After a crushing collapse against the Bills, the Ravens might be the only team capable of stopping their own offense.
The Miami Dolphins dropped the biggest dud of Week 1, as Tua Tagovailoa and the entire defense came up empty.
Aaron Rodgers broke out of his run of lackluster openers, while Joe Burrow continued his sluggish streak.
The energy surrounding Week 1 in the NFL can’t be matched elsewhere on the league’s calendar.
Sure, the stakes are decidedly lower in the opening days than they are come deep into the winter. But the fresh slate afforded by a new season means every team carries at least a modicum of intrigue and relevance. While it might not take long for that level playing field to once again shift, teams on Sunday did an admirable job of keeping things interesting, with eight games being won by no more than seven points.
With Thursday and Friday’s games already covered, here are the biggest winners and losers from Week 1 in the NFL:
WINNERS
Buffalo Bills
It’s typically not a great sign when the MVP quarterback takes a shot at some of the fan base after a Week 1 contest. Yet Josh Allen could do no wrong on Sunday night, and that included his remarks after pulling off a stunning 41-40 comeback win against the Baltimore Ravens. Allen was the driving force behind Buffalo scoring 16 unanswered points in the final four minutes, and he racked up 251 yards through the air (16-of-21 passing) and three total touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone.
In that time, he couldn’t help but notice that Highmark Stadium had emptied out a bit.
‘Our team didn’t quit. I mean, I think there’s people that left the stadium,’ Allen said in his postgame interview on the ‘Sunday Night Football’ broadcast. ‘That’s OK. We’ll be fine. But have some faith next time.’
For Buffalo, ‘next time’ might not be for quite a while, as the schedule doesn’t present a team that had a winning record last season in 2024. Safe to say that the fans will remember what this group can do when the Bills host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9.
Aaron Rodgers
In a veteran move befitting a four-time NFL MVP, Rodgers didn’t give into the revenge narratives engulfing his Pittsburgh Steelers debut against the New York Jets, who released the quarterback last spring before the veteran could make his case to the new regime. After engineering a 34-32 comeback win, however, Rodgers spoke freely in saying ‘I was happy to beat everyone associated with the Jets.’ And though he maintained he didn’t carry a grudge into the contest, he also seemed to relish playing the antagonist role when gesturing to Gang Green fans who roundly booed him from start to finish.
Rodgers’ victory was not merely one of settling the score, however. Even looking beyond his first appearance with the Jets in which he tore his Achilles, openers have typically been thorny for him since 2021, as illustrated by his 1:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio and zero Week 1 efforts over 200 passing yards in that span. But in tossing four touchdown passes – including two in the fourth quarter – without the backing of a strong run game or defensive effort, Rodgers gave hope to the notion that he can be the engine to the offense rather than just a functional part. His mobility – or lack thereof – figures to remain a defining theme of the season after he took four sacks and had trouble escaping when pressure closed in. But his ability to help the unit exert some level of control is not something that should be overlooked.
Justin Fields
He didn’t come out on the winning end of the surprising shootout with Rodgers and his former team. But Fields’ Gang Green debut has to be viewed as a significant success after he and the rest of the unit were plagued by miscues throughout the summer.
Cornerback Brandin Echols, who like Rodgers left the Jets for the Steelers this offseason, said last week Pittsburgh could be successful if it could eliminate Fields’ rushing threat and ‘force him to play quarterback.’ Instead, the signal-caller came out ahead on both fronts, tallying two scores on the ground while looking composed and precise from the pocket (16-of-22 passing, 218 yards and one touchdown). Neither the Steelers nor the Chicago Bears figured out how to properly support Fields while putting him behind center, but Aaron Glenn and first-time offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand have put the talented dual threat on a promising track.
Green Bay Packers
The Micah Parsons trade helped make the Packers a popular pick to seize the NFC crown (credit goes to USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis for being well ahead of the, uh, pack on that one with his season predictions). After a 27-13 dismantling of last year’s No. 1 playoff seed in the Detroit Lions, it’s easy to see why there’s so much excitement about this group.
Yes, Parsons unquestionably changes the complexion of a defense and a lackluster group, with his chase-down sack of Jared Goff showing what he’s capable of even with a bad back. And his impact on a limited workload was hardly limited to that one play, as he also was the catalyst behind safety Evan Williams’ second-quarter interception and defensive end Lukas Van Ness’ third-quarter sack. But this performance was about far more than any one person. Jordan Love confidently attacked Detroit’s defense in the early going, completing passes to 10 different targets while threading two scoring strikes. The Packers also bottled up Jared Goff and the aerial attack, holding last year’s leading scoring attack without a touchdown until rookie Isaac TeSlaa’s astounding garbage-time touchdown. After whiffing against the NFC’s elite last year with an 0-6 record against teams that finished at least four games over .500, Matt LaFleur and Co. should be mighty satisfied with how they handled their first major test.
