NEW YORK – A look at seven statistical highlights from games played during the 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET windows on Sunday, September 13, the first week of the 2026 season.
- With two games remaining in Week 1…
- NFL teams have combined to score 702 points (50.1 per game), on pace for one of the highest scoring Kickoff Weekends in NFL history. The record for the most points scored in Week 1 is 791 in 2012.
- 10 teams – Baltimore, Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Minnesota and New Orleans – all scored at least 30 points, tied for the third-most such teams in a Week 1 in NFL history. Only 1986 (12 teams) and 2002 (11) had more.
- There have been eight games within one score (eight points) in the fourth quarter in Week 1.
Seven teams – Arizona, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Detroit, Las Vegas, Minnesota and the New York Jets – all won in Week 1 after missing the postseason in 2025.
Six teams – Baltimore, Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati and Jacksonville – all scored at least 24 points in the first half of their games today, the most such teams in Week 1 in NFL history
The Chicago Bears defeated the Carolina Panthers, 59-37, in Week 1 and the combined 96 points are the most points scored in a season-opening game in NFL history, surpassing the 88 points scored by Tampa Bay and New Orleans in Week 1 of the 2018 season.
Chicago’s 59 points scored are tied with the 2019 Baltimore Ravens, 1968 Dallas Cowboys and 1963 Kansas City Chiefs for the second-most points scored in a season-opening game all-time, trailing only the 1973 Atlanta Falcons (62 points in a 62-7 win against the New Orleans Saints).
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.
Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams passed for 269 yards and two touchdowns for a 124.1 rating and rushed for 65 yards and two touchdowns in the Bears Week 1 win over Carolina.
Williams is the fourth quarterback in NFL history with at least 250 passing yards, 50 rushing yards, two touchdown passes, two rushing touchdowns and a passer rating of 120-or-higher in a game, joining Josh Allen (Dec. 15, 2024, with Buffalo), Cam Newton (Nov. 26, 2012, with Carolina) and Michael Vick (Nov. 15, 2010, with Philadelphia).
- Baltimore running back Derrick Henry rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns in the Ravens’ 41-23 win at Indianapolis.
Henry has 125 career rushing touchdowns, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen (123 rushing touchdowns) for the third-most rushing touchdowns in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famers Emmitt Smith (164 rushing touchdowns) and LaDainian Tomlinson (145) have more.
Henry has 26 career games with at least 100 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famers Jim Brown (25 games) and LaDainian Tomlinson (25) for the most such games in NFL history
Henry has eight career games with at least 100 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk (seven games) for the third-most such games in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famers LaDainian Tomlinson (10 games) and Jim Brown (nine) have more.
Henry has eight career games with at least three rushing touchdowns, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk (eight games) for the fifth-most such games in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famers LaDainian Tomlinson (12 games), Jim Brown (10) and Emmitt Smith (nine) as well as Priest Holmes (nine) have more. - Detroit running back Jahmyr Gibbs recorded 186 scrimmage yards (156 rushing, 30 receiving) and two rushing touchdowns and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown had 10 receptions for 67 yards and two touchdowns in the Lions’ 31-30 overtime win over New Orleans. There has been at least one overtime game on Kickoff Weekend in five of the past six seasons.
Gibbs, who has 51 scrimmage touchdowns (41 rushing, 10 receiving) in 50 career games, became the fifth player in NFL history with at least 50 scrimmage touchdowns in his first 50 games, joining Chuck Foreman (55 scrimmage touchdowns with Minnesota), Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown (53 with Cleveland), Larry Johnson (52 with Kansas City) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen (51 with the L.A. Raiders).
St. Brown has 63 career games with at least five receptions, tied with DeAndre Hopkins (63 games) for the fourth-most games with at least five receptions by a player in his first six seasons in NFL history. Only CeeDee Lamb (68 games), Jarvis Landry (66) and Justin Jefferson (64) have more.
