After a really dark week for the NFL, I don’t blame you if you were less excited than usual about this weekend’s games. But there were 14 games to watch on Sunday, and I at least watched a little bit of each game. Here are some quick thoughts, in chronological order.

Buffalo 29, Miami 10

• Last December, Ryan Tannehill went to Buffalo and proceeded to have one of the worst passing games you could ever have without throwing an interception.  He gained 36 net yards on 34 dropbacks.  In the first half on Sunday, he had… 13 net yards on 14 dropbacks. In the second half, he dropped back to pass 40 times (!) and gained 197 yards. Okay, not the stuff Pro Bowls are built on, but hey, it’s an improvement.
• EJ Manuel looks to be playing the role of game manager: as long as the Buffalo defense (this week) and running game (last week) play well, that can be a winning formula.  Manuel’s numbers looked good this week, but that was more Sammy Watkins than Manuel.  From what I watched, Watkins (8/117/1) could have had an even bigger game had Manuel been more accurate. Buffalo had just 13 first downs.
• Plays You Need To Know About: Mike Wallace had a ridiculous catch for a touchdown. C.J. Spiller had a great kickoff return touchdown. Any play involving Sammy Watkins.

Carolina 24, Detroit 9

• The story of this game was Cam Newton, who played an excellent game despite battling sore ribs, a pretty good Detroit defensive line, and a pretty weak supporting cast. DeAngelo Williams was inactive, and Jonathan Stewart and Mike Tolbert rushed 19 times for 32 yards. Newton didn’t put up gaudy numbers, but averaged 7.1 ANY/A and looked good doing it.
• After one of the best games of his career on Monday night, it looked like Matthew Stafford might have turned the corner.  Today was your classic bad Stafford game: 48 pass attempts, 1 touchdown, only 291 yards.  Calvin Johnson made one great catch, but otherwise was contained by what’s generally considered one of the worst secondaries in the NFL. Of course, Sunday would not have been complete without Megatron getting a touchdown taken off the board because, well, Megatron.
• Joique Bell had 21 rush attempts or targets, compared to just 9 for Reggie Bush.
• It appears as though the karma gods shined upon Carolina.  Sure, Carolina waited way too long, but the team did deactivate Greg Hardy before the game. His replacement, Mario Addison, had 2.5 sacks.
• Big Takeaway: The Panthers may not be headed to a disastrous 2014 despite a terrible offseason on paper. The Lions may still be the Lions, despite looking fantastic in week 1. Given what happened at MetLife Stadium in week 2, that game may have said more about the Giants.

Cincinnati 24, Atlanta 10

• The Bengals defense is very good. In week 1, Cincinnati shut down Joe Flacco while Matt Ryan was a top-three quarterback.  In week 2, Ryan was a bottom three passer, averaging just 2.1 ANY/A on 46 dropbacks. Cincinnati’s pass defense — even without Mike Zimmer and Michael Johnson — may be a top five unit again in 2014.
• In week 1, Andy Dalton hit A.J. Green for a 77-yard touchdown.  Yesterday, it was Mohamed Sanu for 76 yards.  After posting pretty good numbers last week, he averaged 11.8 ANY/A, the most of any passer in week 2. Of course, he only had 23 dropbacks, so the 76-yard touchdown helped.  But through 2 games, Dalton’s putting up very good numbers.
• The Bengals lost Marvin Jones before the season started. Tyler Eifert went down in week 1.  The most serious injury happened yesterday, with Green leaving early due to a toe.  Early returns suggest he’ll miss some time, but we don’t quite have an accurate diagnosis yet. I have a feeling Dalton’s numbers won’t stay good for long without three of his top weapons, although it’s worth noting that Green did miss nearly all of the game against Atlanta.
• The Bengals went 8-0 at home last year, and looked great in their home opener in week 2. But that loss to San Diego in the playoffs makes it hard to think of Cincinnati as a tough place to play, doesn’t it?
• If you’re expecting to read something about Atlanta, there’s not much to say. The offense looked bad. The defense looked even worse.
• Fun Fact: Sanu was the first player since David Patten in 2001 to record a 75-yard touchdown catch and catch a 50-yard pass in the same game.