Daniel Jones
Don’t go overboard and call him the latest quarterback revival success story already. But days like this don’t come often for any passer, let alone Jones, who was widely seen as a settling point for Shane Steichen and an Indianapolis Colts coaching staff that had reached its breaking point with Anthony Richardson. In leading the offense to scores on all seven of its drives, a feat no other team has pulled off since at least 1978, Jones fulfilled the team’s vision for him by operating as a quick and decisive distributor in the 33-8 romp over the Miami Dolphins. There likely won’t be very many more games where seemingly everything goes right, with Jones completing 22 of 29 for 272 yards and a touchdown. But the outing reinforced that Indianapolis at the very least has raised its floor a bit, and the franchise’s first 1-0 start since 2013 provides some temporary good vibes.
Pete Carroll
On Sunday, he officially became the oldest coach in NFL history in his first outing with the Las Vegas Raiders. Set to turn 74 next Monday when the Silver and Black host the Los Angeles Chargers, Carroll was the embodiment of vitality in a 20-13 win over the New England Patriots. The Raiders took on the personality of their leader, particularly on a defense that still has several considerable personnel questions yet put forth an energized and aggressive effort. Afterward, Carroll soaked in the moment – literally, given the soggy conditions – by hollering and playfully flexing as he left the field. Solid start for a franchise desperately seeking renewed relevance, and a nice feat for a coach who looked liable to be left behind by the league when the Seattle Seahawks pushed him out more than a year ago.
Bill Belichick
The legendary coach remains saltier than a Cape Cod breeze, confirming this weekend that he has barred Patriots scouts from North Carolina’s facility. ‘It’s obvious I’m not welcome at their facility,’ Belichick said after his first win with the Tar Heels, ‘so they’re not welcome at ours.’ It stands to reason, then, that he likely got a kick out of New England stumbling in its opener, even if the franchise is still compensating for his many ill-advised personnel moves. It’s probably time to table the schadenfreude, though – UNC is ‘on to’ Richmond.
Emeka Egbuka
Sometimes, the offseason hype drumbeat is actually worth listening to. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers weren’t shy about talking up their first-round pick in the spring and summer, with general manager Jason Licht raving about Egbuka’s polish and pro readiness. The receiver made good on that praise by recording four catches for 67 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning score with 59 seconds remaining in the 23-20 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. All the more impressive: The wideout managed that on a day in which Baker Mayfield wasn’t his sharpest and needed the steadiness Egbuka offered. With Chris Godwin not expected back before Week 5, Egbuka should remain a staple of the offense for the foreseeable future.
The Landman Punch
There’s probably some reference to the Paramount+ show that applies here, but I wouldn’t know (more of an ‘Alien: Earth’ guy). Regardless, Los Angeles Rams linebacker Nate Landman knocked out the Houston Texans’ comeback bid when he punched the ball out of Dare Ogunbowale’s grasp to seal a 14-9 win. Don’t call it luck, as Landman has forced three fumbles in each of the last two years. With a form that would make Peanut Tillman proud, it’s likely a better jab than you’ll see in the entirety of the Mike Tyson vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight next spring.
Jake Tonges
Who doesn’t love an NFL underdog story? Well, the Seattle Seahawks, at least this weekend. Tonges, the San Francisco 49ers’ third-string tight end, not only recorded his first career NFL catch against his team’s NFC West rival while star George Kittle was sidelined with a hamstring injury, he also nabbed the game-winner with a go-ahead 4-yard touchdown reception in the final two minutes of a 17-13 victory. Cool moment for the Bay Area native and Cal product to step into the spotlight for his hometown team.
Chalk NFL survivor pool picks
For all the opening week offered, it didn’t feature the out-of-nowhere upset that has typically surfaced in past years. Despite close calls by the Bengals, Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos, among others, the most popular survivor pool picks were all safe. Don’t count on that holding for Week 2, though.
The NFL
The league is adept at concocting strong matchups to open each season, but the past few years have typically entailed at least one notable dud. From start to finish, however, Week 1 was outright thrilling, with the Bills and Ravens’ shootout a fitting conclusion to the action as the past two MVPs dueled it out. Now it’s up to the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings to go get the final out on ‘Monday Night Football.’
