NFL winners and losers: Patrick Mahomes' Kansas City Chiefs lose again while Joe Burrow suffers latest setback

Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals suffered a fresh setback, the Detroit Lions punished their 'betrayal' and Malik Nabers proved he is a superstar in the NFL. Here are some of the winners and losers from Sunday...

Winners

Brian Branch and the Lions

No Johnson? No problem. The pre-game billing had centred around the Detroit Lions offense and their marquee reunion with Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson, a week removed from their blunt performance in the face of Jeff Hafley's Green Bay Packers defense. Suddenly question marks resurfaced over Jared Goff and his ability to keep the Lions Super Bowl dream in tact without Johnson, whose sorcery had tormented the league amid his ascent as one of football's most in-demand offensive minds.

Johnson, having helped Goff resurrect his career, was plucked by Chicago this offseason as the man to navigate the development of former No 1 pick Caleb Williams. Dan Campbell was quizzed in the week on how his Lions planned to quash Johnson's trick plays - the answer was resounding.

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Goff and his offense torpedoed the mere suggestion of struggles finding the end zone as the Lions quarterback threw for five touchdowns in a 52-21 rout, including three to Amon-Ra St Brown as Detroit's star receiver delivered his latest clinic in route-running. Few run that red zone fade-comeback better. The Lions posted a franchise record as they averaged 8.8 yards per play on offense - 'crisis' very much over.

Brian Branch meanwhile reaffirmed why he remains a poster boy for the modern safety position in the NFL as a game-changing chess piece to Kelvin Sheppard's defense, finishing with six tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, a pass breakup and a forced fumble.

"We knew coming into this game that this is personal," said Branch. "Really, all these games are personal. But this one was just...we felt like we've been betrayed from staff to players. We love Ben. We still love Ben. He's a great coach and he's a great mastermind, but yeah, it was time to get after him."

Daniel Jones - QB, Indianapolis Colts

Is a Sam Darnold/Geno Smith-esque comeback tale brewing in Indianapolis? Sure, the NFL season is two weeks in and there is plenty of time yet for catastrophe, but Daniel Jones could not have wished for a better start to life with the Colts.

Jones, who beat out Anthony Richardson for the starting job this summer, has led the Colts to their first 2-0 start to a campaign since 2009. The former New York Giants quarterback completed 23 of 34 passes for 316 yards and one touchdown as Indianapolis beat the Denver Broncos thanks to Spencer Shrader's 45-yard field goal with no time left on the clock. Shrader had initially missed his 60-yard attempt, only for a Broncos penalty to gift the Colts an extra 15 yards.

It marked Jones' first 300-yard game since throwing for 321 yards in September 2023, while combining with his Week One performance against the Miami Dolphins to leave him with 616 total yards, five touchdowns, zero turnovers and a passer rating of 111.1. This is not the Daniel Jones the NFL witnessed in New York, but perhaps more so the Daniel Jones that Dave Gettleman adored ahead of drafting him fourth overall in 2019.

There are few tougher tests for an NFL quarterback than that posed by Vance Joseph's No 1-ranked Broncos defense, but Jones was largely unflappable. When Joseph sent the house, Jones responded; he completed 16 of 25 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown on occasions the Broncos blitzed him, according to Next Gen Stats. He was attacking tight window throws, the deep ball was back to being a threat and he is looking as composed and as poised in the pocket as he perhaps as throughout his entire NFL career to date; upgrading the Giants offensive line for that of the Colts will do that. If he is this year's feel good story, there are plenty who would be here for it.

Andrew Mukuba - safety, Philadelphia Eagles

The Super Bowl champion Eagles entered the season with few glaring question marks as one of the most complete rosters in the NFL, fresh from their dismantling of the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans. If there were any prospective areas of intrigue or regression, it was deemed likeliest to be at safety after the loss of CJ Gardner-Johnson. But it is becoming increasingly clear why Vic Fangio wanted Andrew Mukuba on his team.

The second-round rookie finished Sunday's 20-17 win over the Chiefs with six tackles, a tackle for loss, half a sack, one pass breakup and one interception while allowing just two catches against him. A headline flashpoint came with the Eagles leading 13-10 in the fourth quarter when he was positioned perfectly to snag the end zone interception from Travis Kelce's fumbled catch attempt. But his best play of the game arguably came at 10-10 in the third when he diagnosed the underneath crosser immediately, before showing tremendous sideline-to-sideline speed and spearing Hollywood Brown to stop him shy on third-and-one. His efforts were rewarded moments later when Philly produced the fourth-down stop.

