Close games, dramatic comebacks and memorable plays highlighted the opening weekend of the new NFL season but, as always, there will be teams heading into Week 2 thinking they should have won while others will know they got away with a result perhaps they did not deserve.

It may only be one game but, since 1990, league history has shown that teams that are victorious in their season-openers are more than twice as likely to advance to the playoffs as teams that lose. However, that is not to say that an 0-1 start is impossible to overcome as, since 1990, some 25 percent of teams losing an opening game have also advanced to the postseason, including four teams — the Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers — just last year. Despite some of the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth on social media, all is not lost (or won) just yet.

Reigning Super Bowl champions will more often than not feature highly amongst the games to watch on a weekly basis, for nothing else than to see if they can be taken down, but the Chiefs‘ 2024 schedule serves up back-to-back doozies, with their opening encounter with Baltimore being followed by another against a potential conference title rival in Cincinnati. The two teams have met five times over the past three seasons, including both the 2021 and 2022 AFC Championship Games, with the Bengals holding a 3-2 advantage. Each of the five games were decided by eight points or less, including four games that were decided by three points and three games that were decided on a game-winning field goal — including both Championship games.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, with a rare (3-1) winning record against the Chiefs, has racked up 1,252 passing yards (313 per game), 10 total touchdowns (nine passing, one rushing) and a 107.0 passer rating in his four matchups with Patrick Mahomes who, in turn, has 1,686 passing yards (281 per game), 14 total touchdowns (13 passing, one rushing) and a 107.2 passer rating in six career starts against Cincinnati, including the postseason. Mahomes is set to make his 98th regular season start and is on target to establish multiple records for quarterbacks in their first 100 such starts, including surpassing both Tom Brady and Roger Staubach (76) for the most wins in that span. He can also overtake Matthew Stafford (2,410) for the most completions and Aaron Rodgers (222) for the most touchdown passes to add to his record for the most passing yards (28,715).

On paper and, more painfully, based on what the eye could see from last week’s games, this could be a comfortable win for the Chiefs, as the Bengals were decidedly off form in losing to the New England Patriots at home, but Burrow and Co always seem to raise their game when facing KC, and should have WR Ja’Marr Chase back in more of a rhythm despite his contract talks still being unresolved.

Six games in Week 2 will feature teams that both earned victories on opening weekend, the most such games in the second week of a season since 1970.

Leading the way is the playoff rematch between Tampa Bay and Detroit, as the Lions get a sense of deja vu, having seen off the Los Angeles Rams last weekend in a reprise of their 2023-24 Wild Card game. The Buccaneers and Lions met the following weekend, again at Ford Field, in the 2023 NFC Divisional playoffs, with the home team triumphing 31-23 as running back Jahmyr Gibbs and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown scored fourth-quarter touchdowns to secure the victory.

Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield recorded four touchdown passes with no interceptions for a 146.4 rating in Week 1, and has four career games with at least four touchdown passes and a passer rating of 140-or-higher, tying him with Aaron Rodgers. In his past eight starts, since Week 14 last season and including the postseason, Mayfield has put up 2,229 passing yards (278.6 per game) with 20 touchdown passes against four interceptions for a 111.8 rating. Waiting for him on the opposite side of the line, however, will be Detroit defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, who had a sack in Week 1 and took Mayfield down in the playoff game last January. The Michigan alum, has 15 sacks in 20 career homes games (including the postseason), including each of his past four home games.

Lions QB Jared Goff was quietly efficient in seeing off his former employer (for the second time) last weekend, but it was wideout Jameson Williams who stole the show, with a breakout game that Detroit fans hope will get his stalled career back on track. Running back David Montgomery grabbed the headlines, however, helping orchestrate a scoring drive in OT that gave the Lions victory.

There is another QB reunion on the cards as San Francisco visit Minnesota, as the Vikings new signalcaller, Sam Darnold comes off a consummate performance against the woeful New York Giants in preparation for this week’s game with the 49ers, where he spent 2023 as a backup to Brock Purdy. Darnold completed 19 of 24 pass attempts for 208 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, including hooking up with Vikings fan favourite Justin Jefferson for one of those scores. On defense, Minnesota allowed a league-low six points and were one of two teams, alongside Dallas, to record five or more sacks. Among that number was Vikings debutant Andrew Van Ginkel, the linebacker becoming the first player since Khalil Mack in 2018 to record a sack and an interception return for a touchdown on the opening weekend of a season.

The 49ers, meanwhile, wrapped Week 1 with a comfortable victory over the Aaron Rodgers-led New York Jets, with wide receiver Deebo Samuel totalling 77 scrimmage yards and a rushing touchdown. Samuel is just one of four players since 2019 with at least 20 rushing touchdowns and 15 receiving touchdowns, joining teammate Christian McCaffrey — absent on Monday night — Washington’s Austin Ekeler and Minnesota’s free agent acquisition Aaron Jones. San Fran offensive tackle Trent Williams also showed no ill-effects from his contract holdout, pass blocking on 33 snaps and allowed zero pressures of Purdy, the best of any OT in the opening slew of games.