LOSERS
Ravens
Through three-plus quarters, Baltimore set itself apart from the rest of the league with an attack even more explosive than last year’s version, which was the first unit ever to eclipse 4,000 yards passing and 3,000 yards rushing. Then, the Ravens went on to do something that few others looked capable of doing: stopping that very same offense. Derrick Henry’s fumble with just over three minutes remaining gave Buffalo a long-awaited to close the gap with the team trailing by eight points, and the typically aggressive team went against type in playing it safe by punting after a three-and-out.
There’s a good bit of this that simply boils down to luck. Lamar Jackson said he would have pushed John Harbaugh to go for it on the potentially deciding fourth-and-3 down the stretch had he not been cramping, and safety Kyle Hamilton nearly blocked Matt Prater’s 32-yard walk-off winner. But the Ravens didn’t get things to break their way, and the near misses have become the throughline marring Harbaugh’s otherwise stellar track record.
‘I don’t want the Ravens to be known as a team that gets up big and then blows the lead,’ Hamilton said after the game. ‘It’s not who we are, and we have to prove that to everybody else. As of right now, that’s what we’ve been doing in these games.’
Harbaugh said he didn’t seriously consider going for it on fourth down given the field position. No matter how you cut it, asking a defense that surrendered 13 points in the previous four minutes to stop Allen from getting Buffalo into field goal range is a bizarre move, especially when the alternative is entrusting Jackson or Henry and an offense that averaged 8.6 yards per play on the night. There are external factors, to be sure, but repairing the problem will require Harbaugh and Co. to do some serious soul-searching – and perhaps admit some fault – rather than merely attributing the mounting letdowns to circumstance.
Dolphins
Bad losses in Week 1 are ripe for hyperbole and overreaction. In Miami’s case, however, the fallout from the flop against the Colts might not be strong enough.
When Jones is earning unironic comparisons to Peyton Manning, it should be considered a five-alarm fire. What was most stunning about the Dolphins’ disaster, however, was the number of different ways the team failed. Tua Tagovailoa and the passing attack seemed stumped by Lou Anarumo’s myriad blitzes, with the quarterback coughing up two interceptions and a lost fumble in addition to taking three sacks. And though Tagovailoa last week shrugged off concerns about his relationship with Tyreek Hill after some surprisingly pointed remarks this summer, the star wideout had just four catches for 40 yards. Meanwhile, Jones readily attacked what sizes up as arguably the league’s worst collection of cornerbacks by completing 10 of his 13 attempts outside the numbers for 160 yards and a touchdown, according to Next Gen Stats. And when Zach Wilson is showing up in Week 1, as he did late in the blowout, something has either gone surprisingly right or horribly, horribly wrong.
While many outfits can chalk their early struggles to working out kinks with new elements, the Dolphins have no one to blame but themselves for their deficiencies. Despite being put on notice by owner Stephen Ross at the conclusion of last season, coach Mike McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier seemingly doubled down on a flawed team-building formula, doing little to make up for a top-heavy roster. If Miami doesn’t find its footing next week against the Patriots, things could get ugly in a hurry with a Week 3 ‘Thursday Night Football’ trip to face the Bills looming.
Bryce Young
So much for the supposed momentum from his hot finish to last season. The 2023 No. 1 pick was off-kilter throughout the Carolina Panthers’ 26-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Young committed three turnovers and very nearly a fourth – a pick-six to Andrew Wingard was wiped out by a defensive holding penalty – against a defense that had a league-low nine takeaways in 2024, and he struggled to get anything going outside of a 10-play, 80-yard drive when the matchup was out of hand. In all, he finished with just 154 yards on 18-of-35 passing. A botched fourth-and-1 that resulted in the typically even-keeled Young slamming his helmet against the ground seemed to sum things up for a Panthers team that was thoroughly out of sorts. Young’s turbulent early career should be a reminder not to make sweeping conclusions off isolated moments, but there’s no denying that this was a setback for a player who previously appeared to be on the upswing.
Lions’ offense
It’s too early for Dan Campbell to panic – not that it’s the coach’s style to do so, anyway. But the questions about how effective Detroit’s attack will be without Ben Johnson were amplified significantly by an uninspiring showing. A front that once ranked as one of the league’s best allowed four sacks and was at least partially responsible for a stalled run game, which posted just 46 yards on 22 carries. Goff said after the game that the group could move forward but ‘there needs to be an urgency of improvement.’ With games against the Ravens, Bengals and Chiefs looming before the bye, Detroit can’t take a return to last year’s form as a given.
