Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season was many things, but it certainly wasn't boring. The highest-scoring opening weekend in league history included a 56-39 offensive bonanza between the Bears and the Panthers and plenty of other eye-popping numbers. The Bills scored 36 points against the Texans, who were expected to have the best defense in the NFL this year, but the Texans put up 31 themselves after a tough finish to 2025 for C.J.
Stroud, which might have been just as unexpected. The Ravens scored 41 points as Lamar Jackson looked excellent in his new offense, and the Lions held off the Saints by the skin of their teeth despite a 410-yard day from Tyler Shough. The Chiefs might just be back.
Amid all the scoring, drama and winners and losers, we can sift through Week 1 and learn lessons to carry forward. Here's what we learned through the first weekend. Chiefs running backs had exactly one 20-yard rush last year.
Kenneth Walker III had two last night alone. 149 yards and counting on the ground for Kenneth Walker IIIDENvsKC on ESPNStream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/5feESVSs7Q Yes, it's only been one week, but we might be seeing in real time the third iteration of the Chiefs' offensive attack, and it's, for the first time, dependent on the run game. The play above is, 10 times out of 10, a play where past Chiefs running backs put their heads down and try to get 1 yard on fourth-and-1. Walker III is -- breaking news -- not like past Chiefs running backs.
In the early years of Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs' deep passing game blew the doors off defenses. From 2018-20, Kansas City led the NFL in explosive play rate, and only the Buccaneers had more completions of 20+ yards. But eventually defenses adapted, and Tyreek Hill left town.
So Mahomes became a game manager in the best sense of the word. Kansas City was 20th in explosive play rate but second in success rate. If he couldn't hit on big plays, Mahomes could at least keep things on schedule and make timely conversions.
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