He already looks to be a seamless fit into the Eagles defense, with the versatility customary to any productive modern NFL safety. In Mukuba and Jihaad Campbell, Fangio has added two more dynamic moving pieces to a defense capable of hurting opponents in multiple ways. Howie Roseman got himself a blitzing, run-bludgeoning ball hawk.

Losers

Andy Reid's Chiefs offense

The Kansas City Chiefs offense is a mess, and not even the magic of Patrick Mahomes is enough to save it at the moment. Their inability to move the ball, their struggles across the offensive line, their lack of separation, the complete capitulation of a deep threat is old news by now, having primarily leaned on Steve Spagnuolo's defense and Mahomes' knack for winning games alone on their road to the last three Super Bowls.

But with Sunday's loss to the Eagles, the league's modern dynasty team are 0-2 for the first time since 2014 - the last time they missed out on the playoffs. Mahomes was still without the suspended Rashee Rice, while Xavier Worthy was nursing the dislocated shoulder suffered after his mid-route collision with an apologetic Travis Kelce in Week One against the Chargers.

This was another game tarnished by mistakes, misfires, a non-existent running game with which to partially compensate for the drop-off in a downfield passing threat and some rare play-calling head-scratchers from Andy Reid. Kelce let his quarterback down once more with a crucial drop that led to an end-zone interception with the Chiefs chasing the game in the fourth quarter, while Reid was guilty of a baffling and telegraphed fourth-and-one run behind a pull blocker that came up short thanks largely to Nolan Smith slaloming to the inside.

Mahomes himself couldn't quite believe his eyes after a wild overthrow to a wide-open Tyquan Thornton for a would-be deep touchdown. He could probably be forgiven for the uncharacteristic lapse, having spent most of his evening scrambling for his life in a bid to ignite a lifeless offense that now ranks 27th in success rate. These are times of concern for the Chiefs.

Malik Nabers - WR, New York Giants

There is an argument that Malik Nabers should still nestle into the winners column, regardless of how Sunday's overtime epic finished. The second-year receiver proved once again he is a certified superstar in his position as he made nine catches from 13 targets for 167 yards and two touchdowns, only for his winless New York Giants to suffer a 40-37 heartbreaker against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Giants have lacked a natural field-tilter, needle-mover and game-changer like Nabers on offense since the prime of Odell Beckham Jr's career in New York. It would require something or somebody special to resuscitate Brian Daboll's offense, but Nabers is special. He first delivered with a body-elongating back-peddling 29-yard diving touchdown catch, followed by a vision-impaired 48-yard scoring grab with a Cowboys hand covering his facemask to put his team on top with 25 seconds left. By the end of the game he had registered a career-best 20.3 average depth of target as well as a career-best 264 air yards, as much inspiring a throwback to peak Russell Wilson and his peak moonball days in Seattle.

He boasts the menu of moves to buy separation and escape multiple defenders with an ease capable of elevating the most stagnant of aerial attacks, already asserting himself among the league's elite wideouts. For all of Nabers' heroics, it was another Giants outing marred by mistakes as they surrendered 14 penalties for 160 yards - including four penalties in six snaps from backup left tackle James Hudson III on the opening drive. Nabers was visibly frustrated during the Week One loss to the Washington Commanders; the frustration could well continue.

Burrow and the Bengals

An urgent, statement start was pivotal to the Cincinnati Bengals this season as they sought to avoid a repeat of 2024, when their stumbles out of the gate ultimately cost them a playoff spot while leaving their late surge unrewarded. The early signs are ominous.

They were dealt a potentially-defining blow on Sunday when quarterback Joe Burrow hobbled off with a toe injury during their victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jake Browning replaced him under center and overcame three interceptions as the Bengals punished missed opportunities from Liam Coen's side.

Burrow fell awkwardly during a sack by Arik Armstead and limped off with the assistance of Bengals staff in the second quarter, initially being labelled as questionable before later being officially ruled out. He was later diagnosed with turf toe and is expected to be sidelined for at least three months.

It is a familiar and unwelcome tale for last season's league leader in passing yards and touchdowns, who suffered a year-ending torn ACL as a rookie followed by a wrist injury in 2023. Cincinnati, led by Burrow and his star receiver tandem of Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, sit 2-0... but alarm bells are ringing.

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(c) Sky Sports 2025: NFL winners and losers: Patrick Mahomes' Kansas City Chiefs lose again while Joe Burrow suffers latest setback