NFL Week 2: These 5 players are going to play out of their minds
Week 2 of the 2024 NFL Season is officially here, so let's look at five players who are going to play out of their minds. We have you covered for the top performers for Week 2! Week 1 definitely brought some surprising performances, both good and bad.
It's important to remember that we are still extremely early into the season, so some of these top player performances may not be sustained throughout the entire season. Let's cover five players in Week 2 who are going to play out of their minds.
NFL Week 2: These 5 players are going to play out of their minds
Joe Mixon, RB, Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are going to be able to run all over their Week 2 opponent, the Chicago Bears. Chicago ended up winning their Week 1 matchup against the Tennessee Titans, but they failed to sustain an offensive touchdown drive and got brutalized on the ground by Tony Pollard of all people.
Joe Mixon went off in Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts, and it's clear that Mixon is going to have another huge day on the ground. The Texans are going to get out to a big lead as well, so Houston may then turn to their run game more to wind the clock down and secure the win. I would bank on Joe Mixon having a monster day for the Texans.
JK Dobbins, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
JK Dobbins tore up the Las Vegas Raiders defense in Week 1, and he'll have another awesome matchup in Week 2 against the Carolina Panthers. Dobbins averaged over 10 yards per carry, which is just flat-out insane, and I am not sure the Panthers defense can stop a nosebleed at this point.
Dobbins may end up being the LA Chargers full-time bell-cow running back in 2024, so he could turn this into a season where he finally sees his full potential, or close to it. The Panthers feel like they're already done for in 2024, so the Chargers should have no issues moving the ball in Week 2.
Baker Mayfield, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Matthew Stafford threw for over 300 yards on the Detroit Lions re-made secondary. Lions GM Brad Holmes has had to really chip away at trying to fix this secondary, and the unit is going to have to deal with Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, the most underrated player of the 21st century, and Chris Godwin.
It's weird to think that Mayfield has played like a top-10 QB ever since arriving in Tampa, and he threw four touchdown passes in their Week 1 win over the Washington Commanders. It's not crazy to suggest that Mayfield again has another strong day and carves up the Lions secondary, which features two rookies in Ennis Rakestraw and Terrion Arnold.
Micah Parsons, EDGE, Dallas Cowboys
The New Orleans Saints do not have that stable of a situation at tackle with Taliese Fuaga and Trevor Penning. It may be one of the worst tackle duos in the NFL right now, and they'll have to deal with Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys, who can get pressure from anywhere on the field. Frankly, I could mention the entire Saints offensive line here.
They're going to get terrorized by Parsons, who has 41.5 sacks through 51 regular season games. Parsons tallied a whopping five QB hits in Week 1 against a pretty solid Cleveland Browns offensive line, so he's going to tear apart New Orleans OL.
Chris Jones, DT, Kansas City Chiefs
Chris Jones has played in four regular season games against the Cincinnati Bengals in his career. In those four games, Jones has four sacks, five tackles for loss, and six QB hits. If we took these averages over a 17-game season, Jones would put up 17 sacks, 21 tackles for loss, and 26 QB hits.
That's the type of production Jones has sustained during those four games, and with the Bengals always seeming to have a shaky offensive line, I expect Jones to perhaps come away with multiple sacks. This game is also home for the Kansas City Chiefs, so they'll have that advantage going for them as well.
Chris Jones has been a thorn in the side of the Cincinnati Bengals, and that's going to continue in Week 2.