2025 Nfl Week 1 Winners And Losers Bleacher Report

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 3, 2025, 10:04 AM

2025 nfl week 1 winners and losers bleacher report

The first week of 2025 NFL action wrapped with an NFC North showdown, as Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears hosted J.J. McCarthy and the Minnesota Vikings. Bleacher Report's Brent Sobleski, Gary Davenport, Kris Knox and Moe Moton spent Week 1 tracking the biggest winners and losers of the opening slate. .css-1582m2i{margin:0;font:inherit;font-weight:700;}Score: Vikings 27, Bears 24 Winner: QB J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings

For a good chunk of Sunday's game, it felt like J.J. McCarthy's first NFL start was bound to be a disaster. Every week this NFL season, we will break down the highs and lows—and everything in between—from the most recent slate of pro football. This week, Josh Allen led an epic comeback against Lamar Jackson’s Ravens, Aaron Rodgers showed he’s not washed yet, and Daniel Jones and the Colts thoroughly embarrassed the Dolphins. Welcome to Winners and Losers. Did John Harbaugh watch the same game the rest of us did?

The one where Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson looked less like quarterbacks and more like demigods on a football field as they led their teams to a combined 81 points in a thrilling 41-40... The same one in which Harbaugh decided, with his team holding a two-point lead with 93 seconds to play, to take the ball out of Jackson’s hands on fourth-and-2 and punt it back to... Allen needed only a few plays to get into the range of Matt Prater, the 41-year-old kicker who’d just signed with the team days ago. It’s a bit of a stretch to say that Harbaugh’s decision cost his team the game—Derrick Henry’s fumble was the biggest needle mover in the Bills’ comeback—but it did decrease Baltimore’s chances of pulling... Based on ESPN’s fourth-down model, it was a clear “go” situation. Hate to do this to my team, but we had a strong go rec out to 4, and marginal out to 6 yds to go with 1:33 to play.

pic.twitter.com/taraHIcjIi Even if Harbaugh ultimately got what he deserved for playing scared, this was still a terribly unlucky game for the Ravens. Henry’s fumble with 3:10 left in the fourth quarter was the big blow, but Buffalo would have already been out of the game if not for this slapstick fourth-down conversion for a touchdown on... The 2025 NFL season is in full swing. Days after the Philadelphia Eagles survived the rival Dallas Cowboys in the first matchup of Week 1, most of the rest of the league got in on the action Sunday. And there was no shortage of dramatic headlines.

Aaron Rodgers returned to New Jersey while making his debut with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Justin Fields took the same field on the other side, now representing the New York Jets. Cameron Ward took his first official NFL snaps running the Tennessee Titans. And two NFC South contenders went to the wire before Younghoe Koo missed a 44-yard go-ahead field goal try for the Atlanta Falcons. That was just a sampling of Sunday's happenings, which also included Russell Wilson's debut as quarterback of the New York Giants and Mike Vrabel's first game as head coach of the New England Patriots,... Which coaches, players and/or teams were the biggest winners (and losers) of Sunday's games?

You can't get much better than waltzing into MetLife Stadium and tossing four scores in a shootout win over the team that unceremoniously dumped you in the spring. Rodgers didn't look ageless in his Steelers debut, absorbing four sacks, but he sure looked more comfortable than he did while playing for the Jets. And he's 1-0 to start 2025, which is what matters most. With options relatively limited—which has been an ongoing theme this season—many managers will be turning to second-tier stars and sleepers to navigate the remaining Week 9 schedule. Let's dive into some of the best and worst matchups of the week and see what experts from around the web have to say. WLB: Zack Baun; Jeremiah Trotter Jr.; Smael Mondon Jr.

CB: Quinyon Mitchell; Jaire Alexander; Jakorian Bennett. What exactly the Eagles are getting in Alexander remains to be seen. The 28-year-old was a Pro Bowler in both 2020 and 2022 for the Green Bay Packers, with double-digit pass breakups in four of his first five seasons and 10 interceptions in that time. But injuries limited him to just 14 total games between the 2023-24 seasons, and the Packers cut him in June. "As I assessed the state of the team and in my discussions with Chris, it became clear to both of us that change could not wait. We must improve — in 2025, 2026 and beyond — and it needs to start right now.

Champ Kelly will serve as interim general manager effective immediately, and we will begin our search process for a new general manager. I want to thank Champ for stepping up and his commitment to the Dolphins success this season. There is a lot of football left to play and we all need to fight even harder." "We're going to hire the best football coach there is," he told reporters Friday. "That's our job. We are not going to let this program fail.

