By Katie Extine, Staff Writer
The 2026-2027 season has officially started for the National Football League, kicking off with the New England Patriots playing the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday, September 9 and ending with the Denver Broncos playing the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday, September 14.
This first week of games showcased many anticipated returns, upsets, and lead-ups to milestones. Starting with Wednesday’s game between the Seahawks and Patriots, a nice rematch between the two since they last played during the 2026 Super Bowl, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold suffered a hip injury after he was sacked on third down, five plays into the game. Despite this, the Seahawks pulled through thanks to backup quarterback Drew Lock and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, beating the Patriots 13-10. Thursday brought the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers down under to the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia. With the Rams holding the second-place post-draft rank, it came as a huge upset when the 49ers had a blowout victory with a final score of 27-7.
All happening in the early window of Sunday’s games, starting with the Chicago Bears beating the Carolina Panthers 57-37, the Panthers’ defense was severely disappointing after spending a fortune on getting linebackers Jalen Phillips and Devin Lloyd on the team. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers played the Cincinnati Bengals in a close yet overall uneventful game, with the Bears winning 33-27. Both teams’ quarterbacks performed subpar, with Joe Burrow from the Bengals throwing for 254 yards with only one touchdown and one interception, along with Baker Mayfield from the Buccaneers throwing for 216 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Next up was the New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions, ending in an OT win for the Lions 31-30; the Lions pulled through a second-half collapse after leading 21-0 going into halftime.
Simultaneously, the Buffalo Bills beat the Houston Texans 36-31 in a highly anticipated matchup; after this game, Josh Allen for the Bills became the first quarterback in the NFL to have 80 career scores on the ground. After that, the Baltimore Ravens pulled through against the Indianapolis Colts 41-23. Continuing, the Jacksonville Jaguars unsurprisingly beat the Cleveland Browns 34-10, making this their ninth consecutive win dating back into last season. Next, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Atlanta Falcons 20-13. T.J. Watt, linebacker for the Steelers, carried this game, joining Julius Peppers as the only players with over 100 sacks and over 10 interceptions since sacks were first introduced as a measured statistic in the 1980s. Finally, for this window, the New York Jets beat the Tennessee Titans 23-10. The Titans brought almost nothing to the table during this matchup, with their longest play being a measly 14 yards and averaging only 4 yards throughout the game.
During the late window on Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals capitalized on the Los Angeles Chargers’ fourth-quarter miscues and won 26-14. The Cardinals offense was on point during this debut for their revamped coaching staff, putting up nearly 400 yards and bringing a balanced 34 rushes to 37 pass plays. After that, the Las Vegas Raiders beat the Miami Dolphins 27-13. Even though the Raiders showed they might not end up in the bottom of the league, this marks their 38th consecutive game without reaching 30 points. Later, the Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers 39-22; this game was the first game in Vikings history that has won by over 15 points, despite being outgained by over 150 total yards. Following that, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Washington Commanders in a close game, 24-22.
During Sunday Night, the last game of the day, the New York Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys 28-20. This game welcomed Odell Beckham Jr. back onto the Giants roster, his first time playing since 2018. The result of this game was an excellent start to John Harbaugh’s new era.
The last game of the week was played on Monday night between the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs beat the Broncos 31-10 in a highly anticipated return for quarterback Patrick Mahomes after tearing his ACL and LCL last season. Kenneth Walker III, Super Bowl MVP, had a career-high 191 scrimmage yards; this game was his debut as the Chiefs’ running back.
The opening games of this new season showed a snippet of what the rest of the season may look like. Some teams are relying on keeping their star players healthy, while others are finally welcoming their injured players back. Here’s to keeping the pregame rituals going, and to an eventful rest of the season.
