Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season is in the books, and it was a doozie. Gone are the days when defense ruled the early weeks of the NFL season. Offenses were in high gear on the league’s first Sunday, with several big-time individual performances. That said, even with defense in short supply, there were some standout players on that side of the ball as well.
Every week of the season, Athlon Sports will nominate players for Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week along with Coach of the Week. Check out the Week 1 nominees and vote below:
Offensive Player of the Week
There were many worthy candidates this week, so narrowing it down to three choices means we had to overlook stars like Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (144 yards rushing, three touchdowns) and Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (four TD passes). But two quarterbacks and one receiver could not be left off the list:
In the Buffalo Bills’ 36-31 thriller over the Houston Texans, quarterback Josh Allen completed 20 of 29 passes for 334 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, adding 23 yards rushing and two rushing scores. Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams also had two passing TDs and two rushing TDs, completing 21 of 29 passes for 269 yards and adding 65 rushing yards in Chicago’s 59-37 win over the Carolina Panthers. And the final nominee came from the Kansas City Chiefs‘’’ Monday night win, as Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker III made his Chiefs debut by rushing 23 times for 173 yards and a touchdown, with three catches for 18 yards and a second score, in the 31-10 wipeout of the Dencver Broncos.
Defensive Player of the Week
In a week that reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett went down with a knee injury, there were several standouts who got a leg up on taking that title away from Garrett — starting with someone who was the 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were only up by three points at home against the Atlanta Falcons Sunday when T.J. Watt intercepted a Cooper Rush pass and returned it 35 yards for the score. The Steelers won 20-13. Watt, who added two sacks, joined Hall of Famer Julius Peppers as the only two players in NFL history with 100-plus career sacks and 10 or more career interceptions.
While Allen was leading the Bills’ offensive charge, Buffalo linebacker Greg Rousseau made two huge plays on the other side of the ball. Rousseau recorded two strip-sacks of Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, the second one coming with less than a minute to play and the Texans in the red zone. Our third nominee comes in a losing effort. While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell to the Cincinnati Bengals, 33-27, rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter was very busy. The second-round pick out of Missouri had 10 total tackles, his first career sack, and his first career interception, which he returned 38 yards for a touchdown.
Coach of the Week
Ten teams kicked off 2026 with new head coaches, and those coaches went 6-4 in Week 1. Two of those victors made this week’s honor roll.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the week was the Arizona Cardinals’ 26-14 road upset of the Los Angeles Chargers. Rookie head coach Mike LaFleur was careful not to overuse rookie running back Jeremiyah Love, who is nursing a bad ankle, and he still got the most out of a balanced attack. John Harbaugh made his New York Giants debut and made it clear that the players have adopted his confidence and swagger, as they notched a 28-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys Sunday night. The San Francisco 49ers, meanwhile, are resting after their trip to Australia, where Kyle Shanahan’s crew manhandled a Los Angeles Rams team that people were painting as unbeatable. Shanahan had his players ready, resulting in a 27-7 beatdown.
