The Bengals always seem to get off to a slow start in recent years, so a win is definitely a step in the right direction, but this step was more like a limp that landed in a puddle of raw sewage. Every concern that pundits had about this team was proven to be well-founded, from the leaky offensive line (Burrow was sacked three times and Chase Brown ran for only 43 yards) to a defense that made no meaningful improvements after finishing last season 25th in both points and yards allowed.
It's easy to overreact to what happens in Week 1, because we have nothing else to go on. Teams that win are labeled contenders, while the losers are written off. As with anything, there's a gray area: Not all wins are created equal, so while the Chargers and Packers are right to feel excited about their impressive victories, not every team that now sits at 1-0 should feel quite as upbeat. Think of the NFL season as a book, and Week 1 is its cover. You know what they say about that.
The late, great John Madden once said that winning is a great deodorant, and it's true. At the end of the day, getting the W is what matters, but it can mask all sorts of problems that can't be divined from a quick peek at the standings. Just look at the Chiefs last year, who went 11-0 in one-possession games and then got summarily destroyed by the Eagles in the Super Bowl as all their myriad issues finally came to a head at the worst possible time.
There are four teams that have every right to feel good about starting the season 1-0, but if their fans are being honest with themselves, they'd admit that there's a whole lot of work to be done to make a successful season possible.
The Steelers beat the Jets in a thrilling and uncharacteristic way. Can they possibly keep it up?
On the list of Week 1 games with shootout potential, I'm not sure anybody had Steelers-Jets as the game that would keep the scoreboard operators the busiest (up until that epic Ravens-Bills showdown, of course). Maybe we underestimated just how badly Aaron Rodgers and Justin Fields wanted to pull a Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman on their former teams to show them just how wrong they were.
Rodgers had his best game in ages, throwing for 244 yards and four touchdowns with zero turnovers on his way to erasing a nine-point second-half deficit. Every time Fields and the Jets would make a play, Rodgers seemed to answer, not only looking like his old self with pinpoint off-platform throws and coolness under pressure but also clearly getting his swagger back, fist-pumping his way down the sideline and talking his trash in the postgame press conference.
Steelers fans have been stuck in a cycle of offensive ineptitude for far too long, so seeing Rodgers pick apart what is supposed to be a pretty solid Jets defense was like finding an oasis after years of walking the desert. Can he keep this up through an entire season? I'm extremely skeptical, and there are other issues with the Steelers that keep me from taking them seriously.
Rodgers did play all 17 games last season, just one year after tearing his Achilles on opening night of his Jets debut. His stats from last year are better than people remember, as he threw for over 3,800 yards while also tossing 28 touchdowns to only 11 picks. Anyone who watched the games, though, saw that he wasn't anything like his old MVP self. He didn't have nearly the same mobility, and let's face it, he didn't exactly endear himself to his new teammates.
Rodgers will be 42 before this season is done, and the track record of quarterbacks that old leading teams to greatness begins and ends with Tom Brady. If Rodgers can make it two seasons in a row in one piece, I'll be shocked.
I'm also extremely concerned about Pittsburgh's defense. Giving up 32 points to the Jets is always a bad look, especially when that includes 182 yards on the ground. Try playing like that against the Ravens and see what happens. Garrett Wilson also had a big day with seven grabs for 95 yards and a touchdown, and it's not like Pittsburgh really had to worry about anyone else in the passing game.
If not for a timely forced fumble on a Jets kickoff return and a 60-yard field goal from Chris Boswell, Mike Tomlin would have come out of Sunday with a loss and a fresh batch of questions about what happened to the Steeler brand of football. A win is a win, but those questions still need to be asked.
The Bengals got a win they didn't deserve against the lowly Browns
Let's stay in the AFC North and look at a team that seemed to win almost by accident. The Bengals snuck a game out against the Browns, but this is one that certainly seemed like Cleveland lost it more than Cincinnati won it.
The Bengals, who spent all offseason locking up their offensive skill position talent to long-term deals, recorded a whopping seven yards of total offense in the entire second half. Joe Burrow took some hellacious shots behind his shaky offensive line, and Ja'Marr Chase, the consensus No. 1 overall pick in fantasy this year, finished the day with a piddling two catches for 26 yards.
