Ravens could get into trouble

Each week of the NFL season, The Baltimore Sun rounds up the best and worst in the league. Here are our winners and losers from week two:

Loser: Ravens

You'll hear this statistic a lot this week: In the three seasons since the NFL switched to a 17-game schedule, 21 teams have started 0-2. Only two have made the playoffs.

After a stunning 26-23 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in their home opener on Sunday, the Ravens will look to defy all odds to join that exclusive circle.

“The next 15 games will define us,” said coach John Harbaugh.

Over the next 15 games. Next up are the Dallas Cowboys, who had won 16 straight games at home during the regular season before their surprise loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. Then there's a visit from the Buffalo Bills and NFL Most Valuable Player candidate Josh Allen on “Sunday Night Football.” In Week 5, the Ravens head to Cincinnati to face their AFC North rivals, the Bengals, who nearly beat the two-time defending Super Bowl champions on Sunday in Kansas City.

There's one world where the Ravens win these games and get back in the playoff race. There's another world where they lose all three games, perhaps in heartbreaking fashion, and are all but eliminated from the postseason race before Halloween.

Harbaugh and the Ravens don't sound worried, which is to be expected. This team has won a lot of games with Lamar Jackson as starting quarterback – 60, to be exact, including the postseason – and isn't about to throw in the towel after two tough losses. But with Jackson at quarterback, there may be more reasons to worry than ever, namely a porous offensive line with three new starters, Harbaugh's confusing game management and a reshuffled coaching staff. The defense, which was supposed to be among the best in the league again, couldn't stop a one-dimensional offense led by veteran quarterback Gardner Minshew II.

The Jackson-Harbaugh partnership has a long history of success in the regular season, including a league-best 13-4 mark last year and a 14-2 season in 2019 that included a franchise-record 12 consecutive wins. They deserve the benefit of the doubt, but that could all change in the next three weeks.

Winner: New Orleans Saints

What got into Derek Carr?

Last year, he was booed by his home crowd during a lame 9-8 season that ended just short of a playoff appearance. This year, he's the city's star after the Saints' surprise 2-0 start.

In Sunday's 44-19 win over the Cowboys, Carr threw for 243 yards on just 11 successful passes, including a 70-yard touchdown pass over two defenders to Rashid Shaheed in the first quarter. That's amazing for a quarterback who has often been criticized for not throwing the ball downfield as long and settling for checkdowns.

Carr's newfound aggressiveness has buoyed a team that many had projected to be behind the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South. And don't forget Alvin Kamara. The 29-year-old running back scored four touchdowns and totaled 180 yards from the scrimmage in Sunday's win, while the defense intercepted Dak Prescott twice and recorded three sacks. New Orleans scored on its first 15 drives of the season, making offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak the early favorite for assistant coach of the year.

The Saints may be more than just the winner of one of the league's worst divisions. They could be a serious contender in the NFC.

Loser: Indianapolis Colts

That should be a layup.

The Green Bay Packers had to play on Sunday without star quarterback Jordan Love, who injured his knee in the season opener. In his place came Malik Willis, who is now playing on his second team after a failed experiment as a starter in Tennessee.

In 67 attempts in his career, Willis had never thrown a touchdown pass. The 2022 third-round pick was known more for his running ability and was considered one of the worst backup players in the league.

And what did he do against the Colts on Sunday? He was incredibly efficient, completing 12 of 14 attempts for 122 yards, throwing his first NFL touchdown pass and running for 41 yards in a 16-10 win.

Meanwhile, Anthony Richardson, the Colts' much-touted young starter, completed just 17 of 34 passes for 204 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions, the last of which came on a Hail Mary in the final seconds.

Indianapolis was only a 2.5-point favorite, so it's not a huge surprise. But it was an opportunity for the Colts to build some momentum with their young quarterback and compete with the up-and-coming Houston Texans in the AFC South. Richardson is incredibly inexperienced, starting just 13 games in college before declaring for the NFL Draft. But at some point he'll have to prove that those flashes of talent translate into winning games.

Winner: Let the ball run

Passing and goal totals have dropped across the league in the first two weeks, a sign that defenses may finally be catching up. But that hasn't stopped teams from running the ball effectively.

According to Riley McAtee of The Ringer, teams are averaging 123.5 rushing yards per game, the highest since 1987. The average of 4.5 yards per run would be on par with the all-time high set in 2022.

In Sunday's win over the Colts, the Packers rushed for 261 yards, the most since 2003. According to the Associated Press, the Packers rushed for 164 yards in the first quarter alone, the highest first-quarter total by an NFL team since the Denver Broncos rushed for 167 yards against the New England Patriots on Dec. 18, 2011.

The Saints' 91 points in their first two games are the second-most of this century, thanks in large part to a running attack that totaled 370 yards.

Defenses will have the opportunity to adapt, but the cyclical nature of the league suggests that running the ball could be an effective antidote to lighter and faster units designed to stop the pass.

Loser: Caleb Williams

Before he entered the league, there was a lot of talk about Williams being in one of the best situations ever for a first-round draft pick.

It was easy to see why. The Bears finished the 2023 season 7-10, but they got the first pick last year in the Bryce Young trade from the Carolina Panthers. The defense had improved significantly after the midseason signing of defensive end Montez Sweat and was poised to become one of the best in the league. Chicago signed Keenan Allen and drafted Rome Odunze, creating a strong group of pass catchers alongside DJ Moore and tight ends Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett.