NFL Game Recaps: Week 1, 2025

NFL Game Recaps of previous weeks and seasons can be found via links at the bottom of the page.

Eagles 24, Cowboys 20

The Eagles were the best team in the NFL last year, but they certainly did not play like it in the 2025 NFL opener in which they nearly lost to the Cowboys. They trailed by a touchdown twice and surrendered some big plays, albeit via penalties and other mistakes. For example, the Cowboys converted a second-and-23 on a throw to George Pickens because of a deep pass interference. Nolan Smith gave the Cowboys a free first down on a silly taunting penalty, while Reed Blankenship hit Jake Ferguson illegally in the end zone even though Ferguson had already dropped the potential touchdown.

Of course, the greatest mistake Philadelphia made occurred prior to kickoff when Jalen Carter was ejected for spitting on Dak Prescott’s jersey. Carter’s absence was felt greatly because the Eagles lost some key personnel like Milton Williams this offseason. With Carter gone, the Cowboys ran effectively with Javonte Williams, opening up some favorable passing opportunities for Dak Prescott.

The Cowboys lingered for most of the game, but couldn’t get over the hump. CeeDee Lamb dropped two big passes in the fourth quarter, while Prescott was trying to give away the game with some sketchy passes. The Eagles dropped three potential interceptions in a game that could have been more lopsided had they not committed dumb errors.

This game really changed in the third quarter when the Cowboys were driving. Miles Sanders ripped off a 50-yard run, but then lost a fumble inside the red zone. The Eagles took over, but there was a thunderstorm delay that lasted about an hour. This ruined all momentum for both teams, as neither the Eagles nor Cowboys scored a single point after that.

Chargers 27, Chiefs 21

For the second consecutive night, a key player for the favorite was knocked out of the game before the initial drive concluded. Jalen Carter was ejected for spitting prior to kickoff on Thursday night, and in this game, Xavier Worthy collided with a teammate and exited with a shoulder injury.

The Chiefs looked discombobulated offensively without Worthy for the entire opening half. They made several mistakes – Patrick Mahomes missed Tyquan Thornton on multiple deep passes, while Marqise Brown dropped a pass on third down – and there were issues present from the prior year. Jawaan Taylor was called for three false start penalties. The Chiefs surrendered pressure to a front seven that lost Joey Bosa this offseason. And Travis Kelce, despite losing 20 pounds, was a complete no-show outside of one broken play in the second half.

Kansas City finally began clicking offensively following halftime, but that’s when the defense self-destructed. The Chiefs couldn’t stop the Chargers outside of an initial three-and-out. They came back and were a pair of conversion attempts from tying the game, but Mahomes was never given the chance to take the lead because the Chargers kept scoring. Despite drafting a running back in the first round this past April, Jim Harbaugh repeatedly called pass plays in the fourth quarter with the lead, and it worked. Justin Herbert, who was flawless in this game, engineered a touchdown drive on his penultimate possession by hitting Quentin Johnston, who somehow scored on two occasions.

The Chiefs came back to score a field goal to draw to within six. There was still 2:30 remaining on the clock, so it was unclear if Harbaugh would finally become conservative and run with Omarion Hampton. Instead, Harbaugh continued to call pass plays. Herbert moved the chains with a 17-yard dart to Will Dissly, and then on a third-and-14, he scrambled for a first down to end the game.

Raiders 20, Patriots 13

This game was lined with the Patriots being a short favorite, and the result played that way, as this was a back-and-forth affair where it looked like either team would have a chance to prevail at various parts of the afternoon.

The Raiders struck first, with Geno Smith finding Tre Tucker for a touchdown, but a later interception on a poor overthrow gave the Patriots some life. New England responded with a touchdown and then a field goal to take the lead at halftime. Drake Maye was spectacular for a stretch, firing accurate balls in the sloppy weather. Maye connected on some excellent back-shoulder throws, hitting a variety of targets with great precision. Maye, however, finally faltered when he threw an interception when he was hit upon release.

While the Patriots led at intermission, the Raiders dominated in the second half. The defense clamped down on Maye, who led his team to just three points after the break. Smith, meanwhile, rebounded from the pick to repeatedly pepper Brock Bowers, Jakobi Meyers, and Tucker with completions to keep the chains moving.

