on the following drive. And as plenty of people pointed out online on Sunday, center Cam Jurgens is lining up over the football, which is considered the neutral zone, nearly every time Philadelphia runs its signature play, as you can see in the video above. The league tried hard, but failed, to ban the tush push in the offseason, and now, thanks to its inability to officiate the play correctly just two games into this season, the discourse about the ethics and efficacy of the push is back.
But Chiefs fans should spend less time complaining about those non-calls and more time worrying about the state of the team’s offense after another tedious outing for Mahomes and the passing game, which has become almost entirely dependent on quarterback scrambles. This is not hyperbole. Mahomes had to literally run through an Eagles defender to extend the team’s first touchdown drive of the day.
It’s a commendable effort from Mahomes, but not one he should be making in such a low-stakes game. Still, it’s hard to hold it against the Chiefs quarterback for playing with such desperation. Andy Reid’s offense is providing Mahomes little to no support, and even his most trusted teammates are starting to let him down more often than not.
That’s Travis Kelce letting an accurate pass bounce off his hands and into the arms of an Eagles defender on the play that swung the game in Philadelphia’s favor for good. It would be easy to pin this loss, which sent the Chiefs to 0-2 for the first time since 2014, on Kelce’s blunder, but there were several mistakes that equally contributed to the loss, like Reid’s fourth-down decision-making. This poorly designed play gave the Eagles a short field with the game tied at 10 in the third quarter.
With just over seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the Chiefs trailing by 10 points, Reid sent the punt team on the field on fourth-and-7, which ended any realistic shot his team had of launching a comeback. It felt like Reid and the offense were waving a white flag.
After the game, Reid took full responsibility for the loss. I wouldn’t go that far—between Kelce’s bobble, Harrison Butker’s missed field goal—and some dubious refereeing on the tush push plays—there’s plenty of blame to go around. But Reid certainly deserves a significant share of the blame for the current state of the Chiefs. He’s been unable to recreate the deep-ball magic that powered early versions of the Mahomes offense, or establish a consistent run game to make up for the lack of explosive passing plays.
Over the past couple of years, winning games has hidden the fact that Reid’s offense has gotten stale. But it is clear the offense is in dire need of a refresh that a 67-year-old head coach may not be capable of providing. With Kansas City sitting in an 0-2 hole with an offense ranked 21st in EPA per play and 27th in success rate, it might be time for some uncomfortable conversations.
Winner: The Bengals (but Only in the Final Score)
The Bengals are 2-0 for the first time since 2018 after a thrilling 31-27 win over the Jaguars, but nobody in Cincinnati is celebrating after watching Joe Burrow limp into the locker room in the first half. According to multiple reports, Burrow suffered a turf toe injury with torn ligaments that could require surgery and keep him out for at least three months. That means it will be Jake Browning running the show for the foreseeable future, just in time for a brutal four-game stretch that includes trips to Minnesota, Denver, and Green Bay, with a home game against the Lions sandwiched in between. Cincinnati likely won’t be favored in any of those games, so while the Bengals have built themselves a (small) margin for error by winning their first two games, it’s not hard to envision them sitting at 2-4 a month from now. It would be yet another early-season hole—only this time without their star quarterback around to pull them out of it.
If there’s any upside to Burrow’s rotten injury luck throughout his career, it’s that Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor has plenty of experience building game plans around Browning. The now-29-year-old backup started seven games in 2023 after a wrist injury ended Burrow’s season in November. And somehow, the Bengals offense actually improved during that stretch of games with Browning under center. It averaged more points per drive, more yards per play, and more EPA per play, and it had a higher success rate. Shockingly, most of the improvement came in the passing game.
2023 Bengals Offense, Split by Starting QB (TruMedia)
Obviously Burrow is a far better quarterback than Browning, and the Bengals are better off with their starting quarterback on the field, but the offense seems to be more efficient with Browning operating it. The simple explanation for that is Taylor creates more “schemed-up” throws for a quarterback he feels like he has to elevate. During that seven-game stretch in 2023, Cincinnati ran far fewer of the shotgun spread looks you’ll typically see with Burrow. The team’s shotgun rate dropped from 91.2 percent to 74.5 percent after Burrow’s injury. Its pass rate dropped by over 6 percentage points. The usage of empty formations was nearly cut in half. And despite the team’s average depth of target dropping by nearly a full yard, its explosive play rate and average yards per attempt both increased. With Browning, there was a spike in turnovers, but again, the overall offensive efficiency increased across the board.
