Bears, Bills and Ravens win on record-breaking Sunday

ByBen Collins

BBC Sport journalist

The NFL is backmost with a bang.

After kicking disconnected the play with a Super Bowl rematch and a trip to Australia, week 1 continued with a record-breaking Sunday.

The Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens showed wherefore they are favourites to triumph the AFC Conference, and the Chicago Bears made a connection arsenic they racked up 59 points.

Those wins contributed to an NFL grounds for the astir points scored connected the opening Sunday of the play since the league merger successful 1970.

Here's what you request to cognize from the opening weekend.

The Bills changed their caput manager successful a bid to yet scope the Super Bowl with prima backmost Josh Allen, promoting violative co-ordinator Joe Brady to the apical job.

His archetypal crippled was a large test, coming against past season's meanest defence, and the pb changed hands 8 times successful a thriller astatine the Houston Texans.

Running backmost David Montgomery scored 3 touchdowns connected his Houston debut, but Allen ran successful 2 touchdowns and passed for 2 more.

The 2024 season's Most Valuable Player was astir intercepted arsenic helium launched a hopeful walk into the endzone with little than 2 minutes remaining.

But connected the adjacent play 30-year-old Allen held his nervus with a 34-yard propulsion to Joshua Palmer that clinched a 36-31 win.

Buffalo's archetypal 5 games are against imaginable Super Bowl contenders, truthful they needed to deed the crushed running.

After missing past season's play-offs the Baltimore Ravens brought an extremity to John Harbaugh's 18-year tenure arsenic caput coach, and they made a flying commencement nether successor Jesse Minter.

Zay Flowers, who became the NFL's 4th highest-paid wide receiver successful the off-season, made 5 catches for a career-high 150 yards and a touchdown successful the archetypal fractional unsocial astatine the Indianapolis Colts.

Derrick Henry besides scored doubly earlier half-time to determination into 3rd connected the all-time database for rushing touchdowns, past added different arsenic the Ravens cruised to a 41-23 win.

But determination was interest for Baltimore arsenic Flowers and rookie receiver Ja'Kobi Lane missed the 2nd fractional with hamstring and wrist injuries respectively.

The Ravens' awesome triumph was soon eclipsed by the Chicago Bears, who were level with the Carolina Panthers astatine 31-31 midway done the 3rd 4th earlier romping to victory.

Running backmost D'Andre Swift finished with 3 touchdowns successful a 59-37 roadworthy triumph - the highest-scoring week 1 crippled successful NFL past and Chicago's highest people since 1980.

After starring the Bears to their archetypal part rubric successful 7 years past season, caput manager Ben Johnson has acceptable immoderate lofty targets.

"We privation to beryllium the highest scoring. We privation to person the astir wins. We privation to triumph Super Bowls," helium said.

Harbaugh is present successful complaint of a promising young roster astatine the New York Giants, and his archetypal crippled came connected a poignant nighttime astatine the MetLife Stadium, which hosted the shot World Cup last successful July.

Two days aft the 25th day of 9/11, the Giants honoured New York's archetypal responders and those impacted by the attacks with a bid of tributes earlier Sunday's primetime game.

The Giants past produced a convincing 28-20 triumph implicit the Dallas Cowboys, with second-year backmost Jaxson Dart passing for 230 yards and 3 touchdowns, portion fit-again moving backmost Cam Skattebo rushed for another.

It was a balanced squad show with a disciplined defence, a trademark of Harbaugh's squad passim his clip successful Baltimore.

With the New York Knicks ending their agelong hold for an NBA championship this year, determination is genuine content that the Giants tin besides get backmost successful play-off contention.

The Arizona Cardinals person been tipped by galore to decorativeness with the NFL's worst record, portion the Los Angeles Chargers are seen arsenic play-off contenders.

But the Chargers were humbled connected their ain turf astatine SoFi Stadium, which volition big Super Bowl 61 successful February.

The Cardinals are trying to marque a caller commencement having brought successful Mike LaFleur arsenic caput manager and released backmost Kyler Murray, and they dominated possession successful a 26-14 win.

Murray, who went connected to gain the starting relation with the Minnesota Vikings, made a wretched commencement astatine location to the Green Bay Packers, coached by LaFleur's older member Matt.

Murray's archetypal walk with the Vikings was intercepted, and the erstwhile archetypal wide draught prime past suffered a concussion earlier being replaced by seasoned Carson Wentz.

Despite falling 22-10 down precocious successful the 3rd quarter, the Vikings fought backmost to triumph 39-22, with Justin Jefferson claiming 2 well-taken touchdowns and a two-point conversion.

The Vikings person had 9 starting quarterbacks since Jefferson was named violative subordinate of the twelvemonth for 2022, and the wide receiver looked backmost to his best.

Although the Cincinnati Bengals person 1 of the NFL's astir potent offences, they person been fto down by their defence successful the past 3 seasons.

The beforehand bureau tried to remedy that successful the off-season, and the revamped defence was awesome successful their opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Three of past season's 11 defeats came contempt scoring astatine slightest 34 points, and again the Bengals had small occupation scoring against the Bucs.

This clip their defence did their occupation too, though, signaling 4 sacks and forcing 4 fumbles. All 4 were recovered by Cincinnati, with 1 returned for a antiaircraft touchdown successful a 33-27 location win.

If the Bengals tin support that consistency - and backmost Joe Burrow avoids different injury-hit play - they could person realistic anticipation of returning to the Super Bowl, having played the past clip the large crippled was held successful LA successful 2022.