It’s Week 2 of the regular NFL season with lots of action available on TV on Sunday evening.
Nine teams won in Week 1 after missing the postseason in 2025: Arizona, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Detroit, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Minnesota, the New York Giants and the New York Jets.
Since 1990, history has shown that teams that are victorious in their season openers are more than twice as likely to advance to the play-offs as teams that lose their opener. During that span, 54.3 percent of teams (303 of 558) to win their opener have advanced to the play-offs.
However, an 0-1 start is not impossible to overcome, as 25 percent of teams (141 of 557) since 1990 that lost a season opener advance to the play-offs, including both of last year’s Super Bowl participants – the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.
Here is a look at some of the weekend’s games.
Minnesota (1-0) at Chicago (1-0)
The Bears – who scored an NFL-high 59 points last week, tied for the second-most points ever in a season-opening game – will host the Vikings – who scored 29 unanswered second half points to defeat Green Bay, 39-22, last week – in an NFC North divisional showdown.
Chicago can begin 2-0 for the first time since 2020 while Minnesota can start 2-0 for the second time in the past three seasons (began 5-0 in 2024).
In Week 1, Chicago became the second team in the past 76 seasons and the sixth team ever to score at least 14 points in every quarter of a regular season game. The Bears recorded six rushing touchdowns in Week 1, tied with the 1920 Detroit Heralds, 1920 Rock Island Independents and the 1922 Canton Bulldogs for the most in a season opening game in NFL history.
Minnesota quarterback Carson Wentz became the first non-starting quarterback with at least three touchdown passes and no interceptions in a season-opening win since Pro Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton in 1961.
New Orleans (0-1) at Baltimore (1-0)
The Ravens led all AFC teams with 41 points and 506 total yards of offense in Week 1 while New Orleans quarterback Tyler Shough led all quarterbacks with a career-high 410 passing yards and wide receiver Chris Olave led all players with a career-best 182 receiving yards on Kickoff Weekend.
Shough, who has at least 300 passing yards in three of his past four starts, ranks fourth among all quarterbacks with 2,666 passing yards since his first career start in Week 9 last season.
Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson has 62 touchdowns in 28 career starts against the NFC, the highest winning percentage all-time by a starting quarterback against the opposing conference (minimum 15 starts).
Baltimore running back Derrick Henry rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns in Week 1, his 26th career game with at least 100 rushing yards and multiple rushing touchdowns.
Cincinnati (1-0) at Houston (0-1)
Last week, the Bengals became the fifth team since 1963 with four sacks, four defensive fumble recoveries and a defensive touchdown in a season opening game, joining the 1984 New York Jets, 1988 Los Angeles Rams, 1989 Cleveland Browns and 1993 New Orleans Saints. Cincinnati can begin 2-0 in consecutive seasons for the second time in franchise history (2014-15).
Indianapolis (0-1) at Kansas City (1-0)
Since 2013, when Andy Reid was hired as head coach, the Chiefs have 11 victories on Kick-Kick-Off Weekend, trailing only Philadelphia (12) for the most in the NFL.
Indianapolis running back Jonathan Taylor rushed for two touchdowns in Week 1 and has 17 career games with at least two rushing touchdowns, second-most among all running backs since he entered the NFL in 2020.
Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce had 71 receiving yards in Week 1 and surpassed Jason Witten (13,046 receiving yards) for the second-most regular season receiving yards by a tight end in NFL history, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez (15,127).
New York Giants (1-0) at Los Angeles Rams (0-1) on Monday
The Giants look to begin 2-0 for the first time since 2022 after defeating Dallas, 28-20, on Sunday Night Football in Week 1.
On Kick-Off Weekend, Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart became the first player ever with at least three touchdown passes, a passer rating of 130-or-higher and 50-or-more rushing yards (54) in a season opening game.
The Rams are set to become the third team in the past three seasons (Philadelphia – 2024; Los Angeles Chargers – 2025) and ninth team since 1970 to not play on Sunday in Weeks 1 and 2.
In eight home starts last season, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford passed for 2,320 yards (290 per game) with 22 touchdowns against one interception.