That trend continued on Sunday against the Jags after Burrow was injured. With Browning on the field, the Bengals averaged more yards per play, had a higher success rate, and generated four explosive plays compared to just one before Burrow left the game. Of course, it helped that Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins started doing stuff like this …
But the passing game just seemed to get easier for the Bengals with Browning out there.
With all of that said, Cincinnati would much rather have its top-five quarterback out on the field. Taylor may be able to put more of his own spin on the play calling, but there’s an expiration date on any system that relies on scheme more than talent. If the Bengals are going to be without one of the most talented quarterbacks in the NFL for the next three months, there will be no positive way to spin that.
Loser: The Good Vibes in Jacksonville
I’m still not sure how the Jaguars lost that game to Cincinnati. They outgained the Bengals by 50 yards. They ran for nearly 100 more yards. They even won the turnover battle! It’s challenging to pick out a single reason for Jacksonville’s collapse—but only because there are so many options. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw two interceptions that cost his team points. Jags receivers dropped four passes, including a potential touchdown that bounced off Dyami Brown’s hands, and a fourth-down drop by Brian Thomas Jr. that kept the Bengals in the game. Cincinnati got another lifeline late in the game when Jacksonville’s first-rounder Travis Hunter was called for defensive pass interference on fourth down. To be fair to the Jaguars and the rookie cornerback, it was a terribly soft call by the official.
Nine plays later, Jake Browning plunged into the end zone for the game-winning score. The Jaguars and rookie head coach Liam Coen were this close to a 2-0 start and a bunch of feel-good stories this week. Instead, Coen had to answer questions about his star receiver’s effort and his relationship with Lawrence after this clip went viral.
The Jaguars are 1-1, which doesn’t sound so bad if you ignore how they got there. And there are plenty of positives to take from these first two weeks of the season. That starts with Coen, who already has Jacksonville’s ground game up and running and is scheming up chunk plays with regularity. This looks a lot like the offense we saw Coen coordinate in Tampa Bay a season ago, and he is pulling it off in Jacksonville without the luxury of an elite offensive line. That’s no easy feat, as our next loser can attest.
Loser: Ben Johnson
Ben Johnson called it a “kick in the teeth,” but a swift kick to the mouth may have actually been preferable to the 52-21 beatdown Johnson’s former team gave the Bears on Sunday in Detroit. It was so bad that after the game, Johnson was asked if he thought Dan Campbell, his former boss in Detroit, ran up the score in the fourth quarter. Johnson said he did not see it that way, but the Lions offense did seem to have a point to prove against its former coordinator, as Amon-Ra St. Brown admitted after the game.
Indeed, all of the Lions’ stars showed out against Johnson’s new team. St. Brown caught nine passes for 115 yards and three scores. Jameson Williams had 108 receiving yards (on two catches!) and a score. Running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery combined for 151 yards and two touchdowns on just 23 carries. And quarterback Jared Goff, who was coming off a stinker last week in his first game without Johnson, threw five touchdowns and averaged 11.2 yards per attempt. It was the most efficient offensive performance, as measured by yards per play, in the history of the franchise. For this one Sunday at least, Detroit’s offense seems to be doing just fine without Johnson calling the plays.
Needless to say, things didn’t go so well for Johnson’s new offense. It was another challenging day for second-year QB Caleb Williams, who was sacked four times and may have thrown the worst interception of the week. After two games, Williams is completing just 61.5 percent of his passes, well short of the 70 percent goal Johnson laid out for him in the offseason. It’s been a disappointing start for the 2024 first overall pick, but Chicago’s problems extend far beyond the quarterback position. To start, the Bears rank last in run game efficiency at minus-0.28 EPA per attempt, per TruMedia. Those are concerning numbers for an offensive scheme that is built on a successful run game. Unfortunately for Johnson, he couldn’t bring Detroit’s powerhouse offensive line along with him to Chicago.