Cleveland 26, New Orleans 24

• That Rob Ryan defense looks a lot more like the 2012 Saints than the 2013 version. A week after getting shredded by the Falcons, the Browns offense looked competent on Sunday.  Brian Hoyer led a game-winning field goal drive. Terrance West (19/68/1) and Isaiah Crowell (11/54) rushed 30 times for 122 yards.
• It’s easy to say “Saints — road game — grass — Drew Brees will struggle.”  Simple narratives can be kind of silly, but it happened against for the Saints on Sunday.  Brees averaged just 5.2 ANY/A, and his one interception turned into a pick six (other that may have more to do with the tackling ability of the Saints offense than anything else).
• Mark Ingram may be having a breakout year. After a great preseason, he’s continuing it with two strong games to start 2014. In addition to 11 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown, he caught 3 of 4 passes for 21 yards. Who would have thought two years ago that he’d look better than Trent Richardson?
• A few more games like this, and Joe Haden‘s reputation is going to far outstrip his actual ability. Didn’t look very good in week 1, either.
• Player You Need To Know About: Even in a losing effort… Even when the offense struggles… Even on the road, Jimmy Graham is still a monster. Ten catches, 118 yards, and two touchdowns.

New England 30, Minnesota 7

• This game started out 7-0, Vikings, when Matt Asiata somehow confused the entire Patriots defense and scored on a 25-yard touchdown.
• My word was Matt Cassel bad. He averaged 0.1 ANY/A on 42 dropbacks. He had three Adjusted Net Yards on 42 dropbacks. That’s what four interceptions and six sacks for 39 yards will do for you.
• The Patriots offense looked… okay? Stevan Ridley rushed for 101 yards on 25 carries. Tom Brady threw for 149 yards, averaging just under 10 yards per catch in the process.
• New England blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown at the end of the first half, turning what could have been a 17-10 game into a 24-7 snoozer.
• Is Teddy Bridgewater Starting Yet? No.

Arizona 25, New York Giants 16

• Arizona played the late game on Monday night in week 1. Then they had to travel to the east coast. At 1 PM. With Drew Stanton starting instead of an injured Carson Palmer (estimated date of return: no one has any idea).
• How bad do things look for the Giants? Read that first bullet point again, and then check the final score.  While it’s fun to blame Eli Manning, this one was hardly on him. Rashad Jennings had a key fumble late. Ted Ginn returned a punt for a touchdown in the 4th quarter; on the ensuring kickoff, the Giants fumbled, setting up an Arizona field goal. I didn’t watch much of this game, and I saw at least four drops by Giants wide receivers. Victor Cruz had a terrible game.
• Stanton did not do much, completing less than half of his passes.  He didn’t seem to have much chemistry with Michael Floyd, which isn’t surprising, and he could only hit Larry Fitzgerald on the short stuff. Andre Ellington rushed 15 times for 91 yards, but surprisingly did little in the receiving game (1 catch).
• Play You Need To Know About: In Tiger-on-Tiger crime, Rueben Randle made an outstanding touchdown catch on a fade route over Patrick Peterson.

Dallas 26, Tennessee 10

• DeMarco Murray, when healthy, is a top-three fantasy running back, especially behind this offensive line.  He followed up a great week 1 with 29 carries for 167 yards and a touchdown against the Titans.
• Dez Bryant was injured early, but came back to still post 100 yards and catch a touchdown. He has his flaws, of course, but he’s off the charts on the toughness/athleticism/production scale.
• My goodness what the Delanie Walker caught 10 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown because, well, the Cowboys defense.
• Did anybody else on Tennessee not know they were playing the Cowboys defense? Jake Locker was terrible on Sunday, especially when the game was still in doubt.  Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter combined for just five catches for 57 yards.  I don’t think the takeaway from this game is “the Cowboys defense is better than we thought”, so my opinion of the Titans passing game took a big hit after this one.
• Good News In A Losing Effort: The biggest question about the Titans switch to a 3-4 defense was what it would mean for Jurrell Casey. Well, he had two sacks on Sunday, and looked dominant in the limited action I saw.

