Defense starts season ahead of offense, well, that is how it used to be

[tsylvester]

https://apnews.com/article/nfl-offense-bears-williams-allen-bills-36d8624ba91df907e63cfe230171eff9

Offenses didn’t need any time to shake off the rust.

They lit up the scoreboard in one of the highest-scoring opening weeks in NFL history.

The Bears beat Carolina 59-37, falling three points shy of tying Atlanta’s 53-year-old record for the most in Week 1. The game featured 1,030 total yards and the most combined points (96) ever in an opener.

Josh Allen led the Bills to a stunning performance against Houston’s once-stingy defense in a 36-31 road win. The Texans allowed the second-fewest points (17.4 per game) and fewest yards (277.2 per game) in 2025. But Allen threw for 334 yards and Buffalo scored on eight of its 11 possessions before kneeling down to win coach Joe Brady’s first game.

Ten teams scored more than 30 points, and six had at least 24 in the first half.

Maybe starters don’t need to play in the preseason. Quarterbacks were in midseason form as 13 posted a passer rating over 100.

All those joint practices must have benefited offenses more than defenses.

One of Chicago’s team goals set by coach Ben Johnson is to break the NFL record for most points in a season. Johnson believes the Bears still have room to improve despite scoring touchdowns on their last four drives.

“There’s still a number of things on there that I didn’t love just from the sideline perspective,” Johnson said.

Entering the Broncos-Chiefs game on Monday night, teams have combined to score 750 points. The record in Week 1 is 791 in 2012.