NFL Week 1 Report Card: Ravens, Bills Among Top Performers

Welcome to the Week 1 grades.

The start of the 2026 season is here, and like we do every year, we're going to be grading every game that's played between now and January.

The first week of the season always seems to get a little crazy, and this year was no exception. In the early games on Sunday, we saw the Saints claw back from a 21-0 deficit to force overtime against the Lions , only to lose on a two-point conversion attempt. We also saw the Bears and Panthers make NFL history by combining for 96 points, the highest total ever in a Week 1 game ( and a Scoragami! ).

And then there was the Browns , who lost to the Jaguars 34-10. OK, that one wasn't crazy, because as you may or may not have noticed, the Browns almost never win in Week 1. Since returning to the NFL in 1999, the Browns are now 3-24-1 in the opening week of the season.

The Browns never came close to pulling off the upset, but there is one team that pulled off a massive upset in Week 1: The Arizona Cardinals. The Cards were the biggest underdog of the opening week at +9.5, but they still managed to go into Los Angeles and pull of a total shocker with a 26-14 win over the Chargers.

Speaking of big wins, one of the biggest victories in Week 1 came in Houston, where Josh Allen won on the road against the Texans for the first time . That's where we're going to start our Week 1 grades.

NOTE: More grades will be added as games finish.

Buffalo 36-31 over Houston

B+ Bills 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.  B- Texans 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.

Arizona 26-14 L.A. Chargers

1 Cardinals 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. 2 Chargers 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.

Minnesota 39-22 over Green Bay

1 Packers It's hard to grade the Packers here because for 3.5 quarters, they appeared to be the better team, but then they suffered an all-time meltdown over the final seven minutes. The trouble started after Matt LaFleur decided to take a field goal off the board, and it only got worse from there (The Packers made a field goal on fourth-and-6, but then the Vikings got hit with a five-yard penalty. LaFleur took the penalty yards and went for it on fourth-and-1, but Love got stuffed). The field goal would have put the Packers up 25-17, but instead, the drive ended with a failed fourth down and all hell broke loose after that for Green Bay. The Packers were outscored 22-0 in a nightmarish fourth quarter that featured two failed fourth-down attempts by Green Bay and two turnovers. This isn't going to be an easy loss to recover from. 2 Vikings The Vikings loss Kyler Murray on the opening possession, but they still managed to pull out the win. Minnesota's defense kept this game close for 3.5 quarter and then the Vikings' closed it out with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Brian Flores' defensive unit deserves almost all of the credit for this win, though. A strip-sack by Andrew Van Ginkel set up a 1-yard TD drive in the fourth quarter. After that, a James Pierre set up a 14-yard TD drive for Minnesota, and after that, the route was on. After Murray went down, all Carson Wentz had to do was come in and play game manager and he did that perfectly. He didn't put up big passing numbers, but he did throw for three touchdowns. All eyes in Minnesota will now turn to Kyler Murray with hopes that he can be back soon after suffering a concussion.

Philadelphia 24-22 over Washington

1 Commanders If one game is any indication, the Commanders defense definitely looked better than it did last season, but Washington still gave up way too many big plays. The Commanders gave up five plays of more than 20 yards, including two that came in the fourth quarter. Those five plays accounted for over 200 yards of Philly's offense. If you take those big plays out, the Commanders defense actually played well for most of the game. Offensively, Stefon Diggs looks like someone who is going to turn into a major weapon for Jayden Daniels. Diggs caught 4 passes for 55 yards and a TD, but also got called for a costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the fourth quarter. This Commanders team might not be quite as explosive as their 2024 NFC title team, but they look to be much more talented than last year's team, so it will certainly be interesting to see what they look like over the next two weeks with games against the Cowboys and Seahawks. 2 Eagles The Eagles were solid in all three phases of the game, and sometimes, that's all you can ask for in Week 1. The new offense under Sean Mannion wasn't perfect, but it did show flashes. There was Saquon Barkley's 42-yard run and Jalen Hurts also managed to throw three TD passes, including a 43-yard score to Dallas Goedert in the fourth quarter that ended up providing the winning points. It was the same story for the Eagles' defense. The unit struggled at times, especially in the fourth quarter, when the Commanders piled up 121 yards and two touchdowns, but in the end, like Philly's offense, the defense made plays when it had to. This was a solid win over a division rival, and in Week 1, that's about as good as it gets.

Las Vegas 27-13 over Miami

1 Dolphins The Dolphins have arguably the weakest roster in the NFL, and it certainly showed in this game. Their top offensive weapon is De'Von Achane, and he was held to just 36 yards. In his first start for Miami, Malik Willis was under siege for most of the game. He got sacked five times while completing just 55.6% of his passes. The defense did come up with two interceptions, but that was about the only thing that went right on a day when the Raiders punted exactly zero times through the first three quarters. This might have been the Dolphins best chance at a win this season and they lost by two touchdowns. Going 0-17 does not feel impossible. 2 Raiders Ashton Jeanty only topped 100 yards rushing twice last season and he's already halfway there after just one game. With Brock Bowers out, the Raiders needed Jeanty to carry the offense and that's exactly what he did. Not only did he rush for 102 yards, but he also caught six passes for 45 yards and two touchdowns. If Kirk Cousins can cut down on the interceptions -- he threw two against the Dolphins -- the Raiders offense might be able to surprise some people this year.

Cincinnati 33-27 over Tampa Bay

C+ Buccaneers If you turn the ball over four times in the NFL, you're almost always going to lose, and that's what happened here with the Bucs. At one point in the first half, the Buccaneers fumbled the ball away on three straight possessions, and all three turnovers led to Cincinnati touchdowns. Baker Mayfield , fresh off his $55 million per year extension, lost three of Tampa Bay's four fumbles in what was an ugly performance. One bright spot for Tampa Bay was rookie Josiah Trotter , who recorded a sack and a pick-six in the game. The Bucs kept this close despite the four turnovers, so they'll probably be heading into Week 2 with plenty of confidence.  A- Bengals The biggest question about the Bengals this offseason was whether their revamped defense would be any good, and the answer appears to be yes. The defense put on a show by forcing four turnovers and sacking Baker Mayfield four times. The Bengals scored 24 points off those four turnovers, including a fumble return TD by Demetrius Knight Jr . in the first half. If the Bengals defense plays this well all season, this team could be a dark horse Super Bowl contender.

Detroit 31-30 over New Orleans in OT

B Saints After falling behind 21-0 in the third quarter, it looked like the Saints were going to get run off the field in Detroit, but then Tyler Shough put on his Superman cape. The second-year QB threw for 410 yards and three touchdowns in the game, with 325 of that and all three scores coming after halftime. The Saints had six different receivers who caught at least three passes, including Chris Olave , who led the team with 10 catches for 182 yards. Unfortunately for the Saints, the offense looked rusty coming out of the gate, which led to an abysmal showing in the first half and into the early parts of the third quarter. The offense did eventually start clicking, and if New Orleans can carry that momentum forward, this could be a dangerous team in what should be a wide-open NFC South.  B Lions This might win the award for ugliest win of Week 1. The Lions defense choked away a 21-0 le

_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-week-1-grades-for-all-32-teams-ravens-roll-bills-earn-high-mark/)._