- The Carolina Panthers dominate the Atlanta Falcons: Tight end Darren Waller scored two touchdowns, while Tetairoa McMillan reached over 100 yards for the second time in his career.
- TreVeyon Henderson steals the show for the New England Patriots: After missing Week 1, Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled, leading Henderson to be the top back in New England, which included a touchdown run.
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Pittsburgh Steelers @ New England Patriots
Monitor Rico Dowdle’s health: Dowdle suffered a toe injury in the second quarter and was ruled out in the fourth quarter.
The Steelers used a two-man running back rotation last week, where Jaylen Waddle received the start but Dowdle played more snaps, in part because the drives Dowdle was on the field for lasted longer. This week, Dowdle got the start. He played the first drive, Warren the second and they both played on the following two possessions. Dowdle left at that point but returned to start the second half. He played six snaps on the first drive of the half, but only two more plays over the rest of the game.
Travis Homer played two snaps in the first half when Dowdle first left the game, but otherwise, it was all Warren whenever Dowdle was out. On one hand, Dowdle appears to be ahead of Warren on the depth chart after beginning both halves. If the injury isn’t serious, then Dowdle could be a buy-low candidate.
On the other hand, this could be an opportunity for Warren to earn more playing time and maximize his fantasy value. Warren is in his fifth NFL season, and he’s never played a game where his primary competition for targets missed a contest. Najee Harris didn’t miss a game in his three years overlapping with Warren, and Kenny Gainwell played in every matchup this season. His 50 offensive snaps in this game were a career high. While there is a strong chance Pittsburgh rotates in one of the backups a little bit more than Homer was worked in for this game, Warren would be a must-start player next week against the Cincinnati Bengals if Dowdle misses that game.
The Steelers adjust without Michael Pittman Jr.: The former Indianapolis Colts receiver was inactive due to a foot injury.
The Steelers' wide receiver rotation was straightforward last week. DK Metcalf played in one-, two- and three-wide receiver sets; Pittman played in two- and three-receiver sets, while Roman Wilson played in the slot in three-receiver sets. Rookie Germie Bernard only played three snaps in place of Wilson in his debut. Pittman showed up on the injury report with a foot injury and was ultimately inactive.
For the most part, the Steelers' wide receivers moved up a spot in the depth chart. Wilson consistently played in two-receiver sets, while Bernard was consistently on the field in 11 personnel. The only difference this week is Ben Skowronek substituted in more frequently, particularly for Wilson in 11 personnel. The Steelers ran so much 11 personnel that the plays Wilson missed balanced out with the snaps Bernard missed in two-receiver sets, leading the two to finish with the same snap totals.
Bernard led the team in receiving yards at 35 on four receptions, while Wilson paced Pittsburgh in receptions at five for 28 yards. It wouldn’t be surprising if we see Bernard mix in a little more frequently going forward, regardless of Pittman’s health.
TreVeyon Henderson shines in his return: Henderson led the Patriots in rushing production with 16 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown.
Henderson missed Week 1 with an ankle injury, but was a full participant in practice all week and was ready to play in this game. In his absence, Rhamondre Stevenson played 84.5% of snaps last week, including 100% on third downs, in the two-minute drill, in short yardage and at the goal line. Corey Kiner was the primary backup, and Lan Larison was a practice squad call-up. This week, Larison remained on the practice squad.
Stevenson took all four snaps on the first drive, but ended up losing a fumble on a reception. This led Henderson to play 21 of 25 snaps over the next five drives while Stevenson played six. The split was a little more balanced in the following four series, with Henderson taking 12 snaps to nine by Stevenson. On the final drive, Kiner played four snaps to one by Stevenson.
The fumble likely impacted both backs' playing time; if the plan was to have Henderson as the lead back, he likely would have played on the first drive. However, it’s also possible that Henderson played well enough to take a lead going forward. Stevenson remained the primary third-down back throughout the game, so the only thing we can be decently confident in heading into next week is that Stevenson will likely remain the third-down option. Barring strong comments from the coaching staff one way or another, starting either back next week will be a bit of a gamble.
New England adjusts without A.J. Brown: The Patriots' new star wide receiver is on injured reserve, leaving the Patriots without a clear top wide receiver.
