Sports

Week 1 is in the books and we finally have real football. No more speculation season, no more hypotheticals, no more mock drafts. Players are actually playing games, points are being scored, injuries are piling up and every snap matters. The NFL season is here and with it come real fantasy football results that shape leagues from Day 1. This is where we separate what’s noise from what’s signal. This is where every target, every carry, every injury means something for how we play this game.

Get excited because the speculation is over.

Week 1 gave us plenty to react to, and that’s exactly what we’re about to do. Let’s dive into the instant reactions that defined the fantasy football landscape in Week 1.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Liam Coen makes a statement

Coen’s debut could not have gone better. The Jaguars rolled the Panthers, 26-10, and Travis Etienne Jr. looked like a superstar. All the offseason chatter about Tank Bigsby or Bhayshul Tuten was just noise. Etienne handled the work with 16 carries for 143 yards, including a 71-yard run, and added three receptions. That’s RB1 usage with explosive upside.

Brian Thomas Jr. only caught one pass but salvaged his fantasy day with a rushing touchdown. The headliner in the pass game, however, was rookie Travis Hunter. Before kickoff, it was announced he’d play primarily on offense, and that’s exactly what happened. Hunter saw eight targets, caught six and looked like the future of this passing game. He could’ve had a monster day if Trevor Lawrence hit him on a deep ball that ended up intercepted. Tight end Brenton Strange chipped in 4-59 and continues to carve out a role.

Coen has this offense trending up.

Kansas City Chiefs: Wide receiver room takes another hit

The Chiefs season started with a nightmare. On the third play of the game, Xavier Worthy dislocated his shoulder after colliding with Travis Kelce. With Rashee Rice already suspended, this passing attack lost its best explosive threat before the offense even had a chance to settle in. What followed was one of the stalest offensive performances we’ve seen from a Patrick Mahomes-led team. Mahomes led the team in rushing with six carries for 57 yards and a touchdown, which tells you everything you need to know about the state of the ground game.

Hollywood Brown stepped into the WR1 role and did not disappoint, racking up 16 targets, 10 receptions and 99 yards. Nearly half of those yards came on a desperation heave, but volume is king and Brown clearly has it. Until Worthy returns and Rice gets back, it’s Hollywood season in Kansas City. If he’s somehow sitting on your waivers, go scoop him now.

San Francisco 49ers: Christian McCaffrey IS the offense

Coming into Week 1, the big question was how Christian McCaffrey’s calf would hold up. The answer? Just fine. CMC dominated touches with 22 carries and also led the team in targets, receptions and receiving yards. That’s not just involvement, that’s being the offense.

With George Kittle and Jauan Jennings leaving early with injuries, San Francisco leaned on the superstar running back to carry the load. Efficiency wasn’t elite, but when you touch the ball that much, it doesn’t need to be. McCaffrey is the safest RB bet in football as long as he’s healthy.

The bigger ripple effect is Brian Robinson Jr. He now steps into one of the best backup roles in fantasy because, if anything ever happens to CMC, Robinson becomes an instant plug-and-play RB1.

Regardless, as long as McCaffrey is upright, he’s going to be the centerpiece. That hasn’t changed and it’s not going to anytime soon.

Miami Dolphins: Panic button already

This Dolphins offense came out flat and got smacked around by the Colts in a way nobody saw coming. Tua Tagovailoa looked out of sync from the opening drive, the offensive line couldn’t hold up and the passing game had no answers. Tyreek Hill led the team with just four catches for 40 yards, Jaylen Waddle chipped in three for 30 and that was about it. For an offense we expect fireworks from, this was a dud of epic proportions. De'Von Achane was the only bright spot, ripping off 55 yards on seven carries and at least proving he was healthy after an offseason filled with soft tissue concerns. But the schedule ahead is brutal — Bills, Patriots, Jets, Browns all coming up.

If you invested in Miami pass-catchers, you have to ride it out, but you can’t feel good starting them right now. The panic button is being pressed early in South Beach.

