Every Sunday, we cut through the noise to spotlight the NFL's most important developments and break down why they matter moving forward.
Jump to: Early slate
Late slate
Brian Flores fought the Packers with fire and won
Carson Wentz taking first-quarter snaps in Week 1 was about as high up on the Vikings' list of doomsday scenarios as it gets. After losing Kyler Murray to a head injury early, Minnesota fell behind 22-10 to the explosive Packers offense. Then the Vikings scored 29 unanswered in the last 18 minutes of the game to blow out their division rival.
Most of the credit for the stunning comeback should be directed at Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who decided the best plan to overcome the Packers' offense was to send the blitz and send it again and again and again.
That boom-or-bust strategy led to a lot of big plays down the field for Green Bay. Jordan Love had 387 passing yards and connected with Christian Watson for two touchdowns, including an 81-yarder. For almost three whole quarters, it was a losing strategy. But in the fourth quarter, the Vikings’ attempts to wreak havoc did just that.
In the last six minutes of the game alone, Love fumbled twice on sacks and threw an interception. Just like that, the Vikings had a double-digit lead and cruised to a Week 1 win.
The Ashton Jeanty sophomore leap is real
With a rebuilt offensive line and new head coach Klint Kubiak, there were high expectations for Jeanty in Year 2 after an underwhelming rookie year. That hype was justified. Jeanty looked quick, powerful, and elusive as he compiled 147 yards of offense and two touchdowns against the Dolphins.
Raiders fans will have to wait to see No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza in action, as Kirk Cousins played well enough to keep his spot at the top of the depth chart for now. But the emergence of Jeanty should give Las Vegas coaches confidence that Mendoza won't be tossed straight into the fire when he gets his time under center. Not only did Jeanty provide an efficient running attack, he was a reliable pass catcher underneath, hauling in all six targets thrown his way for a team-leading 45 receiving yards.
The Cardinals look way better than expected
Fans at SoFi Stadium probably thought they'd see fireworks from a Chargers' offense that added Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator in the offseason. Instead, they watched that unit turn the ball over twice, and fail to convert all three of its fourth-down tries. It also didn't help that the Los Angeles defense couldn't get off the field.
The Cardinals had more than 37 minutes of possession and ran 72 offensive plays compared to just 51 plays for the Chargers' offense.
Jacoby Brissett was an efficient 27-of-37 passing with one touchdown and no interceptions. Rookie running back Jeremiyah Love got an early touchdown, and receivers Kendrick Bourne, Michael Wilson, and Marvin Harrison Jr. all had solid moments.
The Cardinals provided the biggest upset of the day and looked like a squad that could spoil some other parties too.
The Dolphins look exactly as bad as expected
The good news for the Dolphins is that Malik Willis played pretty well and made a good case to be the quarterback the franchise spends the next couple of years building around. While he had an interception and no touchdown passes, Willis made a few impressive passes downfield and took things into his own hands on a 14-yard touchdown run.
The bad news is that there's a ton of building that needs to be done in Miami.
Third-round rookie receiver Caleb Douglas was the top target for Willis, but few Dolphins players found a way to get open - and that made the Dolphins pretty easy for the Raiders to slow. Even the always slippery De'Von Achane could only manage 36 rushing yards against a defense that stacked the box to slow him because it wasn't concerned about Miami’s no-name wide receiving corps.
The Dolphins knew they were playing the long game when they cleared house in the offseason, so no one is in danger of getting fired anytime soon. But it'll be a long year for the Dolphins.
Early slate
Josh Allen did a lot of MVP things, as usual
The Houston Texans' defense is supposed to be one of the best in the NFL. It probably is. The Buffalo Bills hung 36 points on them, mostly because Allen wouldn't be denied.
Allen moved himself into the top 20 all-time in rushing touchdowns (passing Edgerrin James and tying Ottis Anderson and Frank Gore) with a pair of them Sunday. But it was his 334 passing yards that were too much for the Texans to overcome.
Newly added receiver DJ Moore was a dynamic weapon for Buffalo, hauling in five passes for 100 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown that was lasered in by Allen near the sideline. Tight end Dalton Kincaid was even harder to contain, finishing with five receptions for 130 yards. With the Bills trailing late, Allen orchestrated a 96-yard touchdown drive on only seven plays that was punctuated by a 34-yard dart to Josh Palmer.
When Allen is at his best, he has a knack for making the kind of plays that simply can't be defended.
The Jaguars' hype train is leaving the station
Jacksonville caught fire in the back half of last season and finished the year with one of the league's most explosive offenses. That momentum has clearly carried into Liam Coen's second season at the helm.
