Welcome to the Week 1 grades.
The start of the 2026 season is here, and like we do every year, we’re going to be grading every game that’s played between now and January.
The first week of the season always seems to get a little crazy, and this year was no exception. In the early games on Sunday, we saw the Saints claw back from a 21-0 deficit to force overtime against the Lions, only to lose on a two-point conversion attempt. We also saw the Bears and Panthers make NFL history by combining for 96 points, the highest total ever in a Week 1 game (and a Scoragami!).
And then there was the Browns, who lost to the Jaguars 34-10. OK, that one wasn’t crazy, because as you may or may not have noticed, the Browns almost never win in Week 1. Since returning to the NFL in 1999, the Browns are now 3-24-1 in the opening week of the season.
The Browns never came close to pulling off the upset, but there is one team that pulled off a massive upset in Week 1: The Arizona Cardinals. The Cards were the biggest underdog of the opening week at +9.5, but they still managed to go into Los Angeles and pull of a total shocker with a 26-14 win over the Chargers.
Of course, the biggest shock of Week 1 might have been the fact that that Jets and Giants BOTH won, marking the first time since 2009 that both teams won their opener in the same season.
Speaking of big wins, one of the biggest victories in Week 1 came in Houston, where Josh Allen won on the road against the Texans for the first time, but before we get the grades from that game, we’re going to start things off with the Chiefs dominant Monday night win over the Broncos.