NFL preseason Week 2 winners and losers: Bo Nix, Drake Maye making surge to start Week 1

Week 2 of the NFL preseason is in the books. While teams handle these exhibitions differently, it does feel like the second slate of games has taken over as the dress rehearsal for the regular season ever since the league moved from four to three weeks in the preseason. With that in mind, how various players perform this week should be particularly on your radar. 

Below, we’ll roll through a handful of winners and losers from this week’s games, which includes a number of quarterbacks seeing their stocks either rise or fall.  

Denver’s first-round rookie is making a firm case to be the team’s Week 1 starter. In the club’s 27-2 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night, Nix was again sharp. He got the starting nod and was dialed in from the get-go, completing all but one of his nine passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. Nix led the Broncos to points in each of his two drives and nearly had another touchdown pass, but he was just over the line of scrimmage which triggered a penalty. All in all, Nix sure looks like the leader in the clubhouse to start for Sean Payton in Week 1.  

After not playing in the preseason opener, Jones returned to the field for the first time since his season-ending ACL tear on Saturday in Houston. Even with the understanding that there will be some rust for him to shake off, it wasn’t a strong outing for the Giants QB. Yes, he completed 11 of his 18 passes for 138 yards, but he also threw two interceptions on back-to-back drives. That includes a pick-six on a ball that shouldn’t have even been thrown to his intended target. 

Jones is entering a pivotal year of his career as the Giants do have a potential out of his contract after this season. If he doesn’t elevate his play and looks more like the turnover-filled QB we saw this weekend, his days as a starter could be numbered. 

For most of the summer, it looked as if Drake Maye was destined to begin the year in the shadows behind Jacoby Brissett as New England’s developmental project. However, the No. 3 overall pick is making a late surge to potentially unseat Brissett as QB1 earlier than expected. In his first extended showing of the preseason, Maye impressed, completing six of his 11 attempts for 47 yards, while also adding 15 yards rushing to go along with a rushing touchdown. Maye’s throwing ability was also on full display with a deep ball (albeit an incompletion) to fellow rookie Javon Baker in that loss to Philadelphia. 

After that performance, first-year head coach Jerod Mayo even kept the door open about the possibility of Maye winning the starting job for Week 1. 

Are we ringing the same alarm bells that we are about Daniel Jones because Purdy is also labeled a “loser” coming out of Week 2 of the preseason? Of course not. Purdy has enough goodwill piled up that folks in the Bay Area shouldn’t lose much sleep, but it’s worth pointing out that he didn’t turn in his best showing on Sunday. The third-year pro completed just two of his six passes on the day for 11 yards, while also taking a sack. The Niners punted on all three of his series to begin the game, including two three-and-outs. 

When the Chiefs traded up in the first round to select Xavier Worthy, it put the NFL on notice. The defending back-to-back champs re-injected a speedster that hasn’t been seen since the days of Tyreek Hill, and we got a glimpse of what his impact could be over the weekend. In Kansas City’s exhibition against Detroit, Worthy caught three of his six targets for 62 yards and a touchdown. That included a 39-yard reception from Patrick Mahomes. 

Worthy also rushed for 11 yards, so it seems like Andy Reid will be trying to get the ball in his hands multiple ways this season.  

After starting 10 games for the Raiders last season, O’Connell officially lost the starting job for 2024 to Gardner Minshew with head coach Antonio Pierce making the announcement on Sunday. This decision came after Las Vegas’ loss to the Cowboys where O’Connell completed 14 of his 20 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown, but also threw an interception that was returned 69 yards for a touchdown to begin the fourth quarter. 

It’s safe to say that Rousseau is ready for the start of the regular season. The Bills pass rusher played just 11 snaps in the club’s matchup against the Steelers and in that time was able to pile up 2.5 sacks. That included wins against Pittsburgh’s 2023 first-round pick and starting left tackle Broderick Jones. 

The Falcons have spent the offseason (and part of the summer) bolstering the roster, bringing in the likes of Kirk Cousins and more recently Matthew Judon along with Justin Simmons. While they seem earmarked to win the NFC South this year, poor play on special teams is something that could spurn even the best team in the league. This weekend, veteran kicker Younghoe Koo didn’t turn in his best outing whatsoever, missing three of his five field goal attempts in what proved to be a one-point loss to the Ravens in Baltimore. The misses came from 40, 45, and 49 yards out and were all wide left. For Atlanta’s sake, hopefully Koo is getting his misses out of the way now before they start counting for real in a couple of weeks.