The NFL season officially kicks off tonight. Here are 5 things to watch in the first week of games

The Los Angeles Rams are loaded, Patrick Mahomes has a new knee, the Super Bowl champs are somehow underdogs and Buffalo Bills fans are once again convincing themselves this is the year!

It’s all happening in the NFL. Here are five things to know about Week 1 of the 2026 season.

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The Los Angeles Rams enter the season as huge favorites to win the Super Bowl, which will be played in LA for the first time since… the Rams won the Super Bowl in 2022.

It’s been a blockbuster offseason for the Rams. They made a huge trade, sending three draft picks, including a first-rounder, to the Browns for superstar pass rusher Myles Garrett. They also made a big trade with the Chiefs, sending four draft picks, including a first-rounder, for star cornerback Trent McDuffie.

Those moves instantly made the Rams one of the scariest defenses in the league. And that was BEFORE arguably the best defensive player of all time decided to come out of retirement.

For the first time since the 2023 season, Aaron Donald will suit up for the Rams. The 35-year-old, three-time Defensive Player of the Year, now teams up with Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

Good luck to the offensive lines facing the Rams this season.

Sean McVay’s team is the overwhelming favorite to win the Super Bowl at +500. That may not be great news for the Rams, though, because teams that have been so heavily favored are 0-20 over the last 30 years.

The big question for this team, other than whether it can stay healthy: Can Matthew Stafford repeat last year’s MVP performance at 38 years old?

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The Rams will open the season against the San Francisco 49ers in Australia on Thursday on Netflix.

It certainly has been an interesting offseason for the Niners.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan was involved in a serious car accident in July that left him with a severe concussion, a broken nose, three broken ribs, a broken hand and a large gash near his right eye that required more than 40 stitches.

Then owner Jed York was arrested in an undercover prostitution sting in Ohio. York was charged with misdemeanor counts of engaging in prostitution and possession of criminal tools, referring to his cellphone. The prostitution charge was amended to misdemeanor disorderly conduct, and York pleaded no contest to both disorderly conduct and possession of criminal tools. He received a two-day jail sentence, with credit for time served, and was ordered to pay $1,150 in fines.

Then came the Daeshon Love saga .

Love was arrested by the FBI on August 24 for allegedly executing an elaborate, multiyear romance scam in which he posed as a 49ers wide receiver. Love has nothing to do with the actual 49ers, but the story just added to one of the most bizarre offseasons for a team in a long time.

On the field, the 49ers still have Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey and added star receiver Mike Evans. They are expected to be good once again, but they play in the toughest division in football, the NFC West.

(And yes, they still practice next to the electrical substation.)

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It’s pretty rare for the reigning Super Bowl champion to not even be the favorite to win its division the following year.

The Seahawks dominated the playoffs last season and destroyed the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, but somehow they still have that “no one believes in us” attitude.

The reigning champs return nearly everyone from last year’s team, minus Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, who signed with the Chiefs in the offseason.

Right now, Seattle has the third-best odds to win it all, behind the Rams and Bills.

Much is made of the Seahawks’ “12th Man,” the name for their fans, who give the team a great home-field advantage in Seattle. But head coach Mike Macdonald has proven he knows how to get his squad ready on the road, too.

Through two seasons, Macdonald is 15-2 on the road, the second-best record all time for a coach in his first two seasons, behind only George Seifert.

The Seahawks will open the season Wednesday at home in a Super Bowl rematch against the Patriots.

Last season marked the end of the Chiefs’ dynasty run.

Mahomes, Andy Reid and company had gone to seven straight AFC championship games, five Super Bowls and won three of them during an incredible run from 2018-24.

But last year was a struggle.

Mahomes and the offense never looked right … and then, in December, Mahomes tore his ACL, effectively ending the Chiefs’ season and halting the team’s run of 10 straight years in the playoffs.

Now the question is: Can Mahomes and the Chiefs recapture that magic?

