Several potential contenders came into Week 2's Sunday action looking to avoid starting the season 0-2, and two such teams in the AFC managed to roar back with blowout wins on the road. The Patriots couldn't be stopped by the porous Saints defense in New Orleans en route to a 36-point day. The Titans did them one better by scoring 37 in Jacksonville to pick up a key divisional win on the road.

Before we dive into the scores, schedules, highlights and key updates from the day, Jason La Canfora writes in his Week 2 notebook about the ugly QB play contributing to a race to the bottom, and John Breech grades every team in action Sunday here.

Scores and schedule

Thursday
Texans 13, Bengals 9 (Takeaways)

Sunday
Patriots 36, Saints 20 (box score)
Titans 37, Jaguars 16 (box score)
Ravens 24, Browns 10 (box score)
Panthers 9, Bills 3 (box score)
Steelers 26, Vikings 9 (box score)
Chiefs 27, Eagles 20 (box score)
Buccaneers 29, Bears 7 (box score)
Cardinals 16, Colts 13 (box score)
Dolphins 19, Chargers 17 (box score)
Raiders 45, Jets 20 (box score)
Broncos 42, Cowboys 17 (box score)
Redskins 27, Rams 20 (box score)
Seahawks 12, 49ers 9 (box score)
Falcons 34, Packers 23 (box score)

Monday
Lions at Giants, 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN (GameTracker)

How to watch on TV, stream

NE-NO | TEN-JAC | CLE-BAL | BUF-CAR | MIA-LAC | NYJ-OAK
Streaming: fuboTV (Try for free)

Falcons D beats Rodgers into submission

On a night where the Falcons opened their new Mercedez-Benz stadium, Aaron Rodgers had a rare off night. While the Falcons offense managed to move the ball at will, Rodgers was beat up and forced into multiple turnovers. That included a Vic Beasley pummeling that resulted in the Falcons scoring on a Rodgers backwards pass, which you can see here.

Cousins pulls out win in L.A.

The Redskins and Rams played a close game throughout the afternoon on Sunday, and with Washington up three in the fourth quarter, the Rams looked for a spark as they often do: with a Johnny Hekker fake punt:

The Rams managed a field goal on that drive to even up the score at 20-20. But with less than two minutes left in the game, it was Kirk Cousins who came up clutch with a touchdown pass to Ryan Grant:

The Rams got the ball back for one final chance at sending the game into overtime, but Jared Goff immediately threw an interception to all but seal the win for the Redskins. You can follow all of the action in our GameTracker.

Broncos punctuate blowout with coast-to-coast pick-six

The Broncos manhandled Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys on Sunday, coasting to a 42-17 win at home to move to 2-0. While Elliott's eight rushing yards on nine carries was a bit of a surprise, the Broncos' excellent secondary stifling Prescott wasn't. That secondary put an exclamation point on the win late in the fourth quarter with a 102-yard pick-six.

Yeah, really:

You can follow all the action in our GameTracker.

Lightning delays Cowboys-Broncos game

The Cowboys and Broncos are battling in Denver on Sunday, but as the first quarter neared its end, the game was suspended due to a severe lightning warning.

The teams were sent to their respective locker rooms to escape the bad weather.

The game resumed just before 6 p.m. ET. You can follow along with all the action in our GameTracker.

Gates catches record touchdown

Chargers tight end Antonio Gates is unquestionably one of the greatest players every to play his position, and on Sunday, he did something no tight end has ever done: catch 112 touchdowns in his career.

Gates broke a tie with Tony Gonzalez by nabbing a touchdown from Philip Rivers in the second half of Sunday's game against the Dolphins. You can check out the play and the reaction from his teammates here.

Thompson rumbles for 61-yard TD

Redskins running back Chris Thompson is the team's biggest passing-game factor out of the backfield, but on Sunday, he showed his jets on a draw play to score a 61-yard touchdown.

The long score was part of a huge first half for Thompson, who scored two touchdowns in all while racking up 106 yards on just five touches before halftime. You can follow along with all the action in our GameTracker.

Cutler fires first TD for Dolphins

Jay Cutler, as you know, came out of retirement to take over as the Dolphins' starting quarterback following the injury to Ryan Tannehill. After getting Week 1 off due to Hurricane Irma, Cutler made his season debut on Sunday.

And while he was responsible for an ugly Hail Mary late in the first half, he made up for it with a strike to Kenny Stills to put his first Dolphins touchdown on the board:

You can follow along with all the action from Dolphins-Chargers in our GameTracker.

