Jump to a topic

1. Baltimore Ravens
2. Buffalo Bills
3. Cincinnati Bengals
4. Chicago Bears
5. Minnesota Vikings
6. Cleveland Browns
7. New Orleans Saints
8. Arizona Cardinals
9. New York Giants
10. Quick-hitters

And we’re off, with the bulk of Week 1 done and digested, and a fresh set of revamped MMQB takeaways for all of you to chew on …

Baltimore Ravens

Jesse Minter’s Baltimore Ravens look like the Baltimore Ravens. I had a couple of coaches tell me over the summer to look out for the Ravens, and it wasn’t on the premise that there was some sort of deficiency in the way that proud franchise has been run over the past couple of decades. More so, it was a reflection of how the rest of the league sees the talent on the roster—and the respect they have for Minter as a head coach.

Baltimore’s first game in 19 years with someone other than John Harbaugh leading the sideline is now in the books, and that rosy outlook has already found some validation.

The Ravens didn’t just crush a good Colts team in Indianapolis yesterday. They won 41–23 their way. Meaning they did it with an overpowering run game laying the foundation, one that blew through the Colts’ defense for 202 yards on the ground, including 144 and three scores on 24 carries from Derrick Henry. Meaning they did it with a multiple defense that both threw a lot at Daniel Jones and played it responsibly, yielding just four plays of more than 15 yards and none of more than 25. Meaning, also, Lamar Jackson was surgical.

And that’s no mistake. Minter, of course, learned at the heel of one Harbaugh, breaking into the NFL under John from 2017 to ’20; then  went to head coach finishing school under the other Harbaugh, his last four years (two at Michigan, two with the Chargers) spent under Jim.

So the idea of what the Ravens want to be hasn’t changed much.

In fact, you can say the Minter hire is an affirmation of belief in an ethos that goes back past Harbaugh, to Brian Billick. But it’s also not exactly the same.

“Coach [Minter] and them do a great job overemphasizing the discipline, strategizing each and every thing,” Jackson told me after the win. “Practices—We’re doing this for this reason. Explaining it to us, letting us know what’s going on. The result, what happened today, it starts in practice. The prep in practice and overemphasizing everything that we’re doing, being detailed out with everything, that’s why I believe we had success today.”

And in Jackson’s individual case, he says, there’s a specific reason for his Week 1 efficiency, too—he threw for 324 yards and a score on 17-of-25 passing, and ran for 40 and another touchdown. If Greg Roman were responsible for creating a run game for him in 2018, and Todd Monken married a Jackson-friendly pass game to it in 2023, new OC Declan Doyle (the fourth of Jackson’s career) added finer detail to so much of it, something that Jackson made a point of shouting out in his postgame presser, and that mirrors Minter’s focus.

“It’s just the same thing, overemphasizing the details,” Jackson said. “You want us to be detailed out, within the play. Guys, make sure you’re doing this with your steps, so the timing of throws, runs, all of it can conjoin at the same time. His mind is out of his world, man. Shouts out to Dec again.”

Now, with that attention to detail comes the reminder that this is just one game, and Week 1 can be deceiving because it is so different from the 17 regular-season weeks to follow.

But, for now, the Ravens have taken what Minter’s done in his first offseason to the game field, and have proof of concept that the coaches’ explanations on the whys of the new program are on point. Even better, they’ve done it without sacrificing who they’ve always been—because the guy leading them is a part of that past, too.

“I mean, I’m extremely excited,” Jackson said. “But it’s only the first game, so I’m not trying to get ahead of myself and the team is not trying to get ahead of [itself]. We’re just trying to stay locked in, dialed in with the details. Like I’ve been saying this whole time, started off in OTAs, the whole offseason program. Declan was already on us, Hey, do this and that, and that, just, like I said, detailed. Same thing with Jesse.”

So far, so good.

Buffalo Bills

I’ll give the Bills and Steelers a similar nod, as two teams that have new guys in charge. And particularly Buffalo, because for Joe Brady’s head coaching debut the Bills went back to NRG Stadium, a place that’s been a bit of a house of horrors for Brady and the Buffalo offense the past few years, through losses (and shaky offensive efforts) in both 2024 and 2025.

This time around? It wasn’t just that the Bills won. Like with the Ravens, it’s about how they won.

