NFL Winners and Losers: Saints fall to 0-2 with tough loss to Browns

We probably should have realized the New Orleans Saints might start 0-2. Both of their first two games were on the road, and they're allergic to winning away from the Superdome.

New Orleans went on the road and dropped a game as a favorite for the second straight week, losing 26-24 on a last-second field goal at Cleveland. Last year the Saints were 8-0 at home and 3-5 on the road, and they've picked up right where they left off.

It's not over for the Saints at 0-2, obviously. But they lost a game against a team that was 4-13 since the start of the 2013 season and didn't have tight end Jordan Cameron, running back Ben Tate or outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo, three of its best players (not to mention arguably its best player, suspended receiver Josh Gordon).

Do good teams really do that?

You can probably start by blaming the defense. On Sunday, Cleveland drove 85 yards in the final minutes to get the game-winning field goal. On the play before the kick, Andrew Hawkins was shockingly wide open for a 28-yard gain. Last week, everyone was open as Atlanta's Matt Ryan threw for 448 yards in an overtime win. Late in Sunday's game, coach Sean Payton was seen yelling at defensive coordinator Rob Ryan (h/t to Bleacher Report) and you can probably figure out why. The Saints were surprisingly good on defense last year, but that hasn't been the case yet this season.

The offense hasn't been great yet either. Good, but not great. Drew Brees wasn't bad against Cleveland, with 333 yards, but he also had an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

The Saints are a play here or there from being 2-0, so it's not worth freaking out yet. But the Saints have proven for a while now they're not very good on the road, and these losses won't help secure any home games in the playoffs. At this rate, they might not be in the playoffs at all.

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 2:

WINNERS

You, because you are better at clock management than at least two NFL head coaches: Kansas City's Andy Reid and Denver's John Fox were trolling us all. I hope that was it, anyway. Because there's no way two otherwise good coaches could be so bad at time management.

It was a comedy of errors in the final two minutes at Denver. The Chiefs trailed 24-17. Kansas City got to Denver's 4-yard line on second down and immediately called its last timeout with 1:04 left. That's incredibly useless and dumb, even for a coach like Reid who has made bad time management an art form. The Chiefs would have no problem running two goal-to-go plays in 1:04. Zero. They could probably run six plays if needed, maybe more. And if you understand common logic, you know it was the Broncos that should have been calling timeout there. Why on earth would Reid want to give Peyton Manning any time to beat him if the Chiefs tied it?

That's really, really bad. But what about this: After a Chiefs rush for no gain on third-and-goal, the Broncos didn't call a timeout. They let time run despite having Manning, the greatest quarterback ever, and three timeouts. The worst-case scenario for the Broncos if they call a timeout is the Chiefs score, and Manning has 45 seconds or so and two timeouts to try to get a field goal. The best-case scenario is they just get a stop and kneel on the ball. The downside to calling a timeout? There is absolutely no downside to calling a timeout. It was stupefying.

And I won't even make a "if you've played 'Madden'" joke here. It's less about "Madden" and more about common sense because if you have the slightest bit of it you could have managed the end of that game better than two otherwise competent NFL head coaches.

Buffalo Bills fans: What a day for the Bills. The home opener doubled as a communal celebration for Buffalo fans and their wonderful news that their team was staying put, due to the sale of the team to Sabres owner Terry Pegula. The crowd got a chance to cheer Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, who is cancer free after more treatments this summer. And they got to see their Bills play a fantastic game.

The Bills are 2-0 after dismantling the Miami Dolphins in a 29-10 win. Rookie receiver Sammy Watkins, the fourth pick of the draft, announced his arrival with eight catches, 117 yards and a touchdown. The defense played great, frustrating the Dolphins' spread attack.

It was an anxious summer for Bills fans. That all seemed to be officially in the past on Sunday.

Ron Rivera:

The NFL's reigning coach of the year is off to a tremendous start. What he is doing is the epitome of good coaching (we're talking strictly on the field, we'll leave his handling of the Greg Hardy situation to Yahoo's Eric Adelson, who did a great job analyzing it here).

This Panthers roster has weaknesses. The offensive line is far below average, the receivers are slapped together (although rookie Kelvin Benjamin has come along very quickly ... again though, that's coaching) and the secondary doesn't have a lot of top-end talent. What the Panthers do have is an unbelievable front seven (one that was without Hardy on Sunday, however) and a great quarterback in Cam Newton. And Rivera has played to the strengths, figured out how to hide the weaknesses, and has the Panthers at 2-0 after a convincing 24-7 win over Detroit.

