CNN
—

Some teams are Super Bowl contenders, while other teams’ seasons are already over. The first week of the NFL season is one of fan overreaction.

Week 1 marked the return of the regular season after months of absence, and also gave us the chance to see some new (and old) faces in new places for the first time.

Week 2 began on Thursday night with a convincing 31-10 victory for the Buffalo Bills over the Miami Dolphins, with Tua Tagovailoa suffering a concussion after diving in a collision with Damar Hamlin.

Here’s what to watch for in Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season.

During the NFL season, fans can watch games on television via CBS, ESPN, FOX, NBC, ABC and NFL Network. Games are also broadcast on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.

Streaming services NFL+, Sunday Ticket, DAZN, Peacock, Paramount+, ESPN+, Amazon Prime and Netflix will also broadcast games.

Both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions have gotten off to a strong start to the new season and both teams head into Week 2 with plenty of reasons to be positive.

For the traveling Bucs, they continued their late-2023 momentum – which saw them win five of their last six regular-season games and upset the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Wild Card game – with a convincing 37-20 victory over the Washington Commanders. Quarterback Baker Mayfield appears to have maintained the new lease on life he’s had since moving to Florida.

Mayfield has revitalized his NFL career since becoming a Buccaneer, going from a reserve in Carolina and Los Angeles to a Pro Bowler in 2023 after leading Tampa Bay to the playoffs.

The 29-year-old was rewarded with a lucrative three-year contract extension in the off-season, completing his journey from near-league exit to regular starter.

And after throwing for four touchdowns in the season opener, Mayfield sees Sunday’s game against the Lions — an NFC heavyweight and the team the Bucs lost to in the 2023 playoffs — as a measuring stick.

“Yeah, this is definitely one of them,” Mayfield told reporters on Wednesday. “I mean, every week you’ve got to bring your best stuff. At this level, you can get beat every week if you don’t show up. This is one of those — traveling with a team that was in the NFC Championship, which is what we’re striving for, so it’s one of those — you said it, measuring sticks with great competition (and) look how our guys handle it early on. You know, it’s a long season, but we can learn a lot from this.”

Detroit also started the game successfully, but ultimately needed overtime to defeat the resilient Los Angeles Rams team.

And when it finally mounted the winning drive in overtime, it did so in the most “Dan Campbell” fashion possible; the 70-yard, four-minute, 41-second sequence played out mostly on the ground and was a showcase for the gritty football for which the Lions’ head coach is known.

For a franchise accustomed to losing, Detroit’s resurgence under Campbell has been something to behold. And after falling one game short of the Super Bowl last year, the Lions are looking to go one step further this time around.

Since the 2021 AFC Championship game, the fates of Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes have appeared linked.

On that occasion, it was Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals who traveled to Arrowhead and defeated the Chiefs, setting the stage for one of the newest rivalries in the AFC.

While the Bengals quarterback has the advantage in terms of wins over Mahomes – Burrow has a 3-1 record against the two-time NFL MVP – it’s the Chiefs quarterback who has the edge in terms of broader success.

While Burrow has struggled with injuries, Mahomes has blossomed into one of the best quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen. Last season’s Super Bowl victory was his third, while he also won his third Super Bowl MVP title.

Week 2 will see the fifth edition of the rivalry between the two, but both teams start the season with very different starts.

The Chiefs opened the game with a hard-fought 27-20 victory over the Baltimore Ravens, while the Bengals suffered a surprising loss at home to the New England Patriots.

Both showed signs of rust, but Kansas City showed their title-winning history against the Ravens. Now, both sides are hoping for signs of improvement.

Burrow in particular will be hoping for a better performance, as he completed 21 of 29 passes for just 164 yards without a touchdown or an interception in the loss to the Patriots.

And the Bengals quarterback is expecting a much better performance in Week 2.

“The more football you see throughout the season, the better you get,” Burrow said after Wednesday’s practice. “You start to see trends here and there, and certain formations in certain looks about how deep the teams are going to let you play.

“It’s just that I learn a lot from my mistakes, I learn a lot from week to week, from game to game and usually I can apply that quite well. So I’m excited about where we are, the training we had today.”

It’s time to see if the Bengals can once again reach Kansas City’s Burrowhead stadium or if Mahomes and Co. can make it 2-0 this year.

The Chicago Bears and Houston Texans started the new season with wins and both have reason to look forward to the rest of the season.

The Bears begin life with 2024 No. 1 pick Caleb Williams at the helm. And while his Week 1 debut wasn’t pretty — he threw 14 of 29 for 93 yards and required a heroic effort from his defense and special teams to overcome a 17-point deficit against the Tennessee Titans — he began his NFL career with a win.

“Going into that game, it was a little strange for me because it was my first game and we didn’t really have anything with their D-coordinator,” Williams said afterward. “But when I got there, I saw it clearly. I missed a couple passes, obviously, but when I went back and watched the film, I was in the right place when I threw the ball.

“I had a couple of batted balls, but (I) went to the right spots, saw it well, made some adjustments on the O-line and things like that, and had good communication on the sideline with my teammates and coaches.”

The Texans, led by their own young superstar quarterback CJ Stroud, also started off well, defeating their division rivals, the Indianapolis Colts, in a hard-fought game.

The star of the show was undoubtedly the team’s new running back, Joe Mixon, who was acquired from the Bengals in the offseason and rushed for 159 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries in his debut. He was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance.

“Every time he touches the ball, he makes plays,” Texans wide receiver Nico Collins said of Mixon. “You know what an athlete he is when he gets the ball in his hands. We’ve got to keep pounding (and) keep blocking for him so he can shine.”

The two teams have different ambitions for the year: The Texans are playoff contenders, while Chicago is likely just looking to improve with a rookie quarterback. This early-season clash could provide insight into whether those two goals are realistic.

Thursday

Buffalo Bills 31-10 Miami Dolphins

Sunday

Las Vegas Raiders (0-1) @ Baltimore Ravens (0-1) – 1:00pm ET

Los Angeles Chargers (1-0) @ Carolina Panthers (0-1) – 1:00pm ET

New Orleans Saints (1-0) @ Dallas Cowboys (1-0) – 1:00pm ET

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) @ Detroit Lions (1-0) – 1:00pm ET

Indianapolis Colts (0-1) @ Green Bay Packers (0-1) – 1:00pm ET

Cleveland Browns (0-1) @ Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1) 1:00pm ET

San Francisco 49ers (1-0) @ Minnesota Vikings (1-0) – 1:00pm ET

Seattle Seahawks (1-0) @ New England Patriots (1-0) – 1:00 PM ET

New York Jets (0-1) @ Tennessee Titans (0-1) – 1:00 PM ET

New York Giants (0-1) @ Washington Commanders (0-1) – 1:00 PM ET

Los Angeles Rams (0-1) @ Arizona Cardinals (0-1) – 4:05 PM ET

Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0) @ Denver Broncos (0-1) – 4:25pm ET

Cincinnati Bengals (0-1) @ Kansas City Chiefs (1-0) – 4:25pm ET

Chicago Bears (1-0) @ Houston Texans (1-0) – 8:20 PM ET

Monday

Atlanta Falcons (0-1) @ Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) – 8:15pm ET