Winston leads Saints to blowout against Packers, Stafford shines in L.A. debut
After an action-packed early window in Week 1 of NFL action on Sunday, it was more of the same in the late games.
There were a couple of blowouts, with Jameis Winston and Teddy Bridgewater putting on shows as the New Orleans Saints and Denver Broncos obliterated their competition.
There were a pair of close games, too, as the Miami Dolphins earned a road win vs. New England, and the Kansas City Chiefs rallied to beat the Cleveland Browns.
The day wrapped up with an NFC showdown between the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams.
Here are the major takeaways from the late window of Week 1:
Saints stun Packers
The Saints absolutely handled Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in a 38-3 blowout at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida (the game was moved from New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida).
Jameis Winston went 14-for-20 for 148 yards, tossing five touchdown passes to secure the win.
The veteran QB is now tied for the second-most TD passes in a Saints season opener, behind only Drew Brees' six TDs in 2009 against the Detroit Lions.
Among those making an impression was, of course, Alvin Kamara, who led all players with 83 rushing yards, showing off his fancy footwork for the first touchdown of the game.
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The biggest shock for Green Bay came in the fourth quarter, when Rodgers was benched for Jordan Love.
The reigning MVP, who spoke about Love in a candid interview with FOX Sports' Erin Andrews ahead of Sunday's game, finished 15-for-28 for 133 yards and two interceptions.
Love went 5-for-7 for 68 yards.
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Chiefs survive Browns
Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs came out on top against Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns 33-29 in a showdown in K.C.
Mahomes went 27-for-36 for 337 yards and three touchdowns. He found Tyreek Hill 11 times for 197 yards and a touchdown and Travis Kelce six times for 76 yards and two scores.
The Browns led the Chiefs for the bulk of the game until misfortune struck Cleveland in the middle of the fourth quarter. A Jamie Gillan fumble on Cleveland's own 23-yard line gifted Kansas City a short field, and the Chiefs cashed in just three plays later to take the lead with 7:04 to go.
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Mayfield, who finished the game on par with Mahomes (21-for-28 for 321 yards) had a strong first-half performance, but things unraveled in the final minutes, and the Browns weren't able to bounce back.
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Bridgewater leads Broncos
The Broncos showed they mean business in a 27-13 triumph over the New York Giants.
Bridgewater dazzled in his debut as a Bronco, going 28-for-36 for 264 yards and two touchdowns.
Has Denver finally found a reliable QB? Bridgewater made a strong case Sunday.
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The Broncos also received good news on defense, as Von Miller returned to action for the first time since 2019, registering the 107th sack of his career to move into the top 25 all time.
For the Giants, Daniel Jones was solid, going 22-for-37 for 267 yards and a touchdown.
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Dolphins make an early statement
It was a nail-biter in New England, but the Dolphins came out on top after a solid showing from Tua Tagovailoa, who went 16-for-27 for 202 yards.
The biggest play for Miami came on a connection between Tagovailoa and former Alabama teammate Jaylen Waddle at the top of the third quarter, which put the Dolphins up 17-10. The Patriots weren't able to catch up.
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New England did make it close, though, thanks in part to rookie quarterback Mac Jones. Jones was 29-for-39 for 281 yards, throwing his first NFL touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor.
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Stafford era off to stellar start
Closing out the evening, Andy Dalton and the Chicago Bears took on Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.
Even though there was a Justin Fields sighting — and he scored his first NFL touchdown — Sunday night was all about the debut of Stafford.
In his first game with the Rams, Stafford led the Rams to a 34-14 win by completing 20 of 26 passes for 321 yards and three scores, finishing with a passer rating of 156.1, very near a perfect rating of 158.3.
It marked the first time in his career that he achieved a passer rating better than 150.
In other words, things couldn't have started off better for Stafford and the Rams.
But Stafford wasn't the only star of the night. The Rams' defense was also above ordinary, holding Chicago to 14 points, forcing two turnovers and allowing only 188 passing yards (despite surrendering 134 rushing yards).
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