Trevor Lawrence was unstoppable against the Myles Garrett-less Browns, racking up 245 passing yards and four touchdowns before the Jaguars coasted to victory late. With Parker Washington, Brian Thomas Jr., Jakobi Meyers, and Brenton Strange all looking dangerous, it's easy to forget that Travis Hunter is a weapon the Jaguars are mostly keeping in the garage.
Jacksonville's defense looked scary, too. Former No. 1 overall pick Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen had 1.5 sacks each, and Deshaun Watson struggled to get the Browns' offense moving much.
Watson can't possibly have the Browns starting job for long
It was a surprise to most when Cleveland named Deshaun Watson its Week 1 starter, considering Shedeur Sanders spent most of the preseason looking like the better quarterback. The Browns' destruction in Jacksonville made that decision even harder to understand.
Watson threw an interception on Cleveland's opening possession, nearly threw another on the second drive, and then fumbled on the third. Even snapping the ball on time was a struggle, with the Browns picking up two delay of game penalties.
While Watson finished with 205 yards and a touchdown to go with his interception, his 46-yard bomb to Denzel Boston came with less than two minutes left in the game and cut the Jaguars' lead to 24.
When new Browns coach Todd Monken announced the decision to start Watson, he said it wouldn't be "a week-by-week thing" and cited the road environment as part of the reason to go with the veteran. Maybe that means he'll stick with Watson another week with a trip to Tampa Bay up next. It's hard to see how Cleveland could think that'd give them much of a shot at winning, though.
The rejuvenated Ravens look scary
The long and mostly successful tenure of John Harbaugh came to an end earlier this year when Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti decided that good-but-not-quite-great wasn't enough anymore. With head coach Jesse Minter and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle taking the reins, Baltimore was a buzzsaw against the Indianapolis Colts.
Lamar Jackson showed off his usual magic, Derrick Henry remains a freight train at age 32, and Zay Flowers plays faster than just about everyone on the field. That trio did most of the heavy lifting in their 41-23 win, with Flowers racking up 150 yards in spite of a hamstring injury that kept him out for a significant chunk of the game.
Last season, the Ravens were in the bottom 10 of the NFL for 20-yard pass plays. While the combo of Jackson and Henry has made for a devastating ground attack for years, the inability to take advantage of overcommitting defenses with big pass plays has been a missing element for Baltimore.
If Doyle can keep finding ways to gash defenses with Flowers' prolific speed, the Ravens could be a team ready to finally make a January run.
It's a new year for the Bengals' defense
Cincinnati poured a lot of money and resources into fixing a defense that was awful last season. So far, so good. With a defensive line that now features Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen, and Boye Mafe, the Bengals gave Baker Mayfield a pretty miserable afternoon en route to a 33-27 win.
Mayfield was sacked four times and fumbled three times. The Bengals recorded all of them and even scored a 27-yard defensive touchdown. A Bucky Irving fumble was also recovered by Cincinnati, making it a four-takeaway day for the new-look Bengals' defense. Last season, they recorded more than two takeaways in only two games.
It wasn't exactly a shutout performance. The Buccaneers' offense still got in the end zone twice (a third Tampa Bay touchdown came via a Josiah Trotter pick-6), but that's the kind of output that Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Co. can outpace.
Is the Bears' offense that good, or is the Panthers' defense a problem?
In August, Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson told reporters he wants his team to have the "highest-scoring offense ever" and said, "I want blowouts."
Chicago looked the part in a 59-37 win with eight touchdowns and 552 yards of total offense.
The Carolina Panthers are supposed to be pretty good on defense. They finished No. 15 in points allowed, and only the high-powered Bills and Los Angeles Rams managed to record 400 yards against them last year. Adding pass-rusher Jaelan Phillips for $120 million and linebacker Devin Lloyd for $45 million was supposed to shift things into an even higher gear. Instead, the Panthers' defense was a turnstile Sunday.
The Panthers' offense was pretty excellent too, with 478 yards and five touchdowns, but it wasn't nearly enough.
The Titans' offense still looks broken
Cam Ward's NFL career got off to a shaky start with a rookie season that saw him take a league-leading 55 sacks. The Tennessee Titans tried to help him out by adding some more weapons so he could get the ball out of his hand quicker. Wan'Dale Robinson signed a four-year, $70-million deal with Tennessee, and the team took Ohio State's Carnell Tate with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Those two receivers recorded only 38 yards each in a 23-10 home loss to the Jets.
There were signs of life early in the game when the Titans put together a 12-play, 46-yard opening drive with three first downs that ended with a field goal. Tennessee punted on its next seven drives, though. Ward was sacked three times, and the Titans finished with 195 yards of offense.
For the most part, the Titans looked just as stuck in the mud as they were last year.
Adam Stites is a contributing writer for theScore.