Washington 41, Jacksonville 7

• By now you know that RG3 suffered a serious foot injury early in the game; we still don’t know how long he’ll be out, but it’s safe to say that Kirk Cousins will be the starter for the foreseeable future.
• That should be more than enough time for the real Cousins to emerge. I have yet to understand any of the fascination with him, and I’m sure certain folks will be even higher on Cousins after he threw for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Jaguars.  I don’t think I’m stepping too far out on the limb when I say that stat line says a lot more about Jacksonville than it does Cousins.
• The Jaguars look really, really bad again. Toby Gerhart rushed 7 times for 8 yards. Chad Henne was sacked 10 times.
• Non-RG3 Injury Report: DeSean Jackson left the game early with a sprained shoulder.  Early reports suggest that he’ll be questionable to play in week 3, when Washington travels to Philadelphia. I have a feeling Jackson will find a way to play in that one.

San Diego 30, Seattle 21

• I’m not much of a time of possession guy, but San Diego had the ball for 42:15. That’s insane, especially since San Diego was “only” 10 of 17 on third down.
• The Seahawks ran just 40 plays all game. That’s the fewest by a team in a game since… Seattle ran 40 plays on Monday Night Football against the Rams in week 8 last year.  In 2012, only teams led by Jake Locker and Blaine Gabbert ran so few plays. And no teams did in 2011.
• Antonio Gates caught all 7 of his targets for 96 yards and 3 touchdowns.  And he looked even better than those numbers suggest. An outstanding performance from the future HOF tight end.
• Keenan Allen got the best of Richard Sherman, catching 5 of 6 passes (3 on Sherman) for 55 yards.
• Philip Rivers became the first player since Josh Freeman in 2010 to throw three or more touchdowns without throwing an interception against Seattle. A great performance from one of the most underrated passers ever.
• Percy Harvin had just three touches, which doesn’t seem like enough considering he scores a 51-yard “touchdown” on one of them.  Of course, with only 40 plays to go around, I suppose it’s hard to spread the ball around.  Why did I put touchdown in quotes? Harvin’s foot clearly went out of bounds, but the NFL’s infallible review process didn’t catch it.
• Ryan Mathews suffered a knee injury, likely a sprained MCL.  Mathews has been very good for the Mike McCoy Chargers, but the team should be okay with Donald Brown and Danny Woodhead.
• Important Takeaways: Seattle is a different team outside of Seattle; apparently Super Bowl XLVIII didn’t change that. San Diego looks to be in the discussion for second best team in the AFC.

Packers 31, Jets 24

• How did you think Kyle Wilson would do on Randall Cobb? Did you expect Dee Milliner, Antonio Allen, Calvin Pryor, and Darrin Walls could stop Jordy Nelson? If so, was it because you are Rex Ryan or John Idzik?
• Cobb caught 5 of his 6 targets for two touchdowns, and he also caught a 2-point conversion. Nelson gained 209 yards on 9 catches, and I’m pretty sure those went for about 12 first downs.
• The Jets run defense still looks very good; the team shut down Eddie Lacy, and the Jets lead the league in rushing yards allowed per game.
• Geno Smith was up and down. His final numbers were not great (4.4 ANY/A), but he did of course have that 4th down touchdown to Jeremy Kerley called back after the Jets called timeout right before the snap.  The Jets were 8-17 on third downs, and Smith converted several long ones.  Eric Decker left in the second half with a hamstring injury, and the offense looked noticeably worse without him.
• On the other hand, Smith had his bad moments. An ugly interception. Another ugly turnover, overturned (charitably so, I think) by replay. The Jets offense looked outstanding in the first quarter, terrible for stretches in the middle of the game, and inspiring at the end. For the Jets, that’s an improvement over how it’s looked for most of recent history.
• Should A Timeout Be Called Right Before The Game-Tying Touchdown? No.

Houston 30, Oakland 14

• Ryan Fitzpatrick averaged 9.6 ANY/A in week 1 on 23 dropbacks. He averaged 9.4 ANY/A on 19 dropbacks against Oakland. Hey, that can be a winning formula, especially considering Houston’s schedule.
• The Raiders defense had no answer for Arian Foster, who rushed 28 times for 138 yards and a touchdown.  Andre Johnson caught 6 of 7 targets for 74 yards. DeAnde Hopkins had a pretty touchdown catch.  This was a pad-your-stats game for Houston.
• James Jones caught another garbage time touchdown, and could be set up for a big year of garbage time production.  He caught 9 passes for 112 yards on 14 targets, and the Game Scripts should give Jones double digit targets more often than not.
• Stat Line You Need To Know About: J.J. Watt had zero sacks, zero tackles, and one touchdown reception.  I watched very little of this game, but I’m going to just assume Watt had a big impact despite not making a single “play” on defense, anyway.

