| This from Kevin Patra of NFL.com: 1) Sunday’s points bonanza has NFL on brink of historyYesterday’s 13 games averaged 53.3 points, the highest-scoring Week 1 Sunday in league history, per NFL Research. Entering Monday Night Football, the average for the entire Week 1 slate is 50.0 points per game, which, if it holds tonight when the Denver Broncos take on the Kansas City Chiefs, would mark a Super Bowl-era record. Six tilts on Sunday saw at least 60 combined points. I’d like to highlight two teams that particularly stood out on offense: Baltimore and Chicago. New Ravens OC Declan Doyle actually spent last season on Ben Johnson’s Bears staff, so perhaps it shouldn’t be too surprising that Baltimore authored the most explosive output beyond Chicago. – – – Week 1 gave us not one, but two, Scoragamis: CHI 59 – CAR 37 🚨 SCORIGAMI 🚨 That is the 1096th unique score in NFL history, and the 1st of the 2026 season.Scorigami GB 22 – MIN 39 🚨 SCORIGAMI 🚨 That is the 1097th unique score in NFL history, and the 2nd of the 2026 season. THE CALL OF THE WEEK The Saints were done in when the NFL came up with a new rule to wipe out an apparent touchdown. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com: Sunday’s game between the Saints and Lions included a dash of first-half controversy that kept New Orleans from scoring what would have been their first touchdown of the game. Detroit quarterback Jared Goff dropped back to throw. Saints defensive end Chase Young hit Goff while he was winding up to throw. The pass came out backward. The Saints recovered and scored. The ruling on the field was overturned. After the game, which the Lions won 31-30 in overtime, NFL V.P. of instant replay Mark Butterworth addressed the decision in a pool report with Ben Raven of MLive.com. “If the defender contacts the passer prior to the passer starting the throwing motion, then it can be ruled as a backward pass. Because Goff already started his throwing motion and then the defender contacted him, it is therefore a forward pass.” Butterworth explained that the “determining factor” is whether the passer begins his throwing motion before contact from the defender. “The throwing motion starts as he begins to bring the ball up as a part of his windup and then the defender’s contact made the pass go backwards,” Butterworth said. It’s confusing, because the pass went backward. And, in theory, it could lead to a nutty result. If, for example, a hit on the quarterback spins him around after he begins his throwing motion and the ball goes directly backward, it’s still a forward pass. The rule is different from the question of whether the quarterback fumbles before his arm moves forward. In this case, the quarterback’s arm moves forward but, because he was hit after he began the windup, the backward movement of the ball is still a forward pass. Some have pointed to the nutty two-point play in last year’s Rams-Seahawks game as a contradictory outcome. Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold threw the ball backward. But he wasn’t hit while throwing the ball. If Darnold had been hit, it would have been a forward pass. Again, that’s the rule. It may seem strange, but it’s the rule. |
| NFC NORTH |
| CHICAGOWhen Coach Ben Johnson said during the offseason that the NFL scoring record was his goal for the Bears in 2026, some (including the DB) were incredulous. After one game, it suddenly seems doable as noted by Jacob Robinson of The Athletic: Second-year head coach Ben Johnson has said he wants to break 2013 Denver’s season scoring record. He might actually do it. The Bears’ 59-37 win in Carolina was the highest combined opening-week score in NFL history. Caleb Williams’ offense had eight touchdowns, 26 first downs and 552 total yards. A Chicago team hadn’t scored like that since 1980. And it could’ve been even better. “When we came in at halftime, it honestly felt like we had left some stuff out there,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “And we still had 31.” Johnson felt he was a mess of a play caller in the first half, when Chicago lost a fumble on its opening drive, committed penalties and failed on a fourth-and-1 from its own 21. In that half, the Bears still scored more points than 21 teams scored in their entire Week 1 games. This offense was that good. If Johnson is to best that scoring record, the Bears will need to average about 35 points per game the rest of the way. Not that they’ll have a choice, given how their defense looked. |
| DETROITThe Lions gave RB JAHMYR GIBBS 34 touches Sunday. It might not be good for Gibbs in the long run, but his Fantasy Owners are loving it now. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com: Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs had a career-high 29 carries for 156 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday, and he added five catches for 30 yards. That’s an enormous workload for any player, but Lions coach Dan Campbell said after the game that Gibbs could do even more. “I thought it was a very promising Week 1,” Campbell said. “Certainly, we know what Gibbs is, what he’s capable of, and he’s still not there yet. And I mean that in a good way.” What more could Gibbs do? Campbell said that on a day when Gibbs’ longest run was 21 yards, he’s capable of breaking some much longer runs than that. “We were this close to breaking three or four more of these, breaking them wide open,” Campbell said. “A shoestring away, just a little longer block at the second level. I mean, we were close, and we’re going to get that cleaned up, and he’s going to get better. Week 1, yeah, I like where he’s at. I’m glad he’s here.” Campbell is not looking for Gibbs to get 29 carries a game for 17 games. That would be 493 carries for the season, which would be the second-most in NFL history. But Campbell said he’s happy to keep feeding Gibbs the rock. “Do I want to set records with how many carries? No, that’s not something I want to do, but when you look at a guy and you think he’s in good shape, he had a really good camp, he’s in the best shape I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Campbell said. Gibbs will have to be in good shape for the workload the Lions are giving him. |