The Bills ran up 409 yards of total offense, the most the Texans’ defense has given up since Christmas 2024. And they scored 36 points in a 36–31 win, the most Houston’s allowed going back to Christmas Eve 2023, and tied for the second most allowed over the 58 games (playoffs included) that DeMeco Ryans has been head coach.

Also, while it wasn’t a perfect day, the ending kind of was. On second-and-11 with 1:48 left, from the Texans’ 34, Josh Palmer lost a deep shot from Josh Allen in the air, and Houston’s Kamari Lassiter tracked it perfectly, then dropped it. Would it dredge up some PTSD for the former league MVP? It would not. On third down, Allen delivered a missile, going right back to Palmer for a 34-yard touchdown. Minutes later, Gregory Rousseau’s strip-sack sealed the game.

“I mean, it’s just playing fast, and just trying to get a W,” Rousseau said from the locker room after the game. “We weren’t really worried about the past or none of that. We were just trying to get it right, and just get a W, that’s it. … It’s a new vibe, new feeling. So, yeah, it’s fun.”

In so many ways, on Sunday, that positioned Brady’s Bills as the aggressor. And it worked.

Cincinnati Bengals

There were good early signs for the Bengals’ defense. Over the summer, Joe Burrow told me he thought the Cincinnati defense was improved—with the additions of Dexter Lawrence II, Boye Mafe and Bryan Cook, and DC Al Golden in Year 2—to a point where the offense could play a different game. And it manifested in a lot of ways at home against the Buccaneers.

Last year, the Bengals held only two opponents under 300 yards, and those were the Cardinals and Browns in Weeks 17 and 18. Sunday, they gave up just 282 yards, and 20 points, in a 33–27 win (seven of Tampa’s points came on a pick six), while forcing and recovering four fumbles.

So maybe, just maybe, Burrow was right about all the newcomers.

“They bring guys like us in for a reason,” said the ex-Seahawk, Mafe, who started justifying his contract with a game-clinching strip-sack. “And one of those reasons is to change that narrative, create our own narrative, and show the guys what it can be here. And I think the biggest thing right now that is great for us is that we all have that belief in each other. And having that belief in each other and having that trust.

“Creating that wingman mentality is what’s going to take us so far.”

The wingman mentality, in short, is that everyone is doing something to help someone else make a play—being their wingman—and the idea did appear on the stat sheet, with seven different guys in on forcing or recovering those fumbles.

This, by the way, was a game where Burrow was held to 254 passing yards, and threw the aforementioned pick, the run game needed 27 carries to get to 106 yards, and Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins combined for five catches for 71 yards. The key there is the Bengals’ Supermen didn’t need their capes on Sunday.

And if that continues to be the case, the Bengals will be that much more dangerous.

Chicago Bears

And we got great early signs that the Bears are exactly who we thought they’d be—and that’s a team with a lethal offense and questionable defense. Their game in Charlotte on Sunday was the shootout you (or at least I) never saw coming. And accordingly, Ben Johnson punched hard on the gas with a unit that looked like a Ferrari by the end of last year, and now seems to be just revving up to what it might become.

Yet, the guy who may have the most background in Johnson’s wizardry, tailback D’Andre Swift, was focused more on how much better these Bears can be, after a 59–37 win that included 291 rushing yards, 261 passing yards, a 124.1 passer rating for Caleb Williams, a sparking 71.4% third-down conversion rate (10-for-14) and eight plays of 20-plus yards.

“I mean, I can’t even say everything was working because we had penalties and things like that,” said Swift, who was with Johnson in Detroit in 2021 and ’22. “When we play clean, that’s when everything is working. I look at no penalties, no negative plays. That’s when everything is working. But we did enough to win.”

The nits that Swift’s picking: Five of the Bears’ 12 penalties came on the offensive side of the ball, and there were four plays that resulted in losses (two sacks, two runs).

So no, not everything was working. But the Bears weren’t far off from that, and that was on a day when the skill-position star of camp, Colston Loveland, didn’t touch the ball. “We know what we’re capable of, but that comes with work day-in and day-out,” Swift said, “so we’re very critical of ourselves.” And that, to be sure, is a big part of how Johnson got the Bears to this point.

Now, as for the defense …

Minnesota Vikings

On the subject of defense, the guy running Minnesota’s—fourth-year DC Brian Flores—is worth his weight in gold to Kevin O’Connell’s staff. He owned the fourth quarter, giving the Vikings a win going away, after they lost Kyler Murray less than nine minutes into the game and had to adjust in a bunch of ways offensively to fit backup Carson Wentz.

