Bengals bring total package, get past Buccaneers 33-27
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CINCINNATI (AP) -- The Bengals’ new-look defense forced four turnovers -- including its first fumble recovery for a TD since 2022 -- Joe Burrow passed for 254 yards and a touchdown and Cincinnati defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 33-27 Sunday.
Evan McPherson had three field goals, including from 55 yards and 58 yards, as the Bengals won their opener for the second straight year.
Linebacker Boye Mafe and safety Bryan Cook, both signed in free agency, had big games. Both had forced fumbles and recoveries while Mafe also one of Cincinnati’s four sacks.
Burrow completed 25 of 35 passes. After a three-and-out on the opening series, the seventh-year franchise quarterback directed the Bengals to points on six of their next seven drives. The only hiccup was a pick-6 by Tampa Bay rookie linebacker Jeremiah Trotter.
Cincinnati scored 24 points off Tampa Bay’s mistakes. Three were committed by quarterback Baker Mayfield, who signed a $165 million, three-year extension earlier in the week.
Mayfield was 23 of 28 passing for 216 yards. Two of the fumbles came while he was sacked and another on a scramble when the Buccaneers were on the verge of scoring.
Mayfield’s 9-yard scramble TD pulled the Buccaneers within six with 3:19 remaining, but Cincinnati ran out the clock. Burrow’s 18-yard completion to Tee Higgins to the Bucs 26 on second-and-10 put it out of reach.
It is the first time Mayfield has lost an opener in his four seasons with Tampa Bay.
Bucs’ early fumbles play critical role
Tampa Bay scored on its first possession when Chase McLaughlin made a 34-yard field goal, but the Buccaneers turned it over on their next three possessions. Cincinnati converted all three fumbles into touchdowns.
STEELERS 20, FALCONS 13
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- T.J. Watt jumped in front of a pass from Cooper Rush and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown to break open a tight game as the Pittsburgh Steelers began the Mike McCarthy era with a 20-13 win over Atlanta on Sunday.
Pittsburgh was hardly dominant in McCarthy’s debut as the coach of his hometown team, in his reunion with Aaron Rodgers. The star quarterback and his offense sputtered for long stretches thanks to a steady stream of dropped passes, penalties and missed opportunities that allowed the Falcons to hang around.
In the end, it didn’t matter. Atlanta, with Rush filling in for injured Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr., could muster little beyond what running back Bijan Robinson could provide to spoil the debut of coach Kevin Stefanski.
Robinson accounted for 173 of the Falcons’ 238 total yards, but Rush had a pair of ill-thrown picks after getting tossed into the mix late in the week when Tagovailoa’s back flared up. Rush was 12 of 22 for 143 yards with a touchdown to Robinson while the Steelers turned both interceptions into touchdowns.
The most damaging came early in the fourth quarter with Atlanta trailing by three. Rush tried to flip a pass to Robinson in the flat, only to have Watt snag it before chugging the other way.
The four-time All-Pro, coming off an underwhelming season by his standards, slipped on the turf halfway through his return before leaping to his feet quickly and racing to the end zone for the second score of his 10-year career.
Rodgers began his 22nd and final season by throwing for 221 yards and a touchdown to tight end Pat Freiermuth but was hampered by a couple of drops by DK Metcalf and a running game that did little to take pressure off him.
JAGUARS 34, BROWNS 10
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Trevor Lawrence threw for 245 yards and four touchdowns, opening the season much like he closed last year, and the Jacksonville Jaguars dominated rebuilding Cleveland 34-10 on Sunday to spoil the debut of new Browns coach Todd Monken.
The Jaguars scored on six of their first seven possessions, with Lawrence connecting with Parker Washington, rookie Josh Cameron, Brenton Strange and Jakobi Meyers for touchdowns. Three of four targets were wide open.
Lawrence completed 18 of 23 passes and finished with a career-high rating of 150.6. He was one of the best quarterbacks in the league down the stretch in 2025 while leading the Jaguars to the AFC South title.
Cleveland's Deshaun Watson, making his first start in nearly two years, threw an interception on the opening drive. He nearly threw another one on the team’s second possession and later recovered his own fumble to avoid a turnover.
Rookie receiver KC Concepcion Jr. also fumbled, and the Browns were penalized 11 times for 75 yards. They also went just 1 for 8 on third down and failed to score a touchdown on two trips inside the 20-yard line.
Cleveland finished with 272 yards and two highlights: Raheim Sanders returned a kickoff 74 yards to set up a 26-yard field goal in the third quarter, and Watson connected with Denzel Boston for a 46-yard TD with 1:52 remaining.
BEARS 59, CAROLINA 37
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Caleb Williams threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 65 yards and two more scores as the Chicago Bears defeated the Carolina Panthers 59-37 on Sunday in the highest-scoring season opener in NFL history.
Chicago and Carolina scored eight more points than the previous record of 88 set in Tampa Bay’s 48-40 win over New Orleans in 2018.
Coach Ben Johnson’s prolific Bears also broke a franchise record for points in an opener, a mark that had stood since 1948, when Chicago hung 45 points on Green Bay at Wrigley Field. The 59 points were the most allowed by the Panthers in team history.
