2026 season · Week 1 · 2026-09-15

Caleb Williams drops 41 in a 59-37 track meet, and Mike opens the season with the league's top score.

The highest-scoring Week 1 in NFL history, three-touchdown Sundays for King Henry and Swift, and one league team that forgot to show up. Week 1 is in the books.

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Standings & Playoff Predictor

Around the NFL

What happened this week, for fantasy purposes

If you had Bears–Panthers going 59–37 on your bingo card, congratulations, you are a liar. Caleb Williams put up 334 total yards and four touchdowns, D'Andre Swift scored three times, and the two teams combined for the highest-scoring Week 1 game the NFL has ever played. Sunday's slate as a whole averaged a record 53.3 points a game, which is great news if you started skill players and terrible news if you started a defense.

Elsewhere the ground game did the heavy lifting. Derrick Henry ran in three scores for Baltimore, Jahmyr Gibbs went for 186 yards and two touchdowns, and Bijan Robinson piled up 173 yards on the way to a 35-point fantasy day. Josh Allen threw four touchdowns and engineered a 96-yard drive to win it late, which is a very Josh Allen thing to do. Rookie Jaxson Dart threw three touchdowns to beat Dallas on Sunday night, and Tyler Shough threw for 410 yards in New Orleans and still lost 31–30 in overtime to Detroit, because of course he did.

Now the bad news. Ja'Marr Chase caught two passes for 12 yards. Drake London, Kyle Pitts and Colston Loveland (zero catches) were all invisible. Matthew Stafford and the Rams managed 7 points in Australia against the 49ers, and Christian McCaffrey got 32 touches without doing much with them. The injury report is already ugly: A.J. Brown's ankle is expected to cost him around six weeks, Brock Bowers is out with a knee injury, Zay Flowers went for 150 yards before pulling a hamstring, Isiah Pacheco landed on IR, and Kyler Murray left Sunday's game in Green Bay, handing the Vikings' offense to Carson Wentz.

Sources:ESPN NFL.com Sports Illustrated Yahoo Sports FOX Sports Sleeper

Quick hits

Biggest blowout. Raiders 27, Dolphins 13, with Ashton Jeanty running for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Cardinals over Chargers 26–14 was the upset of the weekend, and the 49ers held the Rams to 7 in Australia.
Closest call. Lions 31, Saints 30 in overtime. Eagles 24, Commanders 22 and Seahawks 13, Patriots 10 in the Wednesday opener were the other one-score sweats.
Breakouts. Keon Coleman went 8 for 112 and a score, Hollywood Brown saw 16 targets, and Caleb Williams looked like the QB1 everybody kept saying he could be.
Duds. Chase (2–12), London, Pitts, Loveland, Stafford. Joe Burrow also looked out of sorts, which rarely lasts, but ask Shane how Week 1 felt.
Injuries to watch. A.J. Brown (ankle, ~6 weeks), Brock Bowers (knee), Zay Flowers (hamstring), Isiah Pacheco (IR), Kyler Murray (left game). Patrick Mahomes returned from his ACL and looked fine, thanks for asking.

League of Gangstars

Week 1 in the league

6 games · 1,349.7 total points · 112.5 per team

High score

137.96

Mike

Low score

48.60

Conor

Biggest blowout

+56.0

Kevin over Conor

Closest game

9.2

Caleb over Drew

Gimme Yo Change!

Ethan

109.86–137.96

proj 110.4 – 104.2

Game of the weekUpset

The Washington C-Words

Mike

Mike's Washington C-Words posted the week's high score, and did it the hard way: with Caleb Williams dropping 41.26 for the other side and the Chargers D/ST contributing a clean zero. David Montgomery (27.4), Zay Flowers (23.5) and a 21.7-point Dallas Goedert game carried the day. Ethan got the QB of the week and still lost by 28, thanks mostly to Ja'Marr Chase (2.2) and George Kittle (2.2) combining for fewer points than his kicker.

Box scoreShow

Gimme Yo Change!

