Not all losses are created equal in the NFL. I know, I know — they all count the same in the standings at the end of the day, but you can't tell me that the Texans almost beating the Bills or the Saints taking the Lions to overtime and having a shot to win on a 2-point conversion are, like, horrible ways to start the season. You'd rather flip the results, but you have something to build on.
Some teams, though, were simply outclassed on Sunday. For some of those teams, the defeats can't really be viewed as anything but a massive letdown.
5. An early loss to the NY Jets? Uh oh!
- New York Jets 23, Tennessee Titans 10
I don't think anyone expects Cam Ward to take a huge leap in 2026, as the Tennessee Titans are still figuring things out. But there needs to be some improvement, and 19-for-32 for 140 yards and a touchdown in Week 1 against the Jets? That's probably not cutting it.
New York thoroughly dominated on Sunday. Geno Smith — fresh off a nightmare season in Vegas — didn't throw any interceptions, Breece Hall rushed for over 100 yards and the Jets never trailed. Rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq even scored a touchdown in his debut.
So, why only rank it fifth? Because a bad team losing to a bad team by two scores isn't that embarrassing. This should have been closer, but the Jets beating the Titans was always in the realm of possibility, especially if Smith could prove that last year was a bit of a fluke in terms of how quickly he fell off.
4. Deshaun Watson is already tanking the Browns
- Jacksonville Jaguars 34, Cleveland Browns 10
The Cleveland Browns made the fateful decision to start Deshaun Watson at quarterback this season. Call it the sunk cost fallacy, or call it a complete distrust in Shedeur Sanders, but whatever you call it, it was a bad move, representing some weird in-between of rebuilding and clinging to a past that wasn't worth clinging to.
Watson was absolutely atrocious on Sunday. Nothing really redeemable to say about him. He was picked off on the first series of the game and finished with a QBR of 34. He was Cleveland's leading rusher, but that's less of a good thing about him and more of a failing of the team.
And then the Browns defense was awful as well. Trevor Lawrence picked them apart with ease, throwing four touchdowns to four different receivers. The post-Myles Garrett Browns had a major hole, and the player they received in return for him, Jared Verse, was relatively quiet, finishing with four tackles, one of which was for a loss.
3. The Panthers alllowed HOW many points?
- Chicago Bears 59, Carolina Panthers 37
First, I don't think the Carolina Panthers should be at all embarrassed by their offensive performance. Sure, Bryce Young threw a pick, but he also threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns as the Panthers put up 37 points. If the offense continues to play like this, the team is going to be in the driver's seat to repeat as division champions.
Well...as long as the defense can avoid being just flat-out dominated like it was on Sunday. Carolina gave up 59 points at home to a Bears team that...I mean, they're a good offensive team, but they had two separate 1,000-yard rushers in this game. When I think about how the Bears could score this many points, I'd think about a game where Caleb Williams went off, but that wasn't really the case here. He did have a good game, going 21-for-29 for 269 yards and two touchdowns, but you can argue that his biggest impact was also in the run game, as he had 10 carries for 65 yards and two touchdowns. Like, Colston Loveland didn't have a reception and the Bears scored this many points.
Frankly, the Carolina run defense should feel very bad about itself. You wasted Jalen Coker's breakout game because you couldn't stop anything on the ground. This is one of those games that serves as either a wakeup call or as an omen of bad things to come. The talent is here for it to be the latter, but whew, that defense struggled.
2. Carson Wentz takes down the Packers
- Minnesota Vikings 39, Green Bay Packers 22
The Green Bay Packers losing to the Minnesota Vikings was always a possibility, but that mostly involved a scenario where Kyler Murray proved he still had "it," not one where Murray was quickly knocked from the game and replaced by Carson Wentz. Losing to a backup quarterback in Week 1 is not the way you want to open your season.
Credit should go to Wentz here, who stepped in after Murray went down and did a good job managing things, going 12-for-19 for 133 yards and three touchdowns. He didn't make mistakes, and that was what the Vikings needed on Sunday. You can probably argue that Wentz proved he's the deserving starter over Murray, though I won't touch that one at the moment beyond the vague waving at the idea that I just did.
But yeah, this Packers team can't lose like this. Both offense and defense are too good to play like they did in the second half. (This was a competitive game for the entire first half, but after halftime, Minnesota had a 29-3 advantage, including a 22-0 one in the fourth quarter.) In a division as tight as the NFC North, you have to seize on any opportunity you get, and facing a backup quarterback for most of the game is a golden one.
1. The Cardinals take down the Chargers
- Arizona Cardinals 26, Los Angeles Chargers 14
Look, I actually thought the Arizona Cardinals offense had upside, so the team scoring 26 points isn't too confusing. Jacoby Brissett is a solid journeyman quarterback on a team with a number of weapons, so there's no reason to think this offense will be, like, bottom-of-the-league bad. The reason people expected the Cardinals to be the league's worst team are its defense and its presence in an assumedly difficult NFC West.
But the Cardinals defense largely stymied Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers, the "star" quarterback going 17-for-27 for 209 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and this game highlighted something that the Chargers have to fix at some point, though I doubt it can be done midseason: their wide receiver room is not good.
Ladd McConkey would be an elite No. 2 option, but he's forced to be the first read a bit much. He delivered with five catches for 82 yards and a touchdown, but the situation behind him is just rough, as Tre Harris and Quentin Johnston combined for five catches and 37 yards despite being targeted six times each. Herbert is throwing to one of the league's worst collections of talent, and it's an issue.
Also, he was sacked three times, so the answer to "did the Chargers find a way to solve their offensive line issues" appears to be a no, and that just compounds the weapons issue. Herbert also just didn't look like a guy who could elevate above those issues on Sunday, and the Chargers suffered.
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