Week 1 didn’t whisper. It yelled.

Caleb Williams and Josh Allen lit the board, Ja’Marr Chase went quiet, and the first waiver scramble already has names attached.

By Rhett Landry

Fantasy’s opening Sunday did not ease anybody in. Chicago dropped a record 59 on Carolina in the highest-scoring Week 1 game in NFL history, per Field Level Media, and Caleb Williams — two passing scores, two on the ground, 269 through the air and 65 on his feet — led all early-window quarterbacks with 37.26 fantasy points, ESPN’s Matt Bowen had it. D’Andre Swift punched in three rushing touchdowns and 124 yards. Kyle Monangai added a 100-yard day with a long score of his own. The Bears’ run game looked like a problem for Week 2, not a one-week fluke.

Buffalo answered in Houston. Josh Allen put up 35.66 fantasy points — four touchdowns, two through the air and two with his legs  and beat the Texans 36–31 for the first time in twenty years, Field Level Media reported. DJ Moore, the new No. 1 in blue, finished with 21.0 fantasy points on five catches for 100 and a score. Dalton Kincaid went for 130 yards. Tristan Cockcroft noted Allen’s output was 15.06 more than any quarterback scored in a game against Houston last season. That Bills offense is humming heading into Detroit.

Baltimore’s Derrick Henry led early-window backs with 35.3 fantasy points on 144 yards and three scores, Bowen wrote, while Lamar Jackson piled up 324 passing yards and a rushing touchdown in a 4123 win at Indy. Zay Flowers caught five for a career-high 150 and a score before a hamstring ended his night early — an injury ESPN flagged for Week 2 monitoring, with Mark Andrews the likely volume sponge if Flowers sits.

Las Vegas got what it drafted Ashton Jeanty to be. Jeanty scored 32.7 fantasy points — two receiving touchdowns from Kirk Cousins, 102 on the ground, six catches — with 29 of Las Vegas’s 58 touches and 73% of the offensive snaps in a 27–13 win over Miami, per ESPN’s Cockcroft. Brock Bowers was already on the shelf after a meniscus trim; Michael Mayer filled the TE gap before the opener, and Jeanty’s dual-threat day made the wait for Bowers feel longer.

Then there were the gut punches. Ja’Marr Chase finished with two catches for 12 yards and 3.2 fantasy points against Tampa Bay — the second-worst score of his career, Cockcroft noted — even as Cincinnati won 3327. Drake London sat through Cooper Rush’s ugly debut in Atlanta after Tua Tagovailoas oblique sidelined him in practice; London managed 5.5 fantasy points on four targets in a 20–13 loss to Pittsburgh. Cockcroft’s counsel on Chase is patience — September has never been his month. Londons Week 2 value rides on whether Tagovailoa is back against Carolina.

Injuries already reshaped the wire. Kyler Murray’s Vikings debut ended in the first quarter on a concussion; Carson Wentz threw three touchdown passes and Minnesota closed with 29 unanswered to stun Green Bay 39–22, Field Level Media had it. Justin Jefferson caught eight for 92 and two scores. If Murray doesn’t clear protocol, Wentz draws Chicago in Week 2 — a streamer only if the starter stays down, Bowen wrote. Ladd McConkey left the Chargers’ loss to Arizona with a chest injury after 19.2 fantasy points; Bowen pointed to Quentin Johnston and deeper-league Tre’ Harris if McConkey misses the Raiders.

On the add list that already has receipts: Panthers receiver Jalen Coker caught eight for 138 and two touchdowns for 33.8 fantasy points in that Charlotte shootout and sits as a must-add ahead of Atlanta, rostered in just over half of ESPN leagues per Bowen. Giants tight end Isaiah Likely  eight catches, two scores, 27.8 fantasy points in a 28–20 win over Dallas — led the position for the week and was still available in nearly 20 percent of ESPN leagues, Cockcroft wrote. Devaughn Veles 19.9-point Saints outing (seven catches, a score) showed up on Sports Illustrated’s early Week 2 wire board as a flex with Jordyn Tyson still out.

Monday night still has Broncos at Chiefs on ESPN. The rest of Week 1 is in the books. The waiver claims that matter already have names on them — Coker, Likely, maybe Wentz if Murray stays foggy — and the stars who went quiet Sunday still get the benefit of one bad week before anybody starts rewriting September.

Related:

- 2–0 tastes fine: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/2-0-tastes-fine-oxford-wont-care-about-the-first-half

- It’s Saturday. Purple night: https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/its-saturday-purple-night-the-hangover-talk-ends-at-kickoff