About a year ago, everyone was wondering if Rivera would be fired. Then he did a tremendous job and was given the award as the NFL's best coach. The funny thing is, he might be doing an even better job so far this season.

Rod Marinelli: If Marinelli, the former Lions head coach, can keep up the job he's doing as Dallas' defensive coordinator for another 14 weeks, he is putting himself in line to get another head coaching job. He has been that good.

The Cowboys' defense was terrible last year. It lost DeMarcus Ware, Jason Hatcher and Sean Lee this offseason. Last week, linebacker Justin Durant went down. There's not many playmakers on that unit. And yet, it went to Tennessee and held the Titans to 13 first downs in a 26-10 win.

Last week the Cowboys lost to the 49ers, but that was more because of offensive mistakes than the defense cratering. On paper the Cowboys' defense should be bad, but it has been impressive. Some credit goes to players stepping up (like Rolando McClain scraping himself off the NFL's discard pile to make plays), but a lot goes to Marinelli too. Like Rivera, what he's doing is great coaching. He has put his players in the best positions to succeed. And they have.

Anyone who wants to see another 0-16 team: The Raiders, who aren't very good, have one of the toughest schedules in many, many NFL seasons. There were two games that looked like possible wins on paper, though: Sunday against the Houston Texans and Week 16 at home against Buffalo. And on Sunday, the Raiders got blown out 30-14 (and the game wasn't even that close) by a team that went 2-14 last season.

So what is next for Oakland? Will coach Dennis Allen survive the season? Heck, will he survive the month? What about general manager Reggie McKenzie?

This team was built in the offseason to be better right away, with a lot of past-their-prime veterans signed to short-term deals. The Raiders don't look any better. And while it's admittedly crazy to start thinking about 0-16, look at their schedule and tell me which game you'd pick them to win. Even Buffalo looks far from a winnable game at this point.

And if there's one play to sum up the current state of the Raiders ...

LOSERS

Jacksonville Jaguars: The headlines from the Washington Redskins' win are owned by Washington and its quarterback situation, with Robert Griffin III's dislocated ankle and Kirk Cousins saving the day. The Jaguars should be thankful for that because people should also mention how horrendous they were.

Jacksonville, playing a team that hadn't won a game since Nov. 3 and looked miserable in Week 1, got decimated in a 41-10 loss. And the Jaguars faced a backup quarterback, one that was bad in his chances to start last season.

Jacksonville has done some good things in its rebuild. Blake Bortles (remember him?) looked great in the preseason. But the fact is, since going up 17-0 on the Philadelphia Eagles they've been outscored 75-10 over six quarters. And four of those quarters came against a Redskins team that isn't very good. They just looked great Sunday because of the competition.

So even though the Jaguars seem to be moving in the right direction, this rebuilding project will take a while. They're a really bad team right now.

Gus Bradley:

Bradley, the Jaguars' coach, deserves a special mention. With less than 30 seconds remaining in a 41-10 loss, Bradley refused to just call it a day. On a short catch with 21 seconds left by rookie receiver Allen Hurns, one of the team's surprising stars dating back to the preseason, hurt his ankle. He left the stadium on crutches. With 21 seconds left in a 41-10 game.

How do coaches screw up this situation? (Answer: I guess for the same reason they can't manage the clock at the end of games.)

Here's a little tip for them: You're not going to make up a 31-point deficit in 21 seconds. Call it a day. Worry about next week. That game is over. Just like the old "Nothing good happens after 2 a.m." theory, I am 100 percent positive that nothing good happens to am NFL team with 21 seconds left in a 31-point blowout.

Bradley is a good, likeable coach. But this was a weird mistake that might cost the Jags an exciting playmaker for a while.

Jake Locker: At some point, the Titans are going to have to make a decision about their quarterback. Is Jake Locker, the former first-round pick, worth building around? Days like Sunday might cause them to think about going in a different direction.

Locker looked very good in Week 1, but took a huge step back in a 26-10 Week 2 loss to Dallas. He was 18-of-34 for 234 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Most of his production can be attributed to Delanie Walker, who had an awesome catch and run for a 61-yard touchdown. Other than that, Locker didn't do much against a defense nobody figured would be any good, as discussed above.

Locker is an athletic quarterback who might always struggle as a passer because he's not accurate. He has played well in spurts. But he has never shown much consistency, and he hasn't given the Titans much reason to believe he can carry the franchise. He still has a long time this season to prove that he can be that guy, but Tennessee can't feel all that good about those prospects after Sunday.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 0-2 with two home losses to teams quarterbacked by Derek Anderson and Austin Davis. They have a ton of talent. And no heart.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab