NFL Week 1 winners and losers, plus grades for every team and Broncos-Chiefs predictions for Monday night

Here's everything you need to know about the NFL for Sept. 14

Sep 14, 2026 at 12:59 pm ET • 16 min read

Hello football friends, and welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

The first full Sunday of the season is officially in the books, and if the first weekend was a sign of how crazy things are going to be this year, then all I can say is that I'm going to be using the word "bonkers" a lot this season, because Week 1 was bonkers. 

The award for wildest game of the day definitely goes to Lions and Saints. I know there are still 257 games left on the regular-season schedule, but I'm going to go ahead and nominate Detroit's win as one of the best games of the 2026 season. The Lions were ahead 21-0 with five minutes left to play in the third quarter, but they somehow managed to blow that lead before eventually winning in overtime after the Saints missed a two-point conversion on the final play of the game. 

• We also saw the Bears drop 59 points on the Panthers. 
• The Chargers Charger'd harder than they've ever Charger'd before
• America's Team got embarrassed in front of America
• And we got TWO scorigamis in one day for the first time in seven years

Like I said, it was bonkers. You know what else is bonkers? Today's newsletter, so let's get t the rundown. 

As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here.  

1. NFL Week 1 grades: Bills finally win in Houston, Chargers choke against Cardinals

You guys don't have to call me Professor Breech, but that's what I call myself during the NFL season since I'm in charge of handing out the grades for every game. There have been 15 games played in Week 1 so far and we've graded them all.  

Here's a look at the grades from two notable games that were played Sunday:

Bills 36-31 over Texans (Click here for full recap)

• Bills takeaway: Josh Allen finally got the monkey off his back: For the first time in his career, the Bills QB got a win in Houston, and he definitely earned it. Allen threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns, and the most impressive part is that he did it against a defense that's supposed to be one of the best in the NFL this year. Allen hit Josh Palmer for a 34-yard TD with just 1:34 left, which became the game-winner. The addition of DJ Moore is already looking like a brilliant one for Buffalo. The new receiver caught five passes for 100 yards, including a 43-yard pass in the first half. The Bills defense is definitely a work in progress, but if Allen plays this well all of the time, then that side of the ball will have plenty of time to get things figured out. Grade: B+
• Texans takeaway: Houston, we have a problem. And that problem is the defense. The Texans were expected to have one of the best defenses in the NFL this year, but that's definitely not the case after one week. Houston's D got gashed up by one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, so the ugly showing on Sunday is nothing to be ashamed of, but things won't get any easier in Week 2 with Joe Burrow on deck. Although the defense struggled, the Texans' offense showed signs of life. C.J. Stroud, who's out to prove he deserves a big contract extension, had a solid game, but he also cemented the loss after losing a fumble on Houston's final possession. The Texans defense won't be giving up 36 points every week, but this was certainly an unexpectedly poor performance to see from them in Week 1. Grade: B-

Cardinals 26-14 over Chargers (Click here for full recap)

• Cardinals takeaway: Apparently, everyone was sleeping on the Cardinals. This team went into Los Angeles and absolutely dominated the Chargers. The Cardinals, who didn't trail for a single second in Los Angeles, were the better team in all three phases of the game. Offensively, Jacoby Brissett outplayed Justin Herbert on a day where the Cardinals piled up 394 yards of offense. Arizona's defense smothered the Chargers' offense: Not only was Herbert sacked three times, but the Cards forced two turnovers while also making three fourth-down stops. And let's not forget about special teams play. Arizona came up with a huge blocked punt in the fourth quarter that led to a TD that essentially iced the game. New Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur picked up his first career win and if the Cards keep playing like this, he's going to rack up quite a few this year. Grade: A
• Chargers takeaway: Going into this season, Jim Harbaugh had never lost an NFL. opener in his coaching career (6-0), but that streak came to an end in a stunning fashion on Sunday. With new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel running the show, the expectation was that we'd see a new version of the the Chargers offense, but instead, we saw a unit that crashed and burned against the Cardinals. The Chargers had a chance to take the lead late in the first half, but Justin Herbert got sacked on a fourth-and-goal from Arizona's 3-yard line. The failure on that play seemed to take the winds of out the Chargers' offensive sails. In the second half, the Chargers mustered just 117 yards of offense. If this team can't get things turned around quickly, it's going to be a long season in L.A. Grade: D

As for the other 28 grades that we handed out in Week 1, you can check those out by clicking here. 

2. NFL Week 1 winners and losers: You can probably guess which list Deshaun Watson is on

You can't have a week of NFL action without having winners and losers, so we have some winners and losers. Carter Bahns came up with this week's list and we're going to check out his losers below, and yes, Deshaun Watson is on the list: 

LOSERS

• Browns QB Deshaun Watson. The Deshaun Watson experience in Cleveland might not last too much longer. While coach Todd Monken called it "unfair" to place all the blame for the Browns' 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on the starting quarterback, he conceded that he needs to "evaluate everything" before he commits to Watson as the starter for Week 2. The evaluation is as simple as this: Watson threw an interception on the Browns' opening drive and coughed up a fumble (which Cleveland recovered, to be fair) later in the first quarter. He also took five sacks in a game the Browns lost by four possessions. Nothing about those numbers indicated that Watson is capable of orchestrating a serviceable offense..
• The Titans. The Robert Saleh era is off to a bleak start in Tennessee. Wins were always going to be hard to come by this year, and after an uninspiring effort in the opener, it might not take more than one hand to count the number of times the Titans will end up in the win column by season's end. 
• The Lions' defense. Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph are on the PUP list and Terrion Arnold is off the roster following his offseason arrest. Those absences from the Lions' secondary did not seem like much of an issue until after halftime, but then things went off the rails. The unit surrendered 30 points in the second half and overtime during a 31-30 escape against the New Orleans Saints.

If you want to see Carter's list of winners (and a couple other losers), be sure to click here. 

3. Overreactions from Week 1: Is Lamar Jackson already the MVP front-runner? 

Everyone on the internet loves to overreact to things, and that's especially true when we're talking about the the NFL. With that in mind, Zach Pereles decided to take a look at several things that happened during Week 1 to decide if we're all overreacting. 

Statement: Lamar Jackson will challenge for another MVP award.
Overreaction or reality: Reality. Jackson went 17-for-25 for 324 yards, an astounding 13 yards per attempt. He threw for a touchdown and ran for another. And the biggest takeaway is how easy some of the plays were: screens, quick passes, play-action finds. On under-center, play-action plays, Jackson was 5-for-5 for 101 yards. It doesn't get a lot better than that. Jackson has won MVP both times the Ravens have changed offensive coordinators. Sunday was a great start toward going to three for three.

Statement: Buccaneers should regret extending Baker Mayfield.
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction. Baker Mayfield lost three fumbles and took four sacks in the Buccaneers' 33-27 loss to the Bengals. It was bad, and the fumbles were really inexcuable. He has to take better care of the ball. But this is who Mayfield is. There are some high highs and some low lows. Week 1 can be all over the place, and Mayfield was all over the field, too. The Buccaneers moved the ball fine. This team should still be the NFC South favorite (surprise, all four NFC South teams lost), and Mayfield should be fine.

Statement: The Texans' defense is in trouble. 
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction. Yes, the Texans allowed 36 points to Josh Allen and the Bills, an opponent they have long dominated. But it's far too early to worry. The Texans play an extremely aggressive style of defense, and Josh Allen made them pay with a ton of pinpoint downfield shots. Every once in a while, a defense like this gets beat by big plays downfield. Sunday was one of those times. Don't expect there to be many more.

There are plenty more overreactions, and if you want to check those out, be sure to click here.

4. 11 crazy stats from Week 1: Bears go off, plus Jets and Giants rarity

Every Sunday night, I get an email from our research department here at CBS Sports, and every Sunday, that email always includes some amazingly wild stats about the games that were just played. 

With that in mind, here are 11 crazy stats from Week 1: 

1. Bears and Panthers light up the scoreboard. The Bears beat the Panthers 59-37, which was notable for multiple reasons. For one, with 96 points, the two teams combined to score the most points EVER in a Week 1 game. The 59 points were tied for the second-most ever by one team in Week 1, trailing only the 1973 Falcons, who put up 62 points in Week 1. The Bears' scoring total was also the third-most in franchise history and the most they've scored in any game since 1980. 
2. Bears pull off feat the NFL hasn't seen in 100 years. The Bears scored eight touchdowns against the Panthers and six of those came on the ground. The six rushing touchdowns was the most by scored by any team in Week 1 since 1922 when the Canton Bulldogs also scored six. 
3. Scorigami Sunday. For the first time in seven years, we got TWO scorigamis on the same day (That's when a game ends with a final score that's never happened in NFL history). The Bears' win over the Panthers was the first one of the day on Sunday and we got a second one when the Vikings beat the Packers, 39-22. 
4. Packers flame out in fourth quarter. In their 39-22 loss to Minnesota, the Vikings were actually trailing 22-12 in the third quarter. The Vikings 17-point victory was the largest win in 12 years by a team that was trailing by double digits in the second half. The 2014 Eagles were the last team to pull off a similar feat and they also did it in Week 1. 
5. Big celebration in the Big Apple. The Giants and the Jets both won on Sunday, which is mostly notable, because this marks the first time since 2009 that both teams won their opener in the same season. For the Giants, it was their first Week 1 win at home since 2010. The most shocking stat of the weekend might be the fact that the Jets, Giants, Raiders and Cardinals combined to trail for ZERO seconds in Week 1. That sounds like a totally made up stat, but it's true. 
6. Jaxson Dart makes Giants history. In New York's 28-20 win over Dallas, Dart completed 79.3% of his passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 54 yards. This made Dart the first QB in franchise history to finish a game with at least three touchdown passes, 50 rushing yards and a completion percentage of 70% or higher. 
7. High-flying weekend. There have been a total of 10 teams that have scored at least 30 points so far in Week 1, which is the third-most for an opening week in NFL history. The most ever was 12 and that happened back in 1986. If the Broncos and Chiefs both hit 30 points tonight, that would tie the record. There were 13 games played on Sunday and we saw an average of 53.3 points per game, which is the most on an opening Sunday in NFL history. 
8. T.J. Watt joins rare club. The Steelers star iced Pittsburgh's 20-13 win over the Falcons with a 35-yard pick six in the second half. It was the 10th interception of Watt's career and if you combine that with his 117 career sacks, Watt is now just the second player in NFL history to record at least 100 sacks and 10 interceptions, joining Julius Peppers. 
9. Buccaneers linebacker makes early claim for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. The Bucs didn't win on Sunday, but Josiah Trotter did have a huge game. The rookie linebacker had a pick six off Joe Burrow and he recorded a sack, making him the the first player with a sack and pick six in an NFL debut since the sack became an official stat in 1982. 
10. Raiders roll with Ashton Jeanty. The Raiders running back has turned into quite the weapon in the passing game. Not only did he rush for 102 yards in Las Vegas' 27-13 win over the Dolphins, but he also finished with 45 receiving yards and two touchdown catches. Jeanty now has two career games with at least 100 rushing yards and two touchdown catches, which is already tied for the most by a player in NFL history. He's tied with Christian McCaffrey and Brian Westbrook, and considering he's in just his second season, this seems like a record he'll eventually break. 
11. Upset special. The Cardinals beat the Chargers as a 9.5-point underdog, which made this game the biggest upset in Week 1 since 2018, when the Saints beat the Buccaners as a 10-point underdog. Of course, the more interesting stat here might be the fact that Mike LaFleur became the first full-time Cardinals head coach to win his debut game since 1973 when Don Coryell did it. 

If you see any other fun facts, feel free to tweet them at me. 

5. Monday night preview: Picks and best bets for Broncos at Chiefs

The first week of the NFL season will be coming to a close in Kansas City with an AFC West showdown between the Chiefs and Broncos. This game is all about the two quarterbacks and what they're going to look like following an offseason of rehab. Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL back in December while Bo Nix fractured his ankle in January. Mahomes didn't play in the preseason and wasn't cleared for game action until last week, so it will certainly be interesting to see how sharp he looks. 