Johnson has underwhelmed this season as an offensive play caller, and he’s not doing any better in his role as a head coach. Chicago has looked like a poorly coached team through two weeks. Only the Patriots have lost more EPA via offensive penalties, and only two teams have been flagged more times overall, per TruMedia. There’s also been plenty of bad situational football. The Bears may have cost themselves a chance at a game-winning drive by putting their final kickoff in play against the Vikings last Monday night. They botched an end-of-half situation on Sunday against Detroit, which, along with a refereeing error, gifted the Lions a touchdown. And in the second quarter, Johnson called back-to-back quarterback sneaks from their own 37-yard line. Both failed, giving the Lions a short field.
I’d say this team is playing like Matt Eberflus is still coaching it, but maybe that wouldn’t be fair to Chicago’s former coach.
Winner: Brandon Aubrey
The football wasn’t of the highest quality, but the Giants and Cowboys put on the most entertaining game of the day thanks to a wild fourth quarter that saw the lead change hands five times before regulation ended in a 37-37 tie, giving us the first overtime of the season. The extra period wasn’t nearly as exciting as the first 60 minutes, with the teams trading punts over the first few possessions, but it did provide a fitting end to the thriller, with Aubrey hitting a walk-off field goal to give the Cowboys a win. The game wouldn’t have made it to overtime if not for Aubrey’s 64-yard field goal as time expired.
That kick would have been good from 70 yards out. And the Cowboys were so confident that Aubrey would drill it, they decided to set it up with a run on the previous play rather than ask Dak Prescott to pass it downfield to set up a shorter field goal attempt. I suppose when you have a kicker who has made four field goals of 60 yards or more in just two-plus seasons, you don’t have to manage a game sensibly and can get away with Mike McCarthy–esque bullshit.
The Cowboys needed Aubrey’s heroics after Giants quarterback Russell Wilson turned back the clock and discovered his deep ball during the fourth quarter. Wilson completed six of eight attempts for 123 yards and two touchdowns in the final frame. That’s 15.4 yards per attempt! Malik Nabers found himself on the receiving end of most of those passes, including what seemed at the time to be the game-winning score.
Dallas tried doubling Nabers after watching him burn Trevon Diggs and Co. all day long, but even that didn’t work. Nothing seemed to work for the Cowboys defense. It wasn’t just Nabers torching the secondary. Wan’Dale Robinson set a new career high with 142 receiving yards, and Darius Slayton burned the Dallas secondary on a 52-yard catch. The Cowboys’ defensive front couldn’t tackle rookie running back Cam Skattebo, and the pass rush put pressure on Wilson on only 22 percent of his dropbacks. Jerry Jones was so bothered by what he was seeing out of his defense that he decided to sign veteran pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney to a multiyear contract during the game.
Fortunately for the Dallas defense, Wilson’s deep ball magic ran out in overtime, and he threw one of his patented moon balls directly to a Cowboys safety for an interception that set up the game-winning drive. Aubrey finished off the drive with the game-winning field goal as the overtime clock expired, cementing his status as the NFL’s best kicker and making a little history in the process.
Winner: Daniel Jones
I can’t believe I’m writing about Daniel Jones for a second consecutive week, after he pulled a Dark Knight and followed up his very good opener with an even better sequel. And we can’t hand-wave this one as the result of playing a sad Dolphins defense. On Sunday, Jones threw for 316 yards and averaged 9.3 yards per attempt against a dominant Broncos defense.
I don’t know how long this hot streak will last, but Jones is playing some damn good football. Some are comparing his current form to what we saw out of him in 2022, but I’d say he looks even better. His deep ball is back to where it was before a neck injury derailed his career in New York, and he’s showing more awareness in the pocket with sharper decision-making. That doesn't mean I’m going to be catapulting Jones into the top 15 of my quarterback rankings any time soon. That would require a larger sample size, but he’s played like a fringe top-10 quarterback through two weeks. The numbers suggest he’s played even better than that. He leads the league in success rate and ranks third in EPA per dropback. He’s also getting superb pass protection and a steady supply of simple throws from Shane Steichen, who clearly made the correct decision in picking Jones over Anthony Richardson (while catching shit from morons like me).
Jones has earned this 2-0 start with his play, but the Colts should consider themselves lucky to be undefeated after an unforced error by Denver’s special teams gave Indy a second chance to win the game. Trailing by one point, Colts kicker Spencer Shrader pushed a 60-yard field goal attempt wide right as time expired. But the refs intervened with a rare “leverage” penalty against the Broncos defensive line for making contact with the long snapper. That resulted in a 15-yard penalty, and Shrader nailed the 45-yard do-over. Here’s how it all played out in real time.
