Sunday Rundown: The worst week ever somehow got worse

Sunday Rundown recaps the most important developments from the day's action and examines their significance moving forward. 

The media called it the worst week in NFL history. It started on Monday with video of an NFL star punching his fiancee in the face and somehow managed to get even more horrific on Friday, when allegations of child abuse by a bigger star emerged.

Sunday would bring the reprieve of actual football, many hoped. We'd all forget about the NFL's off-field shame and enjoy the thing that made us fans in the first place: two teams battling for every inch on the gridiron. 

That didn't happen. Instead, a rash of injuries that ranks as the most severe in the league's long history stole the headlines and reminded us what a violent and unforgiving game this really is. 

A.J. Green went down to a toe injury. Jamaal Charles sprained his ankle. Eric Berry did, too. DeSean Jackson bruised his shoulder. Knowshon Moreno's elbow bent in an unnatural way. Gerald McCoy broke his hand. 

But the biggest injury of all was the day's first. 

The look on Robert Griffin III's face told the story. He stared at nothing in particular as he rode a cart to the locker room after dislocating his ankle. An ACL injury ruined the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year's 2013 season, and it appears this injury will cost him his 2014 campaign.

It may ultimately cost him a lot more. Kirk Cousins played well in relief of Griffin, and he seems like a better fit for head coach Jay Gruden's offense in nearly every respect but the "it factor" Griffin has. Or is it had? 

Griffin hasn't looked like that magical player we saw in 2013. Maybe his injuries made him tentative. Maybe his coaches beat his risk-taking nature out of him. Whatever the reason, it's hard to imagine we'll ever see the player who conjured this magic again: 

What an awful week.

Does the waiting game have a winner?

Can anyone explain how the Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings are benefiting from sitting their first-round rookie quarterbacks on the bench? 

The 0-2 Jaguars were a disaster Sunday, surrendering a 41-10 loss to a Washington Redskins team reeling from the gruesome injury to its starting quarterback. Jaguars quarterback Chad Henne was sacked a team record 10 times, and the Jaguars were out-gained 449-148.

In Minnesota, the New England Patriots intercepted Matt Cassel four times and cruised to a 30-7 win over the Adrian Peterson-less Vikings. The home crowd headed for the exits early with chants of "Teddy! Teddy!" ringing out. The Vikings are 1-1 and headed in the wrong direction in a hurry.

Neither offense presents an ideal situation for a rookie quarterback, as both lack receiving weapons and (at least while Peterson is out) a strong running game to take some pressure off, but it's quickly becoming impossible to justify the Jaguars' and Vikings' reluctance to throw rookies Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater into the deep end. It's time to see if they sink or swim. 

Chad Henne and Matt Cassel almost certainly won't take these teams to the playoffs. Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater probably won't as rookies, either. It's time to look beyond this season.

The questions facing the Jaguars and Vikings - questions that demand answers - are who provides the best chance of a playoff berth in 2015, 2016 and beyond, and how that player can be best positioned to make that chance a reality. 

They aren't difficult questions to answer. It's time to see the rookies.

Panthers don't care for your narrative

The Carolina Panthers won 11 of their final 12 games to finish a surprising 12-4 last season, but key offseason personnel losses made the team a popular pick to miss the playoffs this year. The passing game would suffer without Steve Smith, the thinking was. Key losses on the offensive line would kill the running game, too. "Riverboat Ron" Rivera's gambling successes would regress to the mean, surely.

At least, that's how prognosticators justified their Panthers pessimism. The Panthers are choosing not to cooperate with the narrative crafted for them.

Now 2-0 and fresh off a thorough dismantling of the Detroit Lions' offense, the Panthers again look like a team poised to overachieve. They're winning without their best players on the field - Cam Newton sat out Week 1 with sore ribs and Greg Hardy was deactivated Sunday as the result of a July conviction for assault.

Want to beat these Panthers? You'll probably have to figure out how to crack a suffocating defense that surrendered only 285 yards of total offense to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and forced three turnovers, then followed it up by holding Calvin Johnson under 100 yards, all Lions running backs under 40 yards, and the Lions as a whole to a mere seven points. 

With the New Orleans Saints' surprising 0-2 start and the Atlanta Falcons looking like a middle-of-the-pack team at 1-1, the NFC South is again in the Panthers' hands. Don't make the mistake so many people made this offseason. Don't count them out.

Stray Thoughts

• The Bengals' depth is truly remarkable. This team regularly loses players in free agency, not to mention coordinators, yet never seems to have trouble replacing their production from within. Next man up.
• Patrick Peterson and Joe Haden each got gigantic contracts this offseason, but neither has quite lived up to his salary through two weeks of play. Maybe shutdown cornerbacks are simply going extinct in today's pass-happy NFL. 
• The Buccaneers have lost consecutive games at home to the Derek Anderson-led Panthers and the Austin Davis-led Rams. How do you overcome that? Is a quarterback change necessary just to breath some life into this team?
• The Browns found themselves two very impressive rookie running backs in Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell. Week 1 starter Ben Tate might not have much of a role when he returns from injury.
• The 0-2 Chiefs almost took down the mighty Broncos without Derrick Johnson, Jamaal Charles and Eric Berry - probably their three best players - yet they're a popular pick to finish dead last in the league. Don't count them out quite yet.
• It can't be overstated: the Seahawks are a different team on the road. They're still among the NFL's best, but their cloak of immortality gets left at home.
• What a week for the 2-0 Bills! A new owner committed to keeping the team in Buffalo, a cancer-free Jim Kelly, and now sole possession of first place in the AFC East.

Injury Ward

Recapping the day's most significant injuries. 

Robert Griffin III, QB, Redskins
Dislocated ankle, expected to miss significant time
Another season likely down the drain for a player who once looked like he could be the league's next transcendent star. 

Jamaal Charles, RB, Chiefs
Sprained ankle, timetable for return unclear
High ankle sprains can linger for weeks. Charles was considered by many to be the Chiefs best/only offensive weapon, but backup Knile Davis was very effective coming off the bench. 

A.J. Green, WR, Bengals
Toe injury, expected back after team's Week 4 bye
There was some confusion about whether Green's injury is turf toe or a different kind of toe strain. Regardless of the exact diagnosis, he shouldn't miss too much time. This team can survive by leaning on its running game until he returns.

Gerald McCoy, DT, Buccaneers
Broken hand, prognosis
This injury got lost in the shuffle on a day filled with fallen fantasy football stars. McCoy is a top-five defensive player. If he can't play through this injury, the Bucs' ship might be sunk.

Stat of the Week