It has begun: The NFL season is now in full swing with a slate of 14 games on the docket Sunday.
Here’s what you need to know as we look at the winners, losers plus the must-see moments.
STEELERS 23, BENGALS 20 (OT)
CINCINNATI (AP) — Chris Boswell kicked a 53-yard field goal as time expired in overtime and the Pittsburgh Steelers overcame T.J. Watt’s injury late in the fourth quarter to beat the Cincinnati Bengals in a sloppy season opener for both teams Sunday.
Watt had one of four interceptions off Joe Burrow, who rebounded from a lousy start and rallied Cincinnati from a 17-6 halftime deficit. His 6-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Marr Chase tied it at 20 with 2 seconds left in regulation, but the game went to overtime after Minkah Fitzpatrick blocked Evan McPherson’s point-after try.
McPherson and Boswell missed potential winning field goals in overtime before Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky completed passes of 9, 26 and 10 yards in the final 56 seconds.
Watt, the Defensive Player of the Year, left the field and headed to the locker room shortly before the game went to overtime with a pectoral injury. Before that, he was his usual disruptive self, with a sack and a pick.
Burrow’s four interceptions were a career worst, and he was sacked seven times in front of what was supposed to be an improved offensive line. He was 33 for 53 for 338 yards and two touchdowns.
COLTS 20, TEXANS 20 (OT)
HOUSTON (AP) — Matt Ryan rallied Indianapolis in the fourth quarter to force overtime against Houston in his Colts debut, but neither team could score on two overtime possessions each.
The Texans led 20-3 entering the fourth quarter in coach Lovie Smith’s debut, but Ryan led three successive scoring drives, culminating with his 15-yard touchdown pass to Michael Pittman with 1:54 remaining.
Indianapolis got the ball back with 1:19 left in regulation but was forced to punt _ a sign of things to come in the extra period.
Ryan, playing his first game for Indy after 14 seasons with Atlanta, finished with 352 yards passing and a touchdown. Rushing champion Jonathan Taylor finished with 161 yards and a touchdown.
Davis Mills threw for 240 yards and two scores.
BROWNS 26, PANTHERS 24
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Rookie Cade York kicked a go-ahead 58-yard field goal with 8 seconds left, Kareem Hunt scored two touchdowns and the Cleveland Browns spoiled Baker Mayfield’s bid for vengeance with a win over the Carolina Panthers.
Nick Chubb ran for 141 yards and Hunt had 70 total yards from scrimmage as the Browns won their season opener for the first time since 2004.
Mayfield overcame a slow start by leading the Panthers back from a 13-point fourth quarter deficit by running for a 7-yard touchdown and finding Robbie Anderson for a 75-yard touchdown strike. He then led the Panthers on a 64-yard drive in seven plays to set up Eddy Pineiro’s go-ahead field goal with 1:13 left in the game.
Jacoby Brissett, filling in for suspended Browns star Deshaun Watson, completed passes for 13 yards to Donovan Peoples-Jones and 9 yards to Amari Cooper to set up York’s winning kick, the longest for the franchise since 1984.
Mayfield, who spent four seasons with Cleveland prior to being traded in July, finished 16 of 27 for 235 yards.
SAINTS 27, FALCONS 26
ATLANTA (AP) — Wil Lutz kicked a 51-yard field goal with 19 seconds remaining to cap a stunning fourth-quarter comeback by the New Orleans Saints, who overcame a 16-point deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons 27-26 Sunday in coach Dennis Allen’s debut.
After struggling offensively through most of the season opener, Jamies Winston guided the Saints to three straight scoring drives.
The first two ended with touchdown passes of 3 and 9 yards to Michael Thomas. The Saints converted one 2-point try, but failed on the other, leaving the Falcons clinging to a 26-24 lead.
New Orleans got the ball back one more time, taking over at its own 20 with 48 seconds remaining and no timeouts.
No problem.
Winston connected on a 40-yard pass to Jarvis Landry and a 17-yarder to Juwan Johnson to set up Lutz’s winning field goal.
RAVENS 24, JETS 9
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw three touchdown passes, including two to Devin Duvernay, and the Baltimore Ravens rolled past the New York Jets on a rainy Sunday in the regular-season opener.
Jackson went 17 of 30 for 213 yards, including a TD to Rashod Bateman, and an interception. The performance came hours after ESPN reported that Jackson turned down a five-year extension offer worth more than $250 million.
Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta said in a statement Friday that the sides would keep working on an extension after the season. Jackson, entering his fifth-year option on his rookie deal, gave the Ravens some more to consider.