Beast Mode gets on the board in Oakland

Speaking of first touchdowns with new teams, Marshawn Lynch rumbled his way into the end zone in front of his hometown crowd to extend his team's lead over the Jets. You can see that play, as well as him running over a Jets defender on another play, here.

Ravens, Panthers lose key players on offense

The Ravens have dealt with several key losses due to injury and retirement for what seems like months. At some point, you'd figure their injury luck would even out. That was not the case on Sunday, as their best offensive lineman, Marshal Yanda, suffered an ankle fracture that will keep him out for the rest of the season (more on the injury here).

The Panthers managed to escape Sunday's matchup with the Bills with a 9-3 win, but they didn't do it intact on offense. Greg Olsen, one of Cam Newton's favorite weapons over the last seven years, confirmed he'll miss an indefinite amount of time after breaking his foot (more on that injury here).

Crabtree can't be stopped

The Raiders were expected to roll over the Jets Sunday by all expectations, and that's exactly what happened through the first 20 minutes of the game. In fact, the Jets defense had no answer for Michael Crabtree, who hauled in the Raiders' first two TDs on Sunday.

The first:

The second:

He then added a third in the second half:

You can follow along with all the action in our GameTracker.

Lacy a healthy scratch

When former Packers running back Eddie Lacy was brought to Seattle, it seemed like he'd be in a mix to be the lead back for the Seahawks, or at worst in a timeshare. Instead, after being a complete no-show in the box score in Week 1, he finds himself a healthy scratch for Sunday's game against the 49ers. You can read more about the situation here.

Kizer leaves with injury, returns in second half

Making the first road start of his career in a tough venue in Baltimore, DeShone Kizer struggled early in the first half before being forced from the game with migraines. With Kizer out, Kevin Hogan entered the game for the Browns and took the offense 84 yards down the field in five plays for a touchdown.

The Browns struggled to generate offense after that drive though with Hogan under center. Kizer was able to return after being checked out and try to rally his team back in the fourth quarter. He had the Browns rolling in the right direction before throwing an interception in the end zone:

You can follow along with the Browns-Ravens game here.

Flying Kelce gives Chiefs lead

The Eagles and Chiefs took part in a low-scoring battle for much of Sunday's game, but the Chiefs were finally able to break through thanks to Travis Kelce's Michael Jordan impression:

That gave the Chiefs a 20-13 lead before Kareem Hunt tacked on an insurance TD late in the fourth quarter. You can follow along with the action here.

Saints pick Brady off twice on drive, both called back

The Patriots offense was firing on all cylinders against an overmatched Saints defense (just check out Tom Brady's hot start below). And even when things weren't going Brady's way, the Saints found a way to botch things anyway.

Brady threw two interceptions on one drive, but both were called back due to flags on those plays. You can check out the almost-picks here.

Tom Brady tosses 3 TDs in first quarter

Until Sunday, Tom Brady had never thrown three touchdown passes in the first quarter of a game. Not in the regular season and not in the playoffs. All it took was going up against the 2017 Saints to make that a reality as well. Brady kicked things off with a beautiful fade to running back Rex Burkhead, working against Saints linebacker Alex Anzalone out of the backfield.   

On the next drive, Brady went after Anzalone yet again, this time by tossing it to his monster tight end Rob Gronkowski while under heavy duress in the backfield. (Gronk proceeded to throw a defender off him on his way to the end zone, because of course he did.) 

If you don't think Gronk thinks TD No. 69 is his favorite career achievement, well, you don't know Gronk.  And in the last minute of the first quarter, Brady found Chris Hogan up the left sideline -- and even successfully talked the refs out of calling an offensive pass interference for a pick play.  

You can check out all three TD plays here. 

Martavis Bryant gets back in end zone

Martavis Bryant did something Sunday that he hadn't managed since Week 13 of the 2015 season: Haul in a regular-season touchdown reception. If you're counting fingers and toes, that's 651 days. Bryant missed the 2016 season because of a suspension, but came into 2017 as a key cog in what was expected to be one of the league's best offenses.

Sam Bradford out Sunday, Keenum in

Starter Sam Bradford tested out his injured knee Sunday morning and the team has decided not to risk his health, and will instead start backup Case Keenum, according to CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora.   

Bradford had an MRI on his knee earlier this week, and the Vikings responded by signing a practice squad quarterback to the active roster in case he's forced to miss the game.