| GREEN BAYThe plight of the Packers: @RobDemovskyThe Packers have lost six straight dating back to last season and including playoffs, their longest losing streak 1990-91. They led by more than one score (9+ points) in the second half of four of those losses: Week 15 at Denver, Week 16 at Chicago, the wild-card game at Chicago and today. Rob Reischel with more on Green Bay’s inability to hold a lead: @robreischelIn the last year, the #Packers had a 99% chance of winning vs. the #Browns and #Bears (regular season), a 96% chance vs. the #Bears (playoffs) and a 90% chance today vs. the #Vikings late in those contests. The odds of going 0-4 were 1-in-2.5 million, yet GB did it. We could have been positive and put this with the Vikings below: @OptaSTATSThe @Vikings are the first team in NFL history to be down by 12+ points with under 20 minutes left in regulation and end up winning by 17+ points. |
| MINNESOTAAlbert Breer of SI.com notes that it was Brian Flores’ defense that carried the day in the comeback win over Green Bay: On the subject of defense, the guy running Minnesota’s—fourth-year DC Brian Flores—is worth his weight in gold to Kevin O’Connell’s staff. He owned the fourth quarter, giving the Vikings a win going away, after they lost Kyler Murray less than nine minutes into the game and had to adjust in a bunch of ways offensively to fit backup Carson Wentz. The surge started on a fourth-and-1, with the Packers up 22–17 and at the Minnesota 17. Truth be told, there wasn’t much magic to that one, just a lot of big guys on the field at once, with rookie Domonique Orange stoning Jordan Love at the line for the turnover on downs. The second key play had veteran linebackers Blake Cashman and Eric Wilson reading each other, and Cashman getting a free run at Love, because Harrison Smith showed pressure (but dropped off) on the edge, luring the back to him as Cashman and Andrew Van Ginkel converged on Love to cause and recover a fumble. The third, as Cashman describes it, was just good team defense, with Cashman himself getting into Love’s lap and forcing an errant throw to the sideline, where seventh-year corner James Pierre Jr. picked it off, to finish off the Packers. Three plays later, Wentz hit Justin Jefferson for a touchdown to make it 39–22, and sent the fans to the exits in a different mood than they thought they’d be in an hour earlier. Much of which was largely Flores’s doing. “I personally believe that we’re the scariest defense to go against if we have a lead because that just unlocks our entire arsenal of max pressure looks, reading protections, all of our presentations and mixing up coverage,” Cashman told me. “It’s hard on an offense and it’s stressful—they know what time it is and we know what time it is. But it’s so fun. The coaches do a great job at coaching and teaching the schematics and what our opponents are trying to accomplish.” So here’s a wild number to explain why it’s so fun for these guys: The Vikings blitzed Love on 78.3% of his dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats, which is the highest such percentage posted by a defense in eight years. Players like to attack. Flores has the best plan for them to do it. And in this case, it’s helped the Vikings manage a weird quarterback situation. For now, at least.. |
| NFC EAST |
| DALLASA dreadful debut for the 2026 Dallas defense. Zachary Pereles of CBSSpots.com: By all accounts, this was one of the more normal offseasons for the Dallas Cowboys. George Pickens didn’t get an extension, but the contract drama stopped there. Jerry Jones hinted at big moves but didn’t stir up his usual distracting storylines, and he pledged he was all in on winning now. The Cowboys’ moves reflected that: a new defensive coordinator in Christian Parker, two first-round defenders in Caleb Downs and Malachi Lawrence and a plethora of other veterans — Jalen Thompson, Cobie Durant, Dee Winters and Rashan Gary — brought in. Add an extension for Quinnen Williams, and even if it didn’t have the makings of a dominant defense, it had the makings of a much-improved one. And it still might. But it sure didn’t in Week 1, as the Giants trounced the Cowboys 28-20, a result that indicates how far Parker and his unit have to go and raises questions of whether they can get there. First, the numbers: The Cowboys had a 39.7% success rate, worst of any team that played Sunday. For reference, the worst team last year was at 50.1%. Jaxson Dart went 23 for 29 for 230 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He took two sacks, but they only lost 1 yard combined. Isaiah Likely caught six passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns. In his first game in nearly a year, Malik Nabers had six catches for 69 yards. The Cowboys currently rank 21st in Week 1 pressure rate despite blitzing at the NFL’s seventh-highest rate. The Giants converted 9 of their 11 third downs, their best rate in a game since 1978. “I thought overall we were really, as a football team, we were pretty poor,” Brian Schottenheimer said. “… They were the more physical team tonight. That’s certainly not our standard. That’s certainly not how we see our identity playing. … Situationally, they were outstanding. They did a really good job