Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season is in the books and it certainly did not disappoint. Especially if you’re a fan of good offense.
Each week, I dive into All-22 coaches film before offering five insights to watch. Don’t be surprised if points are here to stay.
That’s the million-dollar question floating around league circles with the Vikings set to face the league’s most explosive offense Sunday in Chicago. The ultra-aggressive defensive playmaker has confused quarterbacks across the league with his complex six-man pressure schemes and hot coverage concepts. Flores has also featured various zones with exotic lineups to test the patience and discipline of quarterbacks befuddled by the constant harassment from the Vikings’ chaotic pressure routes.
Interestingly, Johnson holds a 5-1 record over Flores in their head-to-head matches as players. The Bears coach will challenge the Vikings with a multi-pronged offense that features set formations, pre-shifts and misdirection to slow down an aggressive defense that wants to attack with every snap. Johnson will also use the run game to control the tempo and force the Vikings to play on their terms. With a pair of explosive running backs (D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai) in the backfield with big-play potential, the Vikings can’t fully focus on Caleb Williams and the passing game or risk seeing the Bears rush for 200-plus yards on a variety of poor runs in and around this offense.
Flores will welcome the challenge like a smart chess master and use static zones that allow his defenders to play quickly as “see the ball, get the ball” defenders who will chase the ball at a dangerous pace. The veteran defensive assistant will put the game on Williams’ shoulders to play efficiently without any critical mistakes. Despite his success as an improvisational player with a big-play mentality, Williams makes strong throws in coverage under pressure.
Additionally, he loses his discipline against soft coverage when he’s forced to settle for check after check when he wants to push the ball downfield. In a marquee game that is destined to be decided in the final five minutes, Johnson vs. Flores will come down to tricks and treats that neither player pulled out of the bag in week one.
2.
It didn’t take long for the Ravens’ new offensive coordinator to figure out how to unlock the explosive potential of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. The two-time MVP and two-time NFL rushing champion looked like an unstoppable force torching the Indianapolis Colts’ overmatched defense in Week 1.
Jackson threw for 324 yards and a touchdown while running for 40 yards and another score as part of the Ravens’ 500-plus yard effort in a 41-23 road victory. Henry added 144 yards and three scores while pounding the Colts on downhill runs that tested the toughness, physicality and discipline of the defense. With Zay Flowers totaling 150 yards in two quarters of work, the Ravens’ offense has the football world buzzing about its potential under first-time starter Declan Doyle.
Studying the All-22 game tape, there’s so much to love about Doyle’s approach, with an electric quarterback and running back punishing the Colts defense. Jackson, in particular, was on fire from the pocket, completing 17 of 25 passes for an average of 12.96 yards per attempt. The three-time All-Pro settled in quicklyrunning an exotic offense that combined traditional return passes, misses and option routes, along with the read-the-pass (RPO) options that have made him the league’s most dangerous player for nearly a decade.
Henry took advantage of Doyle’s creative schemes on the ground, with various moves from the tight end/H-back creating creases at the point of attack. Deceptively using the tight end/H-back as a lead blocker on the move will keep defensive coordinators up at night trying to solve the extra cap in the run game. Considering Henry still has the strength and power to outrun defenders in tight areas, the Ravens’ diverse running game will be a problem for defensive coordinators going forward. Next up are the Saints, who allowed the Lions’ Jahmyr Gibbs (156 yards) to run wild in Week 1.
3.
After watching the 49ers’ offense attack with a straight-forward approach under Robert Saleh last year, opponents in 2026 must prepare to face a more dynamic defensive scheme with Raheem Morris now at the helm. It’s clear after just one game that the former coach has improved the Niners’ vaunted scheme by adding more pre-snap dummies, five-man fronts and simulated pressures to the play list. He’s also streamlined the 49ers’ coverage structure to let the defensive backs make quicker plays on the end.
Such changes were evident against the Rams, as the 49ers stifled one of the league’s best offenses for four quarters. From stuffing the run with five-man formations that knocked the Rams’ blockers out of their way to early creative movement and shifts that turned five-man fronts into four-down formations with defensive linemen dropping into coverage, the chaos at the line of scrimmage forced Matthew Stafford and Co. to stop
The Niners’ linebackers and defensive backs benefited from a simple approach that prioritized simplicity over complexity. Although the 49ers have used more pre-snap coverage to run plays with Stafford, he has been buzzing in coverage that is easy to understand and execute. With the 49ers emphasizing speed and relying on instincts as a “see the ball, get the ball” defense, the Rams struggled to handle the speed and physicality of a defense built to shoot from any angle.
