- The Baltimore Ravens will face the Buffalo Bills in a rematch of last year’s divisional playoff game.
- Micah Parsons is expected to make his Green Bay Packers debut against the Detroit Lions.
- Two-way player Travis Hunter is set to play a significant role for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The 106th NFL season has officially commenced.
Week 1 features eight divisional matchups. The week is headlined by a juicy rematch from the divisional playoff round last year that featured the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson against the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen on Sunday night.
There are 12 teams who are expected to have a different Week 1 starting quarterback from last year, including Tennessee Titans No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward.
Two-position star Travis Hunter is prepared to play both ways for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Every single team is optimistic in Week 1 as they all have a singular goal to play in Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Feb. 8. USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon identifies five things to watch ahead of Sunday’s slate.
1. Ravens travel to site of most recent playoff defeat
The Ravens return to the scene of their most recent frustrating playoff defeat. Baltimore is motivated to get revenge in Buffalo on Sunday night.
‘It will be great motivation,” Ravens defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike said, via the team’s official website. “That’s the last game we played. To go back there and play the same team that we lost to that we believe we should’ve won, self-inflicted mistakes. Everybody’s pumped up. You want to get that bad taste out of your mouth.’
Speaking of self-inflicted mistakes, the Ravens committed three turnovers in their divisional round playoff loss to Buffalo.
Sunday night’s game features the two most recent MVPs. It’s the fifth time ever the two most recent MVPs square off in Week 1. This heavyweight matchup could vault Jackson or Josh Allen into the way-too-early 2025 season MVP conversation.
Jackson is 3-1 versus the Bills in the regular season since entering the league. He’s registered a 92.5 career passer rating vs. Buffalo. Allen’s recorded a 66.3 passer rating in four regular-season meetings against Baltimore.
2. Could Micah Parsons makes his Packers debut?
Despite being bothered by a back injury, Parsons might make his Packers debut Sunday versus the Detroit Lions.
It’s going to be interesting to see how much Parsons plays (if at all) because he missed all of training camp due to his public contract dispute with Jerry Jones and back ailment.
Parsons has led the NFL in pressures (335) and pressure rate (21.1%) since entering the league in 2021. But he’ll face a stout Detroit offensive line that boasts right tackle Penei Sewell and left tackle Taylor Decker. Expect the Packers to move Parsons around, particularly inside. Both Sewell and Decker ranked in the top 20 for offensive tackles in pass block win rate last season, per ESPN analytics.
“I’m not even going lie, there is a lot of expectations. I’ll be a fool to not think that there isn’t expectations, or there isn’t pressure in the position that I’m stepping into,” Parsons said at his Packers introductory press conference.
The Lions swept the season series versus Green Bay last year.
3. Travis Hunter’s snap count
Jacksonville’s game plan for Hunter will be fascinating all season long. The team’s initial Week 1 game plan for the No. 2 overall pick will certainly be analyzed. He’s listed as a starting wide receiver and a backup cornerback on the Jaguars’ Week 1 depth chart.
The Jaguars had the NFL’s worst pass defense and wideout Brian Thomas Jr. was their only player with over 450 receiving yards in 2024. The Jaguars need Hunter to play both ways to be successful.
“It’s been impressive, like we’ve said since the beginning, to see him go both ways,” Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence told reporters of Hunter. “Just to see the amount of work you have to put in to do that, it’s hard enough to play one way in the NFL, much less two ways. To learn offense, defense, it’s a lot. He’s done a really good job.”
Hunter played 86% of Colorado’s offensive snaps and 82% of the team’s defensive snaps on the way to winning the Heisman Trophy in 2024.
4. C.J. Stroud returns to Southern California
Stroud, who was born in nearby Rancho Cucamonga, is set to play his first game in Los Angeles as a pro. The Houston Texans quarterback told USA TODAY Sports in a recent interview the Week 1 matchup against the Rams will be a homecoming of sorts.
“I’m very excited,” Stroud said. “It’s my first time playing there in the NFL. I’m super blessed and honored and grateful to have an opportunity to play in the NFL and to have it be in LA. I have a lot of family coming and I’m excited to see them. It’ll be the first time they’ve seen me play in a long time, so I’m really excited.”
Stroud will have a large contingent of fans at SoFi Stadium Sunday. Will the third-year QB shine in his first NFL game in LA? The Rams are the favorite, but the pass rush tandem of Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, combined with Stroud on offense could be enough for Houston to pull off the upset.
5. Cam Ward makes season debut versus Denver Broncos
Ward might be the least talked about No. 1 overall pick in recent history, but the Tennessee Titans organization and their fans don’t seem to mind. Ward’s received rave reviews ever since he stepped into the building. The Titans named Ward QB1 and selected him a team captain.
“He has a quiet and cocky confidence that I like about him. He doesn’t talk loud but you can tell that he has that confidence and it comes out every now and then,” Hall of Fame QB Warren Moon, who graciously unretired his No. 1 jersey so Ward could wear the number, said to USA TODAY Sports of the rookie QB. “He’s off to a good start there…He has tremendous confidence, but he puts in the work to back it up.”
Ward faces a significant test on the road in Denver. Led by 2024 Defensive Player of the Year cornerback Patrick Surtain II, the Broncos had a top-10 defense and topped the NFL with 63 sacks last season.
According to NFL research, 19 quarterbacks have been selected with the first pick in the NFL Draft and started in Week 1 of their rookie season since 1967.