32 things we learned in NFL Week 1: Relocated stars Micah Parsons, Aaron Rodgers shine

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32 things we learned in NFL Week 1: Relocated stars Micah Parsons, Aaron Rodgers shine

Nate Davis, USA TODAY · USA TODAY Sports

Mon, Sep 8, 2025 ·

11 min read

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The 32 things we learned from Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season :

0.The number of career receptions – entering Sunday – by San Francisco 49ers TE Jake Tonges . But, filling in for injured star George Kittle , Tonges had three grabs in Seattle , including a game-winning 4-yard TD snag, in the Niners' 17-13 defeat of the Seahawks .

1.As in still No. 1. If the Philadelphia Eagles can win Super Bowl 60 next February, it would mark just the second time in league history that there would be back-to-back back-to-back Super Bowl champions, the lone occurrence as of now being when the 1974-75 champion Pittsburgh Steelers followed the 1972-73 Miami Dolphins . Philly started its quest with a 24-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night, making defending champions 21-5 since 2000 in regular-season openers directly following a Super Sunday triumph .

1a.As in the fresh jersey number worn by newly obtained Green Bay Packers DE Micah Parsons , who was also undoubtedly the No. 1 story of the offseason following his shocking trade from the Cowboys . In Parsons' Pack debut, creaky back and all, he registered a fourth-quarter sack of QB Jared Goff – and pressured him twice, per PFF – in Green Bay 's 27-13 statement rout of the Detroit Lions , NFC North champs the past two seasons.

2.The number of wins the Cincinnati Bengals have collectively in Weeks 1 and 2 since Zac Taylor became their head coach in 2019, a figure that includes Sunday's 17-16 squeaker over the Cleveland Browns .

2a.The last time the Bengals won in Week 1, in 2021, they eventually reached Super Bowl 56.

3rd.As in new Pittsburgh Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers is the third-oldest player (41 years, 279 days) to throw at least four TD passes in a game, joining Tom Brady and Drew Brees . Rodgers' new team barely survived his former one, the New York Jets , in a 34-32 thriller at MetLife Stadium .

3a.The game was also Rodgers' 28th with at least four touchdown passes and no interceptions, matching Brady's record.

3b.Opposed by new Jets QB Justin Fields , who also had a nice debut, the game was the first in league history with quarterbacks opposing each other in Week 1 playing against teams that they'd started the opener for the previous year.

4.Sunday night's meeting between the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills marked the fifth time the reigning league MVP (Bills QB Josh Allen ) faced his predecessor (Ravens QB Lamar Jackson ) in Week 1. It also happened last year when Jackson played against the Chiefs ' Patrick Mahomes . Prior to that, such a matchup hadn't occurred since 2000, when eventual Hall of Famers Kurt Warner and Terrell Davis squared off.

4a.And yet that kind of pregame hype couldn't live up to a contest, miraculously won 41-40 by the Bills on a game-ending field goal from replacement K Matt Prater , 41, that almost undoubtedly will be in the conversation for game of the season five months hence. Buffalo scored 16 points in the last four minutes to pull out the win in the final opening night in Highmark Stadium's history.

5.The number of quarterbacks, since 1990, to make their starting debuts on Monday night, assuming the Minnesota Vikings ' J.J. McCarthy does so against the Chicago Bears to cap Week 1. The man McCarthy is replacing, Sam Darnold , is also on that (pretty solid) list, joined by Brian Griese, Philip Rivers and Rodgers.

6.The number of Week 1 wins the Los Angeles Chargers ' Jim Harbaugh has … in six NFL seasons as a head coach (including four with the San Francisco 49ers ) after the Bolts took down the Kansas City Chiefs in Brazil on Friday night. No one in the league's 106 seasons has more without a loss.

7.The number of scoring drives – in seven possessions – led by newly installed Indianapolis Colts QB1 Daniel Jones in a 33-8 thrashing of the Miami Dolphins. Jones, who ran for two TDs and passed for one, became the first QB in the 21st century to lead his team to points on that many drives without suffering a scoreless one. Of course he did. Wildest stat of the weekend.

8.The number of points scored by Miami, the second fewest of any team in Week 1 with just one game left to play. Fins HC Mike McDaniel's hot seat just had gas poured all over it.

8a.The Dolphins had 43 yards in the first half … while the Colts ran 43 plays .

9.The last time the Colts won in Week 1? How about 2013, when Andrew Luck was their second-year quarterback.

9a.Good thing Colts S Cam Bynum still celebrates like no other.

10.The number of NFL quarterbacks – ever – who have passed for 60,000 career yards. The Los Angeles Rams ' Matthew Stafford joined their ranks Sunday, his brittle back absorbing three sacks in a 14-9 defeat of the Houston Texans .

10a.The number of touches Deebo Samuel had in his debut with the Washington Commanders . He led the team with seven receptions for 77 yards (on a team-high 10 targets), returned a pair of kickoffs and iced a 21-6 victory with a 19-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. All told, 146 all-purpose yards.

11.Yards covered by Steelers WR DK Metcalf on Sunday's clutchest catch – one that ricocheted off of him and then right back on Pittsburgh's game-winning field-goal drive.

12.And how about Steelers K Chris Boswell drilling the game-winning shot from 60 yards? Yeah, 60 yards is so passé. Wake us up when there's a 70-yarder that counts, y'all.

