Green Bay's defense carried the Packers to a 20-17 overtime victory against the Jets on Sunday, and the star of the show wasn't the player everyone's been waiting for. Lukas Van Ness, the defensive end who's spent the last year absorbing praise from teammate Micah Parsons, finally delivered on that hype with nine tackles (three for a loss), 1.5 sacks, and four quarterback hits, per ESPN's reporting. The performance mattered: the Packers came back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to win at MetLife Stadium in a game where injuries mounted, especially on offense.
Parsons, still on the physically unable to perform list with at least two more weeks before he can return from his torn ACL, became Van Ness's loudest cheerleader in the locker room afterward. Per ESPN, Parsons told fellow defensive players that Van Ness was so dominant at the line of scrimmage that he should never drop into coverage—and the more Parsons talked, the louder he got. This validates what Parsons has been saying since arriving in Green Bay last year: he predicted Van Ness would break out this offseason and even suggested his teammate's popularity might rival his own. Van Ness just made that prediction look prescient.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the Rams welcomed back one of football's most dominant forces on Monday night against the Giants. Aaron Donald, the future Hall of Famer, returned to the field for the first time in 981 days—nearly two full seasons away from the game. Per ESPN's reporting, Donald came out of retirement on Aug. 30 after Sean McVay reached out in late May, initially spurring the Rams to consider trading for reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. The move worked: the Rams acquired Garrett on June 1, and Donald decided the chance to play alongside him was worth coming back.
That plan has already changed. A week ago, Garrett underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and landed on injured reserve, sidelining him for at least the next four games. Per ESPN, McVay said Garrett's absence is unrelated to how the Rams will manage Donald's return, but the timing is unavoidable: Donald will face the Giants without the pass rusher he came back to play with. Whether the outstanding pass-rush group around them can compensate remains an open question.
The Dolphins learned painful lessons in a blowout loss to San Francisco on Sunday, dropping them to 0-2 after their week one loss to Las Vegas. The 49ers scored touchdowns on each of their first five possessions and built a 29-point lead in the second half, per ESPN's reporting. Quarterback Malik Willis found receiver Ryan Miller for a 77-yard touchdown late in the game—the team's longest passing touchdown since Week 1 of 2024—but Willis himself acknowledged the stat was meaningless. "I felt good for Ryan, I didn't feel good for the Miami Dolphins," he said, per ESPN. The Dolphins will return home from their two-game road trip with what coach Jeff Hafley called "a tale of two halves": Miami played well early but saw the 49ers' George Kittle catch a 40-yard pass on the first play of the second half, triggering a scoring surge that put the game away in minutes.
Not all growing pains this week involved defenses or comebacks. Per NBC Sports' reporting, Patrick Mahomes tried to take advantage when a Colts captain didn't know the current overtime coin toss rule—a reminder that the NFL is in its second year of its current overtime format, and some players still haven't learned it. The variance in preparation across the league, from Van Ness's sudden arrival to Donald's 981-day comeback to Garrett's unexpected surgery, suggests week two has tested every assumption teams made in the offseason.
This article synthesizes reporting from ESPN, NBC Sports. Top story: "Van Ness' breakout game saves Packers in OT win vs. Jets" (ESPN).