WR	Ja'Marr Chase WR · CIN	2.2	16.4
RB	Breece Hall RB · NYJ	18.8	15.0
WR	DeVonta Smith WR · PHI	6.8	12.2
RB	Bucky Irving RB · TB	16.8	12.4
RB/WR	Jadarian Price RB · SEA	6.8	13.2
TE	George Kittle TE · SF	2.2	6.6
QB	Caleb Williams QB · CHI	41.3	19.2
D/ST	Ravens D/ST D/ST	8.0	6.7
K	Jake Bates K · DET	7.0	8.7
Bench		25.3

The Washington C-Words

WR	CeeDee Lamb WR · DAL	12.9	14.2
WR	Drake London WR · ATL	4.5	11.0
RB	David Montgomery RB · HOU	27.4	11.7
RB/WR	Zay Flowers WR · BAL	23.5	11.8
TE	Dallas Goedert TE · PHI	21.7	8.9
RB	Chase Brown RB · CIN	16.3	14.2
QB	Patrick Mahomes QB · KC	25.7	18.1
D/ST	Chargers D/ST D/ST	0.0	7.4
K	Andy Borregales K · NE	6.0	6.9
Bench		35.8

SHOUGH ME YOUR TDS

Nick

137.40–122.46

proj 112.4 – 111.5

Slim Pickens

Shane

The rookie is real. Jaxson Dart threw for 32.6 in his Sunday night win over Dallas and Nick's receivers (St. Brown 23.7, Olave 23.2, Moore 18.5) did the rest in a 137.4-point opener. Shane actually got the two best running back games in the matchup, with D'Andre Swift (31.9) and Ashton Jeanty (29.7), but Burrow's 16.16 and a combined 9.1 points from Pickens, Harrison Jr. and his kicker left Slim Pickens 15 short. Shane also left 60.2 points on the bench, which will sting.

Box scoreShow

SHOUGH ME YOUR TDS

WR	Amon-Ra St. Brown WR · DET	23.7	15.4
RB	Omarion Hampton RB · LAC	8.3	16.1
WR	Chris Olave WR · NO	23.2	12.0
RB/WR	DJ Moore WR · BUF	18.5	9.6
RB	Jaylen Warren RB · PIT	7.8	11.3
QB	Jaxson Dart QB · NYG	32.6	21.2
TE	Sam LaPorta TE · DET	7.3	8.7
K	Brandon Aubrey K · DAL	2.0	9.9
D/ST	Jaguars D/ST D/ST	14.0	8.2
Bench		36.8

Slim Pickens

RB	De'Von Achane RB · MIA	8.6	16.3
RB	Ashton Jeanty RB · LV	29.7	16.2
RB/WR	D'Andre Swift RB · CHI	31.9	11.4
WR	George Pickens WR · DAL	4.3	12.2
WR	Marvin Harrison Jr. WR · ARI	3.8	9.4
QB	Joe Burrow QB · CIN	16.2	22.2
TE	Tucker Kraft TE · GB	8.0	7.2
D/ST	Steelers D/ST D/ST	19.0	7.2
K	Harrison Mevis K · LAR	1.0	9.4
Bench		60.2

Loop There It Is

Nate

132.20–106.12

proj 103.1 – 103.8

Upset

Johnny Football Club

Johnny

Nate opened as a slight underdog and won by 26. Trevor Lawrence (34.1) and Kenneth Walker III (32.6, on 13.3 projected) out-scored their projections by 33 points between them, and even Tyler Loop the kicker chipped in 14. Johnny got Jalen Hurts (30.72) and Justin Jefferson (27.2) and nothing else: his other seven starters combined for 48.2. Not the Week 1 the GOAT was hoping for.

Box scoreShow

Loop There It Is

RB	James Cook III RB · BUF	8.4	14.6
RB	Kenneth Walker III RB · KC	32.6	13.3
WR	Tee Higgins WR · CIN	7.4	10.8
WR	Jaylen Waddle WR · DEN	0.7	10.0
QB	Trevor Lawrence QB · JAX	34.1	19.9
TE	Mark Andrews TE · BAL	6.9	8.3
RB/WR	Cam Skattebo RB · NYG	14.1	12.4
D/ST	Chiefs D/ST D/ST	14.0	5.3
K	Tyler Loop K · BAL	14.0	8.5
Bench		78.8

Johnny Football Club

WR	Justin Jefferson WR · MIN	27.2	13.9
WR	Malik Nabers WR · NYG	9.9	10.5
RB	Quinshon Judkins RB · CLE	6.0	12.2
QB	Jalen Hurts QB · PHI	30.7	24.4
RB	Travis Etienne Jr. RB · NO	11.3	13.5
RB/WR	Jayden Reed WR · GB	3.5	8.1
D/ST	Eagles D/ST D/ST	5.0	6.1
TE	Dalton Schultz TE · HOU	5.5	6.5
K	Harrison Butker K · KC	7.0	8.5
Bench		40.0

Lickity Split

Chase

132.16–101.02

proj 109.2 – 107.6

T Smalls

Smalls

Josh Allen's four-touchdown comeback was worth 39.66 to Chase, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Chuba Hubbard added 22.2 apiece in a comfortable 31-point win. Smalls had the single best non-QB game of the week in Derrick Henry (34.8, three touchdowns) and it barely mattered: Drake Maye (11.82), Saquon Barkley (8.5), a 2-point kicker and a 1-point Rams D/ST sank T Smalls to 101.02.

