Five NFL Week 1 storylines to watch: Bryce Young's debut, high-stakes matchups and more (2024)

The 2023 NFL regular season is here, and the games at last have begun.

Week 1 kicked off with Detroit’s 21-20 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, a victory on Thursday that surprised everyone but Dan Campbell and his resurgent Lions. Now the rest of the NFL’s teams begin their paths to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.

Here are five storylines to watch as the season gets into full swing on Sunday and Monday. (Find the NFL Week 1 schedule here. All games listed below are on Sunday unless otherwise noted.)

1. Familiar faces in new places

We endured the long wait for his decision last winter. We watched the news conferences. We witnessed the “Hard Knocks” hype machine. We saw the preseason cameo against the Giants. Now, at long last, we’ll get a full-fledged look at Aaron Rodgers in a Jets uniform as the 39-year-old four-time MVP and future Hall of Famer kicks off the next chapter of his career after 18 seasons in Green Bay.

For the Jets and Rodgers (New York’s finest quarterback since Joe Namath), it’s Super Bowl or bust. But getting out of the AFC East will be challenging. Rodgers and the gang get their first test Monday night as they host Josh Allen and the Bills, who have won three straight divisional titles.

But Rodgers isn’t the only star beginning anew elsewhere.

• Dismissed late last season by the Raiders, Derek Carr brings hope to the Saints, who face a shrinking window of opportunity to contend. (Titans at Saints, 1 p.m. ET.)

• Jimmy Garoppolo will try to provide the answers for the Raiders that Josh McDaniels believed he was missing with Carr. (Raiders at Broncos, 4:25 p.m. ET.)

• Baker Mayfield seeks redemption while trying to fill the shoes left in Tampa Bay by Tom Brady. (Buccaneers at Vikings, 1 p.m. ET.)

• And after a year on the sidelines, Odell Beckham Jr. is hoping to make his comeback after joining forces with Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. But is the one-time game-changing wide receiver still as dangerous after two ACL surgeries in a 16-month span? He was added to the Ravens’ injury report on Thursday after being limited by an ankle issue. (Texans at Ravens, 1 p.m. ET.)

On the coaching front: The Broncos have charged Sean Payton with resuscitating Russell Wilson’s career and turning Denver into a contender. Former Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has the task of taking Justin Herbert’s game to another level as the new director of the Chargers’ offense. (Dolphins at Chargers, 4:25 p.m. ET.)And in Minnesota, former Dolphins head coach-turned-coordinator Brian Flores unveils a revamped defense the Vikings hope will complement a potent offense and turn them into Super Bowl contenders.

2. NFL debuts

All three quarterbacks taken in the first round of April’s draft will start on Sunday: Panthers No. 1 pickBryce Young begins his tenure on the road against the Falcons. C.J. Stroud, the No. 2 pick, will lead his Texans into Baltimore against Jackson and company. And the Colts are rolling with Anthony Richardson, the No. 4 pick, as they host Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars. (All three games, 1 p.m. ET.)

As far as non-quarterbacks go: Running back Bijan Robinson (No. 8 pick) figures to have an immediate impact for the Falcons, while defensive lineman Jalen Carter (No. 9 pick) is expected to make his presence felt out of the gate for the Eagles. (Eagles at Patriots, 4:25 p.m. ET.)

3. Signs of growth

The hopes of the Jaguars, Ravens, Browns, Chargers and Bears live and die with their quarterbacks’ abilities to build on their potential and carry their teams to the next level.

• Lawrence in 2022 pulled off a dramatic midseason turnaround and led the Jags to the playoffs.

• Jackson has his health, a new contract, a bolstered receiving unit and a new offensive coordinator in Todd Monken whose goal is to make him more dangerous than ever.

• Deshaun Watson spent the final six games of last season knocking off the rust from his 700-day layoff and never looked like the MVP-caliber quarterback he was in Houston. (Bengals at Browns, 1 p.m. ET.)

• Herbert is on pace to set NFL passing records, but coach Brandon Staley believed a new offensive play-caller was necessary to help the fourth-year pro and his teammates reach another level.

• The Bears figured out how to use Justin Fields’ legs last season, but after investing heavily in his supporting cast, they need him to take a leap as a passer. (Packers at Bears, 4:25 p.m. ET.)

4. Running backs under pressure

This summer featured highly publicized contract disputes between Saquon Barkley and the Giants, and Josh Jacobs and the Raiders. Each, in the end, got enhanced one-year deals rather than multiyear contract extensions. Now both premier backs enter the season with loads of motivation to prove their organizations got it wrong, and that they deserve handsome contracts to rival those of stars at other positions. (Cowboys at Giants, 8:20 p.m. ET.)

5. High-stakes showdowns

There’s no easing into the schedule for the teams playing in seven divisional rivalry games. In addition to Bills-Jets in the AFC East and Panthers-Falcons in the NFC South …

• In the NFC West, the Rams try to bounce back from a sorely disappointing, injury-plagued season against the Seahawks, who surprised everyone last season behind Comeback Player of the Year Geno Smithbut will sneak up on no one this year. (Rams at Seahawks, 4:25 p.m. ET.)

• The Bengals visit the Browns in an early matchup of what many expect to be a hotly contested AFC North.

• In the wide-open NFC North, the Packers kick off the Jordan Love era in Chicago, where the Bears aim to snap a two-year playoff drought.

• The Raiders and Broncos are both coming off double-digit-loss seasons and face massive pressure while trying to climb out of the basem*nt of the AFC West.

• Sunday night features the long-running NFC East rivalry between the Cowboys and Giants. Dallas badly needs a deep playoff run to avoid potential sweeping changes next offseason. New York hopes Barkley and quarterback Daniel Jones can build on last season’s playoff appearance and shrink the gap between Philadelphia and the rest of the pack.

(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

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Mike Jones joined The Athletic as a national NFL writer in 2022 after five years at USA Today, where he covered the NFL, and eight years at The Washington Post, where he covered the Washington Commanders. He previously covered the Washington Wizards for The Washington Times. Mike is a native of Warrenton, Va.