of keeping the ball away from us in the second half. I think they had the ball for 36 minutes and 40 seconds. So, this is a humbling business. We got humbled tonight, and that’s what I told the guys.” It was indeed humbling, and a reminder that problems don’t go away overnight or, in this case, in one week. Some issues actually were mitigated. The Cowboys didn’t allow a single play of 25+ yards; last year, they allowed an NFL-high 54. Rather than bleeding out from huge gashes, though, the Cowboys’ defense died by a thousand paper cuts. Dallas allowed 29 plays of between 5 and 15 yards; only the Saints and Rams have allowed more in Week 1. And too many of these were easy, easy gains. No sequence was more damning than the Giants stamping their 13-play, 65-yard touchdown drive late in the game with three Devin Singletary dump offs in four plays. These are essentially give-up plays from the offense: hope for a few yards and move on. Instead, they gained 13 yards (on a third and 9, no less), 7 yards and, finally 9 yards, untouched, for a touchdown. This is Day 1 install stuff, and it caused Schottenheimer’s blood to boil. “We don’t push three different times to the f—ing flat route, excuse my language,” Schottenheimer steamed. Scottenheimer also mentioned the breakdowns being a product of youth, and that’s one area that’s indisputable. Downs and Jaishawn Barham are rookies. There are other youngsters. Parker is a young coordinator, and everyone is “young” in his new system. But opponents don’t take any pity on that. In fact, the Giants targeted it, and others will, too. On under-center play action plays, Dart was 5-for-7 for 34 yards and a touchdown and ran three times for 26 yards. He had a 0.34 EPA per play on these plays; for reference, that would have been the third-highest mark in the NFL last year. These are not only the plays Dart feasted on, but the plays that are increasingly popular in the NFL — the ones that stress linebackers. And Dallas’ top linebacker, DeMarvion Overshown, left with a hamstring injury. “We have to coach the young players better,” Schottenheimer said. “But when you play young players, it’s part of the deal, and they need to learn quickly.” The pass rush, which has plenty of veterans, proved a similar disappointing reality check. No player had more than two pressures. And the secondary, which has plenty of veterans, had too many issues, too. Here’s fourth-year pro Winters and fifth-year pro DaRon Bland completely bungling coverage on a Likely touchdown. Dallas upgraded its defense, but it’s worth considering that upgrading to try to get to the middle while also acclimating to a new coordinator can lead to uninspiring results. For example, Winters and Gary were trade acquisitions this offseason. Winters started all 17 games last year for the 49ers, but San Francisco finished dead last in defensive success rate. Gary might simply be a “bigger name than game” player at this point; he had one pressure on 20 pass-rush snaps. Dallas needs pass rush juice to make everything else easier defensively. It’s unclear where it will come from consistently, especially if no edge presence emerges to complement Williams. Parker can’t create better players, like the players he had in Philadelphia. But he can teach his current players better and put them in more situations to succeed. “You’re going to get humbled at times,” Schottenheimer said of the message after Parker’s debut. “It happens. He’ll learn from it. We’ll learn from it.” It should be noted that youth can be a crutch, but it also leaves room for improvement. The Cowboys had some flashes. They forced four fumbles and only recovered one. Downs had a sack. Donovan Ezeiruaku had half a sack and two quarterback hits. The bad news it’s only one game, and it looked really bad. The good news is it’s only one game, and there are 16 more to go. The youth will get older, the new scheme more familiar. There’s no guarantee either will be enough if the requisite talent or exceedingly good scheme — two things the Cowboys thought they had this offseason — isn’t there. “The defense that we saw in practice was not what we saw tonight,” Schottenheimer said. “But the offense wasn’t the offense that we saw in practice. We just didn’t perform very well. … I’m not going to push the panic button. I know we’re better than that.” They had better be, and soon, because Week 1 was a startling yet all-too-familiar disappointment. |
| NEW YORK GIANTSThis from Field Yates: @FieldYatesThe Giants’ drives in the second half: 12 plays, 74 yards, 8:01, touchdown 13 plays, 65 yards, 8:11, touchdown 13 plays, 46 yards, final 5:21 run out to win the game Dominance |
| WASHINGTONFrank Schwab of YahooSports.com with some thoughts on the Washington offense in Week 1: Jayden Daniels: If you happened to catch any of the Washington Commanders’ opener, you likely caught a look at Jayden Daniels scrambling around, desperate to avoid the Philadelphia Eagles’ pass rush and find any receiver downfield. The Commanders couldn’t protect Daniels, and even when they gave him a little time, there was nobody open and he invited the pass rush by holding the ball. On Daniels’ first 15 dropbacks he was pressured 11 times. When Daniels did warm up in the second half, it wasn’t enough as the Eagles held on for a 24-22 win. In the fourth quarter Stefon Diggs scored but jumped on the goal post, which is a 15-yard penalty. The Commanders kicked an extra point instead of going for a game-tying two-point conversion. That mattered later. When the Commanders scored with 1:01 to go to cut Philadelphia’s lead to 24-22, the two-point conversion was unsuccessful. Daniels is coming off an injury filled season and didn’t look great on Sunday. He threw for 164 yards and rushed for 31. Daniels didn’t play well but it’s hard to assign all the blame to him. Washington didn’t do much to help him out his offseason, and losing left tackle Laremy Tunsil to an injury in August was a big blow. But this is the hand the Commanders were dealt, and now Daniels has to overcome it. |
