Except for the inevitable injury or two, the first week of the NFL regular season is typically mild. Not this week. It was anything but mild on Sunday. Week one is seen by some as a fluke week, while others see it as a prelude of what will come as teams settle in. Here are the winners and losers from Sunday’s games.
Winners: Aaron Glenn
New York has been terrible for a long time. The last time the Jets won a week one Sunday game was 2015 against Cleveland. A lot has changed since then.
After Sunday, Aaron Glenn finally has a winning record in the regular season. The Jets won a one-sided road game in Tennessee. They capitalized on the game’s first possession after Titans kicker Joey Slye kicked the ball out of bounds on the kickoff. Kenyon Sadiq’s three yard touchdown run put Tennessee in an early hole and let the Jets cruise to an easy win.
New York’s offense looked good. In Geno Smith’s second stint as starter with the team, he completed 19 of 24 passes for 215 yards and a 104 quarterback rating. Breece Hall had 22 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown. The offensive line dominated Tennessee’s defensive line.
On defense, the Jets sacked sophomore quarterback Cam Ward three times. While New York’s defense didn’t force a turnover, they suffocated the Titans offense. Tennessee had a total of 200 offensive yards and scored their lone touchdown when the game was decided late in the fourth quarter.
Last year was a miserable season for head coach Aaron Glenn. Despite some positives, management traded away valuable players and the team lost more confidence. Glenn needed a strong, opening week to show there has been progress since last season’s messes. He left no doubt about the positive changes Sunday.
Cincinnati Bengals defense
If Cincinnati is going to win the AFC North, the defense has to have to step up and improve in something. Well, the Bengals defense started the regular season with a solid performance against a talented Tampa Bay offense.
Cincinnati got their first lead of the game when defensive end Myles Murphy and linebacker Barrett Carter strip sacked Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield. Linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. recovered the ball and ran for a 27 yard touchdown.
Tampa Bay never recovered and was in panic mode most of the game. Their next possession, runningback Bucky Irving fumbled a catch and new Bengals defensive end and former Super Bowl champion Boye Mafe recovered the ball. Cincinnati capitalized on offense with another touchdown, taking a double digit lead.
The Bengals didn’t let up in the second half. Despite Cincinnati’s offense giving up an interception return touchdown in the third quarter, the defense forced another turnover when Mafe strip sacked Mayfield and defensive tackle T.J. Slayton Jr. recovered the ball. The Bengals gave up a late touchdown when the game was all but won. While the Buccaneers have more issues to address, Cincinnati can build off the week one progress.
Carson Wentz
Once Kyler Murray was named starting quarterback in Minnesota, the main question became who would back Murray up if things went downhill. Head coach Kevin O’Connell picked Carson Wentz at the last second and thankfully bumped J.J. McCarthy and Max Brosmer to the practice squad. That decision looks genius after Wentz led the Vikings to a stunning, double digit home opening win against division rival Green Bay.
Carson Wentz played most of the game after Murray left during the first possession because of a concussion. Wentz completed 12 of 19 passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns. Two of his scores came after the Packers took a 12 point lead early in the third quarter.
Minnesota doesn’t need a Pro-Bowl caliber quarterback. They need someone who can get the ball to a fantastic receiving core, balance the run-pass game, and not make mistakes or turn the ball over. Carson Wentz took three sacks in a physical divisional game, but he didn’t turn the ball over or do anything that could harm the team. The long-time veteran needed some confidence after the constant lows suffered from previous seasons. This comeback win should make both Wentz and Minnesota interesting to watch the rest of September.
Philadelphia Eagles offense
There is a lot of pressure on Philadelphia’s offense to be better than they were last season. With A.J. Brown traded to New England (and now out for at least a month with an ankle injury), the Eagles offense needed a convincing performance and to not be a punching bag for both local and national sports media. Philadelphia will delay those conversations for at least another week.
The Eagles offense played well Sunday afternoon against division rival Washington. Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 14 of 25 passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns. The receiving trio of Dallas Goedert, Dontayvion Wicks and Devonta Smith combined for nine catches for 203 yards and three touchdowns. Wicks and Smith had some great catches and plays near the sidelines that dazzled Commanders defenders.
What might be a relief and the most positive news was how great runningback Saquon Barkley looked. The former rushing champion had 15 rushes for 83 yards. While it wasn’t an all-time great performance, Barkley looked like the elite runner everyone remembered before 2025. If the Eagles get this version of Barkley moving ahead and the receiving core continues to play well, Philadelphia will be hard to beat.
Losers: Ian-Yates Cunningham
It will be agonizing to keep up with the NFC South division race most of this season. As was written in the 2026 NFC playoff picks, there is a lot to like for each of the four teams, but there is as much that will drag all four down the rest of the calendar year. Atlanta may have the fewest roster weaknesses, but they have the biggest one of any four teams: no quarterback. That issue goes up to the Falcons front office and general manager Ian-Yates Cunningham.
