National Football League

NFL Week 1 Top Moments: Rams, Chiefs, Saints, Broncos open with big wins

Updated Sep. 12, 2021 11:40 p.m. ET

The NFL is back with a 14-game slate Sunday to fill the football-shaped hole in your heart.

Thursday night started things off with Tampa Bay-Dallas in the first NFL game in seven months, but things really heated up Sunday, starting a stretch of action-packed weekends that won't cease until next February.

There is so much to look forward to this year, and we've got you covered through it all.

Here are the top moments from the first Sunday of the season.

Los Angeles Rams 34, Chicago Bears 14

Matthew Stafford made his debut with the Rams on Sunday night, and what an entrance he made, showing off his rocket arm on a 67-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson, giving the Rams an early 7-0 lead over the Bears.

The Bears closed the gap, 13-7, heading into halftime, thanks to this rush from David Montgomery.

Both teams traded off scores in the third.

First up, Stafford found Cooper Kupp on a 56-yard bomb, then rookie QB Justin Fields ran it in for the Bears to make it a one-score game – marking his first NFL TD.

The Rams fired back with back-to-back scores from Darrell Henderson Jr. and Robert Woods to give Los Angeles a 20-point cushion as the minutes ticked down, and things ended in a 34-14 win for Stafford and Co.

New Orleans Saints 38, Green Bay Packers 3

Aaron Rodgers' new interview with Erin Andrews drew all the attention ahead of the game.

Aaron Rodgers on considering retirement last offseason: '100%…it was a possibility'

NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers sat down with Erin Andrews to discuss his eventful offseason and his standing with the Packers' organization.

But once things got going, it was all about the Saints. Alvin Kamara struck first to put New Orleans up 7.

Then, Jameis Winston converted on a fourth-and-goal as the Saints built an impressive 17-0 lead.

The second half was no better for the Packers, with Rodgers continuing to make mistakes.

Meanwhile, Winston's touchdown tally reached five as the Saints roared to a 38-3 edge.

With the game out of reach and Rodgers struggling, the Packers went to Jordan Love at QB to finish the game. The water-cooler chatter around Rodgers and the Packers should be interesting Monday morning following the QB's worst career loss.

Denver Broncos 27, New York Giants 13

Veteran Von Miller had Daniel Jones on the run early on.

But the Giants hit paydirt first when Jones found Sterling Shepard.

But Teddy Bridgewater's solid passing and fancy footwork pushed the Broncos into control.

The Broncos got a scoring boost from Melvin Gordon in the final moments of what turned out to be an easy 27-13 win.

Kansas City Chiefs 33, Cleveland Browns 29

These teams enter the season considered two of the AFC's best, and things got heated early – Browns safety Ronnie Harrison was ejected in the first quarter after shoving a Chiefs coach on the sideline.

Early on, it was all Cleveland. Nick Chubb gave his team a 22-10 lead before the half with an 18-yard scoring scamper.

But the Chiefs weren't going to lay down, and Patrick Mahomes was the main reason, making big plays time and again.

The Chiefs finally took the lead when Mahomes connected with star tight end Travis Kelce for the second time, following a botched punt by the Browns.

The defense would hold from there as Kansas City earned a comeback win.

Miami Dolphins 17, New England Patriots 16

Tua Tagovailoa put the Dolphins up first with a scramble off the right edge.

Patriots rookie QB Mac Jones notched his first career touchdown pass and gave New England the lead when he hit Nelson Agholor late in the second quarter.

It was a back-and-forth battle, with the Dolphins taking the lead on an Alabama connection – Tagovailoa to Jaylen Waddle. That would be enough as the Dolphins held on for the win.

San Francisco 49ers 41, Detroit Lions 33

Rookie QB Trey Lance got some early reps … and made the most of them.

The 49ers defense came up BIG near the end of the first half to go up 28-10.

Jimmy Garoppolo took the reigns from there as San Francisco continued to dominate, and although Detroit scored 16 points in the fourth quarter, it was too little, too late for the Lions.

Cincinnati Bengals 27, Minnesota Vikings 24, OT

Joe Burrow returned to the field!

And welcome to the NFL, Ja'Marr Chase. He pulled in a 50-yarder to put the Bengals up 14-7 at half.

The Bengals scored again and hit a field goal, but Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook punched back for the Vikings to come within 3, 24-21.

Greg Joseph hit a 53-yarder to send the matchup to overtime …

… Where Evan McPherson struck with the dagger, sealing a 27-24 win.

Philadelphia Eagles 32, Atlanta Falcons 6

Former Alabama teammates Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith wasted little time getting things going in Atlanta.

Hurts and Co. continued to put a hurting on the Falcons' defense in the second half.

Hurts finished the game 27-for-35 for 264 yards and three touchdowns.

Seattle Seahawks 28, Indianapolis Colts 16

Russell Wilson's first completion of the season? A touchdown, of course.

But how about the Chris Carson run that set it up?

Wilson and Tyler Lockett were back at it. At the half, Wilson was 9-for-11 for 166 yards, good for three touchdowns, and the Seahawks led 21-10 at halftime.

Wilson continued to pad his stats in the second half, including linking up with DK Metcalf on this score.

He finished 18-for-23 for 254 yards and four touchdowns, as the Seahawks cruised to a 28-16 victory.

Houston Texans 37, Jacksonville Jaguars 21

The Trevor Lawrence era in Jacksonville officially began.

The Texans went airborne as Tyrod Taylor dimed up Brandin Cooks DEEP.

Mark Ingram II punched it in to open the scoring.

Lawrence even got himself one!

Houston turned up the heat for the remainder of the game.

Pittsburgh Steelers 23, Buffalo Bills 16

No biggie, just T.J. Watt doing T.J. Watt things.

Josh Allen found Gabriel Davis to put the Bills up 10-0 heading into the half.

Then, the Steel Curtain battened down the hatches. They held Buffalo's offense dormant through the third quarter, scoring 13 unanswered points before coming up with a huge special teams play to take a 20-10 lead.

Pittsburgh held from there, gutting out a 23-16 victory in Buffalo.

Carolina Panthers 19, New York Jets 14

Sam Darnold went deep to Robby Anderson to put Carolina up 9-0.

On the other side, Zach Wilson threw his first career touchdown on a little improvisation, then converted on the 2-point try to bring the Jets within a score, 16-8.

The rookie QB linked up with Corey Davis for another, but the Panthers warded off their two-point conversion and escaped with a 19-14 win.

Los Angeles Chargers 20, Washington Football Team 16

Justin Herbert began the initial drive of his sophomore year with a perfect drive – 6-for-6 for 40 yards – and Austin Ekeler punched it in first for the Bolts.

Ryan Fitzpatrick went down with an injury near the end of the second half, but backup Taylor Heinicke paired up with Terry McLaurin for this INCREDIBLE play.

Then, Heinicke threw an 11-yard TD to Logan Thomas to take a 16-13 lead early in the 3rd.

More on Fitzpatrick's injury:

Herbert answered right back in the fourth, connecting with Mike Williams on what would be the decisive score.

Arizona Cardinals 38, Tennessee Titans 13

Julio Jones made his highly anticipated debut as a Titan, and Tennessee fans couldn't get enough of seeing the star receiver in blue and silver.

But DeAndre Hopkins reminded us not to forget about him.

Oh, yeah, then there's a guy on Arizona's defense named Chandler Jones. He had three sacks in the first quarter, and five in the game!

Kyler Murray was just out there toying with defenders, and the Cards rolled to a 38-13 victory.

Murray finished with 289 yards and four touchdowns.

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