There’s the season opener at Philadelphia on Thursday evening, followed by a clash of division rivals on Friday night at Brazil. There are 13 contests on Sunday, including a prime time playoff rematch at Buffalo, and it all wraps up at Soldier Field on Monday night.
So here are a few interesting facts that bear watching as the 2025 National Football League season begins on September 4.
Take a look at 5 key numbers for Week 1
39-18-1
On Thursday night at Philadelphia, the Eagles begin defense of their Super Bowl title against the Cowboys. In 2024, the Birds swept this series for the first time since 2011, and by a combined score of 75-13. Dallas has dropped three straight games at Philadelphia, and is coming off a 7-10 campaign in 2024. Defending Super Bowl champions are 39-18-1 in their first outing the following season—a .681 winning percentage. Including last year’s postseason run, Nick Sirianni’s team is an impressive 16-1 in its last 17 contests.
554
It has happened only 25 times in the regular season and twice in the postseason. In 2024, Falcons’ quarterback Kirk Cousins lit up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 509 yards in a 36-30 overtime win. It was the latest example of an NFL player throwing for 500-plus yards in a game. However, the league record for passing yards in a game by a player remains 554 by Pro Football Hall of Famer Norm Van Brocklin. The Los Angeles Rams quarterback amassed that total in a 54-14 victory over the New York Yankees back in 1951.
11
Yes, hope does indeed spring eternal for the Patriots, Browns, Titans, Raiders, Giants, Bears, Saints and 49ers in 2025. These eight clubs finished last in their respective divisions this past season. In ’24, both the Los Angeles Chargers and Washington Commanders reached the playoffs after spending the previous year in their respective divisional basement. Dating back to 2021, there have now been 11 occasions over the past four seasons in which a club bounced back from a last-place finish to claim a postseason invitation.
8
The Week 1 slate for NFL 2025 sees half of the 16 games of the divisional variety. It begins with the Cowboys and Eagles on Thursday night, and ends with the Vikings and Bears at Chicago on Monday evening. Kicking off the season with a victory over a division rival sets up a team up to sweep a club, always important when it comes to tie-breakers of all sort. In 2024, there were once again 48 divisional battles and the club that won the first encounter won the second game 29 times (.604 percent).
12
A look back at 2024 shows that there are a dozen teams with new starting quarterbacks from Week 1 from a year ago. There are new opening weekend signal-callers for the Jets (Justin Fields), Patriots (Drake Maye), Steelers (Aaron Rodgers), Browns (Joe Flacco), Colts (Daniel Jones), Titans (Cam Ward), Raiders (Geno Smith), Giants (Russell Wilson), Vikings (J.J. McCarthy) Falcons (Michael Penix Jr.), Saints (Spencer Rattler) and Seahawks (Sam Darnold). Each of the eight divisions has at least one change in this area.