The Raider prevailed, but the dark cloud over this victory was that Bowers went into the medical tent with a knee injury in the final minutes. It’s unclear how serious this injury is. Losing Bowers would be huge for the Raiders, as the second-year tight end had a dominant performance.

Steelers 34, Jets 32

Mike Tomlin is known as a defensive mastermind, but this might be the worst defensive unit he’s ever coached. The Steelers had no answer for what the Jets were doing offensively the entire afternoon, and it began on the opening drive. The Jets kicked a field goal because they ran on third-and-11 in the red zone, but they perhaps didn’t realize what a great afternoon their scoring unit would have.

The Jets kept pounding, and pounding, and pounding the ball into Pittsburgh’s beleaguered front. Breece Hall was able to rip off huge runs all day despite the Jets having a rookie right tackle and a backup right guard. This opened up great opportunities for Justin Fields, who scampered for long gains and made deep connections to Garrett Wilson.

New York was up 26-17, but the Steelers mounted a comeback with two quick touchdowns. They put together a scoring drive and then found the end zone once more after the Jets fumbled the ensuing kickoff. The Steelers of old would have just sat on the lead, but Tomlin’s poor defense once again allowed a long drive, with the Jets scoring the go-ahead touchdown on a Fields bootleg.

It looked like the Steelers would lose when Aaron Rodgers was sacked twice on the ensuing possession, but the Pittsburgh defense finally got a stop. They were then able to move toward midfield, but stalled. Chris Boswell drilled a 60-yard field goal to give the Steelers a 34-32 lead. The Jets had one more chance, but new Steeler Jalen Ramsey had a big collision with Garrett Wilson to dislodge the ball on fourth down.

Cardinals 20, Saints 13

Kyler Murray was added to the injury report with an illness on Sunday morning. We didn’t see any signs of Murray being sick, however, aside from a horrible pass he threw on an early third-and-12 in which he was nearly intercepted after throwing late across his body.

Murray, however, made a number of great plays to give the Cardinals a comfortable 20-10 lead entering the fourth quarter. Murray had some terrific scrambles, including a 13-yard run. He also threaded the needle to Trey McBride on a third-and-12 for a 22-yard gain. He followed that up with an underhanded touchdown to James Conner. Murray misfired on just eight occasions.

The Cardinals were up double digits late in the game, but fell asleep at the wheel. They surrendered two long drives to the Saints, though those possessions ended with a total of just three points. The Saints, however, could have gotten more, as there was a dropped touchdown involved.

The dropped touchdown was just one of several miscues the Saints had in this game. They missed a short field goal, and on one sequence at the end of the first half, Kellen Moore prevented his team from having an extra possession because he failed to call timeout on defense to stop the clock.

Redskins 21, Giants 6

If there ever was any doubt how the difference between a great quarterback and a miserable player at the position can make a huge difference in a game, this result provided evidence of that.

Jayden Daniels was terrific in this game. He completed an amazing throw to Noah Brown on the sideline for a gain of 34 and converted numerous third downs, including a 3rd-and-11 dart to Deebo Samuel just prior to halftime to set up a scoring opportunity. Daniels wasn’t perfect – he missed an open Terry McLaurin on a deep shot in the first half – but he often kept the chains moving against a Giants defense that made improvements this offseason.

Conversely, Russell Wilson was terrible. He gave the Giants virtually no chance of moving the chains consistently, and on the rare occasions in which he did, he had an embarrassing sequence near the goal line where he failed to get into the end zone despite having five opportunities to do so. Wilson couldn’t even hit four yards per attempt in the opening half, often dinking and dunking when completing passes and lobbing helpless balls to his receivers otherwise. It was telling that Malik Nabers had just two catches for 23 yards at halftime.

Wilson was marginally better in the second half, but only by default. The Giants had a couple of promising drives following intermission, but were only able to get a field goal out of those possessions.

