The 2026 NFL season kicked off with a week of high-scoring thrillers, setting the stage for what could be an offensive spectacle all campaign long. Here are five insights drawn from the All-22 coaches’ film.
1.
The Vikings travel to Chicago facing the league’s most explosive offense, and Brian Flores brings a defensive chess master’s mindset to the matchup. His complex six-man pressure packages and exotic zone alignments have consistently disrupted quarterbacks league-wide. Ben Johnson holds a 5-1 head-to-head edge over Flores as a playcaller, but the Bears are countering with a multifaceted offense built on bunch formations, pre-snap motion, and misdirection designed to slow Minnesota’s aggressive defense. With D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai providing dual rushing threats, the Vikings cannot afford to gear up exclusively for Caleb Williams—otherwise they risk conceding 200-plus yards on the ground. Flores will lean on static zones to unleash fast-twitch “see ball, get ball” defenders, pinning the scoring burden on Williams. The Bears quarterback has shown a tendency to force throws into coverage under duress and to abandon downfield ambition when faced with soft zones, settling for repetitive checkdowns. In a game likely decided in the closing minutes, neither coach can afford to leave any trick or treat unplayed from the playbook.
2.
Baltimore’s new offensive coordinator, Declan Doyle, wasted no time unlocking the dual-threat potential of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. Jackson threw for 324 yards and a touchdown while adding 40 rushing yards in a 41-23 road victory over Indianapolis, part of a 500-plus-yard team effort. Henry compiled 144 yards and three touchdowns, pounding the Colts on downhill carries that tested their physicality and gap discipline. Zay Flowers contributed 150 receiving yards through two quarters, rounding out an electric attack. Reviewing the All-22 tape, Doyle blended traditional drop-back passes, bootlegs, option routes, and read-pass options into a cohesive scheme that settled Jackson in quickly—completing 17 of 25 passes at a 12.96 yards-per-attempt clip. Henry benefited from creative tight end and H-back motion that carved creases at the point of attack, while using the extra blocker as a lead runner keeps defensive coordinators scrambling. Next up, the Ravens face a Saints defense that allowed Jahmyr Gibbs to accumulate 156 rushing yards in Week 1.
3.
Raheem Morris has injected a new layer of complexity into the 49ers defense compared to Robert Saleh’s more straightforward 2025 approach. Pre-snap disguise, five-man fronts, and simulated pressures are now on full display, while simplified coverage structures allow defensive backs to play faster in the secondary. Against Los Angeles, San Francisco suffocated one of the league’s premier offenses across all four quarters. Five-man run-stuffing structures knocked blockers off their paths, and creative pre-snap shifts morphed fronts from five-man to four-down alignments, with linemen dropping into coverage to create chaos at the line of scrimmage. Matthew Stafford was held under 200 passing yards, Puka Nacua and Davante Adams combined for eight catches and 100 yards, and the Rams managed just one play over 16 yards all day. Two takeaways and a critical goal-line stand swung momentum decisively. With Fred Warner leading the charge, NFC opponents should brace for a reinvigorated San Francisco defense poised to fuel a deep postseason run.
4.
Andy Reid has a well-documented talent for resurrecting vintage playbooks—and against Denver on Monday night, he turned to a formation popularized by Glen “Pop” Warner in the early 1900s to deliver Kenneth Walker III a walk-off touchdown. Aligned in an unbalanced Single Wing with Walker at wingback, the Chiefs executed a counter-shovel pass: Mahomes sprinted left before underhanding the ball to his star running back, who cut back through a crease into the end zone. The throwback maneuver lit up social media, and further research revealed that the Single Wing has been embedded in Kansas City’s short-yardage arsenal for years—a nearly identical play produced a Rashee Rice touchdown against New England in 2023. Tracing even deeper, the Chiefs deployed a full-house Single Wing variation in Super Bowl LIV against San Francisco with Damien Williams, using a deceptive pre-snap shift to divert defenders before Williams took the direct snap on a fullback dive. While the play did not result in a touchdown, Reid’s willingness to mine football history for situational advantage makes the Chiefs’ goal-line package must-watch television.
5.
The NFL runs in cycles, and 2026 is witnessing a pronounced return to old-school football. Teams are leaning on under-center work, heavy personnel groupings, and run-heavy scripts to set up play-action and slow down aggressive front-seven attacks. The strategic intent is twofold: establish the ground game to neutralize gap-shooting pressures and stunts, while forcing defenses out of the two-high shell looks that have limited vertical explosive plays. As safeties spread across split-field structures and defensive backs load into exotic sub-packages, offensive coordinators are responding with tight end-heavy formations that create extra running gaps and overwhelm undersized edge defenders. Mixing traditional drop-back and play-action passes on five- and seven-step drops lures second-level defenders to the line, opening intermediate voids for digs and crossers on play-action concepts. The data backs the trend: under-center plays accounted for 23.3 percent of Week 1 snaps, up from 17.6 percent across all of 2025. With 791 points scored in opening weekend—tying the all-time Week 1 record—and six 100-yard rushers emerging, the run-first approach is making life easier for quarterbacks and playcallers league-wide.