Brown made his debut with the Patriots as their lead receiver. Mack Hollins played much more than expected. Romeo Doubs and DeMario Douglas generally joined Brown in 11 personnel. Brown suffered a high ankle sprain, which landed him on injured reserve. He is expected to miss four to six weeks. Once he left the game last week, Hollins started playing more in 11 personnel, while Doubs saw more snaps in 12 personnel. Efton Chism III was a healthy inactive last week, but was active this week with Brown out.
Unsurprisingly, Hollins, Doubs and Douglas were the primary trio of wide receivers in 11 personnel, with Douglas taking 100% of snaps and Kyle Williams taking a few snaps from the outside receivers. In 12 and 21 personnel, it was primarily Hollins and Doubs, although Douglas and Williams both mixed in. Chism was the Patriots' primary wide receiver out of 22 personnel.
Doubs was the clear leader in receiving production with three receptions for 96 yards. While most of that was from a 63-yard catch, it’s fair to expect him to be New England’s lead wide receiver over the next few weeks. However, rotating out at times in 11, 12 and 21 personnel, as well as not playing at all in 22 personnel, left Doubs playing less than his typical game with the Green Bay Packers.
Miscellaneous Notes
- The Steelers activated running back Travis Homer from the practice squad for this game on Saturday, giving them four active halfbacks.
- Patriots backup tight end Eli Raridon left with a thigh injury. This led Cameron Latu to take over as the second tight end for the rest of the game. Once Raridon departed, Henry played 100% of snaps in single-tight end sets after rotating with Raridon at times last week and at the start of this game.
Carolina Panthers @ Atlanta Falcons
Monitor Jonathon Brooks’ health: The Panthers' backup running back left the game with a groin injury and didn’t return.
In Week 1, Chuba Hubbard played 70.6% of the Panthers' offensive snaps, including at least 60% in every major situation. His snap rate was at 78.7% if you exclude garbage time.
This week, there was more rotation prior to Brooks’ injury. Most notable was Brooks taking the two -minute drill after Hubbard dominated that situation last week. Brooks also played a higher percentage of third-down snaps. This led Brooks to play 30.3% of snaps, which was up over 10% compared to last week. Excluding the fourth quarter, the split was 65%-35% in favor of Hubbard.
Brooks only played one snap in the fourth quarter, with Hubbard taking the other seven early in the half. The Panthers again closed the game with a few snaps by AJ Dillon.
Hubbard is a must-start option at the moment, and that will be especially true if Brooks ends up missing any time with the groin injury. However, if Brooks is fine, the running back rotation will be worth watching, as it already changed from the first week to the second.
Darren Waller sees an uptick in snaps: The Panthers tight end scored two touchdowns and was on the field more often than last week.
Carolina added Waller late in the offseason to replace Ja’Tavion Sanders as its receiving tight end. Last week, he played 35.3% of snaps. That included the majority of 11 personnel snaps on third downs, but only 19% of early-down snaps and 35% of 12 personnel snaps.
This week, his snap rate was on the rise. He didn’t play as much in 12 personnel, but Carolina went from three plays in 13 personnel to 11. Waller was on the field for 10 of those, so he ultimately appeared on more multi-tight end sets. His snap rate on third downs was similar to last week, but he played a third of 11 personnel snaps on early downs, which was also an increase. He ran a route on 56.4% of the Panthers' pass plays, compared to 39.5% last week.
We generally expect Waller to play more when Carolina is playing from behind than the team has a lead, so the increase in snaps was a promising sign for him. He will likely need either a higher target rate or a higher snap clip to trust putting him in fantasy starting lineups, but he’s become an intriguing waiver wire target in case his role continues to expand.
Kyle Pitts Sr. remains in a rotation: Charlie Woerner received more offensive snaps than Pitts, reminiscent of 2024.
Pitts had a breakout 2025 season, in part because his playing time was much higher in 2025 than in other recent years. However, there started to be some concern in the preseason when Austin Hooper started taking some snaps from Pitts in 12 personnel. That worry continued during the first week of the regular season, as Pitts played only 12 of 22 snaps in 12 personnel, losing snaps to both Hooper and Nick Muse. He played 20 of 32 snaps in 11 personnel, which also wasn’t ideal.
