By Tiffany Williams –
NFL Week One didn’t ease into the season — it detonated like a September fireworks show across the Northeast, with rookies making history, veterans rewriting record books, and fanbases already pulling hair out before Labor Day hangovers cleared.
The Patriots opened at Gillette and wasted no time proving this was a new-look roster with familiar grit. Bill Belichick is gone, but the youth movement is alive, with three 2025 draft picks in the starting lineup — Will Campbell at left tackle, Jared Wilson at left guard, and Craig Woodson at safety. New England hasn’t rolled out that much rookie firepower up front since the Ravens did it back in 2016. They even leaned on 23 new faces overall — rookies, free agents, practice squad call-ups — to grind through a Week 1 war with Las Vegas. The defense clamped down early, holding the Raiders to just 56 yards on 24 carries, their stingiest rush defense showing since 2023. Harold Landry set the tone with 2½ sacks in his Patriots debut, looking like a wrecking ball off the edge. Jaylinn Hawkins stole the spotlight with an interception off a tipped ball by Carlton Davis III, then followed with his first full sack as a Patriot. He became the first New England player since Ellis Hobbs in 2008 to bag both a pick and a sack in a season opener. Hawkins’ performance put him in the record book with only three others since sacks became official in 1982, joining Hobbs, Steve Israel, and Andre Tippett.
On offense, it was Kayshon Boutte’s breakout show. He picked up right where he left off last January with his second straight 100-yard game, snagging six passes for 103 yards. The last Patriot to pull back-to-back 100-yard games was Julian Edelman in 2019, and the last to torch Week 1 defenses like that was Rob Gronkowski in 2018. Hunter Henry hit a milestone too, grabbing his 200th career catch in a Pats uniform, becoming only the fifth tight end in team history to cross that line. And then there was Drake Maye — growing pains, sure, but career highs all around. Forty-six attempts, 30 completions, and 287 yards passing, plus a bizarre moment when he caught his own deflected pass for two yards. Not pretty, but gritty. And it counted. For a kid facing Maxx Crosby’s chaos, he hung tough. The Raiders got their shots in, but New England showed its rebuild has teeth.
Over at MetLife, the Jets put on a Broadway thriller that ended with heartbreak, dropping a 34-32 nail-biter to Pittsburgh. Still, Gang Green flashed plenty of promise. Justin Fields debuted in green and white and gave the home crowd reason to believe, piling up 218 passing yards, 48 rushing yards, and three total touchdowns. He became only the third Jets quarterback ever to post a passing touchdown and two rushing scores in the same game, joining Mark Sanchez and Josh McCown. His 48 rushing yards were the most ever by a Jets QB in an opener, and his 13th career game with a rushing and passing touchdown put him third in the NFL since 2021.
Garrett Wilson kept being Garrett Wilson, hauling in seven grabs for 95 yards and a touchdown. The iron man of the NFL has now caught a pass in every game of his career — 52 straight — and multiple catches in all but one. Breece Hall bulldozed for 107 yards on the ground, his sixth career 100-yard rushing game, and tacked on 38 yards through the air. Quinnen Williams wasted no time with sack number 40, becoming just the 11th Jet ever to cross that plateau, and brother Quincy joined the fun with one of his own. Will McDonald IV added two more sacks, his fourth career multi-sack game. The defense was streaky, the offense electric early, but Aaron Rodgers and Chris Boswell’s late heroics left the Jets staring at another gut punch. Still, the Jets haven’t looked this balanced on both sides of the ball to start a season in years.
Down in Landover, the Giants sputtered in a 21-6 loss to Washington, but there were flashes. Russell Wilson made his 200th career start, becoming just the fourth quarterback in league history to start every one of his first 200 games. He threw for 168 yards, moving past Vinny Testaverde and Carson Palmer into 15th all-time with 46,303 career yards. Rookie Malik Nabers kept his historic pace, snagging five balls for 71 yards. Through 16 career games, he’s up to 114 receptions, trailing only Odell Beckham Jr. for the most in league history to that point. The defense showed some bite too — Brian Burns notched two sacks, the first Giant since Jason Pierre-Paul in 2011 to drop a quarterback twice in a season opener. Kayvon Thibodeaux chipped in half a sack with rookie linebacker Abdul Carter, and Bobby Okereke racked up 16 tackles, just shy of his career high. Still, the offense could only muster a pair of Graham Gano field goals. That won’t cut it in the NFC East.
And then came the headliner in Orchard Park, where Josh Allen nearly blew the roof off Highmark Stadium with one of the most absurd comebacks of his career. Trailing Baltimore by 15 with seven and a half minutes left, Allen turned into a human avalanche, accounting for four touchdowns on the night, including two on the ground, and finishing with 394 passing yards. He became the first quarterback ever to throw for 250 yards and run for two touchdowns in a single quarter, dragging Buffalo back from the brink. The Bills went 0-for-3 on two-point tries, but Allen refused to blink, leaping over piles, firing darts into tight windows, and finally setting up 41-year-old kicker Matt Prater, who drilled a 32-yard game-winner. Welcome to Buffalo, Matt.
Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry did everything short of stealing the game, combining for 461 yards and five touchdowns. Henry gashed Buffalo with three runs of 30 or more yards, including a 46-yard touchdown that looked like the backbreaker. But then Ed Oliver flipped the script. The defensive tackle played the game of his life, six tackles, three for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble on Henry that set up Allen’s late heroics. When Christian Benford leveled DeAndre Hopkins short of the sticks on Baltimore’s last gasp, the stadium shook. Buffalo had outscored the Ravens 16-0 in the final four minutes to snatch a 41-40 win.
Across the region, the storylines were thick. Rookie debuts rewriting records. Vets like Rodgers, Allen, and Wilson adding to their legends. Defenses finding moments of dominance but not always consistency. Fans in Foxborough, East Rutherford, and Orchard Park walked away with proof that this season won’t lack for drama. And if Week One was this wild, the Northeast better buckle up. September’s only getting started.