Spotlighting the 10 most significant individual performances from Week 2 of the NFL season.
As much as the TeamFB7 “Game Balls” selection committee values spreading the attention around, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba simply left no option but to be featured here for the second straight week to start the season.
In general, quarterbacks and wide receivers dominated the candidates list in Week 2 while two defensive players made the cut.
As per the rules, there are only 10 “Game Balls” to award each week no matter how many incredible performances merit attention.
Here are the 10 selections for Week 2 …
1. Carolina Panthers LB Devin Lloyd
We noted Devin Lloyd as one of the best free agent signings of the offseason as the Panthers reeled him in for a reasonable three-year, $45-million contract coming off a career-best season for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
And did he ever ingratiate himself to his new fan base in Week 2 with one of the more impressive defensive stat lines that will be seen all season.
Lloyd tied for the team lead with 9 tackles (7 solo), notched a sack (2 tackles for loss overall), had 3 passes defended and 2 interceptions while returning one for a 16-yard touchdown to punctuate a 34-3 road win over the Atlanta Falcons.
After Carolina was torched defensively for 59 points by the Chicago Bears, the unit tightened up in allowing the QB-maligned Falcons to 286 yards and a mere field goal.
Lloyd’s big 2025 season was driven in large part by what a factor he was in coverage as an inside linebacker, tallying a career-high 5 interceptions, and he showed those ball skills Sunday.
2. Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen
Let’s face it, Josh Allen is going to be hard to keep off this list many weeks this season — he’s just too good.
Playing on Thursday last week, Allen led the Bills to a 41-31 shootout win over the Detroit Lions, completing 20 of 31 passes for 248 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs while rushing for 69 yards and 2 TDs.
It seems crazy to call that a typical Josh Allen performance, but that’s in line with what he does so often.
Through two games, Allen has 582 passing yards, 5 TDs and 0 INTs with 92 rushing yards and 4 TDs.
3. Seattle Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year, might be on his way to repeating the award (or putting himself in the MVP conversation.
Playing most of the first two weeks without starting quarterback Sam Darnold has made zero difference for JSN, who has made life easy for backup QB Drew Lock.
Smith-Njigba had 9 catches for 153 yards and 3 TDs in a 31-7 road win over the Arizona Cardinals, accounting for 66% of Lock’s passing yards in the game.
Coming off a breakout season with 119 catches for 1,793 yards and 10 TDs, Smith-Njigba already has 17 receptions for 277 yards and 4 TDs in just two games for the reigning Super Bowl champions.
4. Los Angeles Rams WR Davante Adams
The Rams flirted with the idea of trading Davante Adams in the offseason, but they’re sure glad they didn’t.
With top wideout Puka Nacua out with injury, the 33-year-old Adams (34 in December) turned back the clock, catching 8 of 10 targets for 195 yards and 2 TDs in the 28-6 Monday Night win over the New York Giants.
It was Adams’ best game since posting a 9-198-2 line against the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2024 while with the New York Jets. He had only one 100-yard game last season.
Adams ranks 24th all-time with 12,854 receiving yards, which is third among active players behind Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (13,174) and 49ers receiver Mike Evans (13,155). Adams is 7th all-time and the active leader with 119 receiving TDs.
5. Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and TE Travis Kelce
Is this cheating? Nah. Patrick Mahomes and Kelce are forever linked in NFL history as one of the best passing connections the game has ever seen. They can surely share a Game Ball here as both looked in prime form Sunday night in a 33-30 overtime win over the Indianapolis Colts.
In his second game back from major knee surgery, Mahomes completed 32 of 47 passes for 382 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs while the soon-to-be 37-year-old Kelce had 9 catches for 101 yards and a score.
It was Kelce’s first 100-yard game since the 2024 postseason against the Houston Texans.
The touchdown was the 75th from Mahomes to Kelce (including the postseason).
As for Mahomes, this marked his most passing yards in a game since October of 2023. He has a cool 566 passing yards, 5 TDs and 1 INT through two games while leading the Chiefs to a 2-0 start.
6. San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy
When Brock Purdy is dialed in, he’s as good as any quarterback in the NFL.
Sunday was one of those days for Purdy, who completed 20 of 22 passes for 287 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs along with 30 rushing yards and a score in San Francisco’s 35-13 win over the Miami Dolphins.
7. Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott and WR CeeDee Lamb
We won’t make a habit of this, but again we’re going to let an elite passing tandem share a Game Ball here because it would be impossible to honor Dak Prescott without CeeDee Lamb in this case (and we didn’t want to tangle up two spots telling the same story).
In situations like this, we’d tend to spotlight the receiver who had more than half of his team’s passing yards like Lamb did with 8 catches for 153 yards and 2 TDs in a 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders.
But Prescott was darn near perfect on the day, completing 26 of 31 passes for 279 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs so this was the only way to go about it.
When those two are performing at the peak of their powers, it’s easy to believe in the Cowboys’ potential to make a real run this season.
8. Las Vegas Raiders CB Hezekiah Masses
Talk about a player with straight up career trajectory in recent years …
Hezekiah Masses spent most of his college career under the radar at FIU before transferring to Cal and earning first-team All-ACC honors. Still, the playmaking cornerback fell to the bottom of the fifth round of the draft this year and was the fourth defensive back taken by the Raiders.
Now, he’s the AFC Defensive Player of the Week after snagging 2 interceptions while tallying 5 tackles, a tackle for loss and 2 passes defended in the Raiders’ 26-14 road win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Raiders are the NFL’s surprise team after a 2-0 start, and Masses has his fingerprints all of it.
9. Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young
Has Bryce Young figured it out?
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Young has had an up-and-down start to his Panthers career. But he’s never started a season quite like this.
After passing for 361 yards, 3 TDs and an INT with a rushing TD in the shootout loss to the Chicago Bears in Week 1, Young followed that up with 287 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs in the 34-3 road win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
He ranks second in the NFL in passing yards through two weeks behind only the New Orleans Saints’ Tyler Shough.
10. Denver Broncos WR Jaylen Waddle
Jaylen Waddle didn’t find the end zone Sunday, but he gave the Broncos the spark they badly needed Sunday — and the spark they envisioned when acquiring him from the Miami Dolphins.
Waddle had just 1 catch for 2 yards in his Broncos debut in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. He helped make sure Denver avoided an 0-2 start, catching 8 passes for 138 yards in the team’s 20-13 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Denver was scoreless into the second quarter when Waddle hauled in a 49-yard reception in traffic right in front of the goal line, setting up a field goal. He later had a pair of first-down conversion catches on a game-tying touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter.