Burrow was outplayed by the ancient Joe Flacco, but the Bengals won thanks to a never-ending string of Browns miscues that included two interceptions that went off the hands of Browns receivers plus a missed extra point and missed 36-yard go-ahead field goal from rookie kicker Andre Szmyt.
The Bengals always seem to get off to a slow start in recent years, so a win is definitely a step in the right direction, but this step was more like a limp that landed in a puddle of raw sewage. Every concern that pundits had about this team was proven to be well-founded, from the leaky offensive line (Burrow was sacked three times and Chase Brown ran for only 43 yards), to a defense that made no meaningful improvements after finishing last season 25th in both points and yards allowed.
The Browns were 9-for-16 on third down and 2-for-3 on fourth down, and they outgained the Bengals 327 to 141. Against nearly any other team in the league, the Bengals would have lost this game, but they were saved by the Browns doing Browns things. A huge improvement will need to be made if they hope to challenge for a playoff spot.
After an error-filled win over the Titans, is Bo Nix primed for a sophomore slump?
Let me begin on the Broncos by stating that their defense is going to make them a contender this year regardless of what Sean Payton's offense can contribute. With arguably the top shutdown cornerback in the league in Patrick Surtain II and a bunch of other dogs on defense, Denver made Cam Ward's NFL debut one to forget (although to be fair to the No. 1 overall pick and his exasperated dad, his receivers also let him down with multiple key drops).
The Broncos were the sexy pick this preseason to make some noise in the AFC, and though the defense may have been the primary reason why, much of the faith in Mile High was due to Bo Nix. Nix had an outstanding rookie season, so naturally he was projected to get even better in his second year. That's not always the way things work though, and after one game, Broncos fans might want to temper their expectations of Nix going forward.
Other than finding Courtland Sutton for a 22-yard touchdown just before halftime, Nix didn't really hit any big plays. He spent much of the day running around and throwing off the wrong foot, and his final stat line (25-for-40 for 176 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions) resulted in an abysmal QBR of 19.2.
Maybe Nix and Denver knew they didn't need to do much to beat a team that earned the No. 1 pick last year, but turning it over four times and leaving the door open throughout the second half for a bad team to steal the game is a bad look.
The AFC West is going to be a gauntlet this year, even if the Chiefs take a step back from their once-dominant form. The Chargers looked legit to open Jim Harbaugh's second year, and even the Raiders welcomed Pete Carroll with a professional road win at New England.
If the Broncos keep playing this sloppily, even a top-five defense won't be enough to help them rise above the middle of the pack. Nix needs to be better, and soon. We'll learn a lot when he travels to Indianapolis to take on a shockingly competent-looking Colts team that just made Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins offense seem awful on Sunday.
The Cardinals eked out a road win against a team that may be on the fast track to the No. 1 pick
Another team that's gotten some preseason buzz is the Arizona Cardinals. Like the Broncos, though, they play in a tough division and will need to be better than they were in Week 1 to take that next step.
The Cardinals went to New Orleans to take on the Saints on Sunday, and they hung on for dear life to win in the final seconds. The Saints actually had multiple shots at the end zone toward the end but just barely came up empty.
No team had a lower win total coming into the season than the Saints, and it's easy to see why: They have a new coach, an awful cap situation and a serious lack of star power on both sides of the ball. Spencer Rattler won the starting quarterback job after the surprise retirement of Derek Carr, and he's never won a game in the pros after being picked late in the fifth round of the 2024 draft.
Any serious contender would have handled the Saints with ease, but this was an even game the whole way. Arizona went the final 24:16 without scoring, and Kyler Murray threw for only 163 yards while being sacked five times. He didn't turn the ball over, but the Cardinals also didn't take the ball away from Rattler and the Saints, and they only sacked him one time.
If not for the Saints beating themselves with 13 penalties, this could have been a different outcome. It's not like the Cardinals were disciplined either, as they committed nine penalties themselves.
This was an ugly game that somebody had to win, and the Cardinals were fortunate that it was them. They'll probably be able to get away with another mediocre effort at home against the Panthers next week, but when they face the 49ers and the Seahawks after that, it's going to take a lot more than what they showed here.