32 things we learned in NFL Week 1: Bengals among teams that stumbled out of gate

The 32 things we learned from Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season:

1. How important is winning in Week 1? Your eventual Super Bowl 58 winner is most likely 1-0, given 46 of the 57 Lombardi Trophy winners (81%) triumphed in their openers.

1a. How important is winning in Week 1? Since the league expanded and realigned in 2002, 53% of teams starting 1-0 went on to qualify for the playoffs, while 75% of those starting 0-1 did not reach postseason.

2. The road team won 10 of the 15 games played so far, third-most ever on opening weekend.

3. If it seemed like scoring was down a bit, it really wasn’t – all that much, anyway – especially after the Los Angeles Chargers and Miami Dolphins combined for 70 points in one of Sunday’s late afternoon starts. Going into Monday night, teams combined for an average of 41.2 points, a touch down from the 2022 regular-season average of 43.8 combined points per game.

3a. The first 15 games also provided an average margin of victory of 11.7 points, a figured skewed by the Dallas Cowboys' 40-0 whitewashing of the New York Giants on Sunday night. Prior to that snoozefest, victors were prevailing at a clip of 9.7 points per game – mirroring the entire 2022 season, which had the narrowest aggregate spread of the Super Bowl era (since 1966).

4. Given their dominance, which included seven sacks and three takeaways, reason to believe the Cowboys are unleashing one of the better defenses we've seen this century.

5. Since the NFL went to eight divisions in 2002, the NFC South became the first to field four new starting quarterbacks compared to the quartet which started in Week 1 the previous year. Three of them – the New Orleans Saints’ Derek Carr, Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Baker Mayfield and Atlanta Falcons’ Desmond Ridder – earned wins Sunday.

6. Mayfield, who replaces Tom Brady, is now 3-1 in his inaugural appearance with his four NFL employers, the lone loss his first start for the Carolina Panthers last year.

7. Speaking of Brady, he was back at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, honored in front of his longtime fans on a rainy day that saw his former New England Patriots fall 25-20 to the reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles. The Pats are now 25-27 post-TB12.

8. The number of times Cincinnati Bengals WR Tee Higgins was targeted Sunday. He didn’t catch a single pass.

9. Higgins’ inefficacy was a function of Bengals QB Joe Burrow’s worst day as a pro. Now the highest-paid player in league history after inking a five-year, $275 million contract Thursday, Burrow’s 82 passing yards and 52.2 passer rating Sunday were the lowest figures of his four-year career.

10. The league’s highest-paid defender, San Francisco 49ers DE Nick Bosa, also had a quiet performance after holding in throughout training camp. Bosa, now in possession of a five-year, $170 million extension, had two tackles and a QB hit, the difference being his Niners mauled the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-7.

11. With first-round draft picks Bryce Young (Panthers), C.J. Stroud (Houston Texans) and Anthony Richardson (Indianapolis Colts) in action, the 2023 season becomes the 15th campaign of the last 16 with at least one rookie QB1 behind center. Last year was the only exception during that stretch.

12. Young, Stroud and Richardson – only the third trio of rookie quarterbacks to start in Week 1 since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger – were all on the losing end Sunday.

13. With Young’s Panthers falling to the Falcons, David Carr (2002 Texans) remains the last quarterback picked first overall to win his first career start.

14. Sunday was even worse for the league’s new head coaches. The Denver Broncos’ Sean Payton, Colts’ Shane Steichen, Texans’ DeMeco Ryans, Panthers’ Frank Reich and Arizona Cardinals' Jonathan Gannon collectively debuted 0-5.

15. The Colts got a glimpse at life without All-Pro RB Jonathan Taylor – he’s out until at least Week 5 while on the physically unable to perform list – with Richardson leading the team with 40 rushing yards while current RB1 Deon Jackson produced 14 yards on 13 carries. Despite running and passing for TDs in Sunday's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, it could be really ugly sledding for Richardson as he adjusts to the NFL … and defenses adjust to him.

16. Keepin’ it 100: The Cleveland Browns drubbed Cincinnati 24-3 to win the 100th “Battle of Ohio.” The Bengals still lead the series overall 52-48.

17. Keepin’ it 99: Falcons DL Calais Campbell went sack-less Sunday, keeping him one shy of hitting triple digits during his 16-year career. He ranks sixth among players currently on NFL rosters.