In this game, Pitts played a slightly higher rate in 12 personnel, taking six of nine snaps while the starters were still playing. However, in 11 personnel, his snaps fell to 11 of 23. While there was a general tendency of Pitts to be on the field for passing plays out of 11 personnel, and Woerner for run plays, Pitts was still restricted to 16 of 21 passing plays.
The Falcons put in backups, so Pitts didn’t close out the game. Pitts was held to one reception for 15 yards. While it’s likely Pitts’ fantasy value will improve once the Falcons have a different quarterback, it’s unlikely his fantasy ceiling will reach the same heights as last season due to the rotation at tight end.
Miscellaneous Notes
- The Panthers waived wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. on Tuesday after muffing a punt in Week 1. John Metchie III was a healthy scratch last week, but was active this week to replace Horn as a backup wide receiver and returner.
- Jalen Coker was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday with an ankle injury, but was ready to play in this game.
- While Tetaiora McMillan isn’t playing as much in the slot as he was in the preseason, he lined up slightly more at Z receiver this week than what we’ve seen in the past.
- Backup tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders was a healthy inactive for a second straight week.
- Atlanta took out its starters on offense for the final 13 plays, which included quarterback Cooper Rush, running back Bijan Robinson, wide receiver Drake London and tight ends Kyle Pitts Sr. and Charlie Woerner.
- While Jahan Dotson is the second wide receiver on the Falcons' depth chart, he only played in 24 of 40 snaps in the starters. He lost some snaps to Chris Blair in 11 personnel, and he doesn’t play in 13 personnel.
- The Falcons started Cooper Rush for a second straight week while Tua Tagovailoa (oblique) and Michael Penix Jr. (knee) remained out. There is optimism that at least one of the latter two, if not both, will be ready to play for their Week 3 game on Thursday Night Football.
- Atlanta lost Tyler Goodson from the practice squad, so it added Khalil Herbert to the practice squad on Wednesday. Atlanta has only had two active running backs each of the last two weeks.
- Tight end Nick Muse was a practice squad call-up last week to give Atlanta four tight ends. Muse was signed to the roster on Wednesday, and again gave the Falcons four tight ends.
New Orleans Saints @ Baltimore Ravens
Coming soon!
Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears
Aaron Jones Sr. dominates snaps without Jordan Mason: Jones played 80.8% of the Vikings' snaps, giving him one of the highest snap rates among running backs.
The Vikings' backfield was close to a 50-50 split last week after Jones was the clear leader last season. Mason played 56.1% of early-down snaps, while Jones saw 56.3% of third-down snaps. However, Mason landed on injured reserve on Wednesday with a thumb fracture. In Week 1, Minnesota opted to make DeeJay Dallas a practice squad call-up, and the third back over rookie Demond Claiborne, who was a healthy inactive. Dallas was signed to the 53-man roster on Wednesday, but Claiborne was active for the first time.
Jones played 31 of a possible 38 snaps over the first three quarters. Dallas was the primary backup with five snaps, while Claiborne played two. Jones left the game briefly in the fourth quarter with a knee injury, but he was able to walk off. Dallas briefly replaced him, but Jones still played 11 of 14 snaps in the fourth quarter.
The veteran’s playing time is enough to make him a must-start for these next few weeks until Mason is back.
Myles Price plays in place of Jauan Jennings: The Vikings' return man saw his first significant playing time on offense of his career.
Minnesota added Jennings late in the offseason as the replacement for Jalen Nailor. Jennings played 100% of snaps in 11 personnel, but barely played in the other personnel groupings, leading him to play just under 50% of offensive snaps. Jennings was inactive this week due to a personal family matter. This moved Tai Felton and Price up the depth chart, while Dillon Bell was a practice squad call-up.
While Felton had played with the starters at times in the preseason, it was Price who played 100% of snaps in 11 personnel for this game. This suggests that Felton is Jefferson’s backup, while Price is the backup for Jennings. Price had only played 20 offensive snaps in his career prior to this game. He was unfortunately held without a reception, so his first career NFL catch will need to wait.
While this doesn’t mean anything for the short term in fantasy, this is good to know in case we see a more serious injury by a Vikings wide receiver at some point this season.
Luther Burden III’s concerning snap rate: Burden played a lower snap rate in this game than he was playing at the end of last season.
Chicago moved on from DJ Moore and Olamide Zaccheaus in the offseason, which moved Burden up to second on the depth chart at worse. He led Bears wide receivers in snap rate last week at 73.3%. He played 95% of the 11 personnel snaps and 65.2% in 12 personnel. The 12 personnel snap rate wasn’t ideal, but it was still better than last season. However, it was Kalif Raymond who stole the show in terms of his receiving production.
This week, Burden played 100% of snaps in 11 personnel. However, Rome Odunze was questionable last week and was healthier this week. This led Odunze’s snap rate in 12 personnel to jump up to 93.1%. This left Raymond and Burden splitting snaps in 12 personnel, with Raymond playing slightly more. The Bears also ran 17 plays out of 13 personnel. We have seen 13 personnel usage skyrocket across the league, which is making it harder to find consistent fantasy wide receivers. Burden only played one of those 17 snaps, and that is having an impact on his fantasy value.
Despite the decrease in playing time, Burden still ran a route on 71.4% of pass plays. He was targeted on 23.3% of routes, which is great, but a number of his targets weren’t catchable, yielding three receptions for 32 yards.
Burden has been a disappointment from a fantasy perspective relative to the hype around him. It’s fair to question if he’s a must-start player if the matchup isn’t right, especially if Caleb Williams misses time.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Minnesota quarterback Kyler Murray suffered a concussion last week, leading Carson Wentz to start this week.
- The Vikings added running back Jerome Ford to the practice squad on Wednesday. While he remained on the practice squad this week, there is a chance he will factor into the running back rotation in future weeks.
- T.J. Hockenson only played one-third of the snaps out of single-tight end sets on early downs, similar to last week. That’s partially because the Vikings are using a lot of 21 personnel so far this season.
- Bears running backs D’Andre Swift (ankle, knee) and Kyle Monangai (hamstring) were limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday, practiced in full on Friday and weren’t given a game status. The backfield was more in Swift’s favor than usual this week because the Bears happened to have more third downs and two-minute snaps than usual.
- Caleb Williams suffered a hamstring injury on a non-contact play late in this game. That will be an injury worth monitoring, as it impacts the value of all Bears receivers.
- Chicago backup quarterback Tyson Bagent returned this week after missing last week with a back injury. Case Keenum was the emergency third-string quarterback for this game.
- Colston Loveland’s lack of receiving production isn’t from a lack of playing time. He’s played at least 86% of snaps each of the last three regular season games after never hitting that mark before Week 18 last season. However, it’s worth noting he stayed in to pass block six times in this game, which is more than any other game in his career.
Cincinnati Bengals @ Houston Texans
Coming soon!
Green Bay Packers @ New York Jets
Coming soon!
Cleveland Browns @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Coming soon!
Philadelphia Eagles @ Tennessee Titans
Monitor Saquon Barkley’s health: Barkley missed significant playing time in this game due to a stinger.
Barkley has been the clear lead back for Philadelphia when healthy, and he’s only not played in Week 18 the last two seasons. Barkley left for the locker room after one play in this game, leading Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley to take over for the rest of the first half. Shipley took 23 snaps in the first half to 19 by Bigsby. Barkley returned for the start of the third quarter, playing 10 of 14 snaps, with Shipley taking the other four. However, Barkley only played one of 20 snaps in the fourth quarter, with Shipley handling 12 and Bigsby seven.
Bigsby was the leader in the box score, carrying 13 times for 33 yards and a touchdown while catching two passes. Shipley ran seven times and caught two passes. Bigsby generally played more on early downs, while Shipley suited up in clear passing situations, and the Eagles had more of those than usual in this game.
If Barkley misses time, Bigsby is the clear waiver wire target despite the playing time difference in this game. Shipley would also be worth targeting in deeper leagues, but Bigsby is the clear favorite to lead the backfield in fantasy production if Barkley’s injury is serious.
Dontayvion Wicks‘ starting job could be slipping: Darius Cooper rotated in more often as the game progressed, and he scored the game-winning touchdown.
The Eagles traded for Wicks to be their new X receiver after trading away A.J. Brown. He played 50 of a possible 55 snaps in Week 1, where he was rotated out for five plays for Cooper.
This week, Wicks only played 73.9% of snaps in the first quarter, so he was already getting rotated out more than last week. That rate fell to 68.4% in the second quarter, 50% in the third quarter and 50% in the fourth quarter. Cooper played 100% of snaps when Wicks wasn’t on the field. Wicks had a strong game in the box score with five receptions for 74 yards. While the Eagles ran 76 plays, likely contributing to Philadelphia rotating more often, the fact that the team alternated so much in the first quarter before we knew it would run so many plays suggests this could be a permanent change.
Wicks should be viewed as a sell-high candidate in deeper leagues, as it’s unlikely the Eagles will rotate Cooper in less after making the play of the game despite Wicks also performing well.
Monitor Dallas Goedert’s health: Goedert suffered a knee injury in the first half and didn’t return.
Goedert has been the clear lead tight end for Philadelphia, and that included Week 1, where he played in 52 of 55 snaps. Johnny Mundt was his backup and joined him in 12 personnel, while E.J. Jenkins accompanied for a snap out of 13 personnel. Both Grant Calcaterra and Eli Stowers are currently on injured reserve.
The Eagles started the game rotating tight ends a little more frequently, with Goedert playing 19 of the first 25 snaps, Mundt taking a few snaps from Goedert out of 11 personnel and Jenkins handling some snaps out of 12 personnel. After the injury, Mundt was the Eagles' primary tight end, playing 30 of 42 snaps in 11 personnel while the two shared the field for seven plays out of 12 personnel.
If Goedert misses time, Mundt would be the tight end to pick up in the short term. Calcaterra was often the receiving tight end when Goedert was sidelined in recent years, so there is a chance Calcaterra would take over once he’s healthy. There have also been rumors of Zach Ertz signing with Philadelphia given the injuries the Eagles already have at the position. Ertz played for Philadelphia from 2013-2021 and was most recently a member of the Washington Commanders, but didn’t sign with a team this off-season while recovering from a torn ACL. Ertz could be worth picking up if we find out Goedert will miss significant time.
Ignore the Titans running back snap count: Tyjae Spears missed significant time in the third quarter due to injury, but was able to close out the game.
The Titans have spent the last few seasons with Tony Pollard as their early-down back and Spears as their passing-down back when both were healthy. Those roles became a little less well-defined in Week 1.
Pollard played 11 snaps in the first half to 10 by Spears out of a possible 20 plays. There was a slight tendency for Pollard to play on early downs and Spears in passing situations. Spears only played two snaps in the third quarter due to injury.
It was noteworthy that rookie Nicholas Singleton started a rotation with Pollard. In past years, Pollard would have dominated snaps with Spears out. It was also notable because Singleton was a healthy inactive last week, with Julius Chestnut as the third running back. Chestnut was also active this week, but Singleton played ahead of him.
The Titans went back to a two-man rotation in the fourth quarter, with Pollard playing 11 snaps to seven by Spears. Despite Pollard having more touches, Spears ended up gaining more yards with both a 27-yard carry and a 27-yard catch. Given the big plays by Spears, it’s possible the Titans' backfield will be even closer to 50-50 going forward.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Titans fifth-round rookie running back Nicholas Singleton was a healthy inactive last week but was active this week as a fourth running back. Instead, Tennessee kept only three tight ends, with Kylen Granson as a healthy inactive.
- Philadelphia made Andy Dalton its backup quarterback over Tanner McKee and Cole Payton for a second straight week.
- Eagles backup wide receiver Elijah Moore was inactive for a second straight week. He was on the injury report with a neck injury, but was a full participant all week. Green Bay signed Britain Covey off its own practice squad, and he was the Eagles’ sixth wide receiver this week.
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Denver Broncos
Coming soon!
Las Vegas Raiders @ Los Angeles Chargers
Coming soon!
Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals
Coming soon!
Washington Commanders @ Dallas Cowboys
Coming soon!
Miami Dolphins @ San Francisco 49ers
Coming soon!
Indianapolis Colts @ Kansas City Chiefs
Coming soon!
Table Notes
- Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
- Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
- Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.
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