NFL Week 1 Ties Record With 791 Combined Points
Bears-Panthers' 96-point shootout and a late Chiefs-Broncos surge lifted Week 1 scoring to 791 points, matching the 2012 mark since 1966.
NFL teams combined for 791 points across the opening week of the 2026 season, matching the record for a Week 1 total since the Super Bowl era began in 1966. The same figure was set in 2012.
Across the 16 games, teams averaged 49.4 points a game.
The week opened quietly. The Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 13-10 in a season-opener low on scoring, though it cost New England: receiver A.J. Brown, acquired from Philadelphia only weeks earlier, suffered a high ankle sprain in the loss and is set to miss four weeks, while running back Trevayon Henderson remained sidelined by the ankle injury he picked up on August 24.
Chicago and Carolina supplied the rest. The Bears beat the Panthers 59-37, and the 96 combined points set a Week 1 record. Baltimore put up 41 against Indianapolis, Minnesota scored 39 against Green Bay, and Buffalo beat Houston 36-31.
The record depended on the late game in Kansas City. Denver and the Chiefs needed 41 combined points to match the mark, with Patrick Mahomes starting for Kansas City in his first game back since tearing knee ligaments in December.
A repeat of the 791-point total from 2012 after 14 seasons suggests scoring at this pace is not a one-off swing but a pattern worth watching through the rest of the year.
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