NFL Week 2: Notes and Quotes from Sunday's Action

The second Sunday of the 2014 NFL season has come and gone, and the day brought plenty of excitement and action along for the ride.

As was the case a week ago, much of the day's headlines were dominated by injuries to key players. There were, however, plenty of other notable events and comments worthy of attention throughout the day. It is still very early in the regular season, but that doesn't mean that the statements made on Sunday can't have a lasting impression. 

Over the next few pages, we will take a look at some of the most important stories to emerge from Sunday's action.

Road Struggles Continue for New Orleans

David Richard/Associated Press

You can bet that the New Orleans Saints would love to find a way to earn home-field advantage for the playoffs in 2014 (the team didn't lose a game at the Superdome in 2013).

After losing on a last-second field goal to the Cleveland Browns and dropping to 0-2, the Saints had better hope that they can take advantage of eight remaining home games and actually reach the playoffs.

New Orleans opened the season with consecutive road games, losing in overtime to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 and dropping a heartbreaker to the Browns on Sunday.

Considering the Saints went just 3-5 on the road a season ago, picking up even one win before the home opener would have been a huge victory for New Orleans. Unfortunately, the proverbial ball has bounced against the Saints when it has really mattered over the first two weeks of the season.

Quarterback Drew Brees said, per The Associated Press (via ESPN), "It's frustrating because we expect to win. You can point to one play in each of these games. We're one play away in each of these games from being 2-0 instead of 0-2. That hurts."

New Orleans still appears to be a very good football team that has no reason to hit the panic button. Yet the fact remains that the Saints are in an 0-2 hole and in last place in the NFC South thanks to their road struggles.

But Dallas Defense Finds Way to Rebound

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

The Dallas Cowboys allowed 28 first-half points and surrendered 4.2 yards per carry against the San Francisco 49ers during their Week 1 loss at home. The defense also failed to force a turnover during the contest.

On the road against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Dallas didn't allow any points in the first half and allowed just 10 total while nabbing a pair of interceptions. The performance comes a week after the Titans rolled up 26 points against the Chiefs in Kansas City.

"Dallas destroyed Tennessee 26-10 today, behind a surprisingly tough defense that looked a whole lot better than anyone imagined the Cowboys’ defense could be this season," Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith wrote following the game.

This isn't to say that the Dallas defense is suddenly a playoff-caliber unit, but it was definitely good enough on Sunday for the Cowboys to avoid an 0-2 start.

This suggests that Dallas will be able to win some ballgames this season as long as it can avoid game-changing mistakes on offense (three interceptions in Week 1, zero on Sunday).

Detroit Might Not Be as Good as They Appeared a Week Ago

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

The Detroit Lions looked like a dominating force during their Week 1 win over the New York Giants.

In that game, the Lions racked up 417 net yards of offense while forcing two turnovers en route to an impressive 35-14 victory.

Against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, however, the Lions found themselves at the opposite end of the spectrum. 

Though Detroit did manage to produce a respectable 323 yards of offense against Carolina, the team also committed three turnovers. In the end, the team's effort resulted in a 24-7 disaster.

Head coach David Caldwell described his team's mistakes in his post-game radio interview.

Via Dave Dye of Fox Sports Detroit, "Against a good football team, away from home, you cannot make the mistakes that we made and expect to win it. When you're on the road, they (turnovers) can be devastating."

It is probably worth noting that the Lions played at home in their Week 1 win but were on the road on Sunday. It's also worth noting that rookie kicker Nate Freese also missed a pair of field goals, keeping Detroit out of striking distance.

Or Maybe the Panthers Are Just That Good

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Carolina is off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2008, and the Panthers have made it look relatively easy along the way. 

The Panthers didn't even need star quarterback Cam Newton to earn a 20-14 victory over the Tampa Buccaneers in Week 1. Backup Derek Anderson (24-of-34 for 230 yards and two scores) was good enough to give Carolina a 17-0 fourth-quarter lead to hang on to for the victory. 

With Newton back in the lineup against the Lions, the Panthers dominated and have the look of a very dangerous potential playoff team.

Newton played with veteran efficiency and poise while leading the charge against Detroit. He finished the game 22-of-34 passing for 281 yards and a touchdown and did most of his damage from within the pocket.

The Panthers quarterback also took the time to address his referring to Detroit defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh as "Donkey Kong" in the day leading up to the game.

From Newton, via Kyle Meinke of MLive.com:

"

I play a lot of video games, as you guys know, and if I'm not playing with the Panthers, I'm playing with Megatron and the Lions, and the name came from me having a lot of sacks with my brother. 

That was not meant to be anything derogatory toward Ndamukong. I respect him as a person, and if anything, I was saying it as a compliment of him wreaking havoc.

"

The Browns Are Actually a Fun Team to Watch

David Richard/Associated Press

For the second week in a row, a Cleveland football game has been decided by a last-second field goal.

Last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers escaped with a 30-27 victory after Shaun Suisham connected on a 41-yard field goal to end the game.

This time, it was the Browns who came out on top when Billy Cundiff nailed a 29-yarder with three seconds remaining. Quarterback Brian Hoyer led a 14-play, 85-yard drive with less than three minutes remaining to set up the difference-maker. 

It was the first time Cleveland has won its home opener since 2004.

