Washington Redskins and 7 NFL Teams That Are Better Than We Thought

One game can be a fluke, but two games are a trend. After the initial (over)reactions from Week 1, the addition of the results from Week 2 makes the overall picture more indicative of what we will see for the rest of the season.

Which teams are continuing to exceed expectations? Here are the seven teams who are better than we expected them to be after Week 2.

Tom Brady's New England Patriots

Sure, we knew the New England Patriots were going to be good. They've had a winning record every year since 2001. But after flopping in the playoffs against the New York Jets last season, there was a question as to how they'd start the 2011 campaign.

Tom Brady threw for 517 yards against the Miami Dolphins in Week 1 and 423 against the San Diego Chargers Sunday. While the defense has surrendered a lot of yardage as well, the Patriots had huge goal-line stands in each of their first two games.

Winning at division rival Miami and against a talented Chargers team by double-digits is a phenomenal start to the New England season.

Ryan Fitzpatrick's Buffalo Bills

It was a slight surprise to see some pundits picking the Buffalo Bills to finish third ahead of the Miami Dolphins in the AFC East this preseason. It looks like they might do better than third right now.

The Bills waxed the AFC West Champion Kansas City Chiefs 41-7 on the road in Week 1, and mounted a huge comeback against the Oakland Raiders Sunday, erasing a 21-3 first half deficit.

Through two games, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (who showed great poise yesterday) has seven touchdowns to just one interception and a quarterback rating of 109.6.

Rex Grossman's Washington Redskins

Throughout the preseason I had said that I thought the Washington Redskins would be a lot better than people thought, as many were predicting them to finish 4-12 (or worse).

I think that opinion has been validated. The Washington Redskins followed a Week 1 victory over the New York Giants with a comeback victory against the Arizona Cardinals.

The biggest criticism against the Redskins was their lack of a quarterback, but so far Rex Grossman has a quarterback rating of 90.6, and he has managed the game well. He made a huge throw to Santana Moss for a late touchdown Sunday.

Aaron Rodgers' Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers clearly don't believe in the Super Bowl hangover.

After outlasting the talented New Orleans Saints in the opener, the Packers handled Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers yesterday.

The offense has accrued 896 yards in two games, and while the defense was porous against the Saints, they forced four turnovers yesterday against the Panthers.

Matthew Stafford's Detroit Lions

With the fantastic job the Detroit Lions have done drafting the past few years, there has been suspicion that they would finally have a breakout season sometime soon.

It looks like that season will be this one. After Matthew Stafford's Lions defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (who were 10-6 last year) in Week 1, they obliterated the hapless Kansas City Chiefs yesterday.

Stafford has thrown seven touchdowns and just two interceptions, and the defense completely shut down the Chiefs a week after limiting Josh Freeman and Tampa Bay. Calvin Johnson is almost unstoppable; so far, so are the Lions.

Alex Smith's San Francisco 49ers

Sure, the San Francisco 49ers are only 1-1, but an overtime loss against the Dallas Cowboys is nothing to be ashamed of.

A week after running away from the defending NFC West champion Seattle Seahawks, the 49ers played a talented Cowboys team right to the wire.

Don't look now, but the much-maligned Alex Smith has a quarterback rating of 95.2 through two games.

Cam Newton's Carolina Panthers

Yes, they're 0-2. But the Carolina Panthers are light years ahead of the train wreck that was last season.

After a phenomenal start in Week 1, Cam Newton had a solid overall game Sunday, marred by three interceptions. Either way, how many people thought he'd 854 passing yards through two games?

The Panthers challenged the Green Bay Packers for most of the game yesterday, and they way they are playing they will win some games this year.