Week 1 Lessons: Bears Might Be Better Than Last Year

After the Rams’ disastrous start to the season, the football public and media might be in need of a new team to hype up.

Allow me to present the Bills and Ravens as candidates. They have ideal qualifications with star quarterbacks used to being under the limelight. Both teams were somewhat forgotten this offseason with all eyes on the Rams’ star-studded roster, but Buffalo and Baltimore underwent major changes with new coaches and have the look of legitimate Super Bowl contenders after Week 1.

Jesse Minter’s Ravens cruised to a 41–23 victory over the Colts, and Joe Brady’s Bills carved up the Texans’ stout defense in a 36–31 shootout. But let’s be cautious of putting these two teams under the spotlight again. They were forgotten for valid reasons after years of enduring playoff failures.

Then again, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen have done a lot more in the postseason than Justin Herbert.

So let’s start this week’s what we learned with something we should have already known: Don’t trust the Chargers.

Chargers continue disturbing cycle of not playing up to the hype

Initially, I didn’t know whether my reason for avoiding talking about the Chargers this summer was good enough. I had run out of words to describe an attractive Chargers roster that constantly disappoints.

While I liked the hiring of offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, I wasn’t going to allow this team’s summer hype to burn me once more. So, while I wanted to say good things about the Chargers, it was better to take a wait-and-see approach about what Herbert could do under McDaniel’s guidance.

Welp, I played this one right after L.A.’s embarrassing 26–14 upset loss to Arizona, a team viewed as a contender for the No. 1 pick in next year’s NFL draft. (More evidence that offseason narratives don’t matter in the regular season.) All the lip service the Chargers received in the offseason once again did them no favors on Sunday. Herbert has all the talent in the world, but he’s also winless in the postseason going into his seventh season. His poor playoff performances have played a part in that, even though most of the public chatter blames what he hasn’t had in his career.

Well, now Herbert has a creative offensive play-caller, his two stud tackles, Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater, were healthy and the bruising second-year running back, Omarion Hampton, was hard to tackle on Sunday, and yet, the Chargers’ offense managed only 268 total yards and two turnovers. Herbert finished 17-of-27 for 209 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

It wasn’t going to be as easy as improving Herbert’s play-caller to get him and the Chargers to play up to their potential. The roster has glaring holes, especially on the interior of the offensive line. (The Cardinals were often in the backfield and had three sacks.) Additionally, the skill players have more upside than a proven track record, and to make matters worse, Ladd McConkey left the game early after taking a massive hit.

Also, the Chargers have issues beyond the offense. It appears this defense will need more time to adjust to new defensive coordinator Chris O’Leary after losing Minter to Baltimore in the offseason.

Now that I think about it, I did have more to say about the Chargers this season. Yeah, it’s nice that McDaniel is coaching Herbert, but there weren't enough conversations about what this defense would do without Minter. And I’m old enough to remember when the hiring of Jim Harbaugh was supposed to solve all of the issues in L.A. Beware of putting more stock in the Chargers.

Can Justin Herbert and the Charger bounce back in their Week 2 game against the Raiders? | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It appears the Bears will not be regressing this season

The Bears are more deserving of our praise after dropping a near 60-burger on the Panthers in their 59–37 win to open the season.

Coach Ben Johnson is aware of the outside chatter after mentioning at the podium in the offseason that his team was the No. 1 candidate to regress this season. That doesn’t seem to be the case. The Bears’ offense is ready to make the leap and might be capable of carrying a suspect defense that struggled against Bryce Young for nearly three quarters. (Carolina recorded 478 total yards.)

Caleb Williams continues to show that he’s on the fast track to one day being as good as the big four of Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Jackson and Allen. He made a few jaw-dropping throws to tight end Cole Kmet on Sunday. It’s also scary knowing that Chicago generated 552 total yards without second-year tight end Colston Loveland recording a reception.

Williams connected with seven pass catchers, quieting concerns about not having enough reliable weapons after DJ Moore was traded to Buffalo. I’m trying to avoid a Week 1 overreaction, but the Bears might be better than last year’s surprising team.

Bills’ offense is better with Joe Brady as head coach

Yes, I’m well aware that Brady had already been with the Bills for four seasons before getting his promotion in 2026. However, this is the first time Brady has the power to approve all of his offensive tweaks without needing clearance from former coach Sean McDermott.