D’Andre Swift, who received a $33.75 million contract extension earlier this week, ran for 124 yards on 18 carries with three touchdowns, while Kyle Monangai had 100 yards rushing, including a 61-yard touchdown burst.
It was the fourth-most points in Bears history. The most came in their notorious 73-0 win over Washington in the 1940 NFL title game.
Bryce Young threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a score for Carolina. Jalen Coker had eight catches for a career-high 138 yards and two TDs.
Williams looked like an MVP candidate, completing several pinpoint passes while racking up 196 yards through the air in the first half, including a perfectly placed 22-yard touchdown strike to Cole Kmet.
He also ran for 52 yards and two TDs before the break as the Bears took a 31-24 lead into the locker room.
BILLS 36, HOUSTON 31
HOUSTON (AP) -- Josh Allen threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Palmer with 1:36 remaining to lift the Buffalo Bills to a 36-31 win over the Houston Texans in a back-and-forth season opener on Sunday.
Allen had 334 yards passing with two touchdowns and ran for two more scores to get his first win in Houston after losing his previous four games at Reliant Stadium.
The Texans led 31-30 when Allen split two defenders to find Palmer. The 2-point conversion failed.
One play earlier, Houston’s Kamari Lassiter got his hands on a pass from Allen in the end zone but couldn’t grab the interception.
The Texans had a chance to win in the closing seconds, but Greg Rousseau had his second strip sack of the day, taking down C.J. Stroud at the Buffalo 28. Terrel Bernard recovered to seal the victory.
Dalton Kincaid had five receptions for 130 yards and DJ Moore had five catches for 100 yards and a touchdown in his Buffalo debut after a trade from Chicago.
David Montgomery, who was traded from Detroit this offseason, had a three-TD day in his Houston debut. He had scoring runs of 1 and 18 yards in the first half and his 7-yard touchdown reception put Houston up 28-27 early in the fourth.
Stroud threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns but lost two fumbles.
Tyler Bass’ 33-yard field goal made it 30-28 Buffalo with 10 1/2 minutes to go.
Kaʻimi Fairbairn’s 58-yard field goal put Houston back ahead with about seven minutes remaining before Allen’s game-winning drive.
JETS 23, TITANS 10
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Breece Hall ran for 102 yards and a touchdown, Geno Smith threw for 215 yards in his Jets return and the New York Jets defeated Tennessee 23-10 on Sunday in the season opener to spoil Titans coach Robert Saleh’s debut against his former team.
The Jets never trailed, led 10-3 at halftime and held the ball for just over 38 minutes. Smith, drafted by New York in 2013 and acquired from Las Vegas in March, finished 19 of 24 while efficiently moving new coordinator Frank Reich’s offense.
Derrick Henry’s rushes for 3 TDs and Lamar Jackson lights up the Colts in the Ravens’ 41-23 win
RAVENS 41, COLTS 23
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Derrick Henry ran for three touchdowns to move into third on the NFL’s career list, Lamar Jackson threw for 324 yards and a TD and rushed for a score, and the Baltimore Ravens beat the Indianapolis Colts 41-23 on Sunday.
The Ravens improved to 13-6 in openers since 2008 and have topped the 20-point mark in their last 10, the league’s longest active streak.
Henry had 24 carries for 144 yards, his 56th 100-yard game and his eighth with three or more TD runs. Henry has 125 career rushing TDs, two more than Hall of Famer Marcus Allen.
Jackson went 17 of 25 for 324 yards, 229 of those in the first half. Zay Flowers caught five passes for 150 yards before halftime, including a 54-yard catch-and-run for a score. Flowers did not play in the second half because of a hamstring injury.
Indy lost its 11th opener in 13 years. Daniel Jones was 19 of 31 for 166 yards with a TD and an interception in his first game since tearing his right Achilles tendon in December. Jonathan Taylor ran 19 times for 98 yards and two touchdowns. He also lost a fumble.
LIONS 31, SAINTS 30 (OT)
DETROIT (AP) -- Tyler Shough threw an incomplete pass in the end zone on a 2-point conversion attempt, allowing the Detroit Lions to escape with a 31-30 win in overtime over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
Saints coach Kellen Moore chose to go for the win instead of tying the game with 1:34 left in overtime after his team came back from a three-touchdown deficit in the third quarter and allowed a touchdown on the opening possession of the extra period.
Jared Goff threw two touchdown passes to Amon-Ra St. Brown, the second score a 5-yard throw early in overtime, and Jahmyr Gibbs ran for three touchdowns.
New Orleans rallied from a 21-0 deficit and pulled into a 24-all tie on Shough’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson with 1:07 left in the game.
Detroit went three and out on offense, giving the Saints the ball with a chance to win it and Ryan Wright missed a 62-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
Gibbs had a career-high 29 carries for 156 yards and matched a career high with three rushing touchdowns. He also had five catches for 30 yards.
Goff was 26 of 39 for 206 yards without a turnover.
Shough, coming off a promising rookie year, threw two interceptions and lost a fumble before closing strong and completing 35 of 56 passes for 410 yards and three scores.