NFL Weekend Review: Josh Allen’s box office finish, Trevor Lawrence’s MVP contention and Derrick Henry greatness | NFL News

Josh Allen delivers more late drama for the Buffalo Bills, Derrick Henry stars for the Baltimore Ravens and the Chicago Bears flex their scoring power on a wild opening Sunday of the 2026 NFL season. Welcome to the weekend review…

The lead

The Josh Allen experience is back with a vengeance. Perennial thrill, unyielding adventure, eternal tenterhooks – the knife-edge epitome of everything we’ve so dearly missed about this wonderful game called football.

The Buffalo Bills quarterback positioned himself front and centre to a box office finish on the NFL’s opening Sunday of the 2026 season, flirting with catastrophe before playing hero just seconds later to lead his side to a 36-31 win over the Houston Texans.

Kamari Lassiter should have iced the game for Houston inside the final two minutes when Allen gift-wrapped a would-be interception to the Texans cornerback, who failed to hold onto the ball while back-pedalling in his own end zone. How quickly he learned not to grant Josh Allen a second life.

On the very next play Allen would connect with Joshua Palmer for a 34-yard touchdown on third-and-11 to put Buffalo on top with 1.36 remaining. Jim Leonhard’s new-look Bills defense handled business from there, Greg Rousseau forcing a fumble from CJ Stroud and Terrel Bernard pouncing on the loose ball to call game in the final seconds.

The camera quickly panned to Allen’s beaming smile on the sidelines as the Bills quarterback resumed the never-ending Super Bowl quest that continues to dictate the pre-season, in-season and, such has been his playoff agony, post-season narrative. Every year is his year, until it isn’t, yet the vicious cycle never fails to convince us that his Lombardi lift is just around the corner.

It is moments like Sunday that reinforce the concept, Allen’s association with the dramatic fuelling Buffalo’s unwavering contention with him at the helm. The Texans had been purring with fresh optimism, their offence hanging in a shoot-out with what is consistently one of the league’s best units, C.J. Stroud going toe-to-toe with Allen, until the latter had seen enough.

It is daggers like Sunday’s, and closing moments like those, that define Allen – underlining an ability to strap a team to his back in a manner few other quarterbacks in the league can attest to. He is back like never before, piloting a side determined to cash in on his prime this offseason by firing Sean McDermott and subsequently replacing offensive coordinator Joe Brady with a new head coach.

Allen finished Sunday 20 of 29 for 334 yards and two touchdown passes to Palmer and newest receiver DJ Moore, while also rushing for two scores to lift his career tally of ground scores to 81.

The Bills are coming off their fourth divisional-round defeat in five years following January’s loss to the Denver Broncos, having also been beaten at two AFC Championship Games since 2020. It stands as the NFL’s biggest modern door-knocking venture. But Allen is back, and he just took down one of the most feared defenses in the league.

What we learned

• The Los Angeles Chargers remain one of the most frustrating teams in football, and flattered to deceive yet again as they began a season of promise in defeat. Jim Harbaugh’s side fell to a 26-14 defeat to an Arizona Cardinals team led by Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, the early marriage of Justin Herbert and new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel failing to generate the fireworks expected of it. Their depth at receiver beyond Ladd McConkey is unconvincing for a team with playoff ambitions and what had been a transformed defense under Jesse Minter feels short on game-changing pass rush disruptors.
• The Chicago Bears have the offensive firepower to hurt and hang with the best in the NFL as Ben Johnson seeks to solidify his team as permanent Super Bowl contenders. Chicago scored their most points in a game since the 1980 season as they beat the Carolina Panthers 59-37 in the highest-scoring opening game in NFL history, in doing so amplifying their rising star quarterback and one of football’s most dynamic rushing schemes. Caleb Williams reminded all of his credentials with a precision-perfect back-shoulder fade touchdown pass to Cole Kmet on his way to 269 passing yards and two scores, while D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai both put up 100 yards rushing.

• David Montgomery gives the Texans a new dimension. The question surrounding Houston heading into this season was whether CJ Stroud and their offense could reach a level capable of rewarding a Super Bowl-calibre defense. It proved it could be by going stride-for-stride with Josh Allen and the Bills, Montgomery shining with three touchdowns having arrived in a trade from the Detroit Lions in the offseason.
• Bijan Robinson has a long season ahead. I’m not sure there is a more glaring example of an offense so heavily reliant on one player performing well in order to operate. Atlanta’s quarterback problems are not going away anytime soon, you feel, and Sunday was an insight into how prominent Robinson will be in Kevin Stefanski’s attack as he recorded 29 touches for 173 yards and a touchdown in scrimmage in the Falcons’ 20-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Overreaction or reality?

Trevor Lawrence is an MVP contender. Sure, the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback was playing a poorly run Cleveland Browns team, and sure, he was facing a defence adjusting to life without Myles Garrett and Jim Schwartz. But there had been a sense coming into this season that the NFL still wasn’t universally sold on the Lawrence-Liam Coen tandem. Based on Week One, Lawrence has picked up exactly where he left off at the end of a glittering second half to last season.

The former No 1 pick finished 18 of 23 for 245 yards and four touchdowns in Jacksonville’s 34-10 victory, extending their winning streak to nine straight regular-season games dating back to the 2025 campaign. Coen continues to inspire the most assured, clinical and surgical version of Lawrence the NFL has seen.

Browns defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg said his unit would be built on violence and bad intentions. That might have been an overreaction, because they barely got close enough to the Jags’ play-caller to find out.