The surge started on a fourth-and-1, with the Packers up 22–17 and at the Minnesota 17. Truth be told, there wasn’t much magic to that one, just a lot of big guys on the field at once, with rookie Domonique Orange stoning Jordan Love at the line for the turnover on downs.

The second key play had veteran linebackers Blake Cashman and Eric Wilson reading each other, and Cashman getting a free run at Love, because Harrison Smith showed pressure (but dropped off) on the edge, luring the back to him as Cashman and Andrew Van Ginkel converged on Love to cause and recover a fumble.

The third, as Cashman describes it, was just good team defense, with Cashman himself getting into Love’s lap and forcing an errant throw to the sideline, where seventh-year corner James Pierre Jr. picked it off, to finish off the Packers. Three plays later, Wentz hit Justin Jefferson for a touchdown to make it 39–22, and sent the fans to the exits in a different mood than they thought they’d be in an hour earlier. Much of which was largely Flores’s doing.

“I personally believe that we’re the scariest defense to go against if we have a lead because that just unlocks our entire arsenal of max pressure looks, reading protections, all of our presentations and mixing up coverage,” Cashman told me. “It’s hard on an offense and it’s stressful—they know what time it is and we know what time it is. But it’s so fun. The coaches do a great job at coaching and teaching the schematics and what our opponents are trying to accomplish.”

So here’s a wild number to explain why it’s so fun for these guys: The Vikings blitzed Love on 78.3% of his dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats, which is the highest such percentage posted by a defense in eight years. Players like to attack. Flores has the best plan for them to do it.

And in this case, it’s helped the Vikings manage a weird quarterback situation. For now, at least.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns’ quarterback situation could have another twist coming. You don’t need me to tell you that Deshaun Watson struggled on Sunday in Jacksonville. Through three quarters, he was 11-of-17 for 100 yards and a pick, and his Browns were down 34–3. Only fourth-quarter/garbage-time numbers (he hit his last five passes for 105 yards) could salvage the stats. After the game, Todd Monken declined to commit to him for Week 2. But what makes this really tricky is the home opener in Week 3.

One of the bigger stories of the NFL summer was Watson getting booed during Cleveland’s second preseason game, at home, as he came in to take over for Shedeur Sanders. He lashed out at fans afterward, prompting some (myself included) to ponder his immediate future with the team, with the long-term future seemingly already sealed.

Monken stuck to his guns, went with Watson (widely seen internally as the best option), and did it knowing that it’d be much easier to pull the plug on him and go to Sanders than to do the opposite. And he did leave open the possibility that a change would come in-season, with a set of interesting Sundays situated early on into Cleveland’s football season.

Next up for the Browns? The Buccaneers in Tampa. And Baker Mayfield, the quarterback Cleveland discarded to pave the way for Watson to come in. Four years later, Mayfield remains the only quarterback to win a playoff game for Cleveland since Bill Belichick was the coach. And surely, he’d love to be the guy to put the franchise in an even more awkward position than it’s already in, by sending Watson to his home opener with an 0–2 record.

And if that comes to pass, Monken will have an early decision to make on his quarterback, and not just to prevent another scene like what we saw in August, but to consider what’s in the best interests of the other 10 guys in that huddle.

Which might be to walk away from the idea that Watson can be salvaged faster than he, or the Browns, had initially intended.

New Orleans Saints

Among the teams that lost Sunday, I might be most impressed with the Saints. Kellen Moore’s bunch came back from a 21–0 third-quarter deficit to tie the game at 24 in the fourth quarter, and did it with scoring drives of 79, 54, 66, 75 yards. A Tyler Shough throw to Juwan Johnson served as the fourth-quarter equalizer, going for nine yards with 1:07 to go.

After the Lions went back ahead in overtime, the Saints put together a 10-play, 80-yard drive, capped by an eight-yard touchdown throw from Shough to Noah Fant. The failed conversion to follow ended the game, giving the Lions the narrowest of home victories at Ford Field.

So why am I high on the Saints? Sure, I had them winning the NFC South, so that probably makes me more apt to buy in early in the season. But I really like the young tackle combo they have in recent first-rounders Kelvin Banks Jr. and Taliese Fuaga, veteran backs Travis Etienne Jr. and Alvin Kamara, the prospect of Jordyn Tyson joining Chris Olave, and what Brandon Staley should be able to do to with the defensive veterans he inherited another year in.