Jackson didn’t run much on Sunday, just 17 yards rushing on six carries, but he didn’t need to because the Jets’ offense struggled to get anything going.
Joe Flacco, starting against the team whom he helped win a Super Bowl, was ineffective and wasn’t helped by a few drops and lousy pass protection. He went 37 of 59 for 307 yards and a touchdown and interception — and the fans at MetLife Stadium chanted backup Mike White’s name a few times in the second half.
COMMANDERS 28, JAGUARS 22
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Carson Wentz bounced back from throwing interceptions on consecutive plays early in the fourth quarter, completing his third and fourth touchdowns to give Washington a comeback victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday in his debut for the team known as the Commanders.
It was his first four-TD game since the day he tore the ACL in his left knee while with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017. And it came with former Eagles coach Doug Pederson on the sideline in charge of the Jaguars for the first time.
Wentz connected with Terry McLaurin on a 49-yard TD and then hit rookie Jahan Dotson in the end zone from 24 yards out to put the Commanders ahead with 1:46 left after they squandered an early lead. With fans chanting “Let’s go Redskins,” Wentz engineered a 13-play, 90-yard drive that kept him from losing to the Jaguars in consecutive games following a similar two-turnover effort in Week 18 last year with the Indianapolis Colts.
He finished 27 of 41 for 313 yards and produced enough points to make up for two bad mistakes on the interceptions.
DOLPHINS 20, PATRIOTS 7
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Tua Tagovailoa passed for 270 yards and a touchdown and the Miami Dolphins provided an early look at their ability to contend in the AFC East as they beat Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.
Facing Belichick in a head coaching debut is never easy. But Mike McDaniel, the former 49ers offensive coordinator who was hired as the Dolphins head coach in February, made use of a talented defense and the speedy options he brought in during the offseason to extend Miami’s winning streak against the Patriots to four games.
Miami swept the Patriots in 2021, including a win in Foxborough in the season opener.
Second-year receiver Jaylen Waddle scored the Dolphins’ first offensive touchdown of the 2022 season, taking a fourth-down pass from Tagovailoa into the end zone for a 42-yard score. Waddle caught four passes for 69 yards.
Tyreek Hill, making his Miami Dolphins debut after the team traded for him during the offseason, led Miami’s receivers with eight receptions for 94 yards.
Patriots second-year quarterback Mac Jones threw for 213 yards with a touchdown and interception. Running back Ty Montgomery caught the Patriots’ only touchdown of the game. Damien Harris led New England’s rushers with 48 yards on nine carries.
BEARS 19, 49ERS 10
CHICAGO (AP) — Justin Fields threw for two second-half touchdowns, Eddie Jackson set up a TD with an interception and the Chicago Bears gave Matt Eberflus a win in his head coaching debut, beating the San Francisco 49ers on a rain-soaked Sunday.
Fields shook off a rough first half, throwing a 51-yard TD to Dante Pettis in the third quarter and connecting with Equanimeous St. Brown for an 18-yarder early in the fourth to put Chicago on top 13-10. Jackson then picked off Trey Lance near midfield for his first interception since 2019 and returned the ball to the 21. That led to a 6-yard touchdown run by Khalil Herbert, making it 19-10.
San Francisco running back Elijah Mitchell left the game in the first half with a knee injury and did not return. Niners star tight end George Kittle missed the game because of a groin issue.
Heavy rain flooded the area and drenched the new Bermuda grass installed this week instead of the traditional Kentucky bluegrass used in a stadium often criticized for its choppy surface. As the final seconds ticked away, Bears players took head-first dives into the soggy end zone.
The Bears also got called for an unusual penalty near the end of the first half, when their holder got flagged for bringing out a towel to dry a small area of the field ahead of a field goal try. The 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty wiped out a scoring opportunity and forced Chicago to punt.
EAGLES 38, LIONS 35
DETROIT (AP) — Jalen Hurts accounted for 333 yards and a touchdown and A.J. Brown had a career-high-tying 155 yards receiving in his Philadelphia debut, helping the Eagles hold on for a win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
The Eagles scored 24 points in the second quarter and had a 17-point lead in the fourth that was cut to three when Jared Goff threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to DJ Chark with 3:51 left.
Philadelphia sealed the win with Miles Sanders’ 24-yard run on third-and-2 from the Eagles 27 just before the two-minute warning and Hurts’ sneak that converted a fourth-and-1 from the Detroit 40 with 50 seconds left.
Sanders finished with 96 yards rushing and was one of three Philadelphia running backs to score.