Jared Dubin put a preview together for this game, and here's how he sees the game playing out:

• Why the Broncos can win: The Broncos defense led the NFL in sacks last season with 68 and they could get off to a hot start in 2026 against the Chiefs. Not only is Patrick Mahomes returning from an ACL injury, but the Chiefs are expected to start an undrafted rookie (Khalil Benson) at left tackle. If Mahomes is under pressure all night, it's hard to see the Chiefs moving the ball very effectively. Mahomes hasn't taken a hit since last December and he didn't have to run much during training camp, so if he's on the run all night, his play will likely suffer. The Chiefs went 4-7 last season in games where Mahomes was sacked two times or more. 
• Why the Chiefs can win: If they can run the ball against the Broncos, that will give the Chiefs their best chance of winning and that's why you bring in a guy like Kenneth Walker III. The Chiefs' new running back should see a lot of action tonight and that will help Kansas City by taking pressure off of Patrick Mahomes. Including the playoffs, the Broncos went 15-4 last season: They went 2-2 when their opponent rushed for 125 yards or more and 13-2 when they held their opponent under 125 yards. Last year's stats don't always matter, but this is largely the same defense that had Denver had in 2025, but minus Jonathan Cooper, so running the ball well would likely do wonders for the Chiefs. 

You can get a full preview of the game from Dubin by clicking here.

If you're thinking about betting on the game, here are a couple of props. 

• ONE RUSHING PROP I LIKE: Kenneth Walker III OVER 60.5 rushing yards (-110): With Mahomes coming back from a torn ACL, I think the Chiefs are going to rely more on their rushing attack than they usually would. That doesn't mean they're not going to throw the ball, but it does mean that I think the Super Bowl LX MVP is going to rush for more than 61 yards in his debut game with Kansas City. 
• ONE KICKING PROP I LIKE: Wil Lutz OVER 6.5 points (-125 at BetMGM): In two games against the Chiefs last season, Lutz scored 24 points, which is an average of 12 points per game. Sean Payton can be an aggressive coach, but when he's facing the Chiefs, he usually seems more than willing to take the points, so I see Lutz scoring at least seven tonight. 

If you're wondering how my props are doing this year, I'm 2-0 (1-0 on kicker props and 1-0 on all other props).

And now, it's time for some picks. 

PICKS FOR 'MNF'

Jared Dubin's pick: Broncos 21-20 over Chiefs
John Breech's pick: Broncos 23-21 over Chiefs
Jordan Dajani's pick: Broncos 17-14 over Chiefs
Tyler Sullivan's pick: Broncos 24-20 over Chiefs (Sullivan is 13-2 with his picks this week)
Prisco's pick: Chiefs 20-17 over Broncos 

Over on our CBSSports.com picks page, five of our seven experts have the Broncos pulling off the upset as a 2.5-point underdog. 

6. Extra points: Myles Garrett placed on injured reserve

It's been a busy few days around the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything, I put together a quick roundup for you.

• Rams send Myles Garrett to IR. It turns out that Garrett's knee injury was a lot more serious than anyone thought. The Rams star has been placed on IR, which means he's going to miss at least the next four games and their next four games are against the Giants, Broncos, Eagles and Bills. Ouch. Garrett is going to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his knee, so it will be interesting to see if he can even return after missing the initial four weeks. 
• A.J. Brown placed on IR. The two biggest trades of the offseason involved Brown and Garrett, and now, both of them are on IR. Brown injured his ankle in Week 1 and it was serious enough that New England placed him on IR. The move means that the Patriots won't have him in Week 2 (vs. Steelers), Week 3 (at Jaguars), Week 4 (at Bills) or Week 5 (Raiders). 
• Joey Porter and the Steelers could be headed toward a split. The Steelers star cornerback didn't play on Sunday due to a back injury, but you can probably also blame some of that on the fact that that he was unable to get a deal done with the team on a contract extension before the start of the season. There's now some speculation that Porter could be traded, so we decided to check out a few landing spots here.