Greetings and welcome to our Week 1 evaluations.
The 2026 regular season has officially arrived, and in keeping with our yearly custom, we will be analyzing and grading every single matchup from kickoff through January.
Opening weekend consistently delivers pure madness, and this year’s kickoff kept that tradition alive. During Sunday’s early slate, New Orleans battled back from a massive 21-point deficit to force extra time against Detroit, only to fall just short on an aggressive two-point try. Meanwhile, Chicago and Carolina made league history by putting up a combined 96 points, setting an all-time record for a Week 1 matchup (resulting in a Scoragami!).
Then we had Cleveland, who suffered a 34-10 blowout against Jacksonville. Granted, that outcome was hardly shocking, given that the Browns rarely find success in their openers. Since the franchise returned to the league in 1999, their historical Week 1 record has dropped to a dismal 3-24-1.
While Cleveland never threatened to surprise, another squad pulled off a monumental upset during the opening week: the Arizona Cardinals. Despite being the week’s largest underdogs at +9.5, Arizona traveled to Los Angeles and stunned the Chargers with a decisive 26-14 road victory.
Perhaps the most stunning development of the weekend was seeing both New York franchises—the Jets and the Giants—claim victories, marking the first time since 2009 that both local teams won their respective season openers.
In terms of milestone triumphs, one of the premier victories occurred in Houston, where Josh Allen secured his first-ever road win over the Texans. That historic result is where we will launch our Week 1 report cards.
PLEASE NOTE: Additional evaluations will be updated here as the remaining games conclude.