Winners & Losers

Winners:

Dalton Kincaid: The Bills’ tight end dazzled in a career-best performance in which he caught five of his six targets for a team-leading 130 yards, and came up with fourth-quarter catches of 40 and 35 yards respectively – an invaluable contribution to the Bills’ thrilling win.

Jalen Hurts: The Eagles quarterback has his critics and will seemingly forever divide opinion over his place among the best quarterbacks in football, but it was Hurts who willed Nick Siranni’s team to victory on Sunday. He wasn’t pretty, nor was he perfect, but he showed his composure in the face of pressure once more to throw for three touchdowns in a 24-22 win over the Washington Commanders.

Carson Wentz: This wasn’t in the script. The Minnesota Vikings were forced into an early quarterback change against the Green Bay Packers when Kyler Murray exited with a concussion. In came Carson Wentz to lead Kevin O’Connell’s offense, throwing for 133 yards and three touchdowns to stun the Packers in a 39-22 rout.

Losers:

Baker Mayfield: Four days after signing a three-year, £121.9m contract extension with the Buccaneers, Mayfield fumbled the ball three times in his side’s 33-27 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, including once in a scramble on the Bengals’ one-yard line – a mistake that effectively cost his team the game in an encounter decided by a single score.

Cleveland Browns: The Browns’ rebuild project has looked larger by the week – and their humiliating 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars further highlighted the size of the task at hand.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson – playing his first regular season game since October 2024 – was mediocre at best, his only touchdown coming in garbage time, and Cleveland’s defence allowed Lawrence and his offence to score on six of their first seven drives.

Tennessee Titans: A home opener against an inexperienced New York Jets side was about the kindest fixture the Titans could have asked for to start their season – and even that proved too tall a task for the 2025 NFL’s basement side. Head coach Robert Saleh fell victim to the side that sacked him in 2024, and 2025 No 1 pick Cam Ward failed to impress once again, managing just 140 passing yards.

Player of the Weekend – Derrick Henry, RB, Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore running back – dubbed by team-mates and fans alike as ‘King Henry’ – added another regal flourish to his illustrious career with an incredible week one performance.

Henry notched 144 yards and three touchdowns from his 24 carries in the Ravens’ 41-23 road drubbing of the Colts, moving him to third on the NFL’s all-time rushing touchdowns list with 125, passing hall-of-famers Marcus Allen and Marvin Harrison.

At 32, Henry continues to redefine conventional ideas about his position, breaking records at an age that far surpasses the average running back’s ability to continue playing in the NFL, let alone do it at the league-leading standard he performed at in the season opener.

Game of the Weekend

History beckoned in both directions. The New Orleans Saints were threatening their biggest comeback win ever, and the Detroit Lions were threatening their biggest blown lead in franchise history having surrendered a 21-0 lead to find themselves locked at 24-24.

It would be Detroit who survived humiliation as they clinched a 31-30 win in overtime after Tyler Shough’s pass fell incomplete on the two-point attempt.

Shough had sent the game to overtime with a nine-yard touchdown strike to Juwan Johnson with 1.07 remaining in the game, before the Lions struck in the extra period thanks to Amon-Ra St Brown’s four-yard touchdown catch. But back came the Saints as Shough fired an eight-yard scoring strike to Noah Fant, before Kellen Moore elected to go for the win instead of the game-tying field goal.

Second-year quarterback Shough had been enduring a miserable start to his second before finishing 35 of 56 passing for 410 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, Chris Olave his chief target with 10 catches for 182 yards. Jahmyr Gibbs, the highest-paid running back in NFL history, starred for the Lions with 29 carries for 156 yards and two touchdowns.

Latest news

The big news from Sunday came before kickoff as it was reported Myles Garrett will miss at least the next four weeks due to a knee injury that requires surgery.

The Los Angeles Rams pass rusher has been placed on injured reserve in an early disruption to his first season with the Rams after arriving in a blockbuster trade from the Cleveland Browns earlier this year.

Garrett was quiet on his debut for the team during the week as Sean McVay’s side suffered a 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne.

The Vikings were dealt an injury setback later in the evening when starting quarterback Kyler Murray suffered a concussion in Minnesota’s 39-22 win over the Packers.

The former Cardinals quarterback received a huge hit on a third-and-seven scramble in the first quarter, his helmet coming off as he came into contact with Lukas Van Ness and Javon Bullard. He eventually returned to his feet and was able to walk to the locker room, before being replaced by Wentz.

WEEK TWO

Thursday September 17

Detroit Lions @ Buffalo Bills – 1.15am, Friday morning – LIVE on Sky Sports NFL & Sky Sports Main Event

Sunday September 20

Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears – 6pm – LIVE on Sky Sports NFL

Pittsburgh Steelers @ New England Patriots – 6pm – LIVE on Sky Sports Football

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Denver Broncos – 9.05pm – LIVE on Sky Sports NFL & Sky Sports Main Event

Washington Commanders @ Dallas Cowboys – 9.25pm – LIVE on Sky Sports Football

Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals – 9.25pm – LIVE on Sky Sports + (stream)

Indianapolis Colts @ Kansas City Chiefs – 1.20am, Monday morning – LIVE on Sky Sports NFL & Sky Sports Main Event

Monday September 21

New York Giants @ Los Angeles Rams – 1.15am, Tuesday morning – LIVE on Sky Sports NFL & Sky Sports Main Event

Watch the 2026 NFL season live on Sky Sports, including every minute of the playoffs and Super Bowl LXI on Sunday February 14, 2027. Get Sky Sports or stream contract-free with NOW.