10 Biggest NFL Week 2 Losers, Including Mike McDaniel and the New York Giants

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10 Biggest NFL Week 2 Losers, Including Mike McDaniel and the New York Giants

Jason Burgos · Sportsnaut

Mon, Sep 15, 2025 ·

5 min read

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NFL Week 2 featured several highly entertaining games and 18 different teams posting 20 or more points. However, for quite a few players, coaches, and teams, this was not a week to remember. With that in mind, let's take at the 10 biggest losers from Week 2 of the 2025 NFL season.

New York Giants Defense

Russell Wilson and the Giants' offense did more than enough to win on Sunday. The embattled QB threw for 450 yards, and the offense put up 37 against the Cowboys . And that still wasn't enough to get a W on Sunday because of the atrocious play of their defense. For all the hype going into the season about the Giants' defense being this scary pass rush, that hasn't been the case so far this year. If this group can't get better quickly, this will be another very long season for Big Blue.

Brian Schottenheimer, Dallas Cowboys

Yes, Dallas got the 40-37 win on Sunday, but they didn't feel like winners after nearly being on the wrong side of a very bad upset loss in their home opener. After losing 24-20 in his debut to the Eagles, starting the season 0-2 for new head coach Brian Shottenheimer would have created a firestorm. While he will avoid the full fury of Dallas fans this week, he has not given them any reason to believe he is actually an upgrade over his predecessor, Mike McCarthy.

Jayden Daniels , Washington Commanders

Young Commanders star Jayden Daniels took the NFL by storm during his 2024 rookie season. Leading the team to the NFC Championship. However, he is finding out the sophomore slump is real. While he hasn't been horrible over the first two weeks, he has looked very average. That continued in NFL Week 2 as the Packers defense hounded him all night as he completed barely over half of his 42 passes. The stud QB is giving early-season reason for mild concern.

Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears

New Bears head coach Ben Johnson was looked at as the NFL's new offensive genius during his two seasons with the Lions . On Sunday, he visited Detroit for the first time with his new team and got a showcase of why his old team doesn't miss him. The Johnson-less Lions O dropped 52 on Chicago, and Jared Goff comically outplayed his counterpart, Caleb Williams . Johnson is now 0-2 as a head coach and got a very rude welcome back to Motown.

Travis Kelce , Kansas City Chiefs

Travis Kelce was having a solid day for the Chiefs in a huge Super Bowl rematch against the Eagles on Sunday. Then he had another game-changing blunder. Last week, early in their loss to the Chargers , he ran into Xavier Worthy and dislocated his shoulder. Impacting their chances to win. Then late in Sunday's game, he bobbled a catchable pass that was then intercepted, and pretty much set up another loss in NFL Week 2. It has not been a good couple of weeks for the future Hall of Famer.

Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins

While the Dolphins ' offense was better on Sunday, their defense was trash, and Miami fell to 0-2 following a 33-27 loss to the Patriots . There have already been rumblings that McDaniel's seat is getting very hot. Their latest defeat did little to diminish the pressure heading into Week 3.

Justin Fields , New York Jets

Justin Fields was among our big winners last week after a strong showing in defeat against the Steelers . NFL Week 2 was a very different story. In the Jets ' 30-10 drubbing against the Bills , the QB was battered and limited to just 11 passes before being sidelined for the rest of the game with a concussion. After making so much progress, the former first-round pick took a typical step back the next week.

Joe Flacco , Cleveland Browns

From the start, the Browns seemed dead set on having Joe Flacco be their starting QB to begin the year. Despite being 40 years old and well passed his prime. That decision is backfiring. Over two games, the Browns offense has only scored 33 points, and they are 0-2. Their losses are not all on the greybeard, but the offense is lifeless, and there's no reason to expect it to get better with Flacco under center. A QB change could be coming soon.

Pittsburgh Steelers Defense

Heading into the new season, the Steelers ' defense was expected to be one of the best in the NFL . After two games, they have given up 63 points. Without a doubt, injuries have played a major role in their poor play. But they should still be good enough to limit the Jets and Seahawks ' offenses. There is reason to be very worried about Pittsburgh's offense going forward.

Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos offense

On paper, Bo Nix and the Broncos offense should be able to outgun Daniel Jones and the Colts . However, that was before the rise of "Indiana Jones." The Giants' washout had another stellar game in NFL Week 2 and soundly outplayed Nix and throwing for over 100 more yards. While Denver put up 28 points on Sunday, they lost a shootout that they would have been favored to win just a couple of weeks ago.

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