Jaguars 26, Panthers 10

As offensive coordinator of the Buccaneers last year, Liam Coen was able to utilize his running backs extremely effectively. It’s only been one game for Jacksonville, but Coen has transported that rushing attack to his new Florida home. Granted, this was against a very poor Carolina opponent, but Travis Etienne made many electric plays in this game.

Etienne’s running ability made things very easy for Trevor Lawrence, whose greatest resistance in this game was a two-hour thunderstorm delay. Carolina’s defense continued to look just as miserable as it did last year.

Carolina’s offense, meanwhile, was arguably worse. Bryce Young couldn’t keep the chains moving at all until a garbage-time touchdown drive in the final five minutes of the game. One of his interceptions wasn’t his fault because yet another Xavier Legette drop turned into a pick, but Young was also very fortunate that a pick-six of his was negated by a ticky-tack penalty.

Bengals 17, Browns 16

This game can be described as the Browns playing the most Browns game of all time.

The Browns, of course, are known most for their futility and bad breaks. We saw all of that in this game, which should have been a victory for them; they outgained the Bengals, 327-141. Cleveland led 16-14 in the third quarter when the comedy of errors began. Joe Flacco threw an interception deep in his own territory as a result of Jerry Jeudy dropping the ball and having it pop into the arms of a Cincinnati player. This set up a Cincinnati field goal, which ended up being the decisive score of this game.

It didn’t seem as though that would be the case. The Browns received possession with great field position after Joe Burrow was sacked on three plays in a futile three-and-out. Andre Szmyt, who whiffed on an earlier extra point, missed from 36 yards. Cleveland had one more chance, but another Flacco interception occurred because of a receiver mistake, with Cedric Tillman screwing up in the same manner in which Jeudy did earlier.

Issues persist with Cincinnati’s offensive line. The unit couldn’t block Myles Garrett and the rest of the Cleveland line. And making matters worse, new addition Lucas Patrick got hurt in this game.

Buccaneers 23, Falcons 20

This was a fun, back-and-forth game in which we were robbed of an extra quarter. Both teams looked like they would prevail at various points in the afternoon. There were many brilliant plays, but the final snap was defined by a crucial mistake.

The Falcons struck early, with Bijan Robinson turning a short reception into a 50-yard touchdown. Robinson was brilliant in this game, accumulating 100 receiving yards and the score, though he didn’t get much on the ground against the Vita Vea-led defense. Robinson’s inability to find running room was a big story late in the game when the Falcons, trailing because of a great Tampa Bay kickoff return, took about an eternity near the Buccaneer goal line. There were three minutes remaining when Penix lunged for a first down, but it looked like he was short of the yard to gain on fourth down and then fumbled into the back of the end zone. Replay review, however, showed that Penix somehow secured the first down. Four plays later, Penix once again lunged on a fourth down, and somehow didn’t hit the ground as he reached the ball across the goal line.

Atlanta took the lead, but the Buccaneers struck back, as Baker Mayfield led his team down the field with ease, finding Emeka Egbuka for his second touchdown of the afternoon. The Buccaneers missed the extra point, so the Falcons had a chance to tie the game, down 23-20. Penix also moved the chains with ease and should’ve had a touchdown pass, but his receiver, Khadarel Hodge, inexplicably didn’t look for the ball. Younghoe Koo still had a chance for a 44-yard field goal, but he whiffed, giving the Buccaneers the win.

Colts 33, Dolphins 8
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Dolphins will be No. 32 in my NFL Power Rankings this upcoming week.

This game was pure domination as the Colts dominated on both sides of the ball. The Dolphins looked dysfunctional on the field and were airing their frustration on the sideline. Daniel Jones cruised over the weak Miami defense with an efficient game. It looks like it will be a long season for the Dolphins.