Los Angeles Chargers: Everything clicked

The Chargers lit up Brazil on Friday night and Justin Herbert looked like the superstar quarterback fantasy managers paid for. Herbert threw for 318 yards, added 32 rushing and posted a sparkling 131.7 rating. What was most encouraging was how well the pass game was distributed. Quentin Johnston scored twice, Keenan Allen and Ladd McConkey worked the underneath routes, and Tyler Conklin got deep. Everybody ate in this offense, which is exactly what you want to see. Rookie Omarion Hampton’s 15 carries for 48 yards don’t scream breakout box score, but the fact that he was trusted with that workload in a difficult matchup is massive. He’s clearly part of the plan.

This was a statement game for the Chargers offense. They came out aggressive, they pushed the ball and they proved they’re going to be one of the fantasy engines of 2025. Buy in now, because the hype seems real.

Detroit Lions: Offense stuck in the mud

This divisional showdown with Green Bay was supposed to be a high-scoring affair. Instead, the Lions looked lost without former coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn. Jared Goff was uncomfortable from start to finish, pressured heavily by Micah Parsons and Lukas Van Ness, and didn’t throw a touchdown until under a minute remained in the game. Jahmyr Gibbs was bottled up on the ground with nine carries for 19 yards, though he did salvage his day in PPR formats with 10 catches. Amon-Ra St. Brown managed only 45 yards on four grabs while Jameson Williams had just 23 yards. The lone bright spot was Sam LaPorta with six catches for 79 yards. Rookie Isaac TeSlaa’s late touchdown came after the game was already out of reach.

This offense has stars all over the place but right now it’s clear they need to reestablish identity. If you drafted Lions weapons, don’t panic yet. Give them some time.

New York Jets: Justin Fields quiets the doubters

Nobody expected the Jets offense to look this polished in Week 1, but Justin Fields silenced a lot of critics with one of the most efficient games of his career. He went 16-of-22 for 218 yards, including a 33-yard TD strike to Garrett Wilson, and added two rushing touchdowns on the ground. That’s the dual-threat upside fantasy managers dream of.

Breece Hall picked up where he left off with 19 carries for over 100 yards and added 30 more as a receiver. Rookie Braelon Allen also found the end zone, giving this backfield a thunder-and-lightning punch. Tanner Engstrand’s offense leaned into RPO concepts, keeping the Steelers defense off balance all day.

This is the blueprint for Fields. He doesn’t have to throw 40 times. He just has to be efficient, hit his weapons when it counts and use his legs to finish drives. If this keeps up, Fields is a weekly top-10 option.

Las Vegas Raiders: Statement road win

My upset call cashed as the Raiders went into Foxborough and smacked the Patriots behind a massive day from Geno Smith. Smith threw for 362 yards, completed 70% of his passes and spread the ball around with ease. Jakobi Meyers pulled in eight for 97, Brock Bowers looked unguardable with five for 103 and Tre Tucker found the end zone. Even Michael Mayer got involved. Ashton Jeanty’s rushing line was ugly — 19 carries for 38 yards — but he did score, and the volume tells us everything we need to know.

Chip Kelly let it rip with an aggressive passing attack, and that’s the real takeaway. This isn’t going to be a conservative, ball-control team. Geno and these weapons are going to sling it. That’s great news for Meyers and Bowers every week, and it keeps Jeanty in the RB1 mix simply off workload. The Raiders are going to matter in fantasy.

Denver Broncos: Bo Nix still has work to do

It was a roller coaster season debut for second-year quarterback Bo Nix, and the mistakes were obvious. He forced throws late, tried to squeeze balls into tight coverage and ended the day with two interceptions. It wasn’t clean, but Denver still found a way to get it done, and from a fantasy lens, the right players got fed.

Courtland Sutton was the clear alpha, commanding usage and finding the end zone. Troy Franklin got six targets, caught four for 44 yards and at least showed he’ll have a role. Marvin Mims Jr. was involved but quiet, and there was nothing from Pat Bryant.

