Football's Back. F**k Yeah!

A patron at my favorite neighborhood tavern left in a huff on Sunday afternoon at about 2 PM because the bartender refused to switch one of the 200 or so televisions over to the US Open finals.

Tennis? TENNIS??? Read the room, buddy!

I watch a little tennis now and then. But c’mon: it was Week 1, NFL Sunday. The tavern was hopping, even with Eagles kickoff hours away. 

Most of the early games were high-scoring, close and compelling. Bills-Texans delivered all the thrills of a playoff game. The Bears and Panthers launched fireworks at each other until the Bears pulled away. Deshaun Watson was performing his Art the Clown routine: alternately hilarious, terrifying and pathetic. A table of Saints fans, silent for hours, erupted in table-thumping and Who Dat chants as Tyler Shough and Chris Olave led the unlikeliest of comebacks later in the afternoon.

And this dude wanted to watch Zverev versus Shelton? Heck, even the Phillies were relegated to one television next to the bathroom. Sunday was a celebration of football. Tennis fans could watch from home, or from the fancy bar just across the street from my favorite tavern, a place where divorcees and near-divorcees try to hook up with each other over martinis. Go be an urbane, sophisticated tennis fan over there, Bucko. The rest of us wanted to watch Josh Allen fire off missiles, then wait for the Eagles to bring the dinnertime indigestion.

This edition of Walkthrough is also a celebration of the NFL’s return. Let’s not play the traditional Week 1 “Jump to Conclusions” game. Let’s keep the nitpicking to a minimum. Instead, let’s bask in the giddy thrill of watching Allen play like Superman, Lamar Jackson perform like a once-and-future MVP, the Bears operate like a well-oiled machine, the Vikings conjure a victory out of sheer nonsense, the Eagles and Steelers do their grimy thing, and so on. 

Sunday was a rollercoaster ride and a cotton candy binge. We learned a little. We gasped and cheered a lot. The sport we love is back. For the next five months of Sundays, tennis, baseball and everything else can take a back seat on a whole different bus.

Possible AFC Championship Preview Spotlight: Buffalo Bills 36, Houston Texans 31

What Happened

Two Super Bowl contenders battled back-and-forth down to the wire in a game that represented everything we dream about during our six months without football. 

Josh Allen and the Bills offense had plenty of answers for the fearsome Texans defense. The Bills offensive line, with the help of lots of two tight-end formations, got the best of the Texans pass rush all afternoon. DJ Moore plucked some Allen passes away from over-aggressive defenders, while Dalton Kincaid and Khalil Shakir worked the short middle. Joe Brady even broke out an early-game hook-and-lateral to punish the Texans for salivating too profusely. 

Meanwhile, C.J. Stroud shook off an early strip-sack and reminded everyone that he’s not the stumblebum we saw last January. Stroud spread passes around to 11 different receivers, manipulated the pocket to buy time, and even scrambled for a key first down. The Texans were also able to run a bit behind their endlessly-reconfigured offensive line, with David Montgomery capping two drives with rushing touchdowns.

The Texans led 31-30 when Kai Kroeger bounced a gorgeous punt to a teammate waiting at the four-yard line with 3:31 to play. James Cook ran 12 yards to get the Bills out of jeopardy. He fumbled at the end of the run; fortunately, teammate O’Cyrus Torrence pounced on the loose football. A 35-yard Allen strike to Kincaid got the Bills to the edge of field goal position.

Allen launched a slightly off-kilter bomb to Joshua Palmer a few plays later; Derek Stingley tipped the pass with every part of his anatomy in the end zone, but the ball bounced before the defender could secure it. Allen fired a 34-yard touchdown laser to Palmer on the next play.

Stroud’s final rally reached the Bills nine-yard line, but Deone Walker and Greg Rousseau delivered sacks (the latter a strip sack) to secure the Bills victory.

What It Means

It’s easier to infer what this game doesn’t mean than what it means:

• Joe Brady is not some nincompoop who will call nothing but mesh routes now that he’s the Bills head coach. But Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard is not a miracle worker, either. The 2026 Bills look a lot like the 2023-2025 Bills. That’s all fans can really ask for in Week 1. 
• Stroud is still the guy we saw from 2024 through late December of last year. The early-and-late fumbles were problems, but Allen got away with a few turnover-worthy plays as well, and postgame storylines would look very different if Torrence had not pounced on Cook’s fumble or Stingley hauled in a game-winning interception.
• The Texans defense may not be the 1985 Bears, but few opponents will be able to threaten it with talent like Allen, Cook, and the Bills offensive line. And with the Texans offense looking functional, the Texans don’t have to pitch weekly shutouts to win.

In summary: these teams are really good, this game was awesome, and let’s let the season play out a little before we clamp down any narratives.

What’s Next

The Bills host the Lions, who were lucky to escape Week 1 with an overtime win over the Saints.

The Texans host the Bengals, who were lucky that Baker Mayfield and Bucky Irving kept fumbling the football to them.

That De-Escalated Quickly Spotlight: Minnesota Vikings 39, Green Bay Packers 22

What Happened

The Packers led 22-10 with 5:09 to play in the third quarter. Christian Watson had two touchdown catches. Jordan Love also connected with Tucker Kraft, Matthew Golden and even Jonnu Smith for big gains. Kyler Murray (concussion) was long gone. Carson Wentz threw one touchdown bomb to Justin Jefferson, but otherwise was performing his typical slapstick routine.

Then came a meltdown for the ages.

A long Myles Price kickoff return set up a touchdown pass from Wentz to T.J. Hockenson. The Packers responded with a field goal drive, but Matt LaFleur elected to take three points off the board when the Vikings were flagged for jumping offsides, setting up fourth-and-1 instead. Love got stuffed on a sneak on the conversion attempt.

An illegal contact penalty negated a Wentz sack on the next possession. Roughing the passer then negated a third-down Wentz incompletion. Defensive holding negated an Evan Williams interception in the end zone. All the flags, plus one 28-yard run by Jordan Mason, allowed Aaron Jones to score a three-yard touchdown to give the Vikings an unlikely 25-22 lead.

Love fumbled on back-to-back sacks on the next Packers series. Teammate Zach Bako-Bewele scooped up the first fumble. Andrew Van Ginkel retrieved the second and ran it down to the one-yard line, setting up a Mason touchdown.

A rattled Love threw an interception to James Pierre on the next possession, setting up one more touchdown to seal an almost inexplicable rout.

What it Means for the Vikings

C'mon folks, you know how Vikings football works. The sillier the game story, the more likely it is that they won. And this was pure Vikings Silly Ball: sacks, turnovers, a few defensive lapses, Jefferson heroics, and a backup quarterback playing just well enough to win, so long as flags erased some of his biggest miscues.

Murray threw an interception before leaving the game. The difference between him and Wentz may not be all that great. The Vikings might be better off rotating their three quarterbacks all year, just to keep opponents guessing and feeling overconfident.

What it Means for the Packers

Heh-heh. Heh-heh-heh.