NFL Week 1, Fastest 2 Minutes, Bills/Texans Thriller, Bears Drop A 50 Burger, Eagles vs Commanders Plus Who's Back Of The Week

The NFL season kicked off with a 12-hour barrage of football that produced the highest average scoring for a Week 1 since 1962. The day featured an overtime thriller, a 50-burger dropped by a team that hadn't scored two first-quarter touchdowns since 1988, and a handful of statements from teams looking to shed their recent identities. The dominant theme was offensive explosion, but the mechanisms varied wildly—from a new head coach unleashing his quarterback to a defense that simply outscored its own offense.

Josh Allen and Joe Brady Unleash the Deep Ball

The best game of the early slate was a potential AFC Championship preview between the Bills and Texans. Buffalo won 36-31 in Houston, a place they hadn't won since 2006. The story was the Bills' new-look offense under head coach Joe Brady. Josh Allen was given the green light to take shot after shot downfield, a stark departure from the methodical, establish-the-run approach of previous years. Allen had 11 completions over 10 air yards, tied for the most in his career, and was 6-for-7 on those throws for 149 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone. He finished with two passing and two rushing touchdowns, marking his ninth career game with at least two of each—five more than Steve Young, who is second all-time.