2026 was the best Week 1 the National Football League has ever seen, and this isn’t recency bias. 

According to NFL.com, the 41 combined points between the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos on Monday night helped tie a record that stood for 14 years: the most league-wide points scored in Week 1 during the Super Bowl era.

A total of 791 total points were scored. 96 points alone came from the Chicago Bears vs. Carolina Panthers game, which, according to NBC, was the highest-scoring Week 1 game ever. It was also the highest-scoring game overall since 2018.

Despite the offensive fireworks, there were a good deal of defensive games, too, including the season opener between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, a Super Bowl rematch. Seattle’s defense grabbed three interceptions, including one from cornerback Josh Jobe with under 30 seconds left to seal the deal. 

The Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers played in another defensive struggle of a game, with linebacker TJ Watt’s acrobatic interception being the difference. I was at Acrisure Stadium, and it was electric during that sequence.  

That play gave new Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy his first win with the team. 

Joe Brady (Buffalo Bills), John Harbaugh (New York Giants), Klint Kubiak (Las Vegas Raiders), Mike LaFleur (Arizona Cardinals) and Jesse Minter (Baltimore Ravens) also got their first wins as head coaches with their new teams.

Seven games were decided by one score. Two games were decided by a 2-point conversion, as the New Orleans Saints were stopped in overtime by the Detroit Lions and the Washington Commanders failed a 2-point try with one minute left against the Philadelphia Eagles, which could have sent the game into overtime. 

The Minnesota Vikings were forced to turn to veteran backup quarterback Carson Wentz, who hung 22 points in the fourth quarter to take down Minnesota’s longtime rival, the Green Bay Packers.

Also, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who I would say is the face of the league, teamed up with reigning Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker. After their win over the Denver Broncos, it looks like the Chiefs could be back on the map.

If that’s not enough, there was also a game in Melbourne, Australia. 

I’m not sure how the NFL is going to top this in future Week 1s. Hopefully there are this many storylines moving forward this season.