| NFC SOUTH |
| NEW ORLEANSWe really don’t think this is controversial – convert the two-point conversion and you win. Otherwise, you are going to tie or lose on a last-second FG. Michael David Smith ofProFootballTalk.com: When the Saints scored a touchdown against the Lions with 1:34 remaining in overtime on Sunday, they could have kicked the extra point to tie the game, then hoped that either their defense could get the ball back so they could win, or at least hold the Lions’ offense to preserve a tie. Instead, Saints head coach Kellen Moore decided to go for two, and end the game right there, one way or the other. The way it ended was the Saints lost: Tyler Shough’s two-point conversion pass was incomplete out the back of the end zone, and the Saints walked off the field 0-1. After the game, Moore said he thinks he made the right call. “There was 1:34 left. That’s a really talented offense. We had a chance to go win the football game,” Moore said. “I really viewed it as we’re going for two there to win the game, if we have a chance.” The Saints also decided to kick off at the start of overtime, thinking they’d rather get the ball second and know what they have to do. Deciding to kick at the start of overtime played into the decision to go for two at the end of overtime: Because the Saints had the second possession, Moore knew what his team had to do, and what his team had to do was score a two-point conversion. It didn’t work, but Moore still thinks it was the right call. Now as to the play call on the two-point and subsequent execution by QB TYLER SHOUGH…. |
| TAMPA BAYAfter a sloppy opener, QB BAKER MAYFIELD will be facing a revenge game this week. Baker Mayfield’s Sunday afternoon did not go well, with three lost fumbles directly contributing to Tampa Bay’s 33-27 loss to Cincinnati. After agreeing to a contract extension earlier in the week, Mayfield finished 23-of-28 for 216 yards with no touchdowns, no picks, and the three giveaways. “This one falls on me,” Mayfield said in his postgame press conference. “I mean, they had, I think, 17 points alone off of my turnovers. Turns out to be a one-score game — six points.” But the Bengals were just one of two AFC North opponents that the Buccaneers have to begin their 2026 slate. The next, of course, is the Browns. “I mean, obviously, there’s history there — there’s no way to go around that,” Mayfield said. You think? The Browns infamously decided to move on from Mayfield after the 2021 season and traded for Deshaun Watson as his replacement. While Mayfield has found a home with the Bucs after stints with the Panthers and Rams in 2022, the Browns are still reeling from the aftereffects of that disastrous trade. While Mayfield is 0-1 against Cleveland, having lost to the team with Carolina in 2022, he now has a unique chance to rub the Browns’ nose in it. But, at least publicly, he’s not making more of it than what it is. “It’s the next opponent,” Mayfield said. “Cleveland happens to be the next opponent — our home opener. So, yeah. Have a bad taste in our mouth, looking forward to getting it out. “It’s still the next one, and that’s the most important one,” Mayfield added. “I’ve said that to you guys over the years — it doesn’t matter who it is, the most important one is the next one. And we’ve got — I’ve got to get some stuff fixed. And we’ve got to move forward.” |
| NFC WEST |
| ARIZONACharean Williams on the rarity of a Cardinals coach winning his first game: The Cardinals weren’t picked to win on Sunday. In fact, they were the biggest underdog in Week 1 at 9.5 points. None of that mattered to the Cardinals. They beat the Chargers 26-14 in a game that was never close, giving Mike LaFleur a win in his debut. LaFleur, 39, was not even born the last time a Cardinals coach won his debut. Don Coryell was the last to do it, winning his Cardinals’ debut in 1973 when the franchise was still in St. Louis. The 12 coaches after Coryell all lost their debut. “I told the guys, ‘Humility is a day away in this league,'” LaFleur said, via Darren Urban of the team website. Frank Schwab of YahooSports.com with more: The Arizona Cardinals had a suspect roster and a schedule projected to be the toughest in the NFL this season. It was worth wondering when LaFleur, a rookie head coach, would get his first win. He got it right away. The Cardinals pulled off a huge Week 1 upset, knocking off the Los Angeles Chargers 26-14. They outplayed a Chargers team that looked surprisingly unprepared for the season opener. The Cardinals still are unlikely to win many games. Arizona beating the Chargers could end up like the Raiders beating the Patriots last season, as a Week 1 result that looks baffling the rest of the season. But for at least one week, LaFleur deserves to celebrate win No. 1. |