13.Both the number of penalties and points produced by the New Orleans Saints in Sunday's loss to the Arizona Cardinals . The Saints do know Arch Manning apparently isn't entering the draft next year, right? ( To the extent he'd be the No. 1 pick anyway …)

14.Additionally, the Saints' new (old?) "Gameday Golds" jerseys also rendered them unwatchable.

15.Believe it or not, Sunday was the first time the Saints had lost their opener since 2018.

16.The final snap count for Jacksonville Jaguars ballyhooed rookie WR/CB Travis Hunter ? How about 45 (six on defense) … about 40% what he did at Colorado, where the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner averaged about 112 per game.

17.Hunter's Jags rolled over the Carolina Panthers 26-10, thanks in large part to third-year Carolina QB Bryce Young , who's now 0-3 on opening day with a passer rating of 44.2. Young has never thrown for as many as 200 yards in Week 1 and hasn't completed 50% of his passes over the course of those three games.

18.As Young was in 2023, the Tennessee Titans ' Cam Ward looked every bit the overwhelmed rookie quarterback drafted No. 1 overall … by a bad team. Ward was sacked six times, passed for just 112 yards, and the Tennessee offense generated just 133 in a 20-12 loss to the Denver Broncos in one of the weekend's more unsightly contests.

18a.Since 2000, the 17 quarterbacks drafted first overall are 1-15-1.

19.The number of carries by Las Vegas Raiders rookie RB Ashton Jeanty on Sunday … for 38 yards. This ain't the Mountain West, Boss, and we haven't forgotten your preseason proclamation that you've "arrived."

20.But props to the Silver and Black and first-year coach Pete Carroll – now the NFL's oldest head coach of all time (73 years, 357 days as of Sunday) – for notching a 20-13 victory in New England against the Patriots , one of Carroll's former teams.

21.Carroll and the Jaguars' Liam Coen were the only head coaches (among seven) to enjoy victorious debuts with their new teams, though Chicago's Ben Johnson could still join them Monday night.

22.The Jets-Steelers game was effectively decided when new Pittsburgh DB Jalen Ramsey dislodged the ball from NYJ WR Garrett Wilson on fourth down of Gang Green's final offensive play as they were trying to get into position for a game-winning field-goal try. The nice part – and sportsmanship is an emphasis league-wide – was seeing them congratulate one another mere minutes after the pivotal sequence.

23.Rookie of the week? Here's a vote for Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Emeka Egbuka , who caught a pair of TD passes in his NFL debut, including the game-winning 25-yarder in the final minute as the Bucs outlasted the division rival Atlanta Falcons , who swept the perennial NFC South champs in 2024, 23-20.

23a.Egbuka, Wilson, Arizona's Marvin Harrison Jr. and Seattle's Jaxon Smith-Njigba all had big games − further evidence that Ohio State has become Wide Receiver U.

24.The Atlanta-Tampa Bay game also served as a reminder that kickers can be very rusty out of the gate. The Bucs' Chase McLaughlin missed a PAT and 44-yard field goal, while the Falcons' Younghoe Koo misfired on a 44-yard FG try – the game would have been tied had he connected and likely gone into overtime – on Atlanta's final play.

25.In addition to McLaughlin's and Koo's travails, the Ravens' Tyler Loop , Chiefs' Harrison Butker , Saints' Blake Grupe , Browns' Andre Szmyt and Patriots' Andy Borregales all had big misses in defeat.

26.Talk about throwing it into reverse. On the heels of a spectacular preseason , the Giants lived down to the regular-season expectations most had for them about a month ago. No one encapsulated that more than rookie RB Cam Skattebo , whose first two NFL runs both went for negative yardage.

27.Big Blue fans who couldn't wait to get rid of Jones will likely now be calling for Russell Wilson 's head – and rookie Jaxson Dart's ascension – any minute now after their team was embarrassed by the Commanders 21-6 on Sunday. Wilson, 36, completed 17 of 37 passes for 168 yards in a very lackluster Giants debut.

28.Yet it must be noted that the Giants stink in Week 1 under coach Brian Daboll. Per OptaSTATS, they're the first team since World War II to be held without a touchdown in three consecutive openers.

29.Ward is the sixth quarterback drafted No. 1 overall since 2019. Among that group – which also includes Young, Kyler Murray , Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence – only the Bears' Caleb Williams won a Week 1 start.

30.Tough loss for the Browns, who have dropped two in a row to the Bengals in Cleveland after winning six straight at home against their cross-state rivals. The Browns should have had another victory Sunday after bottling up Burrow and outgaining the Bengals by nearly 200 yards. But two turnovers plus a missed PAT and FG (36-yard attempt) by Szmyt proved too much to overcome.

31.Thought Week 1 was good? Don't forget Week 2 will feature a Super Bowl 59 rematch between Philadelphia and Kansas City, the Chiefs hosting it Arrowhead Stadium as they desperately try to avoid an 0-2 start.

32.Though Jones was the story on the field, the story of a victorious day in Indianapolis was the induction of late owner Jim Irsay into the team's Ring of Honor. Irsay was the Colts' controlling owner for nearly three decades until his death in May . He spent his entire adult life working in the organization and oversaw its only Super Bowl victory since it relocated to Indianapolis in 1984. His is quite a legacy, and one that won't be merely remembered for his football accomplishments .

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL Week 1 takeaways: Aaron Rodgers, Micah Parsons shine on new teams

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