Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season delivered the one thing no team can game-plan for: starting quarterbacks leaving the field and not coming back.
The Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders both saw their starting QBs sustain injuries during Sunday's games, according to CBS Sports' Week 2 winners and losers roundup. Neither team has given a firm timeline for a return.
The injuries overshadowed what was otherwise a revealing slate of games. The Cincinnati Bengals put everything together for the first time this season, earning recognition as one of the week's biggest winners. After questions about consistency through the opener, the Bengals looked like the contender their roster suggested they could be.
Elsewhere, the 2024 first-round quarterback class continued to struggle. USA Today's review of Week 2 noted that the group — widely hyped as a generational crop — has spent the early season on what the outlet called the "struggle bus." Sputtering offenses and inconsistent decision-making have defined their second-year leap so far.
Fantasy football managers felt the pain too. The New York Times' fantasy takeaways highlighted quarterback injuries, ineffective offenses, and a growing problem involving wide receiver George Pickens as the top storylines coming out of Sunday.
ESPN and NFL.com both emphasized that the week raised more questions than it answered. Which teams are actually good? Which slow starts are real concerns? And how much of Sunday's chaos was a one-week blip versus a signal of things to come?
Those answers won't arrive quickly. With injury reports due in the coming days and divisional matchups on the Week 3 schedule, the pressure shifts to backup quarterbacks and coaching staffs forced to adjust on the fly.
The biggest question now: how long will the injured starters be out, and can their teams survive the stretch without them?