Add in Shough’s big start, and I’m in on the Saints.

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals shocked the Chargers at SoFi Stadium for the day’s biggest upset. I’d say when Jim Harbaugh’s crew got the ball down 16–14 with 13:55 left, most folks expected the big, imposing home team to put the young upstarts in their place. From there …

• Chargers three-and-out, ending with a blocked punt.
• Jacoby Brissett three-yard touchdown pass to Trey McBride two plays later.
• Justin Herbert interception.
• Cardinals churn out two first downs.
• Chargers turnover on downs.
• Cardinals 49-yard field goal from Chad Ryland.
• Chargers four-and-out.
• Victory formation.

Obviously, not good for the Chargers.

But for the Cardinals? Mike LaFleur has worked hard to try to build up his team’s physical and mental endurance, and resilience over the course of the summer. The guys listened, and wound up in really good shape, and it showed up right away for LaFleur’s team.

It’s a really nice start for LaFleur, even if Arizona’s got a murderous schedule and this game is just the start of that.

New York Giants

Along those lines, that was a really nice win for new Giants coach John Harbaugh on Sunday night, with a lot of signs that this New York team is his. Here are five …

• The Giants ran the crap out of the ball at the Meadowlands, and stopped the Cowboys run, rushing for 165 yards to Dallas’s 69.

• Quarterback Jaxson Dart was integral in that run game, with 54 yards on 11 carries, 44 of them on nine called runs.

• The Giants had multiple first downs on all seven of their possessions (with new OC Matt Nagy having his way with new Cowboys DC Christan Parker), wearing a thin Dallas defense down and allowing for growth on offense.

• The Giants’ final possession started with 10 plays that showed Harbaugh’s aggression in killing the clock, in that he threw for two of the four first downs New York picked up (another came on a penalty).

• Finally, the defense, led by cyborg linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and rookie Arvell Reese, looks imposing. They still have a ways to go, but there’s no question the athletic potential is there for that to become a really good group.

Quick-hitters

And now, the quick-hitters, with actual game action to react to(!) …

• Ashton Jeanty had a really nice effort, going for 102 yards on 23 carries, plus six catches for 45 yards and two scores, and doing so in the absence of Brock Bowers (leaving the Raiders without much to take focus off Jeanty).

• Good on the Packers for getting Tucker Kraft signed long term. He’s just scratching the surface of where he can go. Barring bumps coming back from the torn ACL, he could well be the NFL’s best tight end by the end of the year.

• De’Zhaun Stribling is a really tough loss for the 49ers. The second-rounder looked like he had the frame and playing strength to take on a major role as a rookie—and San Francisco had one open with Ricky Pearsall on the shelf. He didn’t have a catch in Australia before spraining his ankle badly enough to land on injured reserve.

• While we’re here, Myles Garrett’s knee injury, which will force him to miss at least a month on injured reserve, is illustrative of the risk in trading for a player in his 30s. These things are simple—the more wear and tear, the more likely something gives. But good on the Rams for taking care of it now and being aggressive with the surgery, so they’ll have a shot to have him on the field when it really counts.

• Same goes for A.J. Brown, though that was more of a freak injury, with the way Seahawks DB Nehemiah Pritchett’s knee landed flush on Brown’s ankle during his Patriots debut on Wednesday.

• Jalen Hurts was just O.K. in his debut for new OC Sean Mannion, but Mannion did what he was hired to—pumping life into the Eagles’ run game. Philadelphia ran for 136 yards on 25 carries, with both Hurts and Saquon Barkley ripping off explosive plays on the ground.

• Heck of a grab by Commanders rookie Antonio Williams to give Washington a chance to tie it with a two-pointer at the end of that one. And for what it’s worth, I really like the Commanders’ receiver group of Terry McLaurin, Stefon Diggs and Williams (though Diggs already stepped in it with a costly celebration penalty in the fourth quarter).

• The Jaguars keep taking care of business. I’d buy stock in Liam Coen.

• That Javon Bullard hit on Kyler Murray was really tough.

• T.J. Watt looked much better, at least in one game, than he did last year.

• Can’t wait to see Patrick Mahomes Monday night.