St. Brown has 12 career games with at least 10 receptions, tied with Anquan Boldin (12 games), CeeDee Lamb (12), Brandon Marshall (12) and Julio Jones (12) for the third-most such games by a player in his first six seasons in NFL history. Only Michael Thomas (18 games) and Ja’Marr Chase (16) have more.
- Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen passed for 334 yards and two touchdowns for a 130.5 rating and had two rushing touchdowns in Buffalo’s 36-31 win over Houston.
Allen, who has 303 combined passing and rushing touchdowns (222 passing, 81 rushing) in 129 games, became the fastest quarterback in NFL history to reach 300 career combined passing and rushing touchdowns, surpassing Aaron Rodgers (134 games).
Allen is the sixth player in NFL history with at least four combined passing and rushing touchdowns in 25 career games, joining Tom Brady (47 games) and Aaron Rodgers (40) as well as Pro Football Hall of Famers Drew Brees (42), Peyton Manning (36) and Brett Favre (25). - Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence completed 18 of 23 pass attempts (78.3 percent) for 245 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions for a 150.6 rating in Jacksonville’s 34-10 win over Cleveland.
Lawrence, who is 26 years old and has 102 touchdown passes and 23 rushing touchdowns in his career, is the fourth player in NFL history under the age of 27 with at least 100 touchdown passes and 20 rushing touchdowns, joining Josh Allen (138 touchdown passes and 38 rushing touchdowns with Buffalo), Lamar Jackson (125 touchdown passes and 29 rushing touchdowns with Baltimore) and Cam Newton (117 passing touchdowns and 43 rushing touchdowns with Carolina).
Per Next Gen Stats, Lawrence completed 10 of 11 pass attempts of 10-or-more air yards for 179 yards and three touchdowns on passes in Week 1, the most such touchdown passes for Lawrence in a game in his career.
For more information on Next Gen Stats, check out NFL Pro, available within NFL+ Premium. With NFL+ Premium, get access to NFL Pro and track advanced analytics powered by Next Gen Stats and watch All-22 film. Available on desktop and mobile web, visit pro.nfl.com for more information. - Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson had eight receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns in the Vikings’ 39-22 win over Green Bay.
Jefferson, who has 8,572 career receiving yards in 95 career games, became the third-fastest player in NFL history to reach 8,500 receiving yards, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Lance Alworth (90 games) and Julio Jones (90). - Pittsburgh linebacker T.J. Watt recorded two sacks and returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown in the Steelers’ 20-13 win over Atlanta.
Watt, who has 117 sacks and 10 interceptions in his career, joins Pro Football Hall of Famer Julius Peppers (159.5 sacks, 11 interceptions) as the only players with at least 100 sacks and at least 10 interceptions since 1982, when the individual sack became an official statistic. - Additional notes from Sunday include:
- Arizona tight end Trey McBride recorded nine receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown in the Cardinals’ 26-14 win at the Los Angeles Chargers.
McBride has 38 career games with at least five receptions, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famers Antonio Gates (38 games) and Kellen Winslow Sr. (38) for the second-most such games by a tight end in his first five seasons in NFL history, trailing only Jimmy Graham (46). - New York Jets rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq recorded a rushing touchdown in his NFL debut in the team’s 23-10 victory at Tennessee.
Sadiq is the second tight end in NFL history to record a rushing touchdown in his first career game, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome (1978 with Cleveland). - Tampa Bay rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter had a sack and returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown in his NFL debut against Cincinnati, becoming the first player since 1982, when the individual sack became an official statistic, to record a sack and an interception-return for a touchdown in his first career game.
- Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert passed for 209 yards and a touchdown against Arizona.
Herbert, who has 25,029 career passing yards in 96 games, became the fourth-fastest quarterback in NFL history to reach 25,000 career passing yards, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famers Peyton Manning (97 games) and Kurt Warner (97) as well as Jared Goff (97). Only Patrick Mahomes (83 games), Matthew Stafford (90) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino (92) reached the mark faster.
- Arizona tight end Trey McBride recorded nine receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown in the Cardinals’ 26-14 win at the Los Angeles Chargers.