AFC East rivals Buffalo and Miami both trailed by 14 points in the opening game of their season, before prevailing over Arizona and Jacksonville respectively. They now meet in the first game of Week 2, in the first of Amazon Prime Video’s 15 Thursday Night Football games. Dolphins‘ HC Mike McDaniel can become the fifth head coach all-time to lead his team to a 2-0 start in each of his first three seasons, joining Hall of Famers George Allen and George Halas as well as Tommy Hughitt and Bum Phillips. He was helped to a 1-0 start by wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who recorded seven receptions for 130 yards, including a career-long 80-yard touchdown, despite having been detained by Miami-Dade traffic police immediately prior to the game. Hill now has 12 career touchdowns of at least 75 yards, tied with Bobby Mitchell, and trailing only Devin Hester (14) and Ollie Matson (13) on the all-time list.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen was the catalyst to Buffalo’s turnaround last weekend, and now has 224 combined passing and rushing touchdowns (169-55). Allen can overtake Peyton Manning (225) and Dan Marino (225) for second spot on the list of players scoring at such a clip through their first seven seasons all-time, with only Patrick Mahomes (231) having more. In 13 career starts against Miami, including the postseason, Allen has 3,715 passing yards (285.8 per game), 658 rushing yards (50.6 per game) and 41 total touchdowns (36-5).

Two of the six teams that scored at least 30 points in Week 1, the New Orleans Saints (47) and Dallas Cowboys (33) meet at AT&T Stadium, coincidentally bringing together two of Kickoff Weekend’s top-five total defenses, with New Orleans conceding only 193 yards to Carolina and Dallas giving up just 230 to Cleveland as returning DC Mike Zimmer’s unit throttled Deshaun Watson’s attempts to get anything going. Saints quarterback Derek Carr completed 19 of 23 attempts (82.6 percent) for 200 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions and, since Week 14 of last season, has 17 touchdown passes with just two interceptions across six starts. Since 2016, Carr has nine games (minimum 20 pass attempts) with a completion percentage of 80+, trailing only Dallas’ Dak Prescott (11) amongst active quarterbacks.

Since Week 2 of the 2022 season, Dallas has won 16 consecutive regular season home games, the longest active streak in the NFL and tied with New England’s similar run from Week 17 of 2012 to Week 15 of 2014 for the fourth-longest such streak since 2000. Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb, at 25 years and 153 days old, became the third-youngest player all-time to reach 400 career receptions, trailing only Jarvis Landry (25 years, 33 days) and Larry Fitzgerald (25 years, 84 days), as he again displayed his rapport with QB Prescott, who committed his future to the Cowboys just hours before kickoff. Lamb can be caught for third spot in coming weeks, however, as the player he trails on the salary scale, Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson, currently has 396 career receptions and will be 25 years and 91 days old entering Week 2.

The league’s two youngest head coaches, Seattle’s Mike Macdonald (37 years old) and New England’s Jerod Mayo (38), both earned their first career victories as head coaches in Week 1. This weekend’s meeting between Macdonald and Mayo will mark the sixth unique matchup between first-year head coaches both under the age of 40 since 2000, joining DeMeco Ryans and Shane Steichen in 2023 (twice), Mike McDaniel and Kevin O’Connell (2022), Joe Judge and Kevin Stefanski (2020), Brian Flores and Zac Taylor (2019) and Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan in 2017 (twice). The game also evokes memories of Super Bowl XLIX, where New England overcame a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to beat the Seahawks 28-24. Mayo, who played for the Patriots from 2008-15, should have featured in the game but was placed on injured reserve following Week 6 of the season. Seattle saw off Denver in the opening game of the season, despite conceding two safeties before halftime, while the Patriots, as already mentioned, surprised all and sundry by taking down the Bengals in Cincinnati. Neither win was particularly pretty, but New England especially appear formed in their new coach’s image by maintaining a strong defensive counter to an offense that remains a work in progress.

Finally, the meeting between Chicago and Houston on Sunday Night Football, pits 2024 first overall pick Caleb Williams, in his first career road game, against 2023 second overall selection C.J. Stroud. Williams became the first rookie quarterback selected at one overall to start and win his NFL debut in Week 1 since 2002 where, ironically, Houston’s David Carr did likewise against Dallas. Williams’ performance in front of the Bears faithful wasn’t entirely convincing, however, and his offensive line won’t find life any easier against a Texans defensive unit featuring Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. Stroud, meanwhile, continued to build on his stellar debut season, combining with a strengthened receiving corps — including two TDs for debuting veteran Stefon Diggs — and leaning on free agent RB Joe Mixon as Houston saw off a spirited Indianapolis team. Stroud has already amassed 2,760 passing yards (306.7 per game) and 20 touchdown passes in nine career home starts, leaving him trailing only the ubiquitous Patrick Mahomes (3,011), Justin Herbert (2,945), Kurt Warner (2,909), Joe Burrow (2,810) and Marc Bulger (2,787) for the most passing yards in their first 10 career home games, including playoffs.