| LOS ANGELES RAMSIn 2025, Green Bay traded a king’s ransom for EDGE MICAH PARSONS who ended up the season on IR as the Packers faltered late in the season. Also in 2025, the Colts traded a king’s ransom for CB SAUCE GARDNER who ended up the season on IR as Indianapolis faltered late in the season. Undeterred, the Rams traded a king’s ransom to the Browns for EDGE MYLES GARRETT. He now is headed to IR after just 1 game. Mike Sando of The Athletic on Garrett – and on a component of the decision to travel late to Australia: The Myles Garrett situation bears watching after the Rams’ blockbuster offseason acquisition missed time during camp to rest a sore knee, played far below his standards in the opener and then landed on injured reserve so he could have arthroscopic surgery. He will miss at least four weeks. Delicate situations involving superstar players can test relationships between coaches, executives, doctors, trainers, the player and his representatives. In this case, those relationships are new. Some who played and worked with Garrett during his nine-year career in Cleveland described him as a supremely competitive game day force who does his own thing to get ready during the week. They saw the potential for tension in the way this game played out, and how Garrett spoke after the game. “I didn’t feel I was the player I’ve been before when I stepped on the field (in Australia),” Garrett said. “I gotta do what I can to get back to that.” Garrett said he was not questioning the Rams’ contrarian decision to arrive in Australia just 28 hours before kickoff, a week after the 49ers arrived. How could anyone not question it? Sports scientists I spoke with said the Rams were spot-on in their handling of the sleep component, but they risked players feeling heavy-legged because it takes time for fluid buildup in the legs to dissipate following such a long flight. The problem can be exacerbated for bigger players like Garrett, who for the first time in his career played at least 55 snaps without recording even one tackle. “When Myles said he needed to change and do whatever he needed to get himself ready, I took that as either he did not buy into what the team was doing, or there was another ailment going on,” a former Browns assistant said. “It was probably a little bit of both.” It’s all reading between the lines at this point. |
| AFC WEST |
| DENVERJeff Legwold of ESPN.com sees similarities between 2026 and 2015. – When Aqib Talib looks at the current version of the Denver Broncos, he sees a reflection of his football past. “They’re us,” the former Pro Bowl cornerback said when comparing the current Broncos to the franchise’s Super Bowl 50 championship team. “They all love ball, talk to each other, hold each other to it. It’s clear as day when you see it.” Talib is not the only player from the Broncos’ most recent Super Bowl-winning team to see history potentially repeating itself. Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Von Miller — who was the MVP of the Broncos’ Super Bowl win over the Carolina Panthers at the end of the 2015 season — feels a similar vibe with the 2026 Broncos. “Oh yeah, I see it,” Miller said earlier this summer. “They do it the way we did it. … You can tell they keep it straight with each other.” This is turn-back-the-clock stuff for Talib, Miller and those who lived it in 2015. They see similarities between how their championship team was set up and how the current Broncos, who were 14-3 last season and went to the AFC Championship Game, function. The two teams share parallels on and off the field, including institutional support, reliance on an elite-level defense and a penchant for thriving in close games. And these Broncos now hope that the culture created from this formula gets them a Super Bowl win, just like the 2015 team. Denver begins its quest for its fourth title when it plays at the Kansas City Chiefs on “Monday Night Football” (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC). “Real winning is in what you might not even see until it’s right,” Talib said. “It’s that attitude, that giving and sharing. You give everything you have, and you don’t ever lower that bar on anything, and you hold each other to it every day. And you get guys who can take that accountability. They have it, we had it.” When Broncos coach Sean Payton is asked a question about winning, his responses start with words like program, grit and culture. He believes this roster has those things, which is why 45 of the players who were on the 53-man roster for last season’s opener still remain with the franchise. That rate of retention is almost unheard of in the NFL and is risky in its own way. But Payton believed this group was good enough to be in the Super Bowl hunt last season because of how it was assembled — and believes it is good enough again. “Culture is one of those things, we all talk about it, it’s like a go-to word sometimes, but to really have it … it’s rare I think,” Broncos defensive tackle Zach Allen said. “Some places just say they have it and it’s really nowhere to be found. … If you need to be pushed, or reminded to work, or, like be told to get to work, you’re not going to be around here.” ‘Finding the right people’Payton has often said that the number of NFL teams that can actually win a Super Bowl is fewer than most think because “a lot of them have trouble getting out of their own way.” When Payton, who coached the New Orleans Saints from 2006 to 2021, looked to return to coaching in 2023, he searched for franchises that had a “triangle” for success. That involves ownership that provides and understands the resources and infrastructure it takes to win; a personnel department capable of finding the right players; and a coaching staff with the game-day chops and developmental skills to make the most of that talent. And all three of those sides of the triangle must be connected, with a clear vision. “It’s still finding the right people, ownership like we have in Greg and Carrie [Penner] and our group, like [general manager] George [Paton] and our relationship,” Payton said. “… So when you get that triangle, and you get the ownership triangle … you have a chance to then do the right things, a chance to acquire the right people.” Gary Kubiak, who coached the Super Bowl 50 winner and spent more than two decades with the Broncos as a player, assistant