The 2024 NFL season is off and running, and it already feels like this will be another exciting campaign. There are just too many teams that have legitimate Super Bowl hopes, too many offenses with the potential to explode and too many young quarterbacks who are blossoming into stars. Yes, there will be a lot of talk about whether the Kansas City Chiefs can become the first team to three-peat in the Super Bowl era. There should be just as much attention paid to the teams that could prevent that from happening, because there are quite a few of them.

That fact was obvious throughout Week 1. The Baltimore Ravens came within a couple toes of tight end Isaiah Likely from gaining a huge win in Kansas City last Thursday night. The Eagles and Packers then gave the people of Brazil an offensive showcase nearly 24 hours later. Eight of the 13 games played on Sunday were decided by one score. Hell, Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill started his day in handcuffs outside Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium and ended it by making the Jacksonville Jaguars wish they had their own reliable way of restraining him.

The first weekend of the season is always thrilling because we spend months talking about what might happen. Then the games begin, and we see what actually is possible. It’s easy to overreact to the good and the bad because that’s simply human nature. The cool thing is that we’re just getting started and that there’s about five more months to go before this all gets figured out.

So, here’s to the start of real NFL football and the first regular-season installment of The First Read. There were a ton of surprises in Week 1. These are five that stood out the most to this writer …