Looking at the stat sheet, the changes worked well, with Stafford held to less than 200 passing yards and Puka Nacua and Davante Adams combining for eight catches and 100 receiving yards. The Rams had just one play for more than 16 yards all day. Additionally, San Francisco produced a pair of tackles and a key goal-line stand that swung the game in its favor.
With Fred Warner and crew embracing these changes with enthusiasm, the NFC should be concerned about a new and improved defense that will possibly fuel a title run in the Bay Area.
4.
The NFL is a copycat league, with coaches often stealing concepts from other coaches when they think it will help their teams win. While some of the steals involve new, innovative concepts lifted from the league’s creative wizards, veteran coach Andy Reid has a knack for taking and implementing plays from the old school playbooks to help the Chiefs put points on the board.
Against the Denver Broncos last Monday night, the three-time Super Bowl winner was up to his old tricks again, using a play popularized by Glen “Pop” Warner in the early 1900s to give Kenneth Walker III a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Lining up in an unbalanced Single Wing formation with Walker at left wing, the Chiefs perfectly executed an anti-paddle pass, with Mahomes running left before throwing the ball to his star RB, heading back to the right behind a line of blockers. The coverage overload and misdirection caught the Broncos defense by surprise as Walker ran through a crease in the end zone.
The bold comeback play in a marquee game set social media ablaze, with historians and old-school football fans instantly recognizing it. The fanfare also prompted me to dig deeper and discover that the Single Wing has been part of the short boss pack for years. In 2023, Rashee Rice scored against the New England Patriots in the same gamewith Jerick McKinnon returning the snap to fullback Rice on an inside back/bank.
Digging deeper, I discovered Chiefs burst a toy from an old Notre Dame box in Super Bowl LIV against the 49ers to nearly score a touchdown on Damien Williams. Lined up in a full backfield, the Chiefs switched to an unbalanced Single Wing formation on the right. The deceptively untimely shift distracted the defense from Williams, who took the direct hit and dived between the tackles on a sidearm dive from the overload formation. Although the Chiefs didn’t score in the game, the creative use of a comeback-era play is another example of Reid’s willingness to steal from the comeback-era to put points on the board.
With Single Wing enthusiasts anxiously awaiting Reid’s final run in the legendary lineup, the Chiefs’ short-handed scoring package has suddenly become must-see television.
5.
The NFL operates in cycles, with teams reverting to old-school tactics every few seasons. This year, we’re seeing a return to old-school football, with teams embracing more work under center and heavy personnel groupings to get their offenses going.
Part of the rationale is to set up the quarterback for success by using the run game and play-action to slow down aggressive fronts that attack gaps with pressure, stunts and various plays. Additionally, the return to work under center is part of a larger plan to force opponents away from two high shells that defensive coordinators are showing, limiting explosive plays from quarterbacks trying to connect with speedy receivers on vertical routes.
As teams park their safeties in the stadium parking lot with split-field structures and more defensive backs in exotic sub-packages, offensive coordinators are countering soft coverage with a run-based game plan out of tight, heavy formations. Last season, the Rams terrorized opponents from 13 personnel because the three tight ends on the field created a physical advantage. Two or three tight ends lined up together create extra running gaps and expose small sub-package linebackers, who are overloaded as gap defenders.
With offensive play-calling mixed in with traditional dropback passes or play-action from under center on five- and seven-step drops, second-level defenders are easily lured to the line of scrimmage, leaving gaps in the intermediate range for digs and crosses in play-action concepts. Given the “piecemeal” performances stemming from the running game, it’s no surprise that more teams are looking to ditch their offenses with old-school formations and running concepts.
The numbers show the league-wide percentage of plays under center from Week 1 (23.3%), suggesting teams will be more committed to a rebound approach than last season (17.6% for all of 2025). Given the offensive fireworks from season openers around the league — the 791 points scored tied the all-time record for Week 1 — we should expect more teams to use different concepts under center to launch their offenses. As running backs find more traction between the tackles in downsizing concepts (had six 100-yard rushers in Week 1), the threat of the run and successful execution of those concepts will make the play easier for quarterbacks and punters this season.