Evidently, Brady had plenty of ideas about how to improve an offense around Allen that was already pretty good. His unit seemed to be on another level in Sunday’s thrilling 36–31 victory in Houston, a place that used to be a house of horrors for Allen, who was 0–4 in his career at Reliant Stadium before Sunday’s win.

Allen continued to do Allen things, but the designed plays in the passing game created plenty of advantageous matchups for an offense that gashed a Texans defense compared to the 2000 Ravens. Brady’s free rein to be innovative led to Buffalo recording 409 yards on Houston’s defense, which allowed 400 yards in a game for the first time since ’24.

It also helped to have Moore (five catches, 100 yards, TD) on the field to give Allen (20-of-29, 334 yards, two TDs) another deep threat. Some might owe GM Brandon Beane an apology after he received criticism for adding more guaranteed money to Moore’s deal after the trade with the Bears.

Additionally, tight end Dalton Kincaid had a career-high 130 receiving yards. This could be the start of Kincaid finally delivering a breakout season after being selected in the first round of the 2023 draft. Even Joshua Palmer made an impact with the game-winning 34-yard touchdown with 1:36 left in regulation. Palmer had a rough first season in Buffalo after logging only 22 catches for 303 yards and signing a three-year, $30 million deal in ’25.

All that was missing from Brady’s head-coaching debut was a stellar performance from Keon Coleman, who had another quiet outing with one catch for one yard. After what happened in Houston, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Brady finds a way to unlock Coleman later in the season.

Bengals finally have a good defense to pair with dangerous offense

Finally, the Bengals have turned a corner defensively.

In years past, if Cincinnati’s offense played the way it did on Sunday against Tampa Bay, this team likely would have lost by double digits. But it seems the days of needing Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to light up the scoreboard to overcome a shaky defense have become a thing of the past.

Most of the Bengals’ notable defensive additions made an impact in their 33–27 victory—and don’t be fooled by the final score. Tampa Bay’s offense generated only 282 total yards, had four turnovers and only 20 points. (Buccaneers rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter recorded a pick-six.)

This was a dreadful performance from Baker Mayfield (23-of-28, 216 yards, three turnovers), and a ton of credit goes to Dexter Lawrence II for making life miserable for the Buccaneers’ signal-caller. Lawrence had a quiet stat line (one QB hit) in his Cincinnati debut, but his presence allowed his teammates to see more clear lanes to rush the quarterback. Mayfield was sacked four times, hit six times and lost three fumbles amid the constant pressure. Newcomer veteran defensive tackle Jonathan Allen had one of the sacks, and so did free-agent edge rusher Boye Mafe.

It must have been refreshing for the Bengals to see the defense bail out the offense for a change. Obviously, Burrow’s offense needs to be better, with Chase and Higgins combining for only five catches and 71 receiving yards.

It’s early, but it seems GM Duke Tobin finally got it right with his defensive personnel decisions.

Dexter Lawrence II made things difficult for the Buccaneers in the Bengals' Week 1 win. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Buccaneers should have waited to re-sign Mayfield

This isn’t a Week 1 overreaction because I thought the Buccaneers should have made Mayfield wait another season before re-signing him earlier this week to a three-year, $165 million extension. (I wish I had that in writing, but my colleague Matt Verderame beat me to the punch.)

Obviously, Mayfield can bounce back from his poor Week 1 performance to earn his paycheck, but it’s time more quarterbacks played under pressure (like C.J. Stroud) before being handed a lucrative contract. The Mayfield extension destroyed the middle-class QB contracts. Teams now jump through hoops to sign their quarterbacks long-term at the first sign of success. Perhaps the only reason why Houston didn’t lock down Stroud after three seasons was that Stroud went all in to see how much a team would be willing to pay for good-but-not-great QB play.

Every above-average quarterback is being paid like Mahomes, but very few signal-callers are in the class of Mahomes. Mayfield needed to do more winning (only one playoff win in three full seasons in Tampa Bay) before becoming the eighth quarterback to make at least $55 million annually.

It’s too late now, but Tampa Bay should have waited until after the season to pay Mayfield to keep his edge to prove the doubters wrong. Both Mayfield and Stroud lost in Week 1, but Stroud looked better and seemed to have corrected some mistakes from last season.

Stroud had more to play for, and plenty of motivation in 2026 led to his improvements in the season opener. And maybe Mayfield is more complacent now that he has his money—just an observation. The QB market is long overdue for a correction.

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