Week 1 of the NFL season is nearly in the books and there were a lot of strange things happening around the league. We got a very unique Scorigami, some disastrous coaching performances, a questionable replay reversal and some big offensive booms.
Throughout the NFL season we will check in and break down the biggest winners and losers of a given NFL Sunday. Let's kick things off with a look back at Week 1 with Ben Johnson and the Bears showcasing that their 2025 breakthrough was no fluke.
Winner: Chicago Bears
Any concerns we had about the Bears' offense being a one-hit wonder were quieted in Week 1 as Chicago simply never stopped scoring against the reigning NFC South champions. The Bears put up a whopping 59 points against Carolina in Week 1, with the headliner being a ridiculous 291 rushing yards as both D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai racked up over 100 on the ground with at least one score, with Swift racking up three spikes.
There were certainly defensive issues for Chicago as they allowed Bryce Young to throw for over 350 yards but their offense was certainly a well-oiled machine on Sunday. Perhaps Caleb Williams will avoid the Madden curse and become the first 4,000-yard passer in franchise history with the support of his elite running game.
Loser: The NFC South
If seeing their division champion go 8-9 a year ago was a bad sign, there is a disaster flashing through the NFC South. All four teams in the division lost on Sunday, with three of them (Carolina, Tampa Bay and New Orleans) giving up at least 30 points on the day.
Fans of an NFC South team can at least take solace in the fact that since everyone lost their squads are on equal footing entering Week 2. No performance looked particularly inspiring though, which could mean we are looking at a long year in the league's weakest division.
Winner: Derrick Henry
Fantasy football players have fond memories of Derrick Henry's Week 17 performance a year ago to help them win championships. Henry delivered a very similar effort to start his season, racking up 144 yards on the ground and three touchdowns to help the Ravens blow out the Colts 41-23 in Indianapolis.
The cumulative effect of years of heavy workloads appears to have little effect on Henry, who has seemed to feast on the physical pounding he takes as a runner. The Ravens had Henry run the ball 24 times while Lamar Jackson threw just 25 passes, a balance that should do well for their offensive production as the year goes on.
Loser: Indianapolis Colts
The start of the season was a near-disaster for the Colts, who hoped to shake the stench of a collapse from a 7-1 start to a missed postseason berth a year ago. Indianapolis didn't look like they belonged on the same field as Baltimore, which is concerning since the Colts' schedule has Kansas City and Houston upcoming in the next two weeks.
Daniel Jones struggled in his return from a torn Achilles tendon, averaging just 5.4 yards per attempt while throwing one touchdown and one interception. Considering the fact that the Colts don't even have a first-round pick next year as a result of the Sauce Gardner trade, a bad start like this could prove disastrous if it snowballs.
Winner: Seattle's Defense
We'll go back to Wednesday night here to give some flowers to the Seahawks' defense, which needed to carry a huge load after starting quarterback Sam Darnold was knocked out with a hip injury. Backup Drew Lock only managed to generate 13 points against the New England defense, but the Seahawks' "Dark Side" group made it stand up by putting Drake Maye into a blender for the second time in eight months.
Seattle forced three turnovers, sacked Maye three times and held the Patriots to just 5-of-16 on third down for the game. The fact that the Patriots lost A.J. Brown to a high-ankle sprain early in the game helped, but the Seahawks proved why they are a threat to repeat thanks to another swarming effort from the Dark Side.
Loser: Drake Maye
Everything appeared set up for Maye to demonstrate growth against the Seahawks, who had made him look quite silly in the Super Bowl. The loss of Darnold effectively neutered Seattle's offense, meaning Maye could theoretically game-manage his way to a win, but he made some very poor decisions that cost New England the game.
All three of Maye's interceptions came in the fourth quarter, setting up 10 Seattle points to turn a 10-3 lead into a 13-10 deficit. The final pick was truly disastrous, as Maye had driven New England into field goal range, where a makeable kick from Andy Borregales would have forced overtime, but Maye took an unnecessary risk by throwing into a tight window in the end zone to hand victory to Seattle.
