NFL Week 1 winners and losers
Writer Noah Sousa gives picks for the winners and losers for the opening week of the NFL
Week one of the NFL season was an interesting week with a few upsets and a lot of crazy things happening, so here are my winners and losers from week one
Winners: The New York Giants
This was a very impressive win for the Giants under new coach John Harbaugh; the running game looked dangerous, totaling 165 yards, with running back Cam Skattebo finishing with 18 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown, and Jaxson Dart commanding the offense well. The question now becomes not if the Giants will be a good team or not, but whether they’re threatening their division or a potential playoff team in January, which could be a real feeling for this team for the first time in years. 
Winner: Chicago Bears
The Bears offense with Ben Johnson has been on a hot streak; last year, the Bears averaged 25 points per game, and now, at the start, they dropped 59 points, the fourth-most in franchise history. Chicago finished with 552 yards, with Caleb Williams playmaking in the air and on the ground, having six touchdowns total. The running game finished with 291 yards, with De’Andre Swift leading the way with 124 yards and Kyle Monangi finishing with 100 yards himself. The Bears overall looked like a lethal force, while their defense needs some cleaning up after giving up 37 points to the Panthers; this team looks dangerous, like we saw last year.
Winner: Arizona Cardinals
This team was an underdog by 8.5 points on most betting markets and was seen as a team that would get blown out versus a Chargers offense that was hyped up with Mike McDaniel at offensive coordinator. However, the defense shut down the Chargers, Justin Herbert looked rattled, and the offense was held under 300 yards. The game showed head coach Matt LaFleur’s offense and showcased its various weapons, such as touchdowns from both Trey McBride and rookie Jeremiah Love. Jacoby Brissett played really well, throwing for an efficient 277 passing yards and 27 of 37 attempts. This is the first win by a newly hired head coach from the Cardinals to open the season since Don Coryell in 1973.
Baltimore Ravens:
The Ravens had a statement victory in Jesse Minter‘s first game, cruising past the Indianapolis Colts 41-23. Lamar Jackson had a great game, throwing for 324 yards with one touchdown, but the main story of this game was Derrick Henry and Zay Flowers. Derrick Henry had 144 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries and was destroying the Colts defense; meanwhile in the passing game, the Zay Flowers-to-Lamar Jackson connection was unstoppable as before his injury, Flowers had 150 yards on five catches and a touchdown. The Ravens overall shut down the Colts and have a great win to start off the Jesse Minter era in Baltimore.
San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs:
Both of these teams had big statement victories, with the 49ers I’ll discuss first. San Francisco came in the game as the underdog versus the super team Rams, a team that many deemed would go undefeated or be borderline unstoppable. The 49ers beat apart the Rams, and I’d argue humanized the Rams 27-7. For Kansas City on Monday night, they destroyed the Broncos on home turf 31-10, with Kenneth Walker III having 173 rushing yards and two touchdowns in his debut with Patrick Mahomes, scoring a signature rushing touchdown of his own and making a statement that the Chiefs were never gone. They were just reloading, and this team will be a threat for the AFC once again this season.
Losers
Green Bay Packers:
The Packers simply collapsed and fell apart the same way they did in the playoffs last year versus the Chicago Bears. All the talk in the off-season about finishing the job. The team had a lot of miscues, such as allowing a 69-yard kick return, blown coverage in the game, which led to a Minnesota Vikings touchdown, and with poor coaching decisions from Matt Lafluer. Jordan Love despite having a 387-yard game didn’t have much of a chance, as the Vikings got 15 quarterback hits on Love, and the Packers offense line could not handle the blitzes from defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
Cleveland Browns:
The Browns have already had a rough off-season, but things just were made worse on Sunday as they had a rough afternoon getting blown out by 24 points to the Jacksonville Jaguars 34-10. Deshaun Watson looked miserable and threw an early interception in the game and was sacked five times as the offense only scored during garbage time, the offense and defense was overall horrible and showed even though already it’s just week one that’s going be a long season.
Dallas cowboys:
The Dallas Cowboys were a team that had a lot of talk all off-season about a new defense. The team surrender 28 points losing 28-20 on the road. It was Dallas’s worst defensive performance by EPA since 2017 however I argue it was just as bad and more of the same of the 2025 Cowboys defense. With multiple coverage breakdowns in the secondary, Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart complete completed 17 of 19 with 200 yards and two touchdowns against four fewer past rushers. As the Cowboys only pressured the Giants quarterback twice with their lowest pressure rate since week 15 of 2021 against the Giants.
Los Angeles Chargers:
Los Angeles was hyped up as being the next great offense as a lot of people projected this team to win the AFC West however they had a rude awakening versus the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona’s defense shut down the chargers as Justin Herbert threw for only 209 yards with one touchdown and a very bad interception. The Cardinals dominated this game, on both sides of the ball which was a surprise as the Chargers were favored by 8.5 points with some having them as nine-point favorites. John Harbough’s squad played a very sloppy game surrendering a block punt and struggling heavily throughout the entire game.
