This weekend in the NFL: Week 2

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San Antonio.- The action is just starting to heat up in the NFL. According to the NFL, no more than a dozen teams will have a perfect record after Week 2 and at least 20 clubs will be at 1-1 or 0-2. But there’s no need to panic because in the past, 70 of the120 playoff teams – more than half – started the year off at either 1-1 or 0-2 including last year’s Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants. Thanks to Terence Malangone and the NFL for all the data and stats! PHOTO:Tight tend Dallas Cowboy Jason Witten is poised to become the third tight end in NFL history; with just two catches this weekend he will reach 700 receptions. (Photo by James D. Smith, courtesy Dallas Cowboys)

By Angela Covo, angela.covo@gmail.com

TIGHT ENDS COULD REACH MAJOR MILESTONES

This week, Dallas Cowboy Jason Witten is poised to become the third tight end in NFL history with 700 receptions. Going into Week 2, Witten has 698 receptions to his credit. All he needs are two catches against Seattle to achieve a major milestone in his NFL career. Witten already ranks third in the list of tight ends with most receptions in NFL history.

Only Tony Gonzalez (Atlanta, 1154 career yards) and retired Shannon Sharpe (815 career yards) are ahead of Witten.

San Diego’s ANTONIO GATES is walking into Week 2 with 597 receptions -- just three more against Tennessee and he will become the fifth tight end in NFL history with 600 career receptions.

HOME SWEET HOME

Some teams really just know how to take advantage of every opportunity when playing at home. Two teams stand out in this regard: New England and Pittsburgh, which play at home in Week 2 after opening the 2012 season on the road. The Patriots, who will host Arizona, have a 67-13 (.838) record at Gillette Stadium since it opened in 2002, the best winning percentage of any team at a stadium since 1970 (minimum 25 games). The Patriots won 15 of their past 17 home openers, including a perfect 10-0 mark at Gillette.

Pittsburgh is 65-22-1 (.744) at Heinz Field since its 2001 opening, which ranks third since 1970. The Steelers host the New York Jets on Sunday at Heinz Field where they won nine consecutive home openers, the second-longest active streak in the league behind New England (10).

The Miami Dolphins rank second in the list of teams with the highest winning percentage at a stadium since 1970 (minimum 25 games). They are 101-22-0 (.819) at the Orange Bowl.

MAGNIFICENT MATTHEW:

Detroit quarterback MATTHEW STAFFORD passed for 355 yards in the Lions’ 27-23 victory against St. Louis, making him the second player in NFL history to pass for at least 350 yards in four consecutive games (DREW BREES, 4 in 2011).

With 350 passing yards at San Francisco on Sunday night, Stafford can become the first player in NFL history with five consecutive 350-yard passing games.

The longest 350-yard passing game streaks in NFL history, game-by-game.

Stafford, with1,639 passing yards during his four-game streak which began on Dec.18, 2011, could also become the first player in NFL history to pass for 2,000 yards in a five-game span. Brees is the current record holder with 1,954 yards in a five-game span in 2006.

MOSS MOVING UP

San Francisco wide receiver RANDY MOSS had 47 receiving yards in his 49ers debut, bringing his career total to 14,905, the fifth-highest in NFL history. All he needs are 30 receiving yards on Sunday night against Detroit, and Moss could surpass TIM BROWN for fourth place all-time.

Jerry Rice is the top receiver in NFL history with 22,895 receiving yards (1985-2004), followed by Terrell Owens with 15,934 yards received (1996-2010).

GRIFFIN’S GREAT START

Washington’s ROBERT GRIFFIN III passed for 320 yards in the Redskins’ 40-32 victory at New Orleans, becoming the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to pass for at least 300 yards in a season-opening victory.

Only four quarterbacks since 1970 won their first two starts to begin a season. Three of those helped their teams qualify for the playoffs, including JOE FLACCO of Baltimore (2008) and MARK SANCHEZ of the New York Jets (2009), who led their respective clubs to the AFC Championship Game as rookies. Topping off the list are John Elway of Denver and Ryan Leaf of San Diego.

THE PATRIOT WAY

With New England’s 34-13 win against Tennessee on Kickoff Weekend, Patriots head coach BILL BELICHICK earned his 193rd career victory, tying CHUCK KNOX for the eighth-most wins in NFL history by a head coach. A win against Arizona on Sunday allows Belichick to surpass Knox and attain sole possession of eighth place. Pro Football Hall of Famer Don Shula ranks number one on the list of top head coaches with 347 wins and active head coach Bill Parcells (Giants, Jets, Patriots , Cowboys) ranks number 10 with 183 wins.

FANS BREAK RECORDS TOO

According to the NFL, last weekend almost 106 million fans tuned into Kickoff Weekend games from Sept. 5-10 on CBS, ESPN, FOX and NBC to mark the third consecutive Kickoff Weekend.

Record numbers also tuned in for the third consecutive season and three Kickoff Weekend game telecasts topped 23 million average viewers -- NBC Sunday night game (Steelers-Broncos, 27.6 million), FOX national game telecast (mostly 49ers-Packers, 26.4 million) and the NBC Wednesday Kickoff game (Cowboys-Giants, 23.9 million). Those telecasts rank as three of the six most-watched non-Olympic programs among all television shows since Super Bowl XLVI.