By The Associated Press
The Latest on Week 1 in the NFL (all times EDT):
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2:45 p.m.
The Pittsburgh Steelers retooled offense is off to a very pedestrian start in trailing the Bills 10-0 after one half.
The Steelers have just three first downs with 54 net yards while going 1 of 6 on third-down attempts and ending each of their first six possessions with a punt. The Steelers have also managed just 7 yards rushing, with rookie first-round pick Najee Harris managing 8 yards on seven carries.
Matt Canada took over as the offensive coordinator this offseason, and the Steelers hoped to spark their worst-ranked running attack by selecting Harris in the first round out of Alabama.
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2:35 p.m.
Sam Darnold has thrown his first touchdown pass for the Panthers, a 57-yard strike down the middle of the field to Robby Anderson. It gave Carolina a 9-0 lead in the second quarter against his former team, the New York Jets. Anderson got behind two defenders to haul in the perfectly thrown pass.
Darnold has been reunited with Anderson in Carolina this year after they spent two seasons together with the Jets.
Rookie Zach Wilson is still looking for the first TD pass of his career, but has run into a stingy Carolina defense led by Shaq Thompson and Brian Burns. The Panthers have sacked Wilson three times in the first half and intercepted him once.
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2:20 p.m.
Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow hit rookie receiver Ja’Marr Chase with passes of 17 and 13 yards on a drive that pulled the Bengals even with the Minnesota Vikings at 7-all just before halftime.
The 2-yard touchdown pass from Burrow to Tee Higgins was set up by a pass interference penalty on Minnesota.
On the previous drive, Kirk Cousins hooked up with Adam Thielen for a 5-yard touchdown to cap a 91-yard drive for the Vikings.
Burrow, playing on a surgically repaired left knee, has been sacked twice while completing 7 of his first 9 passes.
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2:10 p.m.
Ryan Fitzpatrick left his first game as Washington’s starting quarterback midway through the second quarter after being taking a hit from Chargers edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu. Fitzpatrick was helped to his feet but then sank back to the turf.
Fitzpatrick is questionable to return with a hip injury.
The 38-year-old eventually walked off with trainers, waving to fans before going down the tunnel. Fitzpatrick was replaced by Taylor Heinicke, who was a surprise star in Washington’s playoff loss to Tampa Bay.
Fitzpatrick is starting for his ninth NFL team. This is his 17th season.
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2 p.m.
Chandler Jones is having himself quite a start to the season.
The Cardinals outside linebacker has sacked Ryan Tannehill three times in the first quarter and stripped Tannehill of the ball to set up Arizona’s lone touchdown. Jones has been beating Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan easily in Lewan’s first game back since tearing his right ACL in the middle of October last season.
Arizona leads Tennessee 10-0 at the end of the first quarter and has outgained the Titans 80 to minus-1 yard on offense. Tennessee’s lone first down of the game came on a fake punt when safety Mathias Farley hit safety Amani Hooker with a 6-yard pass.
— Teresa M. Walker reporting from Nashville, Tennessee
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2 p.m.
San Francisco running back Raheem Mostert is questionable to return in Detroit after a knee injury in the first quarter sent him to the sideline, where he stood without his helmet.
The team’s starting running back had two carries for 20 yards against the Lions. Rookie running back Elijah Mitchell, a sixth-round pick, had a 38-yard, tiebreaking touchdown in the second quarter to put the Niners ahead 14-7.
Niners rookie Trey Sermon, a third-rounder, is inactive as a healthy scratch.
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1:55 p.m.
DeVonta Smith has made a quick impact on the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense.
The Heisman Trophy winner from Alabama hauled in an 18-yard pass from Jalen Hurts for the Eagles’ first touchdown of the season in the opener against the Atlanta Falcons.
Smith got free after a bit of a pick from tight end Zach Ertz, beating Fabian Moreau to the left corner of the end zone to give Philadelphia a 7-3 lead.
In an interesting twist, it was the same part of the same end zone at Mercedes-Benz Stadium where Smith hauled in a touchdown pass in overtime to give Alabama a stunning victory over Georgia in the 2018 national championship game.
Smith was the 10th overall pick and one of a record-tying six Alabama players selected in the first round of this year’s draft.
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1:45 p.m.
The Tennessee Titans’ vaunted offense is stumbling to start the season. The Arizona Cardinals are having penalty issues again but still have a 10-0 lead over Tennessee.