The backfield told the bigger story. J.K. Dobbins was steady with 16 carries for 63 yards and a 19-yard touchdown, but it was R.J. Harvey who provided the juice with six carries for 70 yards, including a 50-yard rip, reminding everyone why he was one of the most explosive backs in college last year. The Tennessee defense deserves credit for bottling up Nix, but 25-of-40 for 176 and two picks is not good enough. Denver has pieces, but this quarterback has to grow up fast.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tests don't get much tougher than this for rookie quarterback in his first NFL game. 

Cam Ward — the No. 1 pick in April's draft — made his NFL debut for the Tennessee Titans Sunday against a Denver Broncos defense projected by many to be the best in the league. In a game in which Broncos quarterback Bo Nix committed three turnovers, Ward and Tennessee's offense managed to keep things close. 

But Denver's defense ultimately proved too tough as the Titans failed to score a touchdown in a 20-12 Broncos win. 

Ward, as expected, faced consistent pressure from a pass rush led by Pro Bowler Nik Bonitto. When Ward found time to throw, options were slim against a secondary featuring reigning Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II. The result was a Titans unit that generated just 135 yards of offense. 

Ward had his moments and avoided major mistakes in a turnover-free effort. He was also failed at times by his receivers, including two big fourth-quarter drops by Calvin Ridley on downfield strikes.

But in the end, the Broncos sacked Ward five times, including once in the red zone and twice more during a critical fourth-quarter possession after a muffed Broncos punt return that put Tennessee in field-goal range.

Late sacks end Titans' best hope for upset 

Tennessee took over possession early in the fourth quarter at Denver's 24-yard line while trailing 13-12 and needing just a field goal to take the lead. But Ward took a second-down sack that pushed the Titans back to the 38. 

An ensuing third-down sack by Zach Allen pushed the Titans back well out of field-goal range to force a punt.

Tennessee had two more chances to tie the game after the Broncos took a 20-12 lead on a J.K. Dobbins touchdown run. 

Ridley threw a would-be first-down strike on third-and-10 to Ridley near the Broncos 30-yard line. But it ricocheted off Ridley's hands incomplete, and the Titans punted again from midfield. 

Then the Broncos turned the ball over on downs at the Tennessee 36 with 1:04 remaining. But the Titans failed to secure a first down on a drive where Ridley dropped another would-be first-down pass that hit him in the hands. 

In the, Ward completed 12 of 29 passes for 112 yards with no touchdowns or turnovers. He lost 48 yards on five sacks. But there were moments of encouraging play from the rookie quarterback to build on for Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams.

And Tennessee's defense looked stout itself in a game that generated four Broncos turnovers. 

This story will be updated.

It wasn't pretty, but it counted, as the San Francisco 49ers picked up a 17-13 away win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

Quarterback Brock Purdy, fresh off a five-year, $265 million extension, had a lot to prove heading into Seattle — with mixed results. Mike Macdonald's Seahawks defense was in full force, picking off Purdy twice; there was also a pair of missed field goals from Jake Moody that made the final drive do-or-die.

But the 25-year-old quarterback got it done in the end. With less than two minutes remaining in the game, down three points, on third-and-three, Purdy overcame the Seahawks' pressure to scramble far out of the pocket.

His throw to the end zone was risky, with cornerback Tariq Woolen hovering near Jake Tonges, Purdy's target. But though Woolen got his fingers on it, Tonges was the one who came down with the ball.

On the drive before, Macdonald had opted to go for a field goal on fourth-and-one instead of going for it. The Seahawks took a 13-10 lead with Jason Myers' kick, and turned things over to the defense to get it done. But Purdy had a different idea.

After the 49ers took the lead, Seattle had about a minute and a half to reach the end zone. And here, Purdy got an assist from defensive end Nick Bosa, who shoved Abe Lucas right into Sam Darnold's throwing arm, and smothered the ball after it popped out.

This story will be updated.