Houston Texans defense:
The Texans defense had a reputation last year as being the most lethal unit in the NFL however, by week one they surrendered 36 points to Josh Allen the last time they gave up 30 points in a game which the starters finished was Christmas Day of 2024 versus the Baltimore Ravens. In the first half they gave up 24 points compared to in the second half where they only gave up 12. At the end of the day, they still gave up 36 points for a defensive unit that has been considered one of the best in the NFL if not the best. One of the positives that come out of it was that the offense scored 31 points as running back David Montgomery proved to be a great trade acquisition from the Detroit Lions as he had three touchdowns to start his Texans’ career.
Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins
: For the Dolphins it was an atrocious performance offensively, as Caleb Douglas was the only consistent Dolphin's receiver to be open. The offensive line was not great as running back Devon Achane was stopped at 20% of all of runs that he had on Sunday. Malik Willis was sacked five times, as Malik was able to play make with his legs and score a touchdown, but the overall team worked very bad in one of the easier matchups on the schedule.
For the Denver Broncos, they had a bad performance versus the Chiefs, who ran all over them with Kenneth Walker having 173 yards he couldn’t stop Patrick Mahomes despite him completing less than 20 of his passes he still threw for 184 yards in two touchdowns. On the offensive side of the ball for the Broncos, they looked very bad as the Chiefs were able to get stops and turnovers pretty quickly as Bo nix was held under 150 yards and though 131 yards and a touchdown and a bad interception.
forum Fan Reactions 21
It is disappointing to see such definitive conclusions drawn from a 5.8% sample size. Analyzing opening pace without accounting for the season-long developmental curve is a statistical error. These early struggles often reflect poor tactical setups rather than terminal flaws.
It’s about more than a 5.8% sample size; the confidence a strong start gives a young roster is massive! When a front office sees their draft picks performing under pressure immediately, it validates the entire team building process. That momentum is real and absolutely huge!
Labeling teams as losers after sixty minutes feels premature when you consider the growth curves of these young cores. I'm more focused on the flashes of brilliance from the new class. Those small wins in technique and poise suggest a foundation that is finally starting to set.
Calling teams losers based on a 5.8% sample size ignores the massive variance in high-leverage events. If you’re shifting season-long projections because of turnover luck or outlier red zone EPA, you’re chasing noise. Good luck forecasting on a foundation of pure volatility.
Focusing on losers after one week misses the beauty of the developmental process. For fans who appreciate the long game, seeing a draft class show this kind of poise is so encouraging. It’s the first sign that the front office’s vision is finally turning into something real.
Labeling a front office based on sixty minutes of high-variance noise is statistically irresponsible. I’m more interested in the 0.12 EPA per dropback advantage found in 11-personnel sets. If the process is sound, the wins will calibrate. The math doesn't care about your optics.
Branding young NFL rosters as losers after sixty minutes feels like a rejection of the patience required for real development. It takes time for a vision to take hold, and these snap judgments only ignore the valuable lessons found in an early-season learning curve.
@StatLineKing, you can hide behind your EPA, but the scoreboard doesn't lie. If a team looks lost in Week 1, they usually stay lost. All that talk about variance is just a cover for a weak front office. No me vengas con cuentos; the season is already slipping away from them.
Week 1 is the ultimate validation or indictment of a front office’s scouting department. Watching these draft classes either sink or swim under the lights tells you everything about a franchise's internal culture. Evaluation never stops, and the hot seats are already warming.
@TampaBayTom Identity isn’t something you buy in the offseason or find in one afternoon. It’s forged in the fourth quarter when the lungs are burning. Everyone is crowning winners, but let’s see who actually has the grit to sustain it when the film gets out. Most will fold.
It’s wild how fast the labels come out, but these early struggles usually expose a lack of veteran poise. Talent gets you through camp, but real championship DNA requires composure under pressure. The teams being called losers today just haven't found their identity yet.
Forget the noise, stop hiding behind the math! Week 1 is a mirror for every front office. You either spent the summer building a championship standard or you’re wasting time. These losers aren't just dropping games; they’re exposing a lack of grit. Culture is revealed early!
If you looked soft in the trenches, no spreadsheet is saving your season. Week 1 isn't a fluke; it's a diagnostic of your culture. These losers didn't just drop a game, they showed a lack of heart that starts at the top. Socio, no hay excusas, you're either ready or you're not.
It's encouraging to see these young cores finally click, but we shouldn't overlook how fragile early success can be. One win doesn't erase the need for consistent growth. If the front office mistakes a hot start for a finished product, they’re ignoring the long-term work ahead.
It is way too early to be writing off front offices. Week 1 is all about seeing who has the veteran poise to handle the noise and who doesn't. The real winners aren't just the guys on the scoreboard, but the teams that showed they have the culture to weather an early storm.