The Titans added seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Julio Jones during the offseason to an offense that already has AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Derrick Henry and Pro Bowl receiver A.J. Brown. Yet Tennessee went three-and-out on its opening series, then Chandler Jones sacked Ryan Tannehill and stripped him of the ball on the second play of the next drive.
Arizona coach Kliff Kingsbury already has used two of his timeouts, and the Cardinals have four penalties for 29 yards. Tennessee held Arizona and Kyler Murray to a Matt Prater field goal on its opening series after having first-and-goal at the 9.
Corey Peters recovered the Tannehill fumble and was ruled down inside the 1. Murray hit DeAndre Hopkins for a 5-yard TD pass after another penalty for a 10-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
— Teresa M. Walker reporting from Nashville, Tennessee
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1:45 p.m.
Maia Chaka is making history today, becoming the first black woman to officiate an NFL game.
She is working as a line judge for the Jets-Panthers game.
Chaka said on the official NFL Instagram post before the game that “it’s a privilege that I’ve been chosen to represent women and women of color in the most popular sport in America.”
She is just the third on-field female NFL official, joining Sarah Thomas and Shannon Eastin.
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1:35 p.m.
The Carolina Panthers waited until less than an hour before kickoff to announce starting linebackers Shaq Thompson and Jermaine Carter had changed their jersey numbers.
Thompson went from No. 54 to 7, while Carter changed from 56 to 4.
That could potentially be construed as a competitive advantage for the Panthers considering rookie Jets quarterback Zach Wilson, who is making his first NFL start, prepared all week in practice to face Thompson and Carter wearing their previous numbers. However, an NFL spokesman said there is no rule that clubs are required to make jersey number changes public prior to the start of the regular season.
Under new NFL rules, players are allowed to change numbers this year if they were willing to pay an established fee. Earlier this offseason Panthers wide receiver D.J. Moore changed his number from 12 to 2.
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1:35 p.m.
The San Francisco 49ers followed through with their plan to play rookie quarterback Trey Lance as Jimmy Garoppolo’s backup, giving the No. 3 overall two snaps on their second drive at Detroit.
Lance connected with receiver Trent Sherfield on a 5-yard, play-action pass to help the 49ers take a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.
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1:25 p.m.
Justin Herbert looked sharp despite not playing the preseason and Austin Ekeler’s hamstring appears just fine. That made for a fast start for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Herbert completed his first six passes, Ekeler rushed for a 3-yard touchdown and the Chargers took a 7-0 lead on Washington less than six minutes into the game. Washington’s defense, which ranked second in the NFL last season, provided little resistance and helped L.A. with a red zone penalty.
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1:10 p.m.
The Buffalo Bills stood on the sideline, rather than retreating to their locker room, for the national anthem for their season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This is a switch from last season and their preseason game against the Green Bay Packers last month, when the entire Bills team waited in the locker room until after the national anthem was performed.
Bills receiver Cole Beasley was greeted with a mix of cheers and boos as he was introduced among the starters. Beasley has been the team’s most vocal critic of COVID-19 vaccinations, and even released a song in July about not wanting to be vaccinated.
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1:05 p.m.
The Tennessee Titans honored Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss as their 12th Titan before kickoff.
Knauss was a native of Corryton, Tennessee, and among the 13 Americans killed in the recent attack on the Kabul Airport in Afghanistan. Knauss served in the U.S. Army’s 9th Battalion, 8th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne).
The Titans, like the rest of the NFL, commemorated the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and used season ticket members who are veterans to help display four U.S. flags on the field capped by a B-52 flyover from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
— Teresa M. Walker reporting from Nashville, Tennessee
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12:20 p.m.
The first full Sunday of the NFL season is about to begin with seven new head coaches making debuts with their respective teams. Two games will feature an all-rookie coaching matchup.
Jacksonville’s Urban Meyer gets his first chance at pro football after a long and successful stint as a college coach. He’ll have rookie No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence under center when the Jaguars travel to face the Houston Texans, who also have a new coach in David Culley.
The Eagles and new coach Nick Sirianni hit the road to face the Atlanta Falcons, who hired Arthur Smith during the offseason.
The other three head coaches making their debuts in the early games include the Chargers’ Brandon Staley, Lions’ Dan Campbell and Jets’ Robert Saleh.
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