NFL Week 1 schedule rankings: Top 5 Sunday games to remind us why we love football
We're keeping it simple for the opening weekend: the five matchups that should remind us why we dedicate so much to this hobby-turned-faith.
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In the abstract, pro football is a zero-sum game. One NFL franchise lifts the Lombardi Trophy, and 31 do not. Every player, coach and executive speak of that same ultimate goal; at this point, it’s disarming to hear someone in the league not mention it.
In practice, though, such thinking is tragically limited. Several of the NFL’s runners-up still give us indelible joys and needed diversions. Fans spend money, travel the country and reconfigure social lives to follow their football teams.
All 18 weeks of the regular season are part of the whole journey, but each Sunday should also be appreciated on its own. This piece will sort the NFL weekend offerings by different criteria. In future versions, we may rank games by their potential to crash the scoreboard operator with high-flying offenses, or by uniform aesthetics, or by off-the-field animosities and revenge plotlines.
We’re keeping it simple for Week 1, though: the top five matchups that should remind us why we dedicate so much to this hobby-turned-faith.
5. Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Jets
This pairing sets up for some creative strategy and tactical angling. Both offenses employ new quarterbacks who have hyper-specific skill sets, along with pronounced limitations. Each defense will isolate their top options with shutdown corners (Jalen Ramsey for Pittsburgh and Sauce Gardner for New York). T.J. Watt warps protection off the edge, like a whirring magnet in accelerated orbit; Quinnen Williams moves pressure into the middle of the interior, like a giant compression driver.
Of course, all this is background staging for Aaron Rodgers’ return to a manic Meadowlands. Through prolonged booing and unpublishable vulgarities, Jets fans will get brief catharsis for such a clumsy collapse.
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons
We can no longer deny what was evidently written in the cosmos: These two teams are just right for each other. Last year’s meetings were exhilarating and kind of surreal. The first one was a marathon 36-30 overtime finish, sealed by KhaDarel Hodge’s walk-off. The second one was a 31-26 thriller that ended with Baker Mayfield’s prayer heave … caught … with a foot out of bounds in the back of the end zone.
The Falcons swept the series and the Bucs won the division. Football can be hilarious, and these opponents routinely commit to the bit. Mayfield should put up a fun stat line indoors, and Bijan Robinson should begin his bid as the top earner in fantasy football. This is the Atlanta action to get crunk to.
3. Houston Texans at Los Angeles Rams
What an awesome interconference draw to start their respective schedules. Sean McVay cannot and will not stop thinking about offense. DeMeco Ryans loves defense the way most people love their pets — and the way some people still love the movie “Draft Day,” and the way that maybe one person still loves the song “Draft Day.”
Both teams came on strong to win a playoff game last season. The Rams were a guaranteed good time down the stretch, beating the Bills in December (44-42) and pushing the Eagles in the postseason’s divisional round (28-22). The Texans, meanwhile, won their division and then made the other Los Angeles quarterback look like a bewildered cartoon frog. Every pass against the Houston secondary is delightfully suspenseful. Brilliant corner Derek Stingley Jr. gets high-leverage reps against Davante Adams and Puka Nacua to set the tone for 2025.
2. Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers
Last year’s Lions were deliriously fun (during the regular season, at least). They led the league in points per game, offensive efficiency, simple rating and overall brazen trickery. The 15-win core marches back Sunday, with Aidan Hutchinson fully available and Jahmyr Gibbs significantly more experienced. They now face a Packers team that stole the offseason via the Micah Parsons trade … and that’s after finishing top 10 in points for and points allowed in 2024.
Two proficient offenses, two deep defenses, all improved by the passage of time and the maneuvers of their GMs. Lambeau should be so very loud as one of the sports’s oldest rivalries (continuous since 1929) will feel particularly meaningful from the jump. It’d be our clear-cut game of the week in any week without Ravens-Bills in prime time.
1. Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills
Well, this is the obvious top choice, through a flaming table. Josh Allen is reigning MVP, the quarterback equivalent of a human motorcycle with a heat-seeking cannon and a super computer. Lamar Jackson is the incumbent first-team All-Pro quarterback, though, and the two-time MVP has quite possibly the coolest highlight reel in football history.
The Ravens and Bills are both top-shelf, title-worthy talents. Their 2024 playoff meeting was an instant classic and an endorphin scrambler. We will gladly oblige to any and all rematches, especially those hosted on “Sunday Night Football.” NBC cutaways seem to be reserved for Fall Out Boy and related arena rock bands; hopefully, there is at least one Griselda dedication saved for this Sunday.
Updated Week 1 odds