coach and head coach, had a similar mindset to Payton. He described the 2015 dynamic, when he and then-executive vice president of football operations John Elway worked together to form the roster, as a “talent puzzle.” They agreed that not all players will fit together, no matter their talent level, if there is not a clear mission about which players are acquired and retained. Talib calls it the process of finding players with “good ego” and avoiding those with “bad ego.” “Good ego is you know what you can do … and we hold up each other to the standard, don’t pull down, pull up, no grudges, just real talk,” he said. “But you get bad ego, and talent don’t mean s—.” Many players on both 2015 and 2026 versions of the Broncos say it’s that mix that separates them. That the character and accountability have to hold up under stress and the inevitable tests of a season. Kubiak said the current Broncos show the mission he saw in the 2015 team. “It’s always about the players,” Kubiak said. “But the 53 most talented guys just put into the meeting room probably won’t win if they don’t go together. They have to demand of each other to prepare right, demand of each other to be smart, if that’s something you’re getting from your group, not coaches, the group, that’s special.” |
| KANSAS CITYThe Chiefs are amazed at the fervor with which QB PATRICK MAHOMES attacked his rehab: Positioned next to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, at the start of what would be a nine-month odyssey, was the MRI machine. The results of the scans that Dec. 14 day revealed the most significant injury of Mahomes’ nine-year career: a torn ACL and LCL in his left knee. As the minutes passed, more people entered the room inside the Chiefs’ training facility, located a few hundred feet from Arrowhead Stadium — team head trainer Rick Burkholder; Mahomes’ agent, Chris Cabott; Mahomes’ wife, Brittany; coach Andy Reid; general manager Brett Veach; and club owner Clark Hunt. Together — less than an hour after Mahomes had crumpled to the turf, grabbed his knee and screamed in pain — the group began contemplating next steps. At one point, someone looked at the calendar. The first Sunday of the 2026 NFL season was scheduled for Sept. 13, 273 days away. While exploring surgical options, a phone call was made to Dr. Dan Cooper, the renowned Dallas Cowboys head team physician who specializes in knee and shoulder injuries. Cooper presented a proposition to Mahomes: If he wanted to return to the field as soon as possible, giving himself a chance to be back in uniform for the start of the Chiefs’ 2026 campaign, he would need to fly from Kansas City to Dallas the next morning to have surgery. “I’m willing,” Mahomes responded, “to do whatever it takes.” Throughout his rehab and recovery, Mahomes has said that same sentence many times. And his exhaustive, day-after-day actions have led to him achieving his mission — one that began next to the MRI machine 274 days ago. When the Chiefs open their season Monday against the Denver Broncos (8:15 p.m. ET on ABC/ESPN), Mahomes, 30, will be available and is expected to be the starting quarterback. “It’s incredible,” Veach said. “That’s a guy that defines what leadership and what the face of a franchise should look like. He gave up an entire summer. He just attacked [the rehab]. Everybody in the building sees it. The level of sacrifice is something that has been an example throughout the entire organization.” Full details of that rehab are here from Nate Taylor of ESPN.com. |
| LOS ANGELES CHARGERSIn Week 1 of NFL Survivor Pools there were two clear ways to go. The Jacksonville path led to happiness with a decisive win. Then there was picking the Chargers. Doug Kizerian in The Athletic: Chargers’ survivor pool carnageSunday’s biggest domino was undoubtedly the Los Angeles Chargers laying a giant egg and losing as 9.5-point home favorites to the Arizona Cardinals — the largest Week 1 upset since 2018. This nuked numerous moneyline parlays and survivor pool entries, with the Chargers being the most popular pick on Yahoo (more than 32 percent). Most notably, the infamous Circa Survivor saw nearly one-third of its record 25,017 entries (at $1,000 each) bounced by the Bolts — and by the way, include me in the carnage. The eventual winner(s) of $25.017 million will look fondly on avoiding that early landmine. That’s a tough pill to swallow, considering the Jacksonville Jaguars (-8.5) were an easy pick as similar home favorites over the lowly Cleveland Browns, cruising to a 34-10 win. Cleveland looks like it could be the league’s worst team yet again. A decade ago, the Browns went 1-31 over a two-year stretch, including 7-24-1 against the spread (ATS), and all it took was one quarter of watching Deshaun Watson’s ineptitude for me to realize we could be in familiar territory. Mike Sando of The Athletic has some thoughts on QB JUSTIN HERBERT: A defensive coach who has faced Herbert multiple times compares and contrasts the Chargers’ quarterback to Josh Allen. Both are a tick slower than most top quarterbacks at seeing the game and processing it, this coach said. That gives defenses a chance to counter their superior athletic and throwing ability. The way the defensive coach sees things, Allen has been in the same offense long enough to improve his processing (this is his fourth season with Brady calling plays). That has helped him ascend. Herbert, in contrast, is on his fifth offensive coordinator in seven NFL seasons. “I still like the guy and think he’s good,” this defensive coach said of Herbert. “But if he does have a little success, Mike (McDaniel) will get a new job as a head coach. He just has to have a decent year, and the cycle will continue for