THE National Football League returned for week one of the new season this weekend.
Perennial contenders such as the New England Patriots, Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks all got off to opening day wins, while other teams emerged as potential challengers.
In a repeat of the Super Bowl, the Broncos again beat the Carolina Panthers in the first game of the season on Thursday night.
It was a much closer game than last season’s showpiece as Denver rode their dominant defence to the win with Panthers kicker Graham Gano missing a 50-yard field goal with four seconds left.
In the first of two Monday night games, the Pittsburgh Steelers smashed the Washington Redskins despite missing two offensive stars in Le’Veon Bell and Martavis Bryant.
Ben Roethlisberger threw three touchdowns and Bell’s replacement DeAngelo Williams run for 143 yards and two touchdowns over the hapless Washington.
The final game of the week saw the San Francisco 49ers beat the Rams – in their first game since moving to Los Angeles from St Louis.
But the Rams failed to score a single point as new 49ers head coach Chip Kelly started with a win.
In the biggest game on Sunday, the New England Patriots had no trouble winning despite Tom Brady’s suspension and injury to Rob Gronkowski.
Jimmy Garoppolo made his first NFL start but was excellent against the extremely talented Arizona Cardinals, leading the Pats to a 23-21 win.
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In one of the games of the week the Detroit Lions beat the Indianapolis Colts on a last-minute field goal to pick up a 39-35 win.
Colts quarterback thought he had won the game with a late touchdown but there was still time for Matt Prater to seal the game with eight seconds to go.
Another shootout in New Orleans saw the Oakland Raiders beat the Saints with just 47 seconds to go after a converted two-point attempt.
Derek Carr found Michael Crabtree to seal a 35-34 win.
The Seattle Seahawks sealed a narrow 12-10 win over the Miami Dolphins after another fourth quarter comeback.
Hobbled Seahawks star Russell Wilson connected on a two-yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds left.
The Dallas Cowboys shot themselves in the foot late on as they lost to their rival New York Giants, 20-19.
In range for what would have been a last-second field goal, receiver Terrance Williams failed to get out of bounds to stop the clock.
The Kansas City Chiefs came back from 17 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the San Diego Chargers 33-27 in overtime.
Alex Smith threw for two touchdowns and added the winning score, running in from close to hand the Chiefs a win over their AFC West rivals.
Tampa Bay Bucaneers quarterback Jameis Winston looks like he could break out in his second year in the league, impressing in a 31-24 win on the road at the Atlanta Falcons.
Winston, 22, threw for 334 yards and four touchdowns in the win.
Aaron Rodgers again proved he is the best quarterback in the league with two ridiculous touchdown passes as the Green Bay Packers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-23.
The Cincinnati Bengals beat the New York Jets with a field goal inside the final minute.
Reciever AJ Green torched Darrelle Revis, picking up 12 catches on his way to 180 yards and a touchdown in the 23-22 win.
Brock Osweiler recovered from an early interception to throw two touchdowns as the Houston Texans beat the Chicago Bears 23-14.
The lowest-scoring game of the weekend saw the Baltimore Ravens edge past the Buffalo Bills 13-7.
Joe Flacco threw a touchdown pass but Bills signal-caller Tyrod Taylor managed just 111 yards throwing.
Second overall draft pick Carson Wentz impressed in his first game in the NFL to lead the Philadelphia Eagles over the hapless Cleveland Browns.
Wentz threw two touchdowns as the Browns lost on the opening day for the 12th year in a row.
Thursday
Denver Broncos 21 Carolina Panthers 20-
Sunday
Atlanta Falcons 24 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31
Baltimore Ravens 13 Buffalo Bills 7
Houston Texans 23 Chicago Bears 14
Jacksonville Jaguars 23 Green Bay Packers 27
Kansas City Chiefs 33 San Diego Chargers 27
New Orleans Saints 34 Oakland Raiders 35
New York Jets 22 Cincinnati Bengals 23
Philadelphia Eagles 29 Cleveland Browns 10
Tennessee Titans 16 Minnesota Vikings 25
Seattle Seahawks 12 Miami Dolphins 10
Dallas Cowboys 19 New York Giants 20
Indianapolis Colts 35 Detroit Lions 39
Arizona Cardinals 21 New England Patriots 23
Monday
Washington Redskins 16 Pittsburgh Steelers 38
San Francisco 49ers 28 Los Angeles Rams 0
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