Winner: San Francisco 49ers
There were a lot of doubters for the 49ers entering the season as they dealt with various injuries in training camp that seemingly limited their upside. Aided by a smart travel decision to acclimate to a 17-hour time difference in Australia over the course of a week, San Francisco made an early statement by whipping the Los Angeles Rams in a 27-7 beatdown.
Kyle Shanahan continued to demonstrate his mastery of Sean McVay, improving to 12-7 against his former protege, and scored a huge NFC West head-to-head result in what was a Rams home game. San Francisco hosts Los Angeles later in the year and now has a massive leg up entering the bulk of the season.
Loser: Los Angeles Rams
Emboldened by a decision to fly into London the day before the game last year, the Rams tried the same strategy with their Melbourne trip, trying to squeeze the entire outing into 30 hours. That strategy spectacularly backfired as the Rams got pushed around by the 49ers, losing big and seeing Myles Garrett land on injured reserve after suffering a knee injury in the contest.
There is some long-term math that could play in the Rams' favor, as they should be able to re-adjust their body clocks to West Coast time faster than the 49ers, who stayed in Australia for a week. Time will tell if that strategy will pay off, as few teams looked worse in their first game than Los Angeles did.
Winner: Josh Allen
While many consider the Chiefs to be Buffalo's arch-rival, Josh Allen has had more issues performing against the Texans in the regular season. Houston's tenacious defense has given the Bills fits in the past but Allen elevated his game today, shredding the respected unit for 334 yards and two scores to help Buffalo make an early statement with a 36-31 victory.
Allen demonstrated impressive resolve by leading the Bills on seven scoring drives, including a go-ahead 96-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that was capped with a 34-year strike to Joshua Palmer. Showcasing the ability to beat an elite defense in a variety of ways could bode quite well for Allen as he seeks to reach the Super Bowl for the first time this season.
Loser: Robert Saleh
Saleh's first game as the Titans' new head coach came against his former employer, the New York Jets, but Saleh downplayed any potential revenge angle for his team. Perhaps that was the wrong play as Tennessee slumbered through a 23-10 loss to New York, getting notably outplayed at home by a team that won three games a year ago.
Fans at Nissan Stadium were booing as early as the second quarter as the Titans registered six consecutive punts, with Saleh opting to boot the ball away three times in fourth and manageable situations either near midfield or in plus territory despite trailing by multiple scores. The performance that the Titans delivered was evocative of the same mistake-filled efforts Saleh's Jets gave him, which is not what he was hoping for in his first game in his second shot as a head coach.
Winner: Minnesota Vikings
There may not have been a more dramatic reversal in a game in Week 1 than what happened in Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon. The Vikings looked dead in the water as they trailed 22-10 late in the third quarter before running off 29 unanswered points to stun the Green Bay Packers and earn a much-needed first win in a rugged NFC North.
Backup quarterback Carson Wentz deserves a lot of credit for stepping up after Kyler Murray was knocked out in the first half, delivering three touchdown passes and keeping the Vikings on schedule offensively. After neither Murray or J.J. McCarthy looked great in the preseason, Wentz may actually play himself into a starting opportunity if Murray needs to miss time.
Loser: Los Angeles Chargers
The knockout pools were heavily savaged thanks to the Los Angeles Chargers, who were a popular choice after entering the week as double-digit favorites against the rebuilding Arizona Cardinals. It appears that the Chargers took the Cardinals lightly and paid dearly for it, losing 26-14 in a game they needed to grab to keep pace in the tough AFC West.
It appeared as if the Chargers would wake up and pull away before a key blocked punt allowed Arizona to score a critical touchdown to go up by 9. Arizona's defense stiffened from there, sacking Justin Herbert three times and securing a pick on a true YOLO ball in the fourth that effectively killed the Chargers' comeback hopes.
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