"I graduated high school that year," Hoyer said per The Associated Press (via ESPN). "It's a long time coming, and our fans deserve it."

The Browns have a long way to go before they can be considered contenders, and there have certainly been some growing pains for the revamped team.

At the end of the day, however, Cleveland has rewarded fans with exciting finishes in each of the first two weeks of 2014.

But the Raiders Are Not

Beck Diefenbach/Associated Press

The Oakland Raiders are officially 0-2 on the season and tied for last place in the AFC West.

While there were some positives to be gained during Oakland's Week 1 road loss to the New York Jets (like the fact the team was competitive on the East Coast), there were few to be gleaned from the thrashing the Raiders received in Sunday's home opener.

Rookie quarterback Derek Carr threw two interceptions and the Raiders turned the ball over four times as the Houston Texans rolled to a 30-14 victory that wasn't as close as the score might indicate.

“We suck,” Raiders safety Charles Woodson said after the game, according to Scott Bair of CSN Bay Area. “That’s as blunt as I can put it. For whatever reason, defensively we just won’t stop people, especially early in games."

Houston held a 27-0 lead going into the fourth quarter and did not attempt a pass in the final period.

The Chiefs Lose Yet Again

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

The Kansas City Chiefs now own a 0-2 record, jut like the Raiders.

Yet things somehow feel a lot worse for the Chiefs, probably because of the expectations that come from being a 2013 playoff team.

The reality is that Kansas City has gone just 2-8 (including playoffs) since winning its first nine games of the regular season a year ago.

While the Chiefs did manage to make things interesting against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, the 24-17 loss means that Kansas City is tied for last place in the division and sits two games behind the Broncos for the division lead.

Perhaps even worse, the Chief watched star running back Jamaal Charles exit the game with an ankle injury and not return. According to The Associated Press (via Fox Sports), the injury occurred when Charles was stopped by safety T.J. Ward on a run up the middle in the first quarter.

Kansas City failed to score on two different trips inside the Denver 5-yard line. 

"Everything is magnified down there," quarterback Alex Smith said when asked if Charles' absence was especially impactful in the red zone, via ESPN.com's Adam Teicher.

Which Means the Broncos Are Still Perfect

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

It hasn't exactly been pretty, but the Broncos have managed to do enough to remain undefeated through the first two weeks of the season.

However, the Broncos had to stop the Chiefs on 4th-and-goal with fewer than 20 seconds remaining in order to secure the win.

"Being the team we are, we are going to get everyone's best game," defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said, via Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post. "It's a rivalry. It's going to be close. That's what defense is for, to make plays at the end."

Last year's Super Bowl loser maintains a one-game lead over the San Diego Chargers in the AFC West and is one of only four undefeated teams in the entire AFC. The Texans, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals are the others.

While the Broncos have won each game by only a touchdown, quarterback Peyton Manning has been spectacular. He has thrown for 511 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions through two weeks of action.

For those keeping track of such things, the team that won the big game in 2013, the Seattle Seahawks, lost on Sunday.

But Imperfections Remain in the NFL Replay Review System

Gregory Bull/Associated Press

Early in the Seahawks game against the San Diego Chargers, Seattle receiver Percy Harvin ripped off an exciting 51-yard touchdown that temporarily gave his team a four-point lead.

The problem? Harvin clearly stepped out of bounds before racing to the end zone and the call was not reversed even after it was reviewed by the league's Officiating Command Center in New York.

Avoiding blown calls is the entire purpose of sending replay review to the command center, as explained by NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino during the offseason.

Via ESPN.com's Jeff Legwold, Blandino said, "It's still a referee review; he has the ultimate authority. We'll come to a consensus. We're certainly not going to let him make a mistake, but the referee has the final authority on the call."

A mistake was certainly made on Harvin's (non)touchdown, and there really can be no excuses.

“This play had to get stopped,” former NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira said during the Fox broadcast, per USA Today's Chris Chase. “This is the first breakdown I've seen of this new system where New York is a part of it.”

Key Injuries Are Quickly Becoming a Trend

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

Last Sunday's action was rife with significant injuries to high-profile players such a Jadeveon Clowney, Jordan Cameron, Tyler Eifert and Derrick Johnson.

Such injuries were just as common this Sunday.

The most notable injury was the dislocated left ankle suffered by Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III. According to ESPN.com, Griffin will undergo an MRI on Monday and will likely miss the remainder of the season if the injury requires surgery.

"I know he's sick about it, and I'm sick about it for him," head coach Jay Gruden said of the injury. "But he will get well, and he will get well as soon as he can. ... We're sick about it, but now we have to move forward."

According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, Dolphins running back Knowshon Moreno is expected to miss four to eight weeks with a dislocated elbow and possible fracture.

Chicago Bears cornerback Charles Tillman left the Sunday night game against the San Francisco 49ers with a right triceps injury and did not return.

We already mentioned the injury that knocked Jamaal Charles out of the Chiefs game. According to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, Charles will undergo an MRI on Monday as well.

Other notable injuries include a ligament strain for Bengals receiver A.J. Green, a hamstring injury for New York Jets wideout Eric Decker, a shoulder injury for Bears safety Chris Conte and an ankle injury for Chiefs safety Eric Berry.