Mahomes is on target to start the season despite being just nine months removed from the ACL tear. Travis Kelce is back, fresh off marrying Taylor Swift in the offseason . And, as mentioned, the Chiefs added Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, giving them their best threat out of the backfield since they had a young Kareem Hunt back there.

The Chiefs also get to play a third-place schedule, which should help this season.

But the AFC West is expected to be very tough, with the Broncos and Chargers also hoping to contend for a conference title.

The Chiefs open the season at home on Monday Night Football against the Broncos.

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Every year for a while now, the Bills have been one of the preseason favorites. And every year their season somehow ends in disappointment.

Josh Allen is the best quarterback in football. He pretty much guarantees you have a chance.

But Bills fans are hoping that FINALLY the ball will bounce their way and they will find themselves in the Super Bowl.

Their last Super Bowl appearance was in 1994, when they lost their fourth straight championship game.

This is Year Nine for Allen. His worst record since his rookie season is 10-6. You can pretty much book it: The Bills are going to somehow win 10 to 13 games in the regular season.

But that’s getting old in Buffalo. The fan base is yearning for a Super Bowl run.

This season, they have a brand-new stadium – with some questionable obstructed-view seats – to enjoy.

Allen is arguably the best quarterback ever to not play in a Super Bowl.

So it’s going to happen at some point… right?

This season will be a battle. The Bills have a tough schedule, and it starts in Houston against the Texans’ stellar defense in Week 1.

洛杉矶公羊队阵容强大，帕特里克·马霍姆斯膝盖换了新手术，超级碗冠军竟然成了不被看好的一方，而布法罗比尔队的球迷们又一次说服自己，今年就是他们夺冠之年！

NFL精彩赛事不断。以下是关于2026赛季第一周你需要了解的五件事。

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洛杉矶公羊队是本赛季超级碗的夺冠热门，而超级碗也将自……公羊队在 2022 年赢得超级碗以来首次在洛杉矶举行。

对于洛杉矶公羊队来说，这是一个轰动一时的休赛期。他们完成了一笔重磅交易，用三个选秀权（包括一个首轮签）从克利夫兰布朗队换来了超级冲传手迈尔斯·加雷特。他们还与堪萨斯城酋长队达成了一笔大交易，用四个选秀权（包括一个首轮签）换来了明星角卫特伦特·麦克杜菲。

这些举措立刻让公羊队成为联盟中最令人胆寒的防守球队之一。而这还是在可以说是史上最佳防守球员决定复出之前。

自2023赛季以来，阿隆·唐纳德将首次代表洛杉矶公羊队出战。这位35岁、三届年度最佳防守球员将与现任年度最佳防守球员加勒特并肩作战。

祝本赛季所有对阵公羊队的进攻锋线好运。

肖恩·麦克维的球队以+500的赔率成为超级碗夺冠的最大热门。但这对于洛杉矶公羊队来说可能不是什么好消息，因为在过去30年里，那些被如此看好的球队战绩是0胜20负。

除了能否保持健康之外，这支球队面临的最大问题是：38 岁的马修·斯塔福德能否重现去年的 MVP 表现？

米切尔·莱夫/盖蒂图片社

洛杉矶公羊队将于周四在澳大利亚迎战旧金山49人队，比赛将在Netflix上直播。

对于49人队来说，这无疑是一个有趣的休赛期。

主教练凯尔·沙纳汉在七月份遭遇了一场严重的车祸，导致他严重脑震荡、鼻骨骨折、三根肋骨骨折、手部骨折，右眼附近还有一道大伤口，需要缝 40 多针。

随后，店主杰德·约克在俄亥俄州的一次卧底卖淫行动中被捕。约克被控犯有轻罪，包括从事卖淫活动和持有犯罪工具（指其手机）。卖淫指控后来改为轻罪扰乱治安，约克对扰乱治安和持有犯罪工具两项指控均表示不抗辩。他被判处两天监禁，并被勒令支付1150美元罚款（已服刑期可抵扣刑期）。

