Welcome back to EST Excellence, where every week we recognize the quarterbacks and wide receivers who delivered the best individual performances across the NFL.

As always, this is not a ranking of who we believe are the best players at their positions. Reputation, career accomplishments and what happened last week do not matter here. EST Excellence is about one thing: what you did this week.

Gold, Silver and Bronze medals are awarded to the three quarterbacks and wide receivers whose performances stood above the rest, with one honorable mention at each position.

Week 2 gave us some ridiculous performances, including one player making his second straight appearance on the podium.

Let’s hand out the medals.

Quarterbacks

🥇 Gold — Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

Week 2 Stats: 20/31, 248 passing yards, 3 passing TDs, 0 INTs, 69 rushing yards, 2 rushing TDs

Back-to-back Gold medals for Josh Allen.

Allen accounted for five touchdowns in Buffalo’s 41–31 victory over Detroit, throwing three through the air and adding another two on the ground. He finished with 317 total yards, didn’t throw an interception and repeatedly punished Detroit with both his arm and his legs.

This is exactly why EST Excellence resets every week. Allen won Gold in Week 1 with four total touchdowns against Houston, then somehow followed it up with an even bigger scoring performance in Week 2.

Two weeks. Nine total touchdowns. Two EST Excellence Gold medals.

Josh Allen remains on top of the podium.

🥈 Silver — Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Week 2 Stats: 32/47, 382 passing yards, 3 passing TDs, 0 INTs

Patrick Mahomes earns Silver after helping Kansas City survive an overtime battle against Indianapolis.

Mahomes threw for 382 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, while also making plays with his legs throughout the night. Between throwing and running, Mahomes finished with near** 400 total yards of offense**.

And when the game reached overtime, he led Kansas City down the field on the game-winning drive to finish the job in primetime.

400 total yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a game-winning drive in overtime. That’s excellence. Simple as that.

Mahomes takes Silver for Week 2.

🥉 Bronze — Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

Week 2 Stats: 22/31, 327 passing yards, 4 passing TDs, 1 INT

What a bounce-back performance from Matthew Stafford.

After a rough Week 1 against San Francisco, Stafford responded on Monday Night Football by throwing for 327 yards and four touchdowns as the Rams dominated the Giants 28–6.

Stafford also made some history in the process, moving into sixth place on the NFL’s all-time passing touchdown list. At 38 years old, Stafford continues adding to a résumé that already places him among the most prolific passers the league has ever seen.

One interception keeps him behind Allen and Mahomes on our podium, but four touchdown passes, another climb up the NFL record books and a dominant primetime victory absolutely earns Stafford Bronze.

⭐ Honorable Mention — Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Week 2 Stats: 26/31, 279 passing yards, 4 passing TDs, 0 INTs, 26 rushing yards

Dak Prescott just misses the podium despite putting together an outstanding performance against Washington.

Prescott completed nearly 84 percent of his passes, threw four touchdowns without an interception and finished with a 143.8 passer rating as Dallas defeated Washington 37–20.

He also made franchise history, becoming the Dallas Cowboys’ all-time leader in passing touchdowns. Considering the quarterbacks who have worn a Cowboys uniform over the decades, owning that record is no small accomplishment.

In another week, this performance could easily have earned a medal. Week 2 simply happened to be loaded with elite quarterback performances.

Wide Receivers

🥇 Gold — Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks

Week 2 Stats: 9 receptions, 155 yards, 3 TDs

Bronze last week. Gold this week.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba was absolutely unstoppable against Arizona.

JSN caught nine passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns, beginning his afternoon with an explosive 82-yard score and never letting Arizona’s secondary recover. His three touchdowns were a career high as Seattle rolled to a 31–7 victory.

After recording 122 yards and a touchdown in Week 1, Smith-Njigba has now earned an EST Excellence medal in each of the season’s first two weeks.

This time, there is no Bronze.

JSN gets the Gold.

🥈 Silver — Davante Adams, Los Angeles Rams

Week 2 Stats: 8 receptions, 195 yards, 2 TDs

Davante Adams almost stole Gold on Monday night.

With Puka Nacua unavailable, Adams became the centerpiece of the Rams passing attack and absolutely torched the Giants. He caught eight passes for 195 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and New York simply never found an answer for him.

And here’s how close the Gold medal was: five yards.

Had Adams reached 200 receiving yards, he would have become the first NFL receiver to hit 200 yards in a game this season, and that would have been enough for us to give him Gold over JSN.

Instead, he finished at 195 and takes Silver behind JSN’s three-touchdown performance.

Let’s also remember something else: Davante Adams is 33 years old. Putting up 195 yards and two touchdowns at this stage of his career is ridiculous. Age clearly hasn’t stopped him from taking over an NFL game.

Silver it is — but he came incredibly close to Gold.

🥉 Bronze — Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals

Week 2 Stats: 7 receptions, 75 yards, 2 TDs

Welcome back, Ja’Marr Chase.

After being held to only two receptions for 12 yards in Week 1, Chase responded with seven catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns as Cincinnati defeated Houston 20–6.

The yardage doesn’t jump off the page compared with some of the other huge receiving performances from Week 2, but Chase was responsible for both of Cincinnati’s touchdowns.

EST Excellence isn’t just about piling up yards. Scoring touchdowns and directly impacting the outcome matters too.

Two touchdowns in a road victory earns Chase the Bronze.

⭐ Honorable Mention — CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys

Week 2 Stats: 8 receptions, 153 yards, 2 TDs

CeeDee Lamb deserves recognition after putting together one of the biggest receiving performances of Week 2.

Lamb caught eight passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns in Dallas’ 37–20 victory over Washington, serving as Dak Prescott’s biggest weapon during his four-touchdown afternoon.

With 153 yards and two scores, Lamb easily had a performance worthy of EST Excellence consideration. The competition at wide receiver was simply brutal this week.

He narrowly misses the podium, but there was no chance we were leaving this performance unrecognized.

That’s a Wrap on Week 2

Week 2 gave us some serious competition for these medals.

Josh Allen makes it back-to-back Golds at quarterback, while Jaxon Smith-Njigba moves from Bronze in Week 1 all the way to Gold in Week 2. Patrick Mahomes, Matthew Stafford, Davante Adams and Ja’Marr Chase all make their first appearances on the EST Excellence podium.

And that’s exactly what this series is about.

Every week is a clean slate. Last week’s medal doesn’t guarantee you anything, and missing the podium one week doesn’t stop you from taking Gold the next.

We’ll reset everything and do it again after Week 3.

Make sure to like and subscribe to Ethical Sports Takes for weekly EST Excellence selections, EST Elite power rankings, NFL picks, game recaps and more.

Who will earn EST Excellence in Week 3? We’ll find out soon. 🥇🥈🥉