Week 2’s remaining games begin with the Las Vegas Raiders (0-1) against Baltimore Ravens (0-1), with the teams coming off defeats to the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs respectively. Raiders QB Gardner Minshew went 25/33 for 257 yards, a touchdown and an interception on debut, with fellow newcomer RB Alexander Mattison catching the scoring pass. For the Ravens, QB Lamar Jackson compiled stats of 26/41, 273 yards and a touchdown as well as 122 rush yards on 18 attempts. The reigning league MVP was absent from training at the start of the week, however, with HC John Harbaugh claiming that his star was ‘sore’. TE Isaiah Likely was the Ravens’ unlikely star in Week 1, leading the team with career highs in catches (9) and receiving yards (111) — the most by any TE on opening weekend — and now has a TD catch in four of his past five home games.

The Chargers (1-0), meanwhile, visit Carolina (0-1) looking to pile on after the hapless Panthers capitulated in New Orleans. Rookie wideout Ladd McConkey caught Justin Herbert’s only scoring pass as RB J.K. Dobbins did most of L.A.’s damage on the ground to cement a winning return to the NFL for head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Two winless teams who will feel they could have won in Week 1 meet at Lambeau Field as the Indianapolis Colts (0-1) visit a Green Bay Packers (0-1) team fresh off the first-ever NFL game in South America. While Indy QB Anthony Richardson came through his return to action largely unscathed — and with some highlight reel throws to boot — the same cannot be said for Green Bay’s Jordan Love, who looks set to miss as many as six weeks with an MCL sprain sustained in São Paulo. Jayden Reed, who caught two touchdowns from Love in Brazil, will now need to establish a rapport with FA replacement Malik Willis.

Cleveland (0-1) and Jacksonville (0-1) meet in Florida with both teams having a point to prove. The Browns‘ vaunted defense could not stop Dallas from racking up 33 points at the recently-renamed Huntingdon Bank Field, and their offense appeared shell-shocked by the assault mounted from the opposite side of the line. The Jaguars, meanwhile, allowed a 14-point advantage over Miami to slip away, with the win following suit on Jason Sanders’ last-second field goal.

It will be a similar story in Nashville, where the New York Jets (0-1) face a Tennessee team that let Chicago off the hook in Week 1. The Titans (0-1) will hope for more of the first half Will Levis and less of the QB who returned after halftime, while the Jets, encouraged by Aaron Rodgers’ first game in a year, will look to their defense to prey on the second-year passer. Tennessee’s Tony Pollard and NYC’s Breece Hall both ran the rock 18 times in Week 1, and were each rewarded with a touchdown.

The first all-NFC East encounter of the year happens in Washington, where the hometown Commanders (0-1) host the New York Giants (0-1). The visitors won the last meeting between the two teams and comfortably lead the all-time head-to-head, but looked feeble against Minnesota, leading to fans queuing up to heckle QB Daniel Jones as he left the stadium. Jones’ opposite number, rookie Jayden Daniels, posted a QB rating of 93.1 on debut, but did more with his legs (88 yards and two TDs) than with his arm (184 yards). Look for the reigning Heisman Trophy winner to show out this weekend unless the Giants’ pass rush can find a higher gear.

The Los Angeles Rams (0-1) are on the road again, and can’t be sure that visiting Arizona (0-1) will be any easier than last week’s trip to Detroit, after the Cardinals gave Buffalo all they could handle early in Week 1. L.A.’s task will be further hampered by the loss of star wideout Puka Nacua to a knee injury, although veteran WR Cooper Kupp showed that he has lost none of his ability (or rapport with QB Matt Stafford) after going for 110 yards and a score against the Lions.

The Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0) will be one of those teams grateful to have come away with a win in Week 1, having relied on the boot of kicker Chris Boswell for all 18 of their points against Atlanta. With Justin Fields again named as starting QB for Week 2, albeit provisionally while Russell Wilson attempts to overcome a niggling injury, Pitt will hope to find their next opponent, the Denver Broncos (0-1), in similarly profligate mood to their opening showing with rookie Bo Nix under center.

Finally, those self-same Atlanta Falcons (0-1) find themselves in a ‘battle of the birds’ with Philadelphia (0-1), who came out on the plus side of that momentous game in Corinthians Arena last Friday. Eagles QB Jalen Hurts balanced two touchdown tosses with the same number of interceptions against Green Bay, and largely let summer signing Saquon Barkley take the spotlight, as the former Giants RB racked up 132 scrimmage yards (including 109 on the ground) and two scores. Wideout A.J. Brown also found the endzone to complement his 119 receiving yards. Atlanta, meanwhile, will hope to see some Vikings-era play from their own big money signing, as QB Kirk Cousins was something of a damp squib on debut, putting up just 155 yards passing with a single scoring throw barely mitigating two INTs.