Which Contenders Bounce Back From Losses?

Can contenders bounce back?

Half of last year’s playoff teams started 2026 at 0-1, including the Super Bowl favorite Los Angeles Rams, the Super Bowl runner-up New England Patriots and the AFC runner-up Denver Broncos. And now, all three enter week two with what feels like a “must-win,” against opponents that already won their opening games.

For the Rams, they’ll be without Myles Garrett for the foreseeable future, but their hope is that week one’s futility on both sides of the ball was more a product of jetlag than some greater (previously unknown) shortcomings. L.A.’s Monday Night Football foe, the New York Giants, looked impressive upsetting Dallas last week in primetime. But will be traveling cross-country and may lack the all-around defensive talent to stop a more functional Rams’ offense.

The Patriots already lost one of their own big offseason additions, with A.J. Brown suffering a high ankle sprain that could keep him out for at least six weeks. New England’s offense struggled mightily in week one against the Seahawks, scoring just 10 points. And the defense collapsed late against backup QB Drew Lock. New England faces a 1-0 Steelers team next, after Pittsburgh outlasted the Falcons. The Pats are favored, but the team has topped 20 points just once in their last five games now, dating back to the start of last year’s playoffs.

Last season’s struggles for the Chiefs helped create an opening for the upstart Broncos, who went a torrid 14-3 en route to the AFC’s top seed. But a Bo Nix injury in the divisional round derailed Denver’s championship aspirations as the team fell to New England in the AFC Title Game. With Nix back in week one, though, the offense still struggled against a resurgent Kansas City. They’ll try to right the ship against an impressive Jaguars squad that dashed out to a 31-0 lead in week one before coasting to the finish.

Houston is another 0-1 squad with high hopes this year and a loss on the resume already. They’ll have their work cut out for them in week two against a strong Bengals offense, especially after Houston allowed 36 points to Buffalo last week.

Other would-be contenders face slightly easier (on paper) roads to 1-0, though. The Packers visit the Jets, the Cowboys host the Commanders and the Chargers will play what may feel like a road game at home vs. the Raiders. Carolina also travels to Atlanta to face off with the (also 0-1) Falcons.

Quarterback questions already

The teams that entered the season with QB questions did not have those answered in week one.

Key among those are the aforementioned Falcons. Atlanta started Cooper Rush in week one, and he was just 12-of-22 passing for 143 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Tua Tagovailoa has not been practicing and Rush is now nursing some injuries as well. Michael Penix’s status is unclear. They’re at the point where fourth-stringer Jack Strand could get the start out of necessity.

In Cleveland, Watson started the game 11-of-17 for 100 yards and an interception against the Jaguars, before pushing for a more respectable stat line late against Jacksonville’s second-stringers. He’ll start in week two against the Buccaneers, but it’s unclear how quick of a hook he could receive should he struggle yet again.

Kyler Murray suffered a concussion against the Packers on Sunday, but the Vikings wound up winning the game anyway behind a three-touchdown effort from Carson Wentz. If Murray is out this week and the Vikings upset the Bears behind Wentz, it’s conceivable that there’s an official controversy in Minnesota.

Key unit concerns

Perhaps more concerning for the Texans than the loss to the Bills in week one is the fact that its vaunted defense allowed 36 points to Buffalo at home in the effort. Houston allowed the least yards per game last season and second-least points (17.4 per game), so the shootout was completely out of character. Week two’s matchup with another top offense, Cincinnati, becomes a huge game on the schedule now in terms of evaluating the playoff viability of the Texans’ defense this year.

Speaking of defense, the Rams’ entire offseason was built around improving on that side of the ball, adding Garrett, Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson, plus the eventual return of Aaron Donald to fix what ultimately derailed a Super Bowl run back in January. But in week one, the group looked over-matched in a 27-7 loss to the 49ers. And the offense didn’t fare well at all either despite returning every most key pieces from one of the league’s top units last year, too.

While Seattle’s defense looked very much up to the same level as last year, the offense is likely to be hampered in the short-term as the Seahawks wait for Sam Darnold to return from injury. Detroit’s defense was decisively unimpressive while nearly collapsing against the Saints in week one. The Broncos’ defense – again, one of the better groups on that side of the ball last year – has to bounce back quickly from its 21-point loss to the Chiefs that didn’t even feature impressive efforts from Patrick Mahomes, Xavier Worthy or Rashee Rice.

Record paces

In the offseason, Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson said he wanted his team to be the highest-scoring offense in league history. Through one week, the Bears could very well be on their way. A 59-37 road win will do that.

And though the ease with which Chicago put up points against Carolina was impressive, the Panthers looked equally capable of finding the endzone against the Bears’ defense. So for as much as the Bears are off to an amazing start in terms of scoring (they “only” need 34.2 points per game the rest of the way to beat the Broncos record from 2013), the defense may also be tracking toward its own, more infamous distinction.

The 2024 Panthers allowed 534 points on the season (31.4 per game), but were also 5-12 and teams regularly stopped exerting too much effort against them. In the Bears’ case, they could be winning a lot of games and pushing teams to attempt to keep up. In that sense, it could be easier for this team to top the Panthers’ defensive mark, even if they fall short of the Broncos’ 2013 offensive record.