Every week there are teams in the National Football League who win that are not expected to. In week one there were four underdogs that came through with victories. Let’s take a look at who they were.
San Francisco 49ers
Many, including me, had the Los Angeles Rams as a Super Bowl contender. On Thursday night (Friday in Melbourne), they had an abysmal performance of gigantic proportions. The Rams entered the game as a 3.5 point favourite, but lost 27-7. San Francisco looked great in the second half as they outscored Los Angeles 17-0.
New York Jets
Last season, the New York Jets were the worst team in the NFL as they had a record of three wins and 14 losses. They also won only one game all season on the road. That came on October 26, as they defeated the defensively inept Cincinnati Bengals 39-38. Well, it did not take the Jets long to win on the road in 2026, as they won their season opener 23-10 in Tennessee as a 1.5 point underdog. Running back Breece Hall of Omaha, Nebraska was the top player on the Jets as he had 102 yards rushing.
Arizona Cardinals
In the biggest upset on the weekend, the Arizona Cardinals defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 26-14 in southern California. The top Cardinals’s offensive player was quarterback Jacoby Brissett of West Palm Beach, Florida, who had 277 yards passing. The Cardinals, like the Jets, only won three games last season. The Chargers were eight point favourites.
New York Giants
It doesn’t happen very often that the Jets and Giants win in the same week. It happened in Week One. On Sunday night in the Big Apple, the Giants defeated the Dallas Cowboys 28-20 in the Giants coaching debut for John Harbaugh. The Giants were 2.5 point underdogs.