The Colts took the opening drive into Miami territory, keyed by two passes to Tyler Warren that totaled 35 yards, and settled for a field goal. Midway through the first quarter, Miami had a drive going into Colts territory, but Tagovailoa overthrew Tyreek Hill and was intercepted by Cam Bynum. Indianapolis got Jonathan Taylor rolling to move into Dolphins territory, and the drive was capped with Jones connecting on a 27-yard touchdown pass to Michael Pittman Jr. A couple of plays later, Colts cornerback Kenny Moore strip-sacked Tagovailoa, and Xavien Howard recovered the fumble against his former team to set up the Colts offense just past midfield. A pass to A.D. Mitchell and Mo Allie-Cox moved it to the five, on third-and-goal Jones pushed over the goal line for the score. The Colts tacked on a field goal to end the first half and took a 20-0 lead into the locker room. Early in the third quarter, Laiatu Latu dropped into coverage and intercepted Tagovailoa to produce another field goal for the Colts. In fourth-quarter garbage time, Jones plunged over the goal line again for his second rushing touchdown. Late in the fourth quarter, Devon Achane scored a dump-off pass on fourth-and-goal with a two-point conversion to avoid a Miami shutout. The Colts tacked on a field goal.

Packers 24, Lions 6
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: It turns out that life is tough when losing both coordinators and two key interior linemen in one offseason. The Lions are in trouble.

While Micah Parsons was not a real factor in the game, the Packers cruised to a season-opening win over the Lions. Detroit’s offense was completely inept at finishing drives, and the Lions’ defense played horribly in the first quarter to let Green Bay take firm control of the game.

The Packers took the opening drive into Detroit territory with Jordan Love converting some third-and-longs, and then on another third-and-long, Love connected with Tucker Kraft (2-16-1) for a 15-yard touchdown strike. After a Lions three-and-out, an offsides on the punt led to a 32-yard gain on a repunt, and the Packers turned that field position into a field goal to take a 10-0 lead. The Lions offense got a drive going using Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown (4-45), but settled for a field goal. Two plays later, the Packers were up 17-3 as Love hit a deep ball to Romeo Doubs (2-68) for 48 yards and then a touchdown strike to Jayden Reed (3-45-1) for 17 yards. The Lions drove into Packers territory late in the first half, but Evan Williams intercepted a pass to maintain the lead at halftime.

To open the third quarter, Goff hit some completions to Sam LaPorta (6-79) to get a second field goal. Love threw a pick-six to Brian Branch, but the referees threw some terrible penalties to take the score away from Detroit. After getting great field position from forcing a punt from the Lions’ own end zone, Green Bay put the game away midway through the fourth quarter with a short Josh Jacobs touchdown run.

Broncos 20, Titans 12

The Broncos were the highest Week 1 favorite, yet they were live underdogs in the fourth quarter when the Titans, down 13-12, took over possession in the red zone. How did the Broncos even arrive at this possibility? A number of mistakes led to this situation.

Bo Nix was tagged with three turnovers, though two were his fault. He lost a fumble when he was strip-sacked as a result of holding the ball too long in the pocket. He then threw two interceptions. The first occurred because of a miscommunication, while the second transpired because Nix was fooled by Tennessee’s zone. Conversely, Cam Ward didn’t make any mistakes, and he had a chance to take the lead with a field goal once the Broncos muffed a punt deep in their own territory with 10 minutes remaining.

That’s when things self-destructed for the Titans. Ward took two sacks to be moved out of field goal range, forcing a punt. The Broncos then had R.J. Harvey break a 50-yard run to set up a J.K. Dobbins touchdown, putting the Broncos up eight. Denver’s defense then slammed the door on the Titans, who couldn’t move the chains on the next two drives.

49ers 17, Seahawks 13

It wasn’t clear if Christian McCaffrey would play in this game, but he was active and received a regular workload. A key 49er didn’t make it through the afternoon, however, as George Kittle was knocked out with a hamstring injury after catching a touchdown.

San Francisco’s offense struggled at times without Kittle, as Brock Purdy was intercepted on two occasions to derail promising drives. His first pick occurred because he couldn’t get the ball over the linebacker, while the second was the result of foolishly throwing into triple coverage. But as bad as Purdy was at times, that was nothing compared to the struggles of the special-teams unit. Jake Moody missed from 27 yards and then had another field goal that was blocked. This prompted the 49ers to go for it on a crucial fourth down late in the game, which they converted.

