The NFL Season Begins: Week 1 of the 2026-2026 NFL Season

Seattle became NFL champions by knocking off the surprising Patriots. Many were surprised New England even made it that far given the belief it would be Buffalo or Baltimore. But Drake Maye had a near M.V.P. season and on the other side Sam Darnold proved he was no fluke. A.J. Brown is no longer an Eagle but now a Patriot. Does that put New England over the top? I don’t think so. There are some who believe the Patriots are going to take a step backwards and I agree. Super Bowl losers often do that. The Seahawks? They lost Super Bowl M.V.P. Kenneth Walker to the Kansas City Chiefs, but they are still a better team than New England.

It appears the Rams are the team to beat not just in the NFC but in the entire league. Going from east to west is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett who has finally gotten himself out of Cleveland and the bottom of the barrel Browns and now he also gets to play alongside the returning Aaron Donald. If both play up to potential that is scary. So scary most prognosticators have the Rams heading for a Super Bowl victory. San Francisco has weapons but not enough to get a win here.

They say in Cincinnati that the Bengals have improved their defense. That might be all well and good but if Joe Burrow’s offensive line in front of him can’t protect him, he’s in for another injury riddled season. The preseason showed signs his protection did not improve. Tampa is no joke and Baker Mayfield seems to be on a mission. Home field advantage won’t help Cincinnati here.

Tyler Shough will give it a go at quarterback for the Saints again but playing Detroit at home? Yikes.

Two bad teams, but one with an upswing. The Jets gave up on Aaron Rodgers two years ago then brought in Justin Fields and gave up on him as well. Now they’ve brought back Gino Smith and while they have a few weapons on offense we are talking about the J-E-T-S here. They haven’t sniffed a Super Bowl since 1969 that’s nearly 60 years. A bad start for the Green and White on this day.

Just as it is in Pittsburgh and other NFL cities, Baltimore has a new head coach. John Harbaugh was fired and is now the New York Giants head coach. In steps Jesse Minter and he will try to get Lamar Jackson to a place he has yet to be…the Super Bowl. Can Minter get his new team to the promised land in his first season as a head coach? I don’t believe so. There just seems to be a jinx on Jackson and the Ravens that they just can’t get past the AFC playoffs and to a title game. Last season Baltimore got off to a horrible start and if not for a missed field goal, they would have made the playoffs and won the AFC North division title. Daniel Jones is back from an injury, and he and the Colts have a pretty solid offense. I see this game coming down to the wire, but most people are expecting a big year from Lamar Jackson.

Chicago is set up for a big season. The Panthers were one of the league’s pleasant surprises in 2025. Chicago is a 2 ½ point favorite, but I smell upset here.

Todd Monken steps in to lead the Browns this season and to the surprise of many, he has named Deshaun Watson the starter. The controversial Watson even got booed by his own fans in a preseason home game. Shadeur Sanders loses out to the veteran and Cleveland could not have had a worse season opening game than starting in Jacksonville, a playoff team. The Browns are looking at another dismal season…again.

Josh Allen shares the same boat Lamar Jackson rides in. Unable to get to the Super Bowl. The Bills are another team switching head coaches, but will that make a difference? C.J. Stroud in Houston has something to prove. In the playoffs last year, he was awful. He has yet to reach an elite quarterback level, but he has that ferocious defense to bail him out. This game should be a bruising war.

Yet another new head coaching hire took place in Miami and for the Dolphins it is Jeff Hafley. He is very young and with Malik Willis coming to town as the new quarterback, big things are expected for the youngster. On the other side Fernando Mendoza was the league’s top draft pick but new Raiders head coach Clint Kubiak has deemed him not ready to start so the well-traveled Kirk Cousins starts in Las Vegas. Neither team is a playoff contender. Toss a coin into the air to determine the winner here.

In this game we have two quarterbacks at a virtual crossroad. For Green Bay Jordan Love has much to prove. That he can be a consistently great quarterback. Kyler Murray moves to the Vikings after spending his entire career in Arizona where he was inconsistent and sometimes just a bad quarterback. He almost immediately pushed J.J. McCarthy down on the depth chart and Viking fans are expecting big things from Murray.

Jayden Daniels enters the season healthy for Washington and the Eagles will try to return to an NFC title game. They have lost A.J. Brown, but will that hurt them? Without him they are still the more talented team here.

The Cardinals quarterback room is not very good. It seems who hasn’t quarterback Jacoby Brissett played for? Now he is in Arizona with Gardner Minshew as his backup. Minshew is another well-traveled QB. The Chargers are set for another “pretender” season. They lead fans to believe they are going to be really good then fall flat on their face. Expect that same result in 2026.

The Cowboys did not make a whole lot of changes in the offseason while the Giants brought in John Harbaugh to take over as head coach. Harbaugh is one of the league’s best. He got a raw deal in Baltimore, and it is believed that Lamar Jackson is responsible at least in part for his firing. Now he is pumped to lead the Giants back to contender status while Dallas, who hasn’t been to the Super Bowl in 31 years will throw up a smoke screen as they always do leaving fans wondering what might have been?

Opening weekend concludes on Monday night with the AFC West showdown. No one can say for sure how good the return of Patrick Mahomes will be, but the Chiefs did add Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Kenneth Walker to the team. Mahomes is listed as questionable for the opener, but you know he ain’t missing this. If this game was on the road I might think differently however, Bo Mix is on the other side out to prove his magical season of a year ago was not a fluke. Tight and close, I give the edge to the Chiefs.