While the rule is lame—and the minimal contact had nothing to do with the result of the kick—it was the correct call.
Loser: Mike Tomlin’s defense
We probably should have seen this coming after how last season ended for the Steelers. While it was hard to ignore the continued struggles of the offense, which date back to the end of Ben Roethlisberger's career, the implosion of the defense deserved more recognition for its role in Pittsburgh’s five-game losing streak to end the year. The Steelers defense wasn’t bad by league standards, but it was playing at a below-average clip and no longer able to prop up a disjointed offense. So far in 2025, the defense has been bad, ranking near the bottom of the league in EPA allowed, success rate, explosive play rate, and yards per play after giving up 31 to points to Sam Darnold and the Seahawks and 32 points to Justin Fields and the Jets in back-to-back weeks.
As the Steelers have slowly eroded in the latter years of the Mike Tomlin era, at least Pittsburgh could count on Tomlin coaching a consistently stout defense, one that forced turnovers and got after opposing quarterbacks. But as Tomlin’s defense can’t even do that anymore, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to argue in favor of extending the Tomlin era into the future. On Sunday in their home opener, the Steelers were uncharacteristically sloppy—and not just on defense. Rookie punt returner Kaleb Johnson had one of the biggest mistakes of the year so far.
It’s probably too early to count out a Tomlin-coached team—after all, he’s never had a losing season—but this just doesn’t feel like a Tomlin-coached team. But maybe that understanding of what a Tomlin-coached team is these days is rooted in nostalgia and a standard that’s no longer being met consistently enough—and this new brand of undisciplined football is what we should come to expect in Pittsburgh.
Winners: Kyle Shanahan and Mac Jones
It was a day that had been four-plus years in the making. At long last, Shanahan got his chance to call plays for Jones, and the two led the 49ers to a 26-21 win over the Saints. And now we can see why the 49ers head coach was so enamored of Jones before the 2021 NFL draft. Jones, who is filling in for injured Niners starter Brock Purdy, essentially functioned as an on-field avatar for Shanahan. Outside of one surprisingly impressive scramble, Jones didn’t feel the need to extend plays or leave the pocket. He dutifully went through his progressions, just as Shanahan had designed, and found the open man. As is often the case when a quarterback follows Shanahan’s direction, Jones thrived. After missing on his first four throws of the game, Jones was sharp, and he finished the game 26 of 39 for 279 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.
We’ll need to see Jones do it again—and against a better defense than what New Orleans is trotting out there—before drawing any firm conclusions, but this was an eye-opening performance. Purdy’s out-of-structure playmaking has added a new, exciting layer to Shanahan’s offense that it lacked with Jimmy Garoppolo, but it has come at the cost of higher turnover rates and more inconsistency. Perhaps that style of play was necessary over the past year, as the 49ers have dealt with injuries to what had been a star-studded cast of skill players. But Sunday’s game was a reminder that Shanahan’s offense still works without a surplus of talent. Star tight end George Kittle missed the game with a hamstring injury. Brandon Aiyuk remains out as he recovers from a torn ACL. Trent Williams and Jauan Jennings played, but both were on the injury report throughout the week and clearly at less than 100 percent. Jones wasn’t playing with a stacked deck, but he didn’t need one because Shanahan was on his game as a play caller.
The 49ers’ run game wasn’t very effective, producing just 77 yards on 26 carries, but it did force the Saints to load the box, which opened up plenty of space for the downfield passing game. Shanahan also dialed up easy plays for his new quarterback: Jones finished the game with an expected completion percentage of 67.8, per Next Gen Stats. Jones made a handful of impressive throws to the perimeter, but Shanahan didn’t ask him to push the ball downfield too often.
The film will show that this was more of a pedestrian passing day than the numbers imply, but sometimes, that’s precisely what a Shanahan team needs to get the job done. It was enough to get the 49ers to 2-0, setting up a big early-season matchup with the 2-0 Cardinals next week. It’s looking like Purdy could make an earlier-than-expected return from the toe injury that kept him out on Sunday, but with how Jones performed in New Orleans, Shanahan may not feel the need to rush him back.
