The long-awaited NFL season has officially begun and it started off with a bang. The season has already been full of upsets, interceptions, missed field goals and games that left fans on the edge of their seats all weekend long. Despite it only being the first week of the season, these very telling results give a taste of what is to come in the next five months.

The season kicked off with the Buffalo Bills playing the returning champions, the Los Angeles Rams, at SoFi stadium. Ironically, this may also end up being the last game of the season as both these teams are strong Super Bowl contenders. The game started off with back-and-forth drives as both teams had tough defenses to beat, but by the end of the first half, the game was tied with a score of 10-10. The Rams started with the ball in the third quarter, but were unable to even get a first down after a dismal performance by the offensive line, who gave the Bills a virtually free sack on Ram’s quarterback Matthew Stafford. Once on offense, the electric energy of the Bills continued led by quarterback Josh Allen who finished the game with 26 out of 31 passes completed and 297 yards. The game ended with the Bills winning 31-10 and prohibiting the Rams from scoring even a single point in the second half. A lot of factors played into the outcome of this game, but the Bills’ gritty defense was the ultimate factor that allowed them to get such a huge win.
Another highly anticipated game was the Kansas City Chiefs against the Arizona Cardinals. Chiefs fans were left shocked this off-season when Tyreek Hill, key wide receiver in the Chiefs offense, transferred to the Miami Dolphins for a higher paying contract. This game would show fans who were waiting to see how their team, specifically quarterback Patrick Mahomes, would adjust to the massive loss in their team. However, Mahomes threw 5 touchdown passes and a total of 390 yards and proved to any doubters that he is capable of success, no matter the receivers on the team. It will be interesting to see how he compares later in the season when playing tougher teams.

The Cincinnati Bengals were highly favored to win their first game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but after going into overtime the Steelers kicked an imperative field goal in the final 5 seconds to win the game 23-20. Bengals quarterback, Joe Burrow, struggled to do anything in the game, and managed to throw 4 interceptions and only completed 33 of his 53 pass attempts. The Steelers defense took advantage of Burrow and the rest of the Bengals and disappointing offensive performances which won the game.

Despite how these games turned out, each week will be more revealing of how the rest of the season will turn out. Just last year the Saints crushed the Packers 38-3 in their first game, but the Packers continued the rest of their season finishing with a 13-4 record compared to the Saints 8-9. The first week is always filled with blunders, miracle wins, and wild games that give only a taste of what is to come.