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Sports Illustrated

Sport

Mike Kadlick & Eva Geitheim

NFL Week 1 Winners and Losers: Chargers Fall Flat in Mike McDaniel’s First Game Calling Offense

NFL NFL Week 1 Rams 49ers

Stop me if you’ve heard this already: Football is back.

While our proverbial beaks were already wet by Wednesday night’s season-opening Seahawks win over the Patriots and Thursday’s 49ers victory over the Rams in Australia, there were also 12 games to sink our teeth into across Sunday’s full schedule of afternoon games.

RELATED: Cowboys vs. Giants: Three Bold Predictions for Sunday Night’s NFC East Battle

Here’s a look at our winners and losers from Week 1, along with our of up-to-date coverage.

Winners and losers from NFL Week 1

Loser: Chargers’ offense

The much-anticipated debut of the Mike McDaniel-led Chargers offense was spoiled by Mike LaFleur’s debut as Cardinals head coach. LaFleur led his Cardinals to an upset 26–14 victory over the favored Chargers as his team racked up 393 yards of offense and blocked a punt to earn the victory. This is an incredibly disappointing loss for the Chargers, who were expected to roll to an easy 1–0 start as they look to contend in the AFC again. Instead, they mustered only 268 yards of offense while controlling the clock for just 22:29 of the game. It’s only Week 1, but this loss is far from what this offense was expected to be capable of.

Winner: Star quarterbacks

Despite 2025 NFL MVP winner Matthew Stafford and runner-up Drake Maye each laying proverbial eggs in their ’26 regular-season debuts earlier this week, Sunday was the day for star quarterbacks to shine.

In what was by far the highest-scoring affair of the afternoon, Caleb Williams led the Bears to 59 (!) points in a 59–37 victory over the Panthers with quite an inspired performance. The 24-year-old went 21-of-29 passing for 269 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 65 more yards and two scores on the ground.

Speaking of four-touchdown outings, Bills quarterback Josh Allen, too, found pay dirt twice through the air and twice on the ground. His second and final passing touchdown came with 1:36 left on the clock and ultimately clinched Buffalo’s 36–31 road win over the Texans, a team he’s previously struggled against. Allen accounted for over 350 total yards.

THE BILLS!!!

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/2fdwJE9TTe
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) September 13, 2026

Other star quarterback performances from Sunday include Trevor Lawrence’s 245-yard, four-touchdown outing in the Jaguars’ win over the Colts, and Lamar Jackson’s 364-yard, two-total-touchdown showing in the Ravens’ victory over the Colts.

Loser: Deshaun Watson

One quarterback who was far from his best was Deshaun Watson.

After somewhat controversially winning the Browns’ starting job over Shedeur Sanders earlier this summer, the 30-year-old led Cleveland to only 10 points in its loss to the Jaguars. Watson completed 16-of-22 pass attempts for 205 yards, one touchdown and an ugly interception on the offense’s first drive of the game. He was also sacked five times, posting a 34.5 QBR.

“It wasn’t all him. It really wasn’t all him,” Browns coach Todd Monken said of Watson after the game. “That’s unfair. Certainly could’ve called it better. Certainly could’ve played better around him. Certainly wish there were things he had back. There are certain things operationally that weren’t clean enough, us getting in and out of the huddle, getting our subs in.”

That said, Monken notably would not commit to Watson starting in Week 2.

“I’d rather just talk about today because I haven’t had time to even look at the tape,” he said. “... We’ll evaluate everything.”

The Browns will travel to Tampa next Sunday to take on the Buccaneers for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff from Raymond James Stadium.

Winner: Ashton Jeanty

New head coach Klint Kubiak relied on a familiar face to power the Raiders’ offense against the Dolphins, and the decision proved paramount.

Running back Ashton Jeanty—who Las Vegas selected with the No. 6 pick in last year’s draft—ran for 102 yards on 23 carries (4.4 YPC), and also paced the team’s aerial attack with six receptions for 45 yards and two receiving touchdowns. The 22-year-old gave new quarterback Kirk Cousins quite the security blanket, helping the Raiders score 27 points in their Week 1 win over the Dolphins.

Loser: Father time

Even at 32 years old, Derrick Henry is still doing it, proving that not all running backs deteriorate with age.

Henry ran for 144 yards on 24 carries—6.0 yards per attempt—and found the end zone in the Ravens’ 41–23 victory over the Colts. It was a monumental performance for Henry, who now has the most games in NFL history with 100-plus rushing yards and multiple touchdowns (26) and the third-most rushing touchdowns in league history (125), behind only Emmitt Smith and LaDainian Tomlinson.

Winner: Titans’ new uniforms

While Tennessee unfortunately lost to the Jets, 23–10, they did so rocking some pretty sweet new uniforms.

The Titans unveiled both a new uniform set and a new logo this offseason, which include details that “represent the franchise’s history and its home in Nashville.” The home kits they wore on Sunday vs. New York feature a “Luv Ya Blue” colored jersey—an ode to the organization’s days as the Oilers—and white pants.

It’s a clean look that was unfortunately overshadowed by the team’s Week 1 defeat.

Winner: Bengals’ defense

The Bengals defense gave up 27 points to the Buccaneers, but they looked significantly better. After finishing 2025 as one of the worst defenses in the league, they forced four fumbles and sacked Baker Mayfield four times, including one fumble that was returned for a touchdown to score their first points of the game. Two of Cincinnati’s free-agency additions, Bryan Cook and Boye Mafe, came up big, with each forcing a fumble.

Loser: Other defenses

While the Bengals’ revamped defense flashed, it was not a pretty day for defenses as a whole. Nine of the 16 teams playing in the early window scored 30 or more points.

Despite their high-profile free-agent additions this offseason, the Panthers could not stop Chicago. The Bears struggled to stop Carolina, as the Panthers put up 37 points. The Ravens rolled all over the Colts, racking up over 500 yards of offense and 41 points. Even the Texans, arguably the league’s best defense, gave up 36 points to Josh Allen and the Bills, including two deep touchdown passes. The Texans did not give up more than 30 points in any game last season.

Even the “better” defensive performances on Sunday—the Jets holding the Titans to 10 points, the Jaguars holding the Browns to 10 points and the Steelers limiting the Falcons to 13 points—were more so the result of poor quarterback and offensive play.