Box scoreShow

Lickity Split

RB	Christian McCaffrey RB · SF	11.3	16.1
WR	Jaxon Smith-Njigba WR · SEA	22.2	15.6
QB	Josh Allen QB · BUF	39.7	21.9
WR	Garrett Wilson WR · NYJ	10.9	11.8
RB/WR	Carnell Tate WR · TEN	5.8	9.9
TE	Harold Fannin Jr. TE · CLE	3.1	8.7
RB	Chuba Hubbard RB · CAR	22.2	11.0
K	Ka'imi Fairbairn K · HOU	9.0	9.8
D/ST	Buccaneers D/ST D/ST	8.0	4.5
Bench		42.0

T Smalls

RB	Saquon Barkley RB · PHI	8.5	16.4
RB	Derrick Henry RB · BAL	34.8	15.7
RB/WR	Bhayshul Tuten RB · JAX	9.3	10.9
WR	Ladd McConkey WR · LAC	16.7	11.4
TE	Tyler Warren TE · IND	8.8	9.8
WR	Michael Wilson WR · ARI	8.1	8.3
QB	Drake Maye QB · NE	11.8	18.7
D/ST	Rams D/ST D/ST	1.0	6.2
K	Cameron Dicker K · LAC	2.0	10.3
Bench		43.3

Off In Church

Drew

104.06–113.26

proj 107.6 – 116.1

CHEF CALE

Caleb

The closest game of the week, and one Caleb was projected to win by 8.5 anyway. Jahmyr Gibbs (31.1) and Javonte Williams (21.7) did the work while Justin Herbert (15.26) and a goose egg from Kyle Pitts kept it interesting. Drew's Lamar Jackson (26.96) and Jonathan Taylor (23.6) were great, but Courtland Sutton and Jake Ferguson combined for 3.7, and Off In Church came up 9.2 short.

Box scoreShow

Off In Church

RB	Jonathan Taylor RB · IND	23.6	16.3
RB	Jeremiyah Love RB · ARI	12.0	12.0
WR	Tetairoa McMillan WR · CAR	8.0	12.3
QB	Lamar Jackson QB · BAL	27.0	22.2
RB/WR	Courtland Sutton WR · DEN	2.1	9.6
WR	Emeka Egbuka WR · TB	8.8	11.9
TE	Jake Ferguson TE · DAL	1.6	7.7
D/ST	Seahawks D/ST D/ST	14.0	7.2
K	Will Reichard K · MIN	7.0	8.4
Bench		46.1

CHEF CALE

RB	Jahmyr Gibbs RB · DET	31.1	20.5
WR	Nico Collins WR · HOU	17.7	13.0
RB/WR	Javonte Williams RB · DAL	21.7	14.2
WR	Jameson Williams WR · DET	6.5	10.3
TE	Kyle Pitts Sr. TE · ATL	0.0	7.6
QB	Justin Herbert QB · LAC	15.3	22.8
RB	Rhamondre Stevenson RB · NE	12.0	12.5
K	Jason Myers K · SEA	7.0	9.4
D/ST	Broncos D/ST D/ST	2.0	5.9
Bench		51.4

Nacua Matata

Conor

48.60–104.60

proj 108.1 – 108.1

Upset

God Hates Jags

Kevin

Kevin's God Hates Jags scored 104.6, which would have lost to eight of the other ten teams this week, and won by 56. Conor's The Love Doctor put up 48.6: Stafford 4.1, A.J. Brown 4.1, Loveland 0, and a Browns D/ST that finished at minus one. Bijan Robinson (27.3) and Trey McBride (20.0) were all Kevin needed. For context, that is the fourth-lowest regular-season score by anyone in this league since 2019, out of 1,164.

