An enthralling week 1 of football has fans excited for more!
With the Minnesota Vikings’ defeat of the Chicago Bears, we say goodbye to week 1 of the 2025-26 NFL season. Despite being early days into the new season, there were some spectacular matches that kept us enthralled throughout the week.
The Friday night game in Sao Paulo, Brazil, featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers meant that we had 4 days of football action the past week.
Before we look forward to what lies ahead in week 2 of the regular season, it is worth mentioning some of the key takeaways from the first 16 games we have just witnessed. As is the case every year, there were some surprising results and player performances that could indicate how the rest of the season may turn out.
What we saw from the past two NFL MVPs in the first week of the new season was tremendous quarterback play throughout the duration of the game. The Bills edged out the Ravens in a score fest that ended 41-40 in favor of Buffalo, but more importantly, it pitted two of the best at the position over the past couple of seasons.
Neither Josh Allen nor Lamar Jackson disappointed in their first games under center after a long offseason. While Jackson looked as dynamic as ever with his passing and rushing ability, Allen was a wrecking force through the air. At the moment, these two seem to be ahead and the early favorites for the MVP at the end of the season.
Having said that, Patrick Mahomes also played a good game despite the Chiefs’ loss to the Chargers. But as long as he is not running for his life and his receivers are not dropping balls, Mahomes remains in the hunt.
All four NFC North teams played their week 1 games amongst each other, which, in theory at least, gives us a better perspective of how things could shake up at the end of the regular season.
The Packers took on the 2-time defending division champions, the Lions, and came through with a convincing win. The talk of the town was Green Bay’s defensive performance, which is only going to be enhanced as Micah Parsons settles in with his new team.
While the Lions looked anything but what they were last season, the Bears and Vikings both had ups and downs along the way.
How ironic it was that both Aaron Rodgers and Justin Fields would play the first game of the new season against their former teams in the same game? As ironic as that may be, the main storyline in this one was how good both of them looked with their new teams.
Rodgers looked so much like his younger self and had an excellent showing with 244 passing yards and 4 touchdowns, while Fields was also much more comfortable leading the Jets offense as he finished with 218 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 rushing touchdowns as well.
Following the Chiefs’ loss to the Chargers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, there are few who are ready to write them off from even reaching the postseason. It has only been one game, and there is also the wide receiver problem that needs to be considered before reaching any conclusions.
Rashee Rice, who recovered from last season’s injury, is still unavailable to play due to the six-game suspension handed down by the league. Next best receiver, second-year wideout Xavier Worthy, was taken out of the game after colliding with tight end Travis Kelce, leading to a dislocated shoulder.
Moreover, the team has been at the top of its game for nearly half a decade and knows how to get the job done. Although it won’t be easy, it is still too early to predict whether they will miss the playoffs this year.
The San Francisco 49ers’ strength of schedule for this season is .415, which is the easiest in the league. Judging by how good the 49ers generally are, that should be a cake walk to the postseason for them.
Unfortunately, though, it may not be so easy after all. The 49ers won their game against the Seahawks, but they didn’t look too convincing. Quarterback Brock Purdy threw 2 interceptions, running back Christian McCaffrey was held to just 3.1 yards per carry, and they needed a last-minute heroic play by Nick Bosa to seal the deal.
The New York Giants had quite an offseason this time around. First of all, they went and signed both Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston at quarterback while also drafting Jaxson Dart. The news from their camp is that Dart is not too far away from becoming a potential starter.
They also drafted top pass rusher Abdul Carter and strengthened their overall defensive line. But, even then, they ended up losing 21-6 to divisional rivals, the Washington Commanders. Perhaps the main problem lies with the head coach Brian Daboll, who is unable to turn things around in the ‘Big Apple.’
It is still way too early to predict the type of year J.J. McCarthy will go on to have in his first year as a starter. Against the Bears, McCarthy struggled mightily for the first three quarters before completely turning things around in the fourth.
Maybe it was the jitters of his first NFL game, maybe it was the Chicago Bears’ defense that knows how this Vikings team likes to play, that caused him problems at the start. But, if McCarthy can improve on his 4th quarter performance over the remaining games, Minnesota may have been right to send Darnold away.
Mike McDaniel and the Miami Dolphins have had talented players on the roster for the past few seasons. The only problem is that the talent has not been able to win a sufficient number of games.
As the Dolphins looked to turn a new leaf this year, their demolition at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts to the tune of 33-8 was shocking. Just looking at quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s numbers from the game tells us how much work the team has to do, despite the weapons on offer.
Speaking of the Colts, Indianapolis signed former Giants signal caller Daniel Jones in the offseason to compete with Anthony Richardson under center. Jones won the job as the starter and looked impressive in his debut for the Colts against the Dolphins.
Of course, we need to take that performance with a pinch of salt, since Miami is struggling in its own right. However, the AFC South is one of the weaker divisions in the league, so there is a good possibility that the Colts find themselves on the verge of a playoff spot this year.
The Titans and Jaguars have struggled significantly over the past couple of seasons, and even though the Texans have been the team to beat, they, too, aren’t at the top of their game yet.
The Cincinnati Bengals did everything right this offseason. Well, okay, maybe not everything. They did take forever to negotiate an increase in salary with Trey Hendrickson despite failing to sign him to a new long term contract. But, they did get the job done with receiving duo Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
So, Cincinnati’s first game against Cleveland should have offered more than what we got to see. It was surprising to see the Bengals escape with a narrow win against the Browns. But then again, this was week 1, and Zac Taylor has always been criticized for not having his teams ready during the initial few weeks of the new season.
Additionally, with the Browns being divisional opponents, we can give Cincinnati the benefit of the doubt since this type of divisional matchup tends to be a close affair. But until we see the magic of the 2021 and 2022 seasons, doubts over this team will continue to dominate thoughts.
With that, it is now time to turn our attention to the week ahead. Once again, there will be some exciting matchups along the way, starting with the Washington Commanders visiting the Green Bay Packers on Thursday Night Football (TNF).
Mandatory Credit: Imagn Images
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