NFL WEEK ONE BROUGHT THE SEASON'S FIRST UPSET, A SCORING RECORD, AND AN OVERTIME ESCAPE

NFL Week 1 is finally finished, and it took a Monday night blowout in Kansas City to close it out. In between, the league delivered its biggest upset of the season so far, the highest scoring Week 1 game in NFL history, and enough overtime drama to fill a highlight reel before September even gets going in earnest.

The Upset

The Cardinals went into Los Angeles as 9.5 point underdogs, the largest spread of the week, and left with a 26 to 14 win over the Chargers. Jacoby Brissett went 27 of 37 for 277 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions, and Trey McBride caught 9 passes for 95 yards and a score. Every account of Week 1 that ranked its upsets put this one first, and the gap to second place was not close.

The Bears Went Nuclear

Chicago beat Carolina 59 to 37, and the 96 combined points made it the highest scoring Week 1 game in NFL history. Caleb Williams became the first player in Bears history to pass for 200 plus yards, rush for 50 plus yards, and reach two touchdowns both through the air and on the ground in the same game, finishing 21 of 29 for 269 yards and 65 rushing yards with 4 total touchdowns. D''Andre Swift ran for 124 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 18 carries, and Kyle Monangai added 100 more yards on only 10 carries behind him.

Two Games That Needed Extra Time and Extra Nerve

Detroit trailed New Orleans by 21 points, then watched Tyler Shough drag the Saints all the way back to force overtime, then survived when New Orleans missed a two point conversion trying to win it outright. The Lions escaped 31 to 30. Jahmyr Gibbs carried a career high 29 times for 156 yards and 2 touchdowns and added 5 catches, and Amon Ra St. Brown scored the winning touchdown in overtime. Shough finished with 410 passing yards and 3 touchdowns in the loss, the single best passing line of the week by any quarterback on either side of the ball.

Buffalo needed a 96 yard, game winning drive capped by a 34 yard touchdown to Josh Palmer to beat Houston 36 to 31. Josh Allen threw for 334 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran for 2 more, DJ Moore caught 5 passes for 100 yards and a score in his first game as a Bill, and Dalton Kincaid set a career high with 130 receiving yards. Baltimore had an easier time of it, beating Indianapolis 41 to 23 behind Lamar Jackson''s 324 passing yards and Derrick Henry''s 144 yards and 3 touchdowns, a game that moved Henry into third on the career rushing touchdown list. Jonathan Taylor still put up 121 yards from scrimmage and 2 touchdowns for Indianapolis in the loss.

Stat Leaders

Gibbs led the league in rushing yards, with Henry, Swift and Montgomery each finding the end zone 3 times. Shough led in passing yards despite the loss, with Williams'' 4 total touchdowns the top all purpose mark of the week. Zay Flowers caught 150 yards worth of passes for Baltimore before a halftime injury, the top receiving total of Week 1, just ahead of Kincaid''s career night in Buffalo and Trey McBride''s 95 yards in the Cardinals'' upset.

Fantasy Winners and Losers

Williams, Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Henry and Swift all delivered exactly the kind of week one lineup managers pay a premium draft pick for. The best value came from role players: Monangai turned 10 carries into 100 yards, and Bijan Robinson piled up 173 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in a losing effort, proof his workload travels even when the Falcons do not win.

The quiet list is just as notable. Ja''Marr Chase, Drake London and rookie tight end Colston Loveland all had disappointing days for teams that otherwise moved the ball well, and James Cook III was among the week''s bigger name disappointments at running back. Cleveland''s day summed up the losers'' column on its own, with Deshaun Watson throwing an interception, losing a fumble, and taking 5 sacks before a garbage time touchdown made a 34 to 3 rout look like a 34 to 10 final.

Monday Night Closed the Book

Kansas City beat Denver 31 to 10 on Monday night in Patrick Mahomes'' return to action, with Kenneth Walker III turning in a career high rushing performance to put the game away on the ground. It was a quiet way to end a week that opened with the Cardinals'' upset and the Bears'' shootout, and a reminder that Kansas City still does not need style points to close a season opener out.

One week in, the receiving corps in Baltimore already looks banged up, three separate teams have a legitimate three touchdown runner, and the record book had to be updated before the first Sunday of the season even finished.