18. Atlanta S Jessie Bates III takes the early lead for most effective offseason acquisition after picking Young off twice in the Falcons’ 24-10 win Sunday. Reminder: Aaron Rodgers plays tomorrow, Jessie.

19. Jaguars OLB Josh Allen takes the early lead for most impactful Josh Allen of 2023 after sacking Richardson three times. Reminder: Your namesake in Buffalo plays tomorrow, Josh.

20. Props to Cincinnati WR Ja’Marr Chase (5 catches for 39 yards) for doubling down and digging at the Browns as “Elves.” The Bengals may have had their stripes handed to them, but that logo at the 50-yard line in Cleveland still might be the lamest thing you’ll ever see on an NFL field.

21. San Francisco’s Drake Jackson and Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt also had three sacks, also putting them on pace, ahem, for 51 this season. Watt had 22½ two years ago, tying him for the all-time single-season record with Michael Strahan and earning Defensive Player of the Year honors.

22. While Niners-Steelers was probably the biggest disappointment of Week 1, the Dolphins’ 36-34 barnburner win over the Chargers exceeded its already significant expectations, Fins QB Tua Tagovailoa offering up a three-TD, 466-yard passing effort in his first opportunity to quiet some doubters. His yardage output was the fourth most in a Week 1 game in league history.

23. While the University of Texas didn’t need RB Bijan Robinson this weekend, the Falcons surely will – and his debut (16 touches, 83 yards, TD) certainly fueled the Offensive Rookie of the Year hype.

24. No ice for QB Kirk Cousins, his three turnovers (1 INT, 2 fumbles) mortally wounding the Minnesota Vikings in their 20-17 home loss to the Buccaneers – the kind of game the defending NFC North champions typically scratched out for a win in 2022.

24a. Tennessee Titans QB Ryan Tannehill served up three picks himself in Sunday’s 16-15 loss to the Saints, Tannehill’s fifth consecutive losing start.

24b. Neither Tannehill nor Cousins is under contract in 2024.

25. Vikes WR Justin Jefferson cracked 150 receiving yards for the ninth time in his career, the most times by any player in his first four seasons during the Super Bowl era.

26. Miami WR Tyreek Hill cracked 200 receiving yards for the third time in his career, a game-winning, 4-yard TD grab capping his 215-yard effort. He's well on his way to his avowed goal of 2,000 receiving yards, his opening pace projecting to 3,655.

27. In one of Sunday’s bigger upsets, the Los Angeles Rams held the ball for nearly 40 minutes – running the ball 40 times (for a meager 92 yards) – while thumping the NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks on the road. Another outing like this, and the 12s will be calling for QB Drew Lock to replace 2022 Comeback Player of the Year Geno Smith (112 yards and a TD passing).

28. It was expensive and ugly, but new Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris’ $6 billion investment netted a 20-16 win Sunday against the undermanned Cardinals.

28a. The Chicago Bears are also under new ownership, Rodgers’ stake apparently transferring over to new Green Bay QB Jordan Love, who matched his career total entering the game by hanging three TDs on the Packers’ longtime rival in a 38-20 win that wasn’t that close.

29. If kicking is your thing, New Orleans was the place for you Sunday. The Saints and Titans combined for eight field goals (among nine scores overall) and eight punts in an eminently forgetful game.

30. If penalties are your thing, Baltimore was the places for you Sunday. The Ravens and Texans combined for 22 flags, 13 by Baltimore.

31. Amazing that as you reach the 31st and penultimate item on this rundown, a reminder it’s all a temporarily satisfying appetizer for “Monday Night Football,” when the New York Jets reboot with “Hard Knocks” leading man Rodgers and RB Dalvin Cook – with last season’s fourth-ranked defense at their backs – against the AFC East rival Buffalo Bills … and on the 22nd anniversary of 9/11. Should be an epic evening.

32. Perhaps you’ve heard the “football is family” trope a few too many times over the years and scoff or tune it out. But hard not to be moved by the Saints and Titans making former players Steve Gleason and Tim Shaw, who are both courageously battling ALS, pre-game co-captains Sunday while providing a platform to bring further awareness to their cruel and incurable disease. If ever faith, family and football – plus a healthy dose of admiration – applied, it would be while spotlighting the battles of these two (far too young) men.

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Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter @ByNateDavis.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL Week 1 takeaways: Bengals, Steelers stumble out of gate