LSU has to be in the playoffs every year in football. There's 12 teams that make it. It's going to expand here. We have to be one of those teams at LSU. No substitute." "My favorite player back then was Tracy McGrady, and yeah, he's not exactly a Pistons legend, but in 2010, he signed a one-year contract with the Pistons, and I was, like, so my favorite...

"So it all started from there." Football season is off and running with a full slate of games kicking off. The first Sunday of the 2025 season saw some surprise performances and shocking results. Stream Connecticut News for free, 24/7, wherever you are. Here are the winners and losers from Week 1: The league's youngest players made it look easy on Sunday.

Three rookie running backs found the end zone, including Las Vegas Raiders first-rounder Ashton Jeanty. The consensus top rusher from this year's class had 37 yards in his debut. Elsewhere, Washington Commanders seventh-rounder Jacory Croskey-Merritt had a touchdown and 38 yards. The energy surrounding Week 1 in the NFL can't be matched elsewhere on the league's calendar. Sure, the stakes are decidedly lower in the opening days than they are come deep into the winter. But the fresh slate afforded by a new season means every team carries at least a modicum of intrigue and relevance.

While it might not take long for that level playing field to once again shift, teams on Sunday did an admirable job of keeping things interesting, with eight games being won by no more... With Thursday and Friday's games already covered, here are the biggest winners and losers from Week 1 in the NFL: It's typically not a great sign when the MVP quarterback takes a shot at some of the fan base after a Week 1 contest. Yet Josh Allen could do no wrong on Sunday night, and that included his remarks after pulling off a stunning 41-40 comeback win against the Baltimore Ravens. Allen was the driving force behind Buffalo scoring 16 unanswered points in the final four minutes, and he racked up 251 yards through the air (16-of-21 passing) and three total touchdowns in the fourth... In that time, he couldn't help but notice that Highmark Stadium had emptied out a bit.

The opening week of the 2025 NFL season has come and gone, and it was, arguably, one of the most memorable starts to the year ever. From the improbable comeback by Buffalo over Baltimore to the showdown in New Jersey between the Steelers and the Jets, there was no shortage of drama to kick off the season. Fans were treated to walk-off field goals, breakout performances, and a few eyebrow-raising results that could have ripple effects well into the playoff race. With all the games of the week finished and the run to Super Bowl 60 officially underway, here are the biggest winners and losers from Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season. What’s that one Cher song? “If I Could Turn Back Time”?

That’s exactly what Aaron Rodgers did against his former team. The 41-year-old veteran looked a bit like his former self, going 22-of-30 for 244 and four touchdowns in Pittsburgh’s win over New York. NFL regular-season action returned this week and featured several big-time performances in Week 1. On the flipside, several teams, players, and one owner had days they’ll want to forget to open the 2025 season. With all of that in mind, let’s take a look at 20 of the biggest winners and losers from NFL Week 1, including league legend Aaron Rodgers and In a perfect piece of scheduling, league legend Aaron Rodgers was given a unique chance at sweet revenge in Week 1 against the Jets.

And only like an NFL great can do, the 41-year-old turned back the clock as he threw for four touchdowns on opening day, and led the Steelers down the field for an eventual game-winning... The future Hall of Famer served up some ice-cold revenge on Sunday. There was hope that Bryce Young had fixed his turnover issues in 2024 and was primed to take a big step forward this year. Well, that didn’t happen in Week 1. He threw two interceptions to start the season and didn’t get much help from the rest of the offense. Their 10-point output to open the year was not what the Panthers expected in Week 1.

Although they lost on Sunday, the Jets’ setback to the Steelers was not Justin Fields’ fault. Sure, he could not get it done late and help them retake the lead in the final minutes, but the 32 points the offense put up should have been more than enough to get... He hit on 16 of his 22 passes for over 200 passing yards and a TD, while adding 48 more on the ground and two more TDs. At least for a week, he quieted some of the concerns from an underwhelming performance in the summer. Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo has proven to be a reliable late-game kicker. That was until Sunday.

After blowing the lead late in the fourth. Michael Penix led Atlanta down the field and put Koo in a position to send the game into overtime. However, the veteran kicker failed to nail the kick, and instead of having a big win to open the year, Atlanta will look back on this game with a lot of regret. The NFL kicked off the 2025 NFL season with the Week 1 TNF game on Thursday, September 4, between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles. Here was your NFL Week 1 full results below.

2025 Nfl Week 1 Winners And Losers Bleacher Report

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