Box scoreShow

Nacua Matata

WR	Puka Nacua WR · LAR	9.9	17.4
WR	A.J. Brown WR · NE	4.1	11.5
RB	Kyren Williams RB · LAR	14.0	12.7
RB/WR	Terry McLaurin WR · WSH	2.4	10.0
RB	Rico Dowdle RB · PIT	3.1	11.7
TE	Colston Loveland TE · CHI	0.0	9.7
QB	Matthew Stafford QB · LAR	4.1	21.7
K	Cam Little K · JAX	12.0	8.8
D/ST	Browns D/ST D/ST	-1.0	4.8
Bench		20.6

God Hates Jags

RB	Bijan Robinson RB · ATL	27.3	16.8
TE	Trey McBride TE · ARI	20.0	11.1
WR	Rashee Rice WR · KC	8.9	11.7
WR	Davante Adams WR · LAR	4.1	11.8
RB/WR	Luther Burden III WR · CHI	7.0	9.8
QB	Dak Prescott QB · DAL	18.4	20.2
RB	Tony Pollard RB · TEN	3.9	10.7
K	Eddy Pineiro K · SF	10.0	8.7
D/ST	Lions D/ST D/ST	5.0	7.3
Bench		23.4

Hardware

Awards of the week

Player of the week is the top non-QB starter. Dud is the starter who fell furthest below projection. Difference maker is the biggest over-projection on a winning team.

Player of the week

Derrick Henry

RB · BAL

started by Smalls (T Smalls)

34.8

projected 15.7 · +19.1 vs projection · team lost

Three rushing touchdowns and 34.8 points for the 32-year-old who was supposed to be slowing down. It came in a loss, which is very on-brand for a Smalls team.

QB of the week

Caleb Williams

QB · CHI

started by Ethan (Gimme Yo Change!)

41.3

projected 19.2 · +22.0 vs projection · team lost

334 total yards, four touchdowns and 41.26 fantasy points in the highest-scoring Week 1 game in NFL history. Ethan started him, and Ethan lost by 28. Fantasy football is a cruel game.

Dud of the week

Matthew Stafford

QB · LAR

started by Conor (Nacua Matata)

4.1

projected 21.7 · -17.6 vs projection · team lost

Projected for 21.65, delivered 4.1 as the Rams scored a single touchdown in Australia. He was one of six Love Doctor starters under 4.2 points, so the blame is shared, but he's the one wearing the badge.

Difference maker

Kenneth Walker III

RB · KC

started by Nate (Loop There It Is)

32.6

projected 13.3 · +19.3 vs projection · team won

Projected for 13.3, scored 32.6, and Nate won by 26 in a game he was projected to lose. Take Walker's surplus away and this one is a coin flip.

Through week 1

Standings

Ties broken by points for.

Full standings →

#	Team	W	L	PF	PA
1	The Washington C-WordsMike	1	0	137.96	109.86
2	SHOUGH ME YOUR TDSNick	1	0	137.40	122.46
3	Loop There It IsNate	1	0	132.20	106.12
4	Lickity SplitChase	1	0	132.16	101.02
5	CHEF CALECaleb	1	0	113.26	104.06
6	God Hates JagsKevin	1	0	104.60	48.60
7	Slim PickensShane	0	1	122.46	137.40
8	Gimme Yo Change!Ethan	0	1	109.86	137.96
9	Johnny Football ClubJohnny	0	1	106.12	132.20
10	Off In ChurchDrew	0	1	104.06	113.26
11	T SmallsSmalls	0	1	101.02	132.16
12	Nacua MatataConor	0	1	48.60	104.60

Crystal ball

Playoff Predictor

Projected final regular-season order after week 1.

Details →

#	Move	Team	Now	Proj. record	Playoffs	1st seed	Injured
1	new	CHEF CALECaleb	1-0	9.6-4.4	95%	44%	healthy
2	new	God Hates JagsKevin	1-0	8.2-5.8	77%	13%	Jordyn Tyson
3	new	Lickity SplitChase	1-0	8.1-5.9	75%	13%	Zach CharbonnetDylan Sampson
4	new	BROWN DARTS MATTER Nick	1-0	7.9-6.1	70%	10%	Tank Dell
5	new	The Washington C-WordsMike	1-0	7.8-6.2	70%	9%	healthy
6	new	Loop There It IsNate	1-0	7.1-6.9	49%	4%	Ja'Kobi Lane
7	new	Slim PickensShane	0-1	6.4-7.6	38%	2%	Isiah Pacheco
8	new	Johnny Football ClubJohnny	0-1	6.4-7.6	37%	2%	healthy
9	new	Gimme Yo Change!Ethan	0-1	6.2-7.8	31%	1%	healthy
10	new	T SmallsSmalls	0-1	5.9-8.1	27%	1%	De'Zhaun Stribling
11	new	Off In ChurchDrew	0-1	5.9-8.1	25%	1%	healthy
12	new	The Love DoctorConor	0-1	4.4-9.6	6%	0%	A.J. Brown

Caleb projects to finish 1st with about 9.6 wins. First-week projections lean heavily on ESPN's rest-of-season lineup values and each owner's era-adjusted history, so one big Sunday moves the needle less than you'd think. It'll trust the actual results more every week from here.