Week 1 NFL Winners and Losers: Watson Struggles, Bears Shine, Titans Falter

For the first time in eight months, there is a full plate of NFL action to digest. Week 1 rolled along on Sunday with an unforgettable opener between the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans, an offensive showcase from the Chicago Bears and, on the not-so-positive end, a clunker from Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns.

While the small sample size of one game can cloud reality, there are some cases where Week 1 tells the football world all it needs to know about a particular team or individual player. In Watson's case, a poor season debut might be all it takes to write the book on his run as the Browns' starting quarterback. For the Bears, a 59-point onslaught is compelling evidence that they are in for a monster year.

In an 18-week season, there is still ample time to right wrongs and for strengths to devolve into weaknesses. But for now, some are off to hot starts while others could not have opened the year in a worse fashion.

Here are the biggest winners and losers from Sunday's Week 1 action.

Loser: Deshaun Watson

The Deshaun Watson experience in Cleveland might not last too much longer. While coach Todd Monken called it "unfair" to place all the blame for the Browns' 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on the starting quarterback, he conceded that he needs to "evaluate everything" before he commits to Watson as the starter for Week 2.

The evaluation is as simple as this: Watson threw an interception on the Browns' opening drive and coughed up a fumble (which Cleveland recovered, to be fair) later in the first quarter. He also took five sacks in a game the Browns lost by four possessions. Nothing about those numbers indicated that Watson is capable of orchestrating a serviceable offense.

In his defense, Watson completed 73% of his throws and connected on a 46-yard deep ball to Denzel Boston for a garbage-time touchdown. But it was with him on the field that Cleveland fell into a 31-0 hole by the 12:08 mark of the third quarter. The Browns were entirely non-competitive and looked more like a team that will fight for the No. 1 overall draft pick than one that will capitalize on its young talent in 2026.

Shedeur Sanders could be in the starting lineup by the home opener in Week 3.

Winner: Bears offense

Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson has goals beyond just a Super Bowl, and he took a major step toward fulfilling them in the season opener. The heralded offensive mastermind said this preseason that he aims to field the highest-scoring offense in league history -- one that rivals the 2013 Denver Broncos, who averaged 37.9 points per game.

Johnson's team nearly hit that number in the first half alone on Sunday. The Bears racked up 31 points by halftime and kept their foot on the gas over the final half hour of a 59-37 win over the Carolina Panthers. The final score was one the NFL had never seen before, and it put Chicago on pace to contend for the record it seeks.

With Johnson's arrival in the Windy City last year came the emergence of a relentless rushing attack, and it remains tremendously potent in the early going of 2026. D'Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai and Caleb Williams combined for 291 yards on the ground, and Williams scored a pair of touchdowns with his legs. That was in addition to the 269 aerial yards and two more touchdowns Williams provided in the passing game.

Loser: Titans

The Robert Saleh era is off to a bleak start in Tennessee. Wins were always going to be hard to come by this year, and after an uninspiring effort in the opener, it might not take more than one hand to count the number of times the Titans will end up in the win column by season's end. Tennessee dropped a 23-10 clunker to the New York Jets on its home field to usher in Saleh's tenure.

This was supposed to be one of the most winnable spots on the Titans' schedule. Only a home date with the Browns in October is more enticing in that regard. But instead of Cam Ward taking a step forward against a maligned defense and Saleh fielding an improved defense of his own, neither of those ambitions came true. The Titans managed a paltry 195 yards of total offense while allowing Breece Hall to run for over 100 and Geno Smith to complete 79.2% of his throws.

Winner: Jesse Minter and Joe Brady

Of the 10 new head coaches in the NFL, none face higher expectations than Jesse Minter and Joe Brady. They did not inherit bottom-dwelling franchises like many of their fellow rookies but rather stepped into the catbird seats on ships that hope to sail to the Super Bowl. It is incredibly early in their careers, but they already look like they could be on a collision course for a postseason battle.

Minter's task is to elevate the Ravens' defense while maximizing the prime of Lamar Jackson's career. It is too early to tell whether the defense is that much better. But one thing is obvious, and it is that the offense will be just fine. In a 41-23 rout of the Indianapolis Colts, Derrick Henry scored three times to climb into third on the NFL's all-time rushing touchdown leaderboard and Lamar Jackson filled the stat sheet with 324 passing yards and two total touchdowns.

The ultimate measure of Brady's first year will be whether he takes the Bills deeper into the postseason than his predecessor. Taking an already otherworldly offense to an unfathomable new level would help. That is what he appeared to do in his debut when he helped Josh Allen overcome his biggest enemy: The Houston Texans defense. Buffalo put 36 points on the board against the NFL's most fearsome unit and did just enough defensively to hang on for a five-point win.

Loser: Lions defense

Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph are on the PUP list and Terrion Arnold is off the roster following his offseason arrest. Those absences from the Detroit Lions' secondary did not seem like much of an issue until the second half of the team's 2026 debut, but then the defense went off the rails. The unit surrendered 30 points in the second half and overtime during a 31-30 escape against the New Orleans Saints.

The first-half shutout the defense pitched is an afterthought. Fortunately for the Lions, the meltdown did not cost them the game. But the bitter taste of Tyler Shough carving up the defense for 410 yards and erasing a 21-0 deficit will linger in Detroit's mouth.

Winner: Bengals

Things got dicey in the fourth quarter when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers trimmed into the margin, but a healthy enough buffer kept the Cincinnati Bengals on top for a 1-0 start to the year. Zac Taylor's squad showed off everything it was supposed to in the first game of what could be a special year if the defense makes strides. Joe Burrow and the offense were as effective as always (even on a relatively quiet day for the star receivers) and that previously porous defense finally held up its end of the deal.

A retooled unit that features prized trade acquisitions and ballyhooed free agency pickups forced Baker Mayfield to surrender three fumbles -- two in the first half and one in the fourth quarter. It also bottled up a deep Tampa Bay running back group and returned one of those loose balls for a scoop-and-score touchdown.

If this is a harbinger of a strong year for the defense, then the Bengals will have all the tools they need to finally get back to the playoffs.