5 NFL teams that must win in Week 1

LANDOVER, MD - AUGUST 29: Head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens walks to the locker room after the first half of a preseason game against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on August 29, 2019 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - AUGUST 29: Head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens walks to the locker room after the first half of a preseason game against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on August 29, 2019 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 4
Next

It may only be Week 1, but these five teams have to find a way to start the season 1-0 in order to get where they want to go in 2019.

After a seemingly endless preseason, the NFL’s regular season is finally set to kick off on Thursday night, when the Green Bay Packers take on the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. There are a lot of teams hoping to have a huge season to commemorate the NFL’s 100th birthday, and that means 17 weeks of fun for diehard football fans.

Getting a win in the first week of the season is very important, especially since the unquantifiable momentum is a huge factor early in the season. Unless you’re the New England Patriots, who have made it routine to go 2-2 in September and cruise to a division title, a fast start is a big difference between contending in December and playing for the top pick in the draft.

While every team would love to start 1-0, there are several teams who need that win more than others in order to set themselves up for success in 2019. Every week during the regular season, we will break down the five teams that need to pick up victories most, starting here with the squads that really can’t afford an L to start the new year.

Let’s get started with a squad that had a miserable finish to 2018, the Carolina Panthers.

5. Carolina Panthers

If you have watched the latest season of Amazon’s All or Nothing, you’re up to speed with the story of the 2018 Carolina Panthers. The Panthers looked like a surefire playoff team, ripping off a 6-2 record in the first half of the season before getting clobbered by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football.

That defeat ended up creating a downward spiral the Panthers could never pull themselves out of, going 1-7 down the stretch to miss the playoffs. A shoulder injury to Cam Newton was also a significant factor in the Panthers’ second half swoon, and Newton is already dealing with a foot sprain suffered in a preseason game against the Patriots.

Panthers’ coach Ron Rivera has said that Newton should be good to go for Carolina’s opener against the defending NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams, and that is a huge game in the early season. The Rams have to fly across the country and play that game at 1:00 p.m. ET, which should give the Panthers an edge in terms of fatigue.

Picking up a statement win over the Rams would be a huge boost for Carolina, which needs to get off to a good start in order to lose the stench of their second half collapse. The Panthers face a short week in Week 2, drawing the season’s first official Thursday night game against Tampa Bay, so getting a win here could be massive for their chances.