One of the NFL's most storied and prestigious records fell last season when Myles Garrett racked up 23 sacks in what turned out to be his final year in Cleveland. With Garrett now sidelined by injury and the Packers' Micah Parsons also out, that record will likely survive this year.
However, that won't be the case for every NFL milestone.
With offenses putting up huge numbers and a 17-game schedule giving teams more time to rack up stats, a few all-time marks will inevitably be topped in 2026.
Here are five that already look like they're in danger after the first week:
Points scored by a team
Current record: 2013 Denver Broncos (606 points)
Eleven teams scored at least 30 points in Week 1 - a feat surpassed only in the 1986 NFL season, when a dozen teams scored 30-plus in the opener.
The Bears led the way Sunday with a prolific 59 points in a win over the Panthers, who put up a more-than-respectable 37 points. For head coach Ben Johnson, it went exactly as planned for Chicago. He called his shot back in August, telling reporters that gaudy scoreboard numbers were absolutely his squad's goal.
"I want to have the highest-scoring offense ever, which happens to be the 2013 Denver Broncos," Johnson said. "I know how many points per game they scored, and I want to surpass them. I want shutouts. I want blowouts."
Led by MVP Peyton Manning, those 2013 Broncos averaged 37.9 points per contest. But thanks to the NFL expanding its schedule from 16 to 17 games in 2021, the Bears and other high-powered offenses need to average 35.7 points per contest to eclipse Denver's 606-point total.
That's a lofty pace, but a handful of teams are already on it, and Chicago is way ahead of schedule. It's only a matter of time before the Broncos are scratched from this spot in the record books, and 2026 could be the year they're eclipsed.
League-wide rushing TDs
Current record: 532 (2020)
Passing stats keep climbing in today's NFL, but the best way to turn goal-to-go situations into points is still the ground game. During the Bears' 59-point explosion, only two of their eight touchdowns were through the air.
In total, teams scored 37 rushing touchdowns in Week 1 - an average of 2.3 per game. If those numbers continued every week, the record would be smashed by more than 100 touchdowns.
Although that probably won't happen, the way teams ran the ball in the first week makes this record look toast.
Career tackles for loss
Current record: Terrell Suggs (202)
Tackles are a dubious stat because teams didn't record them the same way before the 1994 season. In the three decades since tackles have been counted, Suggs is the only player to record more than 200 behind the line of scrimmage.
Calais Campbell could become the second before the 2026 season ends.
At 40, Campbell is somehow still an NFL starter after joining the Ravens in the offseason for his 19th campaign. He currently has 196 career tackles for loss, leaving him seven shy of becoming the all-time leader. While it'll be a difficult feat for Campbell to accomplish, it's not impossible.
Campbell recorded at least nine tackles for loss in 13 of the last 16 seasons, with the exceptions coming during his previous three-year tenure with the Ravens from 2020-22. But after Campbell played 29 snaps in Week 1 - 54% of Baltimore's defensive snaps - it's clear he'll get his chances to make plays in Jesse Minter's defense.
Incidentally, if Campbell records a safety, it'd be the fourth of his career, tying a record.
Average punt distance
Current record: Ryan Stonehouse (53.1 yards/punt)
Kickers and punters have never been better, and they're booting the ball much farther than their predecessors. The top five seasons all-time in yards per punt all happened in the last four years, including Stonehouse's back-to-back 53.1-yard campaigns with the Titans in 2022 and 2023.
In Week 1, Raiders' AJ Cole averaged a ridiculous 63.3 yards on his three punts, blasting 55-, 61-, and 72-yarders against the Dolphins. He was among 12 punters who finished the weekend averaging at least 51 yards per punt.
A few punters will undoubtedly average north of 50 yards this season, and Stonehouse's record won't be far from reach.
Longest field goal
Current record: Cam Little (68 yards)
Like punters, kickers are hitting from distances that weren't even attempted in earlier eras. Little's record-breaking 68-yarder last season came only three months after he nailed a 70-yarder in preseason. A similar story happened just a few weeks ago when the Chiefs' Harrison Butker drilled a 69-yarder that also didn't count in the record books because it was preseason.
The Cowboys' Brandon Aubrey has hit from 64 and 65 yards in his career, but he missed on a 70-yard attempt during the 2024 season that was tipped at the line of scrimmage.
The question isn't whether or not there are kickers with the leg to hit from beyond 68 yards - it's just a matter of whether they'll get a chance to attempt one. A miss from that distance risks a return or hands the other team great field position. Typically, it only makes strategic sense to try a field goal from the other side of the 50-yard line on the last play of a half.
Still, there are at least a few kickers capable of making it from about 70, and Little's record probably won't last long - if it even survives 2026.
With Little and the Jaguars playing at Denver's high altitude this weekend, we could see a new record set as early as Sunday.
Adam Stites is a contributing writer for theScore.