the quarterback.” Both the Bills and Chargers have invested resources into building strong offensive lines for their quarterbacks. While Buffalo has succeeded, the Chargers have struggled. Injuries at tackle wiped out their line last season. Weakness on the interior figures to be a problem this season, giving Herbert less time to process. Sunday’s first impression was not encouraging, as the Chargers managed just 14 points and 268 yards against a defense that finished 28th in EPA per play last season. The chest injury that knocked top receiver Ladd McConkey from the game in the third quarter marked a turning point. The Chargers averaged 6.3 yards on the 26 plays with McConkey on the field but only 4.2 across the 25 plays without him. Herbert’s EPA per pass play plummeted from +0.22 to -0.33. As for Harbaugh, he’ll remain the ultimate cheerleader for his quarterback. “Justin Herbert, when it’s all said and done, when his career comes to an end, I predict he will be known as the greatest, best ever to play the position of quarterback,” Harbaugh said heading into this season. The comment recalled what Harbaugh said in 2011 about Alex Smith, then his quarterback with the 49ers. “He’s every bit the elite quarterback as there is playing in the game right now,” Harbaugh said then. Smith had tossed 10 touchdowns while going 7-1 as a starter under Harbaugh to that point, ranking 21st in EPA per pass play. Aaron Rodgers had 24 touchdown passes over the same period. Drew Brees had 21. Tom Brady had 20. Smith was not nearly as elite as those guys, but Harbaugh didn’t care. The interesting thing about Herbert is not whether he’ll go down as the “greatest, best ever” quarterback in league history. That isn’t happening. The interesting part is whether Herbert can make anything close to the jump his long-ago Hall of Fame Chargers predecessor, Dan Fouts, made at the same point in his career. Fouts, like Herbert, was solid but unspectacular for the Chargers during his first six NFL seasons. Fouts ranked fifth in yards per attempt and 12th in passer rating among 24 quarterbacks with at least 40 starts over his first six seasons, commanding zero MVP votes. His career trajectory changed when Don Coryell took over as the Chargers’ head coach entering his seventh season. Fouts then ranked first in yards per attempt and second to Joe Montana in passer rating over the next six seasons. He was named first-team All-Pro twice and finished among the top six in MVP voting four times. Herbert will never play for Coryell, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame posthumously in 2023. He is getting to play for the only coach since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to score 70 points in a game. But McDaniel probably won’t be with the Chargers for the long term, and the Chargers’ offensive depth is concerning, especially if McConkey misses time. Harbaugh has been at his best when able to assemble an all-star staff. He sets the tone but isn’t a differentiating offensive designer able to elevate an offense by himself. Longer term, Herbert might need the Chargers to hire the next Coryell, not the next Harbaugh. It was only one week. It must be better next week against the Raiders, ahead of a seven-game stretch against the Bills, Seahawks, Broncos, Chiefs, Rams, Texans and Ravens, with five of those on the road. “They are going to have their hands full with the Raiders next week,” another coach said, “because the Raiders are organized, they have a veteran quarterback and their defensive front is decent.” Some other Chargers notes from Tyler Sullivan of CBSSports.com: After all the hype surrounding the Chargers’ offense being revitalized this season with the hiring of Mike McDaniel, they tied the fewest points scored (14) in a season opener in the last 25 years of the franchise’s history. This was Jim Harbaugh’s first-career loss in a season opener (was previously 6-0). |
| AFC NORTH |
| BALTIMOREA star is born as OC Declan Doyle dazzles in his debut. Mike Sando of The Athletic: Declan Doyle, Baltimore: Losing receiver Zay Flowers to a hamstring injury (and Ja’Kobi Lane to a reported broken wrist) was the downside to Baltimore’s 506-yard performance in a blowout victory over Indianapolis. Doyle, eight seasons removed from being a student assistant at Iowa, dazzled in his first game as a play caller at any level. As promised, Doyle had Lamar Jackson under center on early downs at a heightened rate. Jackson set career highs for plays (14) and passing yards (114) in those situations, averaging 14.3 yards on 13 pass attempts. The Ravens’ production was far better than their 2023 debut game under Monken (265 yards), but nowhere near the 643-yard effort in Greg Roman’s 2019 debut game as coordinator, a 59-10 victory at Miami in Jackson’s first full season as starting QB. As an exec who had the Bills and Ravens 1-2 in the AFC entering the season said: “I like that they are going to have a motivated Lamar Jackson. The offense and the offensive coordinator will challenge him in a way he hasn’t been challenged in quite some time.” |