Denver 24, Kansas City 17

• With the Jets game on at the same time, I didn’t see too much of this one. So like you, I have no idea how the Chiefs nearly beat Denver without Jamaal Charles, Eric Berry, Derrick Johnson, and several other key contributors. In Denver.
• Peyton Manning averaged 11.0 ANY/A on 27 dropbacks. So I guess it wasn’t on the passing attack. Montee Ball and C.J. Anderson rushed 17 times for 91 yards. That doesn’t look so bad, either. Denver didn’t have a turnover, either. How did they only score 24 points?
• Well, the Broncos had just 7 real drives.  As did the Chiefs.  One 10:00 drive by Kansas City to start the third quarter helped bleed the clock.  On Denver’s seven drives, they scored three touchdowns, kicked a field goal from the Kansas City two, and had three punts.  The Broncos had just two drives in the second half.
• Up by 4, facing 4th and 2 from the Chiefs 2-yard line with 3:30 left, the Broncos kicked the field goal. I guess I should stop expecting John Fox to coach aggressively, right?
• Fantasy Football Sad Trombone: Jamaal Charles has 46 yards from scrimmage and no touchdowns this season. That’s a brutal start for anyone who drafted him, especially since he was the first or second pick in just about every draft this year.

St. Louis 19, Tampa Bay 17

• The Bucs open the season with losses to Derek Anderson and Austin Davis. If there was anything a Lovie Smith team could do, I would have thought it would be beat teams quarterbacked by players like Anderson and Davis.
• Doug Martin was a scratch on Sunday, but Bobby Rainey may have stolen the job from him by running 22 times for 144 yards.  The Bucs offense wasn’t bad on Sunday — Josh McCown rushed for two touchdowns and completed 16 of 21 passes for 179 yards. Tampa Bay opened up the game with a 10-play drive for a touchdown and an 11-play drive; that one ended in an interception, and the offense sputtered a bit after that.
• No sacks yet for Robert Quinn or Aaron Donald. Have to imagine those are coming.
• Tavon Austin had two carries for 21 yards, but not a single target before leaving the game with a knee injury. In his asbence,  Brian Quick had 7 catches on 9 targets for 74 yards.
• Play You Need To Know About: Mike Evans caught a 29-yard pass to put Tampa Bay into field goal range with about 15 seconds left. With 12 seconds left, he fell down with an injury. The refs blew the whistle with 8 seconds left, prompting a 10-second runoff and the end of the game. What an ugly way to end things.

Chicago 28, San Francisco 20

• How did Chicago win this game? I have no idea. The 49ers were up 17-0 with 30 seconds left in the first half, and the game looked even more lopsided than that.
• Then Brandon Marshall happened. The star receiver may have only gained 48 yards, but that doesn’t tell the story.  He was questionable to play, but came down with 3 touchdowns, each one bigger than the previous one.
• Jay Cutler became the first player in 2014 to throw for four touchdowns in a game.
• Colin Kaepernick rushed 9 times for 66 yards, but he also took four sacks and threw three interceptions.  It was an inconsistent performance by a quarterback who shouldn’t be having inconsistent performances when given big leads against bad defenses.
• Frank Gore looked outstanding.  He had a 54-yard touchdown called back on a questionable hold, but still rushed for 63 yards on 13 carries. Better question: why didn’t he get more than 13 carries?
• Plays You Need To Watch: All of Marshall’s touchdowns. All of Colin Kaepernick’s interceptions, as Chris Conte (1) and Kyle Fuller (2) made some great plays on Sunday night.
• Regret Level: 10.  On a day where the Seahawks lost, the 49ers had a chance to gain some ground in the division.  San Francisco has made a habit out of starting fast and then sleepwalking through the rest of the game.  Considering it was a home loss to an NFC team, this was an even worse loss for San Francisco than it was for Seattle.