Bears rout Panthers 59-37 in record-setting opener
Caleb Williams accounted for four touchdowns as Chicago and Carolina combined for 96 points, the highest-scoring season opener in NFL history.
Chicago beat Carolina 59-37 on Saturday, the highest-scoring season opener in NFL history. The teams combined for 96 points, eight more than the previous record of 88, set when Tampa Bay beat New Orleans 48-40 in 2018.
Caleb Williams threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns and added 65 yards and two more scores on the ground. It was the most points the Bears have scored in an opener since 1948, when they put 45 on Green Bay at Wrigley Field, and the most Carolina has ever allowed.
D'Andre Swift, who signed a $33.75m contract extension earlier in the week, ran for 124 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries. Kyle Monangai added 100 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown run.
Bills 36-31 Texans
Josh Allen found Joshua Palmer for a 34-yard touchdown with 1:36 left to give Buffalo a win over Houston in a game that swung back and forth all afternoon. Allen threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more, his first win in Houston after four straight losses there. The two-point conversion after Palmer's score failed.
Houston led 31-30 when Allen split two defenders to hit Palmer. The Texans had one more chance, but Greg Rousseau's second strip sack of the day took CJ Stroud down at the Buffalo 28 and ended it.
Lions edge Saints in overtime
Detroit beat New Orleans 31-30 in overtime after Saints quarterback Tyler Shough's two-point conversion pass fell incomplete in the end zone.
Three season openers, three finishes decided in the final minutes. If Chicago's offence keeps this pace, the record it broke on Saturday will not be the last one to fall this season.
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