Ranking the top 10 teams after week 1

By Hunter Walker, Sports Editor
September 11, 2025

SANFORD, Maine – The NFL season kicked off on Thursday, Sept. 4, and was full of electric games, but of course, some bad ones too. Here are the top 10 teams in the league after week 1.

10. Denver Broncos, Record: 1-0

The Denver Broncos opened up their season at home hosting the Tennessee Titans and won 20-12, it wasn’t the prettiest game for their offense but the defense did excellent to get the job done. A highlight for the Broncos defense was outside linebacker Nik Bonitto who generated 9 pressures on 22 pass rushes, equivalent to a 40.9% pressure rate, and this set a career high for him.

9. Los Angeles Rams, Record: 1-0

The Rams also opened up their season at home with a low scoring 14-9 victory over the Houston Texans. Rams QB Matthew Stafford played a solid game with 245 passing yards and 1 touchdown, but once again this game came down to the defense making plays. The Rams defense pressured Texans QB C.J. Stroud on 41.2% of his dropbacks and accumulated 3 sacks.

8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Record: 1-0

The Buccaneers found themself in yet another thrilling game against the Atlanta Falcons, last year they got beat by the Falcons in the two games they played against each other but this time they got the win in Atlanta 23-20. Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield didn’t have the amount of passing yards you’d expect for a game that was a thriller towards the end, putting up only 167 passing yards, but he had 3 passing touchdowns on top of it. Buccaneers rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka had an amazing first game, catching 4 out of 6 targets for 67 yards and 2 touchdowns.

7. Green Bay Packers, Record: 1-0

The Packers have high expectations to start the year after making the trade with the Dallas Cowboys for defensive end Micah Parsons and they definitely hit those expectations after a dominant 27-13 victory at home against the Detroit Lions. Packers QB Jordan Love played a solid game with 188 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, also what many people may not know is he has now gone 9 straight games without throwing an interception, the longest active streak by any QB. Packers look forward to playing the Washington Commanders tonight on Thursday Night Football.

6. Washington Commanders, Record: 1-0

The Commanders probably had the most favorable matchup they could have asked for to open up their season, they hosted the New York Giants and won 21-6. Commanders QB Jayden Daniels played a good game with 233 passing yards and 1 touchdown, while also adding 11 rushing attempts for 68 rushing yards. Commanders new wide receiver Deebo Samuel who they acquired from the San Francisco 49ers didn’t have the highest of expectations from people but he ended up having a very good game, catching 7 passes on 10 targets for 77 yards, but also added 1 rushing attempt for 19 yards and a touchdown.

5. Kansas City Chiefs, Record: 0-1

It’s hard to put a team that lost in week 1 in the top 10 let alone top 5 but there are many factors that play into this, the biggest factor being it’s only week 1, certain teams that won may not continue winning but the Chiefs losing is not going to be a normal thing all year long. Anyways, the Chiefs opened up their season in Brazil against the Los Angeles Chargers and they lost 21-27. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes threw for 258 yards and 1 touchdown, impressive statline considering he’s without wide receiver Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy got hurt only a couple plays into the game.

4. Los Angeles Chargers, Record: 1-0

As I just mentioned, the Chargers beat the Chiefs 27-21 in their season opener. Chargers QB Justin Herbert looked amazing, throwing for 318 yards and 3 touchdowns. Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh normally has a run to set up the pass style game plan but this time it seemed like he wanted to let Herbert loose and throw the ball all over the place. You can expect the Chargers to be a very good team moving forward if they continue to look this good.

3. Baltimore Ravens, Record: 0-1

The Ravens played an amazing game in Buffalo but still lost to the Bills 41-40. The Ravens seem to be the one team that loses games they shouldn’t and this is one of them, they had a 15 point lead in the 4th quarter and with 8:37 remaining in the game the Ravens had a 98.9% chance to win but still blew it. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson only threw 19 passes and completed 14 of them for 209 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, he also added 6 rush attempts for 70 yards and a touchdown. Running back Derrick Henry was probably the highlight of the offense with 18 rush attempts for 169 yards and 2 touchdowns, but may have also been a big part of why they lost due to his fumble late in the game. The only thing keeping the Ravens from being number one or two on this list is the fact that they blew that lead.

2. Buffalo Bills, Record: 1-0

The Bills continue to be a great team every year, and QB Josh Allen is proving why he was MVP last year. Josh Allen threw the ball 46 times, completed 33 of his passes, and had 394 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, he also added 14 rushing attempts for 30 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. Wide receiver Keon Coleman had a very good game as well, catching 8 passes on 11 targets for 112 receiving yards and 1 touchdown. Overall a great and very improbable comeback win for the Bills, they’ll continue to be great all year.

1. Philadelphia Eagles

With the Eagles being the defending Super Bowl champions, they’re going to keep this number one spot either until they lose or until a team looks significantly better than them. They played a good game at home against the Dallas Cowboys to kick off the season, winning 24-20. They showed resilience right away after their defensive tackle Jalen Carter got ejected from the game for spitting on Cowboys QB Dak Prescott before he even played a single down. Eagles QB Jalen Hurts wasn’t thrilling passing the ball, with only 152 passing yards, but he did add 14 rush attempts, 62 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. Jalen Hurts had the most time to throw out of any QB in week 1 thanks to his offensive line, but still ended up taking off and running on 39.4% of his dropbacks. The Eagles seem to be just as good as expected and are looking to beat the Chiefs again in week 2.