The NFL season officially started on Thursday, Sept. 4th, with Thursday Night Football between the defending champions the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys. The clash that opened the season was held in Philadelphia and ended 24-20 Eagles, defensive lineman Jalen Carter was ejected from the game before the first play for spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
Elsewhere, the first Sunday slate of games started. This included a matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers, led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, against the New York Jets. He made his return to New York after his controversial time with the Jets. This game was an instant classic, as Rodgers rolled back the clock and led the Steelers to a 34-32 victory. After the game, Rodgers added more fuel to the fire by stating, “I was happy to beat everyone associated with the Jets,” According to NBC Sports.
All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons made his home debut for the Green Bay Packers against the Detroit Lions, the latter coming off a season in which they had the most wins in franchise history. This was after his shocking trade from the Cowboys that saw the Cowboys receive defensive tackle Kenny Clark, a 2026 first round pick and a 2027 first round pick, in exchange for Parsons. The game ended 27-13 Packers.
In Denver, rookie No. 1 pick Cam Ward and the Tennessee Titans faced off against the Denver Broncos, led by Bo Nix and last year’s Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II, in what would be a hard-fought win for the Broncos 20-12.
On Sunday Sept. 7 night, the Baltimore Ravens, led by two-time league MVP Lamar Jackson, went into Buffalo, New York to face the reigning MVP Josh Allen in a playoff rematch from last year. The Ravens led 40-25. With just four minutes left in the game, the Bills would ultimately come back winning 41-40.
To end off the first week, the Minnesota Vikings would go into Soldier Field to face off against the former No. 1 pick Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears. The Vikings came back from losing 17-7 to winning 27-24.
Week two kicked off with a highly anticipated matchup on Thursday, Sept. 11 between the Washington Commanders, led by reigning Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels, and the Green Bay Packers, led by quarterback Jordan Love. The Packers won 27-18.
During the Sunday Sept. 14 slate of games, there was a Super Bowl rematch between the Eagles, led by Jalen Hurts, at the Kansas City Chiefs, led by Patrick Mahomes. On Sunday Night Football, there was a high-powered matchup between the Atlanta Falcons, led by quarterback Michael Penix, against the Vikings.
To end out the week, there was a Monday Sept. 15 night double-header. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coming off a 23-20 victory against the Falcons, traveled to Houston to play the Texans. Later on Monday night, the Las Vegas Raiders, led by veteran head coach Pete Carroll, played host to the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers came off a great performance in São Paulo, Brazil where they took down the Chiefs 27-21.