The NFL is back — and apparently nobody told the defences.
Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season delivered ridiculous scorelines, huge comebacks, late drama and enough social-media meltdowns to remind us exactly why we’ve missed it.
If you’re relatively new to the NFL, don’t worry about trying to catch up with every single game. We’ve done the hard work for you.
Here are the moments everyone was talking about after Week 1.
🐻 THE HYPE TRAIN: Caleb Williams and the Bears score 59
Chicago Bears 59-37 Carolina Panthers
Yes, you read that correctly.
Fifty-nine points.
Chicago’s offence exploded against Carolina, racking up eight touchdowns in what became the highest-scoring Week 1 game in NFL history.
And at the centre of it was Caleb Williams.
The Bears quarterback completed 21 of 29 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns, but also caused problems with his legs, rushing for another 65 yards and two scores.
That’s four touchdowns for Williams and 59 points for Chicago.
Unsurprisingly, NFL social media went into overdrive.
🇬🇧 UK Rookie Take
If you’re wondering why there’s so much excitement surrounding Caleb Williams, games like this are the reason.
The former No.1 overall draft pick entered the NFL with enormous expectations. Chicago now has an offence capable of putting serious points on the board around him.
After Week 1, the Bears hype train has officially left the station.
🧀 THE MELTDOWN: What on earth happened to Green Bay?
Minnesota Vikings 39-22 Green Bay Packers
For a while, everything looked pretty comfortable for Green Bay.
Then the game completely changed.
The Packers led 22-10 before Minnesota scored the final 29 points of the game to complete an extraordinary comeback.
Even more remarkably, Minnesota did it after new quarterback Kyler Murray left the game with a concussion in the first quarter.
Backup Carson Wentz stepped in and helped engineer the comeback, including finding superstar receiver Justin Jefferson for a 39-yard touchdown.
Packers social media reacted about as calmly as you’d expect.
Which is to say: not calmly at all.
🇬🇧 UK Rookie Take
This is one of those games that demonstrates how quickly momentum can change in the NFL.
A 12-point advantage can look comfortable. A couple of possessions later, everything has fallen apart.
For Packers fans, the manner of the defeat will probably hurt considerably more than the scoreline itself.
📉 Meltdown of the Week: Green Bay being outscored 29-0 to finish the game.
🦸 THE SUPERHERO: Josh Allen does Josh Allen things
Buffalo Bills 36-31 Houston Texans
There are certain players who seem to thrive when everything starts getting chaotic.
Josh Allen is one of them.
Houston took a 31-30 lead late in the fourth quarter, leaving Buffalo needing another answer.
Allen provided it.
The Bills quarterback led the decisive drive and connected with Joshua Palmer for a 34-yard touchdown with just 1:36 remaining.
Allen finished with 334 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns.
It was also Allen’s first career victory in Houston.
🇬🇧 UK Rookie Take
If you’re new to the NFL and wondering why Josh Allen is one of the league’s biggest stars, this is the sort of game you need to watch.
Big arm. Running ability. Late-game drama.
When Buffalo desperately needs something to happen, Allen has an extraordinary habit of making it happen.
🤯 Stat of the Week contender: Four total touchdowns against a Houston defence that entered the season with huge expectations.
🇦🇺 THE HISTORY MAKER: The NFL goes Down Under
San Francisco 49ers 27-7 Los Angeles Rams
London? Been there.
Germany? Done that.
Brazil? Yep.
Next stop: Australia.
The NFL staged its first regular-season game in Australia as the Rams and 49ers met at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Unfortunately for Rams fans, the historic occasion didn’t produce the result they wanted.
San Francisco dominated 27-7, with Brock Purdy throwing three touchdown passes.
The atmosphere and scale of the event also became a major talking point online, further demonstrating just how far the NFL’s international ambitions now stretch.
🇬🇧 UK Rookie Take
This one should be particularly interesting to British NFL fans.
We’ve watched the London Games develop from an experiment into an established part of the NFL calendar.
Australia is another sign that the league increasingly sees its future as a global one.
And if the NFL can fill huge stadiums thousands of miles away from the United States, international games aren’t going anywhere.
🌍 Bigger picture: London isn’t the only international NFL market anymore.
🗽 THE UPSET: The Giants spoil Dallas’ opening night
New York Giants 28-20 Dallas Cowboys
There are few things NFL social media enjoys more than the Dallas Cowboys losing.
And doing it against the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football?
That’s basically handing the internet an open goal.
The Giants began the John Harbaugh era with a 28-20 divisional victory, ending a long run of Dallas dominance in the rivalry.
Jaxson Dart and the new-look Giants offence gave New York supporters plenty to get excited about — while Cowboys fans were already asking uncomfortable questions after just one game.
The Giants’ own social accounts weren’t exactly shy about enjoying the result either.
🇬🇧 UK Rookie Take
Think of Cowboys-Giants as one of the NFL’s heavyweight rivalries.
They’re both in the NFC East, they play twice every regular season and there’s very little love lost between them.
So when the Giants beat Dallas under the lights in Week 1, the reaction was always going to be enormous.
🦁 THE HEART-STOPPER: Detroit survives
Detroit Lions 31-30 New Orleans Saints
Some games are straightforward.
This wasn’t one of them.
Detroit appeared to have control of the game before allowing New Orleans back into it, eventually needing overtime to escape with a 31-30 victory.
The Saints piled up passing yards and repeatedly threatened to steal the game before Detroit finally stopped a two-point conversion attempt in overtime.
🇬🇧 UK Rookie Take
This is exactly why NFL fans constantly talk about games not being over until they’re actually over.
Detroit won.
Lions fans aged approximately six years in the process.
Sometimes that’s all you need to know.
😰 Stress Level: 10/10.
📊 THE CRAZIEST STAT: Week 1 couldn’t stop scoring
Perhaps the best way to summarise the opening weekend isn’t a player or even a particular game.
It’s this number:
791 points.
NFL teams combined to score 791 points across Week 1, tying the Super Bowl-era Week 1 record set in 2012.
Ten teams scored at least 30 points.
Chicago scored 59.
Baltimore scored 41.
Minnesota scored 39.
Buffalo scored 36.
Jacksonville scored 34.
If this was your first proper weekend watching the NFL, you chose a pretty good one.
🇬🇧 UK Rookie Take
Don’t assume every NFL weekend is going to be this bonkers. But equally…Don’t assume it won’t be.
🏆 UK Rookie Week 1 Awards
🔥 Hype Train: Caleb Williams & the Chicago Bears
🦸 Hero: Josh Allen
📉 Meltdown: Green Bay Packers
🌍 Moment: NFL arrives in Australia
😰 Nail-biter: Lions 31-30 Saints
😂 Social-media gift: Dallas losing to the Giants
🤯 Stat: 791 total points
🏈 Game we’d tell a Rookie to watch: Bills 36-31 Texans
Welcome back, NFL.
Which Week 1 moment got you talking the most?
Join the conversation in the UK Rookie Fan Forum and tell us your biggest winner, biggest disappointment and wildest overreaction from Week 1.
