The first week of the 2026 NFL season has officially started with everything football fans wanted. Dramatic finishes and high-scoring offenses stood out across the league, producing 791 points in total. This record challenges the 2012 opening week scores, adding excitement to the 2026 season. The first week is not just a hype builder. Kicking off on Wednesday, Sept. 9, the Seattle Seahawks invited the New England Patriots to Seattle for the season opener. These first 16 games create a blueprint for the rest of the season.
Multiple contenders from last season opened with impressive results. The Kansas City Chiefs swept the Denver Broncos 31-10 on Monday night, along with the Baltimore Ravens beating the Indianapolis Colts 41-23. The Buffalo Bills also started off strongly, defeating Houston 36-31. Bills quarterback Josh Allen scored four touchdowns and threw for 334 yards. Multiple close games unfolded in the NFC, where the Eagles edged Washington with a score of 24-22, and the Detroit versus New Orleans went to overtime, ending with a Detroit win by 1 point.
The excitement continued as the NFL played a regular-season game in Australia for the first time. The San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams faced off at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Even with the high hopes after winning the NFC Championship Game last season, the Rams were defeated 27-7. As one of the league’s stronger contenders last season, Brock Purdy and the 49ers still remain a serious candidate for a Super Bowl.
Sunday brought more chaos to the league as the Green Bay Packers helplessly fell to the Minnesota Vikings by 17 points. The Packers had the upper hand, holding a five-point lead until the fourth quarter when head coach Matt LaFleur called “go for it” when only 1 yard remained to convert on fourth down. Failing this gamble marked the downfall of Green Bay. The Packers lost the lead and aimlessly collapsed in the fourth quarter, giving the win to the Vikings by a score of 39-22.
Despite mid-game injuries to two starting receivers, the Baltimore Ravens dominated offensively against the Indianapolis Colts throughout their matchup, ending in a decisive win.
One of the biggest stories from Week 1 came from the Chicago Bears, scoring 59 points in their win against the Carolina Panthers. The combined score of 96 points set a record for the most points scored in an opening week and was the most points scored by the franchise since 1980. Quarterback Caleb Williams threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 65 yards and two more scores. Running backs D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai both rushed for more than 100 yards, making them the first Bears duo to accomplish this since 1980. While the Bears’ offense was unstoppable, the 37 points by the Panthers show room for improvement in defense.
Diehard football fan and LFA college counsellor Mitchell Morgan-Dunham described the game as a “demonstration of Chicago offense.” He hopes for the team to continually live up to the expectations. Especially as last season had many “close victories around the end of the game,” he is excited to see the Bears lead more comfortably this year and not have to come back from huge deficits to win games.
The 2026 NFL season has just started, but Week 1 already demonstrated impressive offense and major comebacks. With 17 weeks of games still ahead, the road to Super Bowl LXI is still wide open, and this year should be a very exciting season.