2025 NFL Week 1 Preview: Giants-Commanders, Rookie Debuts Highlight FOX Slate

To start the 32nd season of the NFL on FOX, Tom Brady, Kevin Burkhardt, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi will be on the call for the New York Giants-Washington Commanders matchup in Landover, Maryland. 

That’s just one of six enticing matchups on FOX this Sunday. Let’s take a look at some cool stats and storylines to watch in each NFL on FOX game in Week 1.

New York Giants at Washington Commanders, 1 p.m. ET

Who has the highest Week 1 passer rating of any quarterback since 2019? Strange as it might seem, it’s Giants starter Russell Wilson, who has 13 touchdowns and zero interceptions in openers over the past six seasons. He’s completed a ridiculous 77% of his passes. The only quarterback with more touchdown passes than Wilson in Week 1 matchups over that span is Patrick Mahomes (17).

However, Wilson has some bad Giants history to overcome in his first start with the franchise. The Giants are 1-7 in season openers since 2017, with the losses coming by an average of 18 points and the last two by a combined score of 68-6. 

Washington’s Jayden Daniels rushed for 88 yards and two scores in his NFL debut in last year’s opener. No NFL quarterback since 1948 had rushed for that many yards and multiple touchdowns in a season opener.

Which team can survive with a backup tackle? The Bucs are without All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs, with veteran Charlie Heck stepping in, and the Falcons will be without right tackle Kaleb McGary all season, with backup Storm Norton injured as well. That likely means Falcons offensive lineman Elijah Wilkinson, 30, gets his first start since 2023. 

Just as important: Which defense can exploit the backup? Atlanta used its 2025 and 2026 first-round picks to take edge rushers Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. in April, hoping to spark a defense that has 18 fewer sacks than any other NFL team since 2020. The Bucs, in turn, gave Haason Reddick $14 million to add a veteran presence to their pass rush, which has the third-most sacks in the league over the past five seasons. 

The Falcons swept the Bucs last year, but Tampa Bay still won the NFC South for the fourth year in a row. It’s clear that this game’s winner will sit in the division driver’s seat for 2025.

Why is Week 1 Joe Burrow’s personal Kryptonite? For his career, he’s 1-4 in openers, with four total touchdowns against five interceptions, including a 24-3 loss at Cleveland two years ago. The Bengals swept the Browns last year, and Burrow had five touchdowns and no interceptions in the two wins, so perhaps facing Cleveland is this year’s antidote. 

What does Browns starter Joe Flacco have left in the tank? If he can throw multiple touchdown passes, he’ll be just the fourth quarterback ever to do so in a season opener at age 40 or older — Tom Brady did so four times, Drew Brees twice and Warren Moon once. Seems easy enough, but since 1995, only twice has a Browns quarterback thrown for multiple touchdowns in Week 1: Colt McCoy had two in 2011, Kelly Holcomb had three in 2002 … both in Cleveland losses. 

The Browns are 2-17-1 in their last 20 season openers.

Call it the Todd Bowles Bowl: Both head coaches got their head-coaching jobs after single seasons as Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator, with Dave Canales leaving to take over the Panthers in 2024 and Liam Coen taking over the Jags this year. 

All eyes will be on Jaguars two-way standout Travis Hunter, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft and expected to make an impact on offense and defense. Only twice since the NFL-AFL merger has a player caught a touchdown pass and gotten an interception in the same game. Former Philadelphia Eagles star Brian Dawkins did (scoring on a fake punt) in 2002 and Roy Green of the Arizona Cardinals did in 1981. And as rare as that is by modern standards, Hall of Famer Don Hutson pulled it off 11 different times with the Green Bay Packers between 1940-44.

What would constitute a promising NFL debut for Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward? Last year’s much-heralded class of rookie quarterbacks combined for zero passing touchdowns in Week 1 — and still went on to have a historic season. The ultimate standard for a rookie quarterback going off in a debut is, by coincidence, the Titans’ own Marcus Mariota, who had a perfect passer rating of 158.3 in his 2015 debut, throwing for four touchdowns in a lopsided win over the Bucs. Tennessee is 2-7 in openers since then, including four straight losses scoring 20 points or fewer. 

A year ago was a humble debut for Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, who threw two picks and averaged 3.3 yards per pass in a loss to the Seahawks.

Is Christian McCaffrey back? The 29-year-old running back was limited by injuries to four games last season, but led the NFL in rushing in 2023. If he’s back to his old self, you should see it in the opener. His two first-team AP All-Pro seasons featured big debuts as he rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns to open the 2019 season, and rushed for 152 and a score in the 2023 opener. His only two previous visits to Seattle went well, as he rushed for a combined 222 yards and three touchdowns in a pair of 49ers wins. 

Sunday will be the Seahawks’ debut for receiver Cooper Kupp, who is used to big openers. He’s scored and topped 100 receiving yards in the past three he’s played in, averaging more than 15 targets per game. San Francisco has held him in check over the years, though, allowing the former Los Angeles Rams star to only three touchdowns in 10 career meetings.

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!

Get more from the National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more