The NFL season is back in full swing, and now, so is "Quick Outs."

We start this season's series with a chronicling of Drake Maye's beatdown of the Miami Dolphins, a look at where Travis Kelce is at in the early goings of his 13th season and a breakdown of Jameson Williams' 44-yard scorcher against the Bears. We'll also dig into the most shocking defense of the first two weeks: the Atlanta Falcons.

It feels so good to have football back. Let's dive right in.

Perfect doesn't exist in football, but Maye came close against Miami.

Now I know what you're thinking -- Daniel Jones just did the same thing to this defense in Week 1, this Dolphins team has some of the worst vibes in the league, and that secondary isn't any good.

All valid. Nobody is mistaking the 2025 Dolphins for the '85 Bears. Throwing 20 accurate passes on 23 attempts is hard to do against any NFL defense, though, and even some of Maye's misfires weren't just outright misses. So let's start there.

Maye's first incompletion of the day was a short throw to tight end Hunter Henry just inside the numbers to the left side of the field. Maye kept the ball low and away from the cornerback draped all over Henry, but the contested coverage led to a not-so-egregious drop. Accurate ball; unfortunate outcome.

Two of Maye's other "inaccurate" passes may have been miscommunications. Going into the half, Maye missed Henry near the goal line while trying to lead Henry away from a defender as he slowed up. Then, right out of the half, Maye threw low and behind Diggs on a 12-yard out-breaking route against Cover 2 -- Maye seemed to want Diggs to settle between the hashes and the numbers; Diggs kept moving.

Maye's only true miss of the day was on a tight crossing route to Mack Hollins at the end of the game. There may have been a window for Maye to pop that ball up and over to give his guy a chance, but Maye led Hollins a bit too far.

Situationally, Maye was so clean it's hard to pick out just one thing based on the numbers. The film really speaks to what Maye did against the blitz, though.

Maye's second touchdown of the afternoon was a beautiful one-on-one vertical throw to Kayshon Boutte with Miami bringing pressure. Over the rest of the game, Maye did well to pick out the voids the defense left in coverage by using extra rushers.

One game against a crumbling Dolphins squad doesn't cement Maye as the "next" young star quarterback or anything. We'll see what he has in store over the next month before we cross that bridge. That being said, a near-perfect passing performance is an encouraging step for a player many still thought to be too volatile for a game like this.

Kelce is moving better than he has in years. No, seriously, he looks fine running routes and with the ball in his hands. We're still past the peak of his powers, but he seems to have finally stopped the aging process.

For three years now, we had all grown accustomed to Kelce's steady decline as an athlete. The 2022 Super Bowl season may have been the last time it felt like Kelce was a dominant, explosive player from wire to wire.

That was all evident in the numbers, as well. Back in 2021, Kelce posted 6.2 yards after the catch (YAC) per reception, per TruMedia, and that number fell slightly to 6.0 in 2022 -- totally within reasonable variance. In 2023 and 2024, however, Kelce managed just 5.1 and 3.8 YAC per reception, respectively.

Through two games in 2025? Kelce is at a whopping 10.2 YAC per reception. That's no doubt buoyed by a few plays within a small sample size, including a wide-open touchdown against the Chargers in Week 1 and a couple of sweet catch and runs against the Eagles (both topped off by stiff arms). After all, he's caught just six balls on 10 targets.

Incomplete data samples aside, Kelce just looks like he has a little more pep in his step than one might have expected given how last season went.

So, what's the issue this year? Catching the football. Kelce suffered two painful drops against the Eagles on Sunday, both in the fourth quarter.

Kelce's first drop was the heartbreaker. He should know one-on-one coverage at the goal line is prime target territory for him. He should also expect the ball to be below his waist, as that's the best spot for the quarterback when throwing at the front of the end zone, in order to protect the ball. Kelce just didn't seem ready for Patrick Mahomes' pass, though, and tipped it up for Andrew Mukuba to have his moment.

The second drop came on a second-and-7 speed out to the left sideline with seven minutes left. Mahomes put the ball right on Kelce's outstretched hands in tight coverage, but Kelce couldn't come down with it. A completion there would've given the Chiefs a fresh set of downs, but they ultimately had to punt instead.

Brutal as those mistakes were, however, I feel weirdly optimistic about Kelce and his place in the offense as this year goes on. Once Rashee Rice comes back and the young offensive line (hopefully) settles even more, it's likely Kelce's slightly rejuvenated athleticism bears fruit while the bizarre multi-drop performances go away.

Any random play from the Lions' 52-point outing against the Bears could have worked for this week's highlight. They rolled through Dennis Allen's defense with ease, hitting on shot play after shot play as if Ben Johnson had never left.

Williams' 44-yarder is the one I want to hone in on, though. It's no secret Williams is one of the league's scariest vertical threats, and new offensive coordinator John Morton got him going Sunday in ways the Lions couldn't in Week 1.

Before the snap on this play, Williams and Kalif Raymond are lined up to the left side of the formation. Raymond motions in before the snap and becomes the new inside receiver. The duo breaks out into a double-post route combination, with Williams attacking the deeper portion of the field and Raymond bending his route a little shallower to draw the safety down.

The concept is a perfect beater for the Bears' quarters coverage. Raymond holds the safety on the hash, giving Williams his one-on-one versus Nahshon Wright. Chicago's cornerback slow plays the route, perhaps anticipating the eight millionth in-breaking route from the Lions' offense -- and instead gets torched by Williams. That's exactly how Detroit drew it up.

It was nice to see the Lions firing on all cylinders again, plain and simple. They're going to need to do it against better, faster secondaries before I fully believe they can be as good as last year, but this game should be an energizing confidence booster.

Almost all of the league's best defenses so far come as no surprise.

The Green Bay Packers already had an ascending defense, then added Micah Parsons. Everyone pegged the Denver Broncos as potentially the best unit in the league coming into the year. Both Los Angeles teams had strong cases as threatening defenses and have made good on that.

But the Atlanta Falcons -- now there's our early surprise. Only the Rams are outpacing them in EPA per play, while only the Chargers and Packers rank ahead of them in defensive success rate, according to TruMedia.

Most big-time surprises this early in the year come with some caveats, and the Falcons are no exception. In Week 1, they played a Buccaneers team with a first-time play caller trying to make it work with a reshuffled offensive line, which included the center kicking out to left tackle in place of an injured Tristan Wirfs. This week, the Falcons were fed pseudo-rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy, whose head has been clearly spinning through two weeks, despite a highlight throw or two. The Vikings were also missing their star left tackle, Christian Darrisaw.

Those caveats aside, though, there is real reason for hope.

First-round picks Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. are flashing something, even if they aren't yet stars. Pearce's sack on a loop around Vikings left guard Donovan Jackson was a clear display of the quickness he brings to a front that desperately needed it.

The secondary has gotten a boost from the youth movement, too -- namely, nickel corner Billy Bowman Jr. More of a safety-nickel hybrid in college, Bowman has physicality in the run game and as a tackler in space that feels like a godsend for this Falcons unit (not to mention the interception he snagged on Sunday night).

I'm not at all ready to say that the Falcons finally have a legit defense. The New Orleans Saints' offense looked like a machine through two weeks last season before things fell apart. Sometimes, these things are a mirage, and it's more likely than not that the Falcons finish outside the top 12 or even top half defensively, given their personnel.

Seeing some signs of life from the young players and quality game plans from new defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich is a heck of a start, though. The Falcons are going to need to build on that if they want to snatch the division back from the Bucs.

Drake Maye's dazzling display, Travis Kelce's resurgence, more Week 2 thoughts: Quick Outs