During the first week of the 2025 NFL season, there were a few games that reminded everyone why football is the most-watched sport in the entire country. But in Week 2, it felt like almost every matchup around the league came down to the wire.
Multiple teams suffered their first losses of the 2025 campaign in Week 2, while others were lucky enough to remain undefeated, thanks in part to some heroic performances. New villains also emerged from the squads that failed to achieve a victory.
When we look back at everything that went down during Week 2 of the 2025 NFL season, who should be regarded as the heroes and who should be viewed as the villains?
3 heroes and 2 villains from Week 2 of the 2025 NFL season
Hero No. 1
Jared Goff - QB (Detroit Lions)
Sunday's Week 2 matchup between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears was headlined by the return of Ben Johnson to Ford Field. But that was before the game even started. Once the final whistle blew, the incredible performance of Lions quarterback Jared Goff is what dominated the headlines.
Led by Goff's 334 passing yards and five touchdown tosses, Detroit pulverized the Bears by a final score of 52-21. Johnson might have helped the quarterback achieve success in the past, but on Sunday, the student proved that he no longer needed the teacher to achieve his goals.
Villain No. 1
Mike McDaniel - Head Coach Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel was already on the hot seat heading into the 2025 season. But after the first two weeks, his seat might already be burnt to a crisp.
On Sunday, McDaniel's Dolphins suffered a close 33-27 loss to the rival New England Patriots, and compared to last week, Miami put together a much more solid performance. However, the Dolphins still lost the game, and after the contest, McDaniel unleashed on his co-workers like he knows his days are numbered at his current place of employment.
"I think that ultimately, I look at absolutely everything falling on me. That's the responsibility of a head coach that you go into knowing that. That being said, I'm very frustrated with the collective – basically, [there were] coaches and players that did not execute communication in a very dire period of the game.
With the game on the line, our communication and our substitution was not up to par, and ultimately, I hold all responsibility for all things.
I will make sure that things that should already be ironed out moving forward, we will not fall victim to the same thing again, [and] we'll put the appropriate emphasis on that because it was not acceptable. We had the opportunity to win the game, and we robbed it from ourselves."
McDaniel thought he was in the clear when he started by saying that "absolutely everything falls on me." But then he just went ahead and pointed the blame for the loss on Dolphins players and coaches.
It sounds like McCarthy already has one foot out the door, and he's well aware that his time with the franchise is nearing the end.
Hero No. 2
Brandon Aubrey - K (Dallas Cowboys)
In arguably the best game of the Week 2 slate, the Dallas Cowboys escaped the field on Sunday with an improbable 40-37 overtime win over the New York Giants. That victory wouldn't have been possible if not for the heroic performance from Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey.
In the win over the Giants, Aubrey accounted for 16 of Dallas's 40 total points by converting all of his extra point tries and field goal attempts, including an incredible 64-yard field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter to send the matchup to overtime, and the eventual game-winning field goal in overtime from 46 yards away.
No one was likely happier with the performance of the kicker on Sunday more than Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, as his team got its first win of the season since trading "Michael" Parsons.
Villain No. 2
Liam Coen - Head Coach (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Just two games into his tenure as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Liam Coen has quickly established himself as one of the most intriguing villains in the NFL this season.
With his team leading 27-24 with under four minutes to go in the final quarter of their Week 2 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, Coen opted to have the Jaguars offense try to convert a 4th-and-5 from the opposing seven-yard line instead of attempting a short field goal that likely would've locked up the win.
Jacksonville failed to convert on the fourth down, and it eventually resulted in the Bengals driving 92 yards the other way to score the eventual game-winning touchdown.
When asked about the fourth-down call in his post-game presser, Coen quickly snapped with a reply that pointed to the decision being about analytics and data. Add this to cameras catching the first-year head coach on the sideline screaming at Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and it's easy to understand why Coen was one of the biggest villains in the NFL in Week 2.
Hero No. 3
Tucker Kraft - TE (Green Bay Packers)
It seems like forever ago at this point, but the league's Week 2 schedule kicked off with the Green Bay Packers putting together a convincing 27-18 win over the Washington Commanders last Thursday.
With the victory, the Packers are off to a 2-0 start this season, and a bunch of thanks should be sent to third-year Green Bay tight end Tucker Kraft, who put together a massively impressive performance in the win over the Commanders.
Kraft led all Packers players in the matchup with six catches for 124 yards and one touchdown. It was the first 100-yard receiving game of his young career, and Green Bay is definitely hoping it won't be his last.
Editor's note: AI was used to assist in the creation of the images featured throughout this article.