Joe Burrow
This again? With Burrow enjoying his first fully healthy camp since his rookie campaign, star wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins locked in to massive new contracts and the Cincinnati Bengals set to face the lackluster Cleveland Browns, the quarterback seemed bound to break the trend of sluggish starts that has dogged the franchise in recent years. Yet Cincinnati mustered just 141 total yards, with Burrow posting 113. If not for an opportunistic defense that forced two interceptions in the final five drives, the Bengals might easily have been the talk of the weekend for another letdown. For now, the team will take just the second Week 1 win of the Zac Taylor era and try to improve. But the sight of Burrow’s protection once again collapsing down the stretch – Cleveland bagged the passer for three sacks on as many plays in one sequence in the fourth quarter – should prompt some serious unease.
Andre Szmyt
Kicking debuts don’t get much rougher than this. Szmyt not only missed an extra point in the Browns’ loss to the Bengals but also a 36-yard field goal attempt that would have given his team the lead with 2:22 left in the game. Kevin Stefanski threw his support behind the former United Football League standout this offseason despite the kicker’s lack of experience in the NFL, with the coach saying just last week he was ‘very confident’ in Szmyt. Given the lack of buy-in that comes with unproven entities at the position, however, that could change in a hurry.
Younghoe Koo
Szmyt was hardly alone in the kicker suffering club on Sunday. Koo also earned an unwanted spotlight after his wide-right miss on a 44-yard field-goal attempt prevented the Falcons from forcing overtime against the Buccaneers. Atlanta has stood by Koo even after a trying 2024 season, in which he missed a career-worst nine field-goal tries and landed on injured reserve in December. Expect that to remain the case, but pressure will only mount from here.
Jake Moody
We can’t cover kicker misery without mentioning Moody, the maligned 2024 third-round pick of the 49ers who missed a 27-yard chip shot and had a 36-yard try blocked. Those errors didn’t prove fatal to San Francisco, but Kyle Shanahan couldn’t seem to stifle his ire with the mistakes. Shanahan said after the game there was ‘no question’ Moody would remain the kicker, but patience might wear thin with any more comparable outings.
Steelers defense
Jalen Ramsey took no time to deliver for Pittsburgh after being acquired in an offseason trade, extinguishing a last-minute comeback attempt by blasting Garrett Wilson to force a game-sealing incompletion on fourth down. Still, the Steelers surrendered 394 yards, including 182 on the ground. Things never should have been this easy for a Jets attack that didn’t do much to disguise its intentions and repeatedly won up front despite the loss of offensive guard Alijah Vera-Tucker. With over $158 million spent on its defense for 2025, Pittsburgh is without peer when it comes to investing. Yet the unit has repeatedly had to be bailed out by heroic efforts – typically by T.J. Watt – and that pattern is clearly unsustainable.
New Orleans Saints’ new look
Credit to Kellen Moore: His team didn’t play like a defunct Arena Football League team even though it dressed like one. New Orleans tried to establish a fresh feeling to kick off its first-year coach’s reign by donning gold jerseys for the first time since 2002. But between the off-putting beige hue and too many mistakes (13 penalties for 89 yards) in a 20-13 loss to the Cardinals, the team might as well have been rocking pyrite. Please, retire this right away.
New York Giants
Can’t feel great to have the quarterback you cast off shine at the same time your new signal-caller struggles. It’s unlikely any fans will call for Jones’ return, but there surely will be demands for change – that’s your music, first-round QB Jaxson Dart – after Russell Wilson was unable to ignite the attack in a 21-6 loss to the Washington Commanders. Repairing the passing game was never going to be an overnight operation. But given how the defense kept New York in the game, the same familiar and troubling trends resurfacing – including the inability to overcome persistent protection problems – has to feel like an ominous harbinger as the team went a third consecutive opener without an offensive touchdown.
Evan Neal
The No. 7 overall pick in 2022 has been on thin ice for some time now, with the Giants moving him to guard in an attempt to salvage what’s left of his career in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Sunday, however, served as a surrender of sorts, as Big Blue rendered Neal a healthy scratch. New York brass talked up how much potential the 6-7, 340-pounder had as he bumped inside, but balance problems were just too pervasive throughout his time. Maybe there’s some path back to the lineup later on this season given how badly the interior fared in establishing a push for the run game, but he’s running out of opportunities to shed the dreaded bust label.
This post appeared first on USA TODAY