然后就有了《大骏之恋》的故事。

8月24日，FBI逮捕了洛夫，他涉嫌精心策划了一场长达数年的爱情骗局，期间他冒充旧金山49人队的接球手。洛夫与真正的49人队没有任何关系，但这件事无疑让这支球队近年来最离奇的休赛期之一更加扑朔迷离。

场上，49人队依然拥有布洛克·珀迪和克里斯蒂安·麦卡弗里，并且新加入了明星外接手迈克·埃文斯。人们期待他们能再次取得佳绩，但他们身处竞争最激烈的分区——国联西区。

（没错，他们现在仍然在变电站旁边进行训练。）

Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images/路透社

卫冕超级碗冠军在第二年甚至不是分区冠军的热门球队，这种情况非常罕见。

上赛季，西雅图海鹰队在季后赛中占据绝对优势，并在超级碗中击败了新英格兰爱国者队，但不知何故，他们仍然抱有“没有人相信我们”的态度。

卫冕冠军几乎保留了去年球队的所有成员，除了超级碗 MVP 肯尼斯·沃克，他在休赛期与酋长队签约。

目前，西雅图海鹰队夺冠的赔率排名第三，仅次于洛杉矶公羊队和布法罗比尔队。

西雅图海鹰队的球迷被称为“第十二人”，他们为球队在西雅图的主场营造了巨大的优势，这一点备受瞩目。但主教练迈克·麦克唐纳已经证明，他同样知道如何让球队在客场做好准备。

麦克唐纳执教两个赛季以来，客场战绩为 15 胜 2 负，是教练执教前两个赛季的第二好战绩，仅次于乔治·塞弗特。

海鹰队将于周三在主场迎战爱国者队，这将是超级碗的重演，这也是新赛季的首场比赛。

上个赛季标志着酋长队王朝的终结。

在 2018 年至 2024 年这段不可思议的时期里，马霍姆斯、安迪·里德和他们的队友们连续七次打入美联冠军赛，五次打入超级碗，并赢得了其中的三次。

但去年过得很艰难。

马霍姆斯和进攻组的状态始终没有起色……然后，在 12 月，马霍姆斯撕裂了前交叉韧带，这实际上结束了酋长队的赛季，也终结了球队连续 10 年进入季后赛的纪录。

现在的问题是：马霍姆斯和酋长队能否重现昔日辉煌？

尽管距离膝盖前交叉韧带撕裂仅过去了九个月，马霍姆斯仍有望按计划参加新赛季。特拉维斯·凯尔西也回归了，他在休赛期刚刚与泰勒·斯威夫特喜结连理。此外，正如前文所述，酋长队还签下了超级碗MVP肯尼斯·沃克，这让他们拥有了自年轻的卡里姆·亨特之后最强的后场威胁。

酋长队本赛季的赛程安排也比较轻松，主要对手是排名第三的球队，这应该对他们有所帮助。

但预计美联西区竞争将非常激烈，野马队和闪电队也都希望争夺分区冠军。

酋长队将在周一晚的橄榄球比赛中主场迎战野马队，拉开新赛季的序幕。

佩里·诺茨/盖蒂图片社

多年来，比尔队一直是季前赛的夺冠热门之一。但每年他们的赛季最终都以令人失望告终。

乔什·艾伦是橄榄球界最优秀的四分卫。他几乎能保证你有机会赢球。

但比尔队的球迷们希望，最终好运会眷顾他们，让他们能够打进超级碗。

他们上一次打进超级碗是在 1994 年，当时他们连续第四次输掉了冠军赛。

这是艾伦执教的第九个赛季。他自新秀赛季以来最差的战绩是10胜6负。几乎可以肯定的是：比尔队在常规赛中最终会赢下10到13场比赛。

但这在布法罗已经过时了。球迷们渴望的是一支超级碗冠军球队。

本赛季，他们将迎来一座全新的体育场——尽管其中一些座位视野受阻，令人质疑。

艾伦可以说是史上最优秀的未曾打进超级碗的四分卫。

所以这件事迟早会发生……对吧？

这个赛季将会是一场硬仗。比尔队的赛程十分艰难，第一周就要在休斯顿挑战德州人队强大的防守阵容。