| CINCINNATIDespite 27 points allowed, Tyler Sullivan of CBSSports.com likes what he saw of Cincinnati’s new defense against the Buccaneers. A good rule of thumb in life is this: You get what you pay for. The Cincinnati Bengals are starting to realize that firsthand after seeing immediate returns from a defense where they deployed an unprecedented amount of resources over the offseason. In all, Cincinnati spent roughly $138.7 million in free agency, with the bulk of that spending going toward the defensive side of the ball. Most notably, edge rusher Boye Mafe received a $60 million deal, safety Bryan Cook got $40.25 million, and defensive tackle Jonathan Allen signed a contract worth a total of $25 million. And that was just what they did on the open market. The Bengals also shipped out the No. 10 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft to New York to land All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, who they promptly signed to a one-year, $28 million extension. This investment, while admittedly hefty, was necessary for Cincinnati. While Joe Burrow (when healthy) has spearheaded a high-octane offense over his tenure, the organization’s ceiling has been battered down because of poor play on the defense. Last season proved to be rock bottom, allowing the third-most points per game (28.9) in the league and allowing the most yards per play (6.2). Their points-per-game-allowed metric had decreased in each of the previous four seasons. That was the cause of the action we saw this offseason. While you may look at 27 points allowed in a Week 1 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to begin 2026 as the Bengals’ offense simply bailing the defense out once again with 33 points scored, you’d be mistaken. Cincinnati’s defense appears to have turned a corner, and this new cast of characters was at the center of the winning effort. |
| CLEVELANDTodd Monken “anticipates” QB DESHAUN WATSON will start again Sunday in Tampa. Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN.com: Cleveland Browns coach Todd Monken said Monday that he expects Deshaun Watson to remain as the team’s starting quarterback this Sunday at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Monken had sidestepped a question after the Browns’ season-opening 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars about whether he would stick with Watson as the starter. Monken, though, said that it would be “unfair” to blame the veteran quarterback for all the struggles on offense. Asked Monday whether he had decided on who would start in Week 2, Monken said, “I anticipate Deshaun will be our starter.” Watson finished 16-of-22 for 205 yards against the Jaguars with a touchdown, an interception and 38 rushing yards. Monken said that after watching the film, it confirmed to him that Watson should continue as the starter. “It’s only been two weeks he’s gotten all the reps. And there were some really good things on film,” Monken said. “Some things that you can build on, and there were some others that operationally we got to get better at. … “I did think that when he had time, when he understood the concepts, he didn’t play tentative, that he let it rip. … I’d like to see how we could build on that. I liked his week of practice last week, and I think he’s only going to continue to get better.” The Browns trailed 24-0 at halftime, tying their worst halftime shutout in the past 35 years, according to ESPN Research. Through two quarters, Cleveland had only five first downs on six drives and were 0-for-4 on third down. |
| AFC SOUTH |
| JACKSONVILLETwo-way TRAVIS HUNTER wasn’t anywhere near fulltime on either side of the ball on Sunday. Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com: Jaguars cornerback and wide receiver Travis Hunter was a starter on defense and a bit player on offense in Week 1 against the Browns. Hunter played 29 snaps on defense, which was 57 percent of the Jaguars’ defensive plays, and four snaps on offense, or 7 percent. Hunter did not play at all on special teams. The Jaguars tried to get Hunter the ball when he was on the field on offense, and he got one carry for three yards and one catch for eight yards. On defense, he had one tackle. When the Jaguars drafted Hunter last year, they thought he could be the NFL’s only full-time starter on both offense and defense. So far in his NFL career, it hasn’t worked out that way. As a rookie last year he had played 67 percent of offensive snaps and 36 percent of defensive snaps when an injury ended his season after seven games, and the early indications this year are that he won’t be a regular contributor on offense. Hunter is contributing, but not enough to live up to the hype surrounding his status as last year’s second overall pick. |
| AFC EAST |
| BUFFALOQB JOSH ALLEN threw a pick at the end of Sunday’s big opener at Houston, but it wasn’t caught. On the next play, he was a hero. It’s hard to come up with too many examples of how thin the line between winning and losing can be than back-to-back plays that the Bills ran late in the fourth quarter in Houston on Sunday. On a second down from the Texans’ 34-yard-line with just under two minutes to play and the Bills down one, quarterback Josh Allen chucked a pass into the end zone and Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter was the only player in position to catch it. Lassiter was unable to make the interception while stumbling backward, however, and Allen got another chance. He made good on it with a perfect strike to Josh Palmer for the game-winning touchdown. “Hey, it’s football. What can I say? Sometimes the ball bounces your way,” Allen said in his postgame press conference. Allen was 0-4 in previous trips to Houston and the Bills had not won there since 2006. That stretch included Allen taking eight sacks in a loss last season, but the Bills only allowed two this time and Allen had enough time to average 11.5 yards per attempt. That and a little good fortune made all the difference for the Bills on this trip to Texas. |
| NEW YORK JETSSome ESPN Insights about the Jets: The Giants and Jets have both started 1-0 for the first time since 2009 🤯 The Jets have scored a touchdown on their first possession of the season for the first time since 2016! Kenyon Sadiq is the first Jets first-round pick to score a TD in his debut since QB Richard Todd in 1976. |
