Players and teams who embarrassed themselves during the NFL’s opening game

The NFL implemented a stand-alone kickoff game back in 2002, which absorbs the spotlight and serves as the official start of the season. We’ve seen our fair share of players and teams who didn’t get the memo, