We’re onto Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season after a wild start of the season. As usual, Week 1 was unpredictable and there were plenty of surprises

Now, several teams (and players) need to regroup to avoid starting the season at 0-2 where the odds of making the decrease quite drastically. Here are the teams facing the most pressure in Week 2, presented in alphabetical order:

The Cowboys, seemingly like every year, were tabbed as a sexy Super Bowl contender in the offseason. They looked far from it in a 28-20 loss at the New York Giants on Sunday. The Giants, one of the worst teams in the league last season, were clearly the better team on Sunday night and outclassed Dallas. The Cowboys must bounce at home against the beatable Washington Commanders on Sunday to stay in the early mix in the NFC East.

The Broncos looked like a team that was in its first week of training camp going up against a team coming off a bye week in a 31-10 loss at the Kansas City Chiefs. The Broncos were out of sorts on both sides of the ball and did not look like one of the NFL’s best rosters, which was expected. This may just be a Week 1 thing. But the issue for the Broncos is their schedule. Their next four games are against the Jaguars, Rams, 49ers, Chargers and Seahawks. Denver better get it together at home against Jacksonville on Sunday.

The Packers are in feeling the sting this week. They completely melted down in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings and Carson Wentz, of all people, on Sunday. The host Vikings scored 22 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to shock the Packers 39-22. To make matters worse, Green Bay was the only losing team in the stout NFC North in Week 1. If Green Bay stumbles at the very beatable New York Jets on Sunday, they will be digging themselves a big hole in the tough NFC.

The Texans entered the season with the reputation of having one of, if not the very best, defenses in the NFL. Then, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills hung 36 points on them. It was a classic games against two likely AFC heavyweights. The Texans’ offense looked strong in the 36-31 loss and the defense should be fine. But they have to show it Sunday at home against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. Losing two home games to start the season would be a blow to a team with Super Bowl hopes.

The Rams’ Super Bowl parade may be on hold. The darlings of the league were punched in the mouth by NFC West rival the San Francisco 49ers in Australia. The Rams were very sluggish in their whirlwind trip and then they lost new superstar toy Myles Garrett to a stint on the injured reserve. The Rams don’t have much time to fret, though. They host the upstart Giants on Monday night. This will not be an easy test for the Rams. But they most likely get their stuff together (they were out of sorts on both offense and defense against the 49ers) or they could be in a big hole in the NFC West, where the other three teams are all 1-0.

The pressure here starts with quarterback Drake Maye. He followed up a tough Super Bowl appearance against Seattle to a rough performance against the Seahawks in Week 1. Frankly, Maye cost his team the game, ending it would baffling interception. Maye has to break out of his slump against a tough Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense on Sunday.