After acquiring quarterback Daunte Culpepper during the off-season, the Miami Dolphins were a trendy preseason Super Bowl pick.But two games into the season, both Culpepper and the Dolphins look as if they’re in for a long year.

Culpepper was sacked six times, fumbled twice and threw an interception as the Buffalo Bills defeated the Dolphins 16-6 in a game that put the Dolphins into the AFC East cellar. Only months after cheering the arrival of the player they thought would be the franchise’s best quarterback since Dan Marino, fans in Miami booed Culpepper repeatedly late in the game as he made a series of careless plays. It got so bad that Culpepper was even flagged for a false start when he forgot what he had called in the huddle and started dropping back before the center snapped him the ball.

Culpepper’s numbers — 23-of-32 for 250 yards and a touchdown — don’t look particularly bad. But a large portion of those yards came late in the game, after the Bills had gone out to a 16–0 lead and began playing a prevent defense. By the time Culpepper finally got the Dolphins into the end zone, fewer than two minutes remained, and his incomplete pass on a two-point conversion attempt sealed the loss.

Culpepper is far from the team’s only problem, though. Miami’s offensive line looked confused and had a hard time with Buffalo’s front four, and the defense had only two sacks and didn’t force any turnovers despite playing against the mistake-prone Bills quarterback J.P. Losman.

For the Bills, the victory shows that although they’re still a long way from being Super Bowl contenders, they’re at least good enough to compete. Last week they played the New England Patriots to a hard-fought 19–17 loss; this week they earned their first victory, and next week they’ll host the Jets.This Sunday’s Bills–Jets game won’t be for first place in the AFC East — both teams are still behind the Patriots — but it will allow the winner to head into October with a winning record, which is all the fans of either team could have asked for.

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Carolina’s 16–13 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings yesterday showed that without all-pro wide receiver Steve Smith, this team has no hope of playing in January, let alone February.

Last year Smith led the league with 103 catches for 1,563 yards and was the best player on a Panthers team that made it to the NFC Championship. When the Panthers added Keyshawn Johnson in free agency, they thought his presence would keep defenses from doubling Smith and allow him to exceed last year’s output.

But Smith has yet to play this year, staying home to nurse a bad hamstring. Although Johnson has done exactly what the Panthers hoped he would — he had five catches for 104 yards yesterday — losing Smith has been too much for Carolina to handle. When throwing to wide receivers other than Johnson, quarterback Jake Delhomme completed just four of 10 passes for 34 yards yesterday.

The win improved the Vikings to a surprising 2–0. Free-agent running back Chester Taylor, a career backup in Baltimore who is now the featured player in Minnesota’s offense, ran for 113 yards. Taylor clearly fits well into new coach Brad Childress’s offense, although durability could be a concern: Taylor has never carried the ball more than 160 times in a season, but he already has 55 carries in two games this year.

Durability is an even bigger concern for Vikings quarterback Brad Johnson. The 38-year-old has picked up this season exactly where he left off last season, doing nothing spectacular but managing the offense effectively and avoiding mistakes. But in his 15-year career Johnson has only managed to play all 16 games twice, and yesterday Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers abused Vikings right tackle Marcus Johnson, sacking Brad Johnson three times and knocking him down several more times. New coach Brad Childress showed some creativity yesterday in calling for a fake field goal to score the tying touchdown and send the game into overtime. Now he needs to get creative in designing his pass protection.

No team that started 0–2 has made the playoffs in the last two years. The Dolphins and Panthers, who a month ago looked so promising that Sports Illustrated picked them to meet in the Super Bowl, now seem unlikely to buck that trend.

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The Vikings’ 2-0 start sets up next week’s game against the Chicago Bears as a big one in the NFC North.The Bears have won their first two games in dominating fashion, first shutting out the Green Bay Packers in the opener, then crushing the Detroit Lions 34–7 yesterday.

Chicago had the best defense in the league last year, and with all 11 starters back this year, the defense looks every bit as dominant. But the biggest difference from last year’s Bears is on offense. Quarterback Rex Grossman, who started only seven games in his first three seasons because of a variety of injuries, looks as though he has finally developed into the player the Bears thought he would when they chose him in the first round of the 2003 draft.Yesterday Grossman completed 20 of 27 passes for 289 yards, with four touchdowns and no interceptions. If he can stay healthy and play close to that level throughout the season, Chicago will be one of the best teams in the league.

Detroit, on the other hand, remains one of the worst. Now in their sixth season since Matt Millen left the broadcast booth to take over their front office, the Lions have the worst record in football over that stretch and have started this season 0–2. New head coach Rod Marinelli — the fourth head coach Millen has hired — promised to instill discipline, but Detroit was called for 14 penalties yesterday.

No one in Detroit can be surprised that the Lions have lost their first two games. But in Miami and Carolina, a season once thought promising looks as though it’s slipping away.

Mr. Smith is a writer for FootballOutsiders.com.