San Francisco took a 17-13 lead as a result of a great drive from Purdy in which he hit Ricky Pearsall with a deep bomb and then connected with Kittle’s replacement, Jake Tonges, for the go-ahead touchdown. Sam Darnold then marched his team down the field and entered field goal range. The Seahawks had already been guilty of a lost fumble over midfield when Jaxon Smith-Njigba was responsible for this mistake earlier in the game. Darnold committed the same blunder when he was strip-sacked, thanks to a pressure surrendered by newly paid right tackle Abraham Lucas. The 49ers recovered, sealing the victory for them.

Rams 14, Texans 9

There was some question about Matthew Stafford’s ability to play with a troublesome back against one of the best defenses in the NFL. Because the Rams don’t have any real beat reporters, we weren’t able to learn about Stafford’s status.

Stafford began this game slowly, but that was more of Houston’s defensive line smothering Stafford. It didn’t look like the Rams would have much success scoring, but an injury to Derek Stingley changed things. Stafford had more success in the second half, especially when targeting Puka Nacua, who had to leave the game on two separate occasions to due a gash on his face causing blood to gush down his face.

The Rams scored just enough to have a chance to win. It looked like they would go up 17-9 or 21-9 with four minutes remaining, but a Colby Parkinson fumble in the red zone gave the Texans new life. C.J. Stroud struggled all afternoon with immense pressure in his face, which wasn’t a surprise because his offensive line was ranked 32nd entering the year by some metrics. Stroud continued to see heat, but there was too much heat, as an interception of his was wiped out by roughing the passer. Stroud drove into the red zone, but a Dare Ogunbowale fumble gave the Rams possession.

Bills 41, Ravens 40

Wow, what a game! This was the sort of outcome we’re going to remember for a very long time, especially given how improbable Buffalo’s victory was.

The Ravens dominated the Bills for three-and-a-half quarters. Save for an early 7-0 deficit, the Ravens led for most of the evening. The Bills had no answer for Derrick Henry’s powerful and explosive runs, or Lamar Jackson’s precise passes and scrambles. There as no stopping Jackson, and Baltimore looked invincible, especially when Jackson floated a touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins, who came down with the ball in one hand. On another drive, the Bills had Jackson dead to rights in the backfield, but Jackson was able to explode for a 19-yard scramble. Henry then burst for a long touchdown.

Baltimore was up 40-25 with several minutes remaining when Josh Allen engineered a touchdown drive. A pass of his magically found its way into the arms of Keon Coleman, and the Bills drew to within eight.

The Ravens were still comfortably ahead, but that changed when Henry inexplicably fumbled. Allen quickly scored on a quarterback sneak, but Nate Wiggins broke up Allen’s two-point conversion attempt. Buffalo needed one more stop, and it got one when it kept the Ravens three yards shy of the first down. Baltimore foolishly punted the ball away, which was a complete loser move. Allen responded with 31- and 25-yard passes to Joshua Palmer and Keon Coleman, respectively, setting up Matt Prater’s game-winning field goal.

Vikings 27, Bears 24

It’s quite amazing how this game flipped. For three quarters, the Vikings looked like one of the biggest disappointments of Week 1. J.J. McCarthy was pathetic, constantly misfiring and having passes batted down at the line of scrimmage. He also had trouble with the audio set and had issues with the play clock as a consequence. McCarthy’s lowest moment occurred when he telegraphed a pass toward the sideline that was pick-sixed. The Bears took a 17-6 lead with the turnover.

Then, something changed. Following a missed Chicago field goal, McCarthy caught fire. He delivered a deep pass to Justin Jefferson for a score, and once he retained possession, he hit some completions before lofting a touchdown to Aaron Jones. This was the second of McCarthy’s three touchdowns, with the third being a scramble into the end zone to put Minnesota up 10.

As this was happening, the Bears couldn’t move the chains consistently. Caleb Williams started well, impressively escaping potential sacks and running into the end zone for an early touchdown. Later in the evening, however, Williams had several poor misfires and began holding the ball too long in the pocket. He also got D.J. Moore crushed on a deep throw in the final minutes of the game.

The Bears eventually scored to draw to within three, but a horrible decision by Ben Johnson to kick off and eschew an onsides attempt cost his team a chance to tie the game.