NFL Offenses Explode in Week 1 After Quiet Opening Nights

The NFL’s first Sunday slate delivered the kind of offensive fireworks the league office tends to celebrate, following a pair of low-scoring standalone openers earlier in the week.

The 12 afternoon games in the 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET windows produced 645 combined points — an average of 53.75 per contest. The Giants and Cowboys then added 48 more in the Sunday night matchup, bringing Week 1’s total through 15 games to 750 points. That leaves the record of 791 points across 16 opening-week games, set in 2012, within reach depending on Monday night’s Broncos–Chiefs game in Kansas City.

The headliner came in Charlotte, where the Bears dismantled the Panthers 59–37. The 96 combined points set an NFL record for a Week 1 game, and the teams’ 1,030 total yards made it the first contest with at least 95 points and 1,000 yards since the Rams’ 54–51 win over the Chiefs in 2018. Chicago’s 59 points tied for the second-highest single-team total in a season opener, three shy of the 1973 Falcons’ mark.

Why Defenses Lag Early

Conventional wisdom suggests defenses should hold the edge in Week 1, since many starting quarterbacks barely play in the preseason. Former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, now an NBC analyst, argued during the Sunday night broadcast that modern practice habits tilt the early-season balance toward offenses because teams tackle far less frequently in practice.

“Defenses spend less time shedding blocks and tackling than they used to,” Tomlin said.

Scoring as a Business

High-scoring games are not accidental. The league’s competition committee tracks points per game and has historically tweaked rules — such as enforcement of illegal contact downfield — when offensive output dips. Defensive players have long objected that the rules favor offenses, though some of the most contentious changes stem from safety restrictions on specific hits.

The approach has coincided with strong audiences. The NFL averaged 18.7 million viewers per game during the 2025 regular season, up 10% from 2024 and its best figure since 1989. That viewership directly supports the league’s broadcast partners, including Comcast’s NBC, which carried the Sunday night opener. Comcast (CMCSA) traded at $25.20 recently, up 0.16% from a previous close of $25.16, with a market capitalization of roughly $92.5 billion.

Bears coach Ben Johnson, hired after coordinating Detroit’s offense, has spoken of building the highest-scoring team in NFL history. Quarterback Caleb Williams, the top pick in the 2024 draft, took a step forward under Johnson last season as Chicago reached the NFC divisional round, and the opener suggested the trajectory is continuing.

“His process was really good throughout,” Johnson said of Williams.

What to watch

• Monday night’s Broncos–Chiefs finale, which could push Week 1 past the 2012 record of 791 points.
• Nielsen numbers for the opening-week broadcasts, a key revenue signal for NBC and other network partners.
• Whether scoring rates stay elevated in Week 2 once defenses settle into the season.
• Comcast’s next quarterly earnings report for updated commentary on sports-driven advertising and viewership.

Source: original release