To re-cap the current quarterback issues, Atlanta let go of Kirk Cousins because they wanted Michael Penix Jr. to be the franchise starting quarterback. That’s a nice idea, but it turns out Penix can’t stay healthy. Then Cunningham went out and signed Tua Tagovailoa in free agency, brought in Cooper Rush as a third option and added undrafted rookie Jack Strand to the practice squad. Someone had to emerge as the de facto starter.
Turns out, the starter picked was Cooper Rush. Since this is the Falcons, it’s fitting Rush was also dealing with injuries before Sunday’s kickoff. Atlanta could have promoted the undrafted rookie Strand to start his first NFL game, but the Falcons fear that if Strand’s good, that would de-rail any chance of Michael Penix Jr./Tua Tagovailoa getting their chance to be franchise stars. While that sounds bizarre for readers not used to watching the NFL, both latter players were high, first round picks that have stood out over the last two years. Yet, neither can stay healthy. And that showed how not having a competent starting quarterback doomed any chance for Atlanta to play well.
Pittsburgh took advantage of that deficiency and won an ugly, low-scoring home game. Viewers who watched that mess all agreed Atlanta is a wreck and their lack of quarterback talent is going to doom any chance the team has of winning the division. Those issues start with management flailing about while adding any washed up, injury prone passer they could find.
Carolina Panthers defense
In many ways, Cincinnati and Carolina are in the same boat when it comes to their atrocious defenses. The Panthers had the worst defense in 2024 and things have barely improved since. While the Bengals added players in the offseason, they haven’t been hit with injuries yet. Carolina did in pre-season and in on-field practices, and it showed in a wild, shootout home loss against Chicago.
In the Panthers’ first game of the regular season, they gave up more than 500 yards of offense. The Bears scored 50+ points for the first time since 2012. Their 59 points were the most in an NFL season opener. Chicago’s six rushing touchdowns were the most in a season opener for the franchise and the first for a team since the 1922 Canton Bulldogs. Two runningbacks had 100+ yard performances. Carolina’s defense was a sieve start to finish.
Injuries may play a factor for how bad the Panthers defense could be for a few months this season, but no team should be giving up multiple NFL records on an opening day game. If Carolina’s defense is this bad in their next two games (Atlanta and Cleveland), we could witness the worst defense in league history.
C.J. Stroud IV
This website does a great job at objectivity when it comes to a player and team’s total play. It’s rare to find a player on here (not a kicker) be blamed for one or two specific plays and wind up right in the loser’s column. Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud IV unfortunately deserves to be here.
Believe it or not, Stroud had a good game against Buffalo. The Bills and Texans went blow for blow, and he stepped up almost every time. The key word here is almost. This is what has gotten C.J. Stroud a lot of deserved criticism: he cannot get the job done when it matters most. Houston’s last possession of the game was a great example.
Stroud’s last two plays before Buffalo won will be talked about all week, if not all month. A third down incompletion was thrown too hard and fast for number one receiver Nico Collins. His fourth down blunder stands out most. C.J. Stroud was about to be sacked by defensive end Greg Rousseau. However, Stroud fumbled the ball and Buffalo’s Terrell Bernard recovered it. The Bills ran out the clock and won.
Many will say Houston’s defense is another main reason Buffalo won. The Texans defense does not appear to be the same elite unit we watched last year. When Houston could have gone to the Super Bowl with that defense, Stroud played awful in a forgettable divisional round loss in New England. C.J. Stroud wants to get paid a lot of money in an upcoming contract extension. Houston general manager Nick Caserio and the front office won’t budge until Stroud proves he is worth the money. That final drive in a grueling week one loss is ammunition for Caserio’s case and a big reason why Stroud may not get that lavish extension.
Los Angeles Chargers
There were a few week one games many analysts believed would be easy decisions. Arizona versus Los Angeles was one of them. The Cardinals have one of the hardest schedules this season and were predicted to win three games max because of it. The Chargers are supposed to be a playoff team that can get to at least the divisional round. Neither team played like it Sunday.
Los Angeles didn’t just lose to Arizona. They were spanked start to finish. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Cardinals rookie head coach Mike LaFleur became the first Arizona full-time coach to win his debut since Don Coryell in 1973. Many believed new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel would make the Chargers one of the NFL’s best offenses each week. LaFleur’s Cardinals overwhelmed them on all but two possessions. Franchise star quarterback Justin Herbert threw a frantic interception and was sacked three times. Arizona’s defense rattled Herbert every chance they got and stifled what used to be a strong running game.
The Chargers defense kept the game close, but special teams were the key in Arizona pulling away for a double digit win. JK Scott’s punt was blocked by both Arizona and Los Angeles players. The Cardinals scored a touchdown two plays after, and the Chargers never scored again.
If Los Angeles wants to be a serious contender in both their division and conference, they must beat teams not favored to reach the playoffs. The Chargers have the talent, but they look disorganized or uncommitted to winning like several teams in the AFC are. Los Angeles will regret this loss the closer we get to January.
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