NFL Top 5 for Week 2: A disappointing start for the new kickoff format

1. Kansas City Chiefs (1-0) — The champs are already ahead of last season’s early pace, when they lost their season opener to the Lions. This time, the Chiefs beat the Ravens by a toe. Perhaps most encouragingly, rookie Xavier Worthy’s two-touchdown performance provided an early sign that Patrick Mahomes indeed could be working with an upgraded set of wide receivers. Next up is an interesting meeting with the Bengals, who must try to rebound from their miserable performance Sunday in a loss to the Patriots.

2. San Francisco 49ers (1-0) — They had few problems Monday night with the Jets, even with Christian McCaffrey on the inactive list. The 49ers wasted no time demonstrating that, even with all the issues they faced during the lead-up to the season, they should be a top Super Bowl contender again.

3. Detroit Lions (1-0) — They went to their running game to beat the Rams with an impressive touchdown drive on the opening possession of overtime. This really should be a 4-0 September start with the Buccaneers, Cardinals and Seahawks on the schedule over the rest of the month.

4. Houston Texans (1-0) — The narrow margin in an opening triumph over the Colts suggests that the Texans remain the team to beat in the AFC South, but the gap between them and the rest of the division might not be quite as wide as some might have predicted.

5. Buffalo Bills (1-0) — Josh Allen’s injury to his left hand becomes the major issue now, especially with the quick turnaround for Thursday night’s road game against the Dolphins. Allen is expected to play. But will his performance be affected? Meanwhile, the Bills’ uneven showing in Sunday’s comeback victory over the Cardinals also should raise a few concerns.

There were some good things about the “dynamic” kickoff in its regular season debut weekend. But overall, it wasn’t as dynamic as the NFL had hoped. Only about 33 percent of kickoffs were returned leaguewide in Week 1.

The new alignment represents the NFL’s best and perhaps last effort to save the kickoff from extinction. It was designed by the competition committee, with input from special teams coaches, to increase returns while keeping the injury rate more in line with that of a play from the line of scrimmage.

The injury data must be examined later. For now, it’s about a return rate that sagged to 22 percent during last year’s regular season, with a temporary measure in effect that allowed to team to start at its 25-yard line — in what amounted to a touchback — with a fair catch inside the 25 of any kickoff.

The designers of the new rules said in the spring that they projected a return rate of 55 to 60 percent. That would have been upward of 90 percent, they said, if the touchback spot had been the 35-yard line, as originally planned, instead of the 30.

So the Week 1 return rate was an improvement on last season’s mark, but it fell far short of the goal. There was one touchdown Sunday on a kickoff return, by the Arizona Cardinals’ DeeJay Dallas. But too many teams opted to just kick the ball into the end zone and allow their opponents to begin at the 30-yard line rather than risking long returns.

Things did improve over the weekend following a dismal start. There were only five returns among 24 combined kickoffs over the season’s first two games.

There were some other bright spots. The return rate, while modest, still was up significantly from last season’s Week 1 return rate of about 21 percent. There were three kickoff returns of at least 40 yards, after an average of only 1.3 such returns per week last season. The league needs just three more touchdowns on kickoff returns this season to match last season’s total. The average drive start on kickoffs in Week 1 was the 29.4-yard line, a 4.4-yard improvement on last season’s Week 1 average of the 25-yard line.

But the NFL must hope that things go even better in the coming weeks. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, in an interview Friday with Peacock, mentioned the possibility of moving the touchback spot to the 35-yard line “or even the 40” on the new kickoff format if needed. That would provide a greater disincentive for the kicking team to launch the ball into the end zone.

That might not happen until the offseason, though. NFL officials repeatedly have said they do not envision any in-season changes to the kickoff rules. The league and the team owners could still make an in-season tweak. But barring that, the competition committee, the NFL and the owners will revisit the kickoff in the offseason. The owners approved the new format in March on just a one-year basis.

There were, predictably, some opening-weekend growing pains for the three prized rookie quarterbacks who were their teams’ Week 1 starters: the Chicago Bears’ Caleb Williams, the Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels and the Denver Broncos’ Bo Nix.

Only the Bears won their opener, and they needed touchdowns on a blocked punt and an interception to beat the Tennessee Titans while Williams threw for just 93 yards on 14-for-29 passing.

But at least he didn’t throw any interceptions. Nix threw two while recording only 138 passing yards on 42 attempts in the Broncos’ loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Daniels managed to run for 88 yards and two touchdowns while connecting on 17 of 24 passes for 184 yards. So he probably had the most impressive debut of the three. But it mattered little as the Commanders were not particularly competitive in a road defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The sprained MCL in his left knee that quarterback Jordan Love suffered during the Green Bay Packers’ season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles leaves backup Malik Willis in line to take over as the starter for several weeks.

Willis made three starts for the Titans as a rookie in 2022. He has just 67 regular season passing attempts, and he didn’t join the Packers until being obtained in a late-August trade with the Titans. It will be challenging for the Packers to keep their season from unraveling before Love returns to the lineup. They host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday and then play the Titans on the road and the Minnesota Vikings at home.

The Packers are expected to elevate Sean Clifford from the practice squad to serve as Willis’s backup. They are not placing Love on the injured reserve list, preserving his eligibility to return at some point in the next four games.

Things could not have gone much worse on opening weekend for the New York Giants.

They were booed by the crowd at MetLife Stadium while suffering a 22-point defeat to the Vikings. Quarterback Daniel Jones threw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. And that came after tailback Saquon Barkley, who left the Giants in free agency, had three touchdowns Friday in his Eagles debut.

If it indeed is a now-or-never season for Coach Brian Daboll and General Manager Joe Schoen, the Week 1 misery did nothing to quiet the speculation that Bill Belichick could be among the candidates to replace Daboll in the offseason.

Five NFL players wore Guardian Caps during the Week 1 games. They became the first players to wear the protective caps in the regular season after some players wore them during preseason games this summer. At least 230 additional players on teams’ season-opening rosters are wearing new helmet models approved for use this season. …

There always is speculation that NFL viewership will suffer in presidential election years. That was not the case on opening weekend, however. According to NFL Media, Week 1 games averaged 21 million viewers across TV and digital platforms. That was up 12 percent from last season and made this the most-watched Week 1 ever. …

The average NFL game in Week 1 had 45.8 points. It was the highest-scoring Week 1 since 2021. …

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson might not play Sunday in his return to Denver. The Steelers signed Wilson in the offseason after he was released by the Broncos. He was in line to be the Steelers’ starter but was scratched from the lineup Sunday because of his lingering calf injury, and Justin Fields helped orchestrate a season-opening triumph at Atlanta. Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that the Steelers will prepare this week as if Fields will be the starter again, based on Wilson’s injury.

“Speculation is a waste of time,” Tomlin said at a news conference. “Russell’s hurt. He’s not available to us. … As a general practice, man, I focus my energy on those that are available and their readiness.” …

The Eagles’ trademark push-the-quarterback sneak with Jalen Hurts had some issues against the Packers in the opener, their first game since the retirement of center Jason Kelce.

The Eagles had Hurts throw for a first down on third and one in the first half. They also were stopped by the Packers on a third-and-one push play, then got a first down when the Packers jumped offside on fourth down. In addition, the Eagles had an early turnover on a mishandled snap when Kelce’s replacement, Cam Jurgens, hiked the ball before Hurts was ready.