You usually expect to see some rust from teams in their season openers, but that was not the case on our first NFL Sunday of the year. In fact, it featured the most combined points per game (53.3) on a Sunday in Week 1 in NFL history, per CBS Sports Research. A total of 10 teams scored at least 30 points, and every team scored at least 10.
Let's look at some of these high-scoring results and the teams that surprised us with how many points they put up. The Chicago Bears at Carolina Panthers was the highest-scoring game of the day, as Caleb Williams led his squad to a 59-37 victory. Those 96 combined points were the most scored in a Week 1 game ever.
Plus, the final score was a Scoragami! The Bears' 59 points rank third-most in a game in franchise history, while Williams became the first Bear to throw for 250 yards and two passing touchdowns while also rushing for 50 yards and scoring two rushing touchdowns in a single game. Williams is on track to become the first 4,000-yard passer in Bears history, but let's talk about the ground game.
Both D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai crossed 100 yards rushing and found the end zone. Chicago actually scored six rushing touchdowns on Sunday. It tied for the most in a season opener in NFL history, with the 1920 Detroit Heralds, the 1920 Rock Island Independents and the 1922 Canton Bulldogs. .@kylemonangai GOES THE DISTANCE📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/SCNBVRgxUZ Panthers quarterback Bryce Young did his job on Sunday, as he threw three touchdowns and rushed for another.
His 361 yards passing ranked second-most in a game for his career. It was Jalen Coker, not reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year Tet McMillan, who stole the show offensively for Carolina, as he caught eight passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns! Bryce Young goes long to Jalen Coker!CHIvsCAR on FOX/FOX One pic.twitter.com/y4dv1AgdzS There weren't many points expected in Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans, which had a total listed at around 44.5.
However, it finished with a 36-31 final score. Josh Allen earned his first-ever victory in Houston and recorded the first 300-yard passing game against a Texans defense since 2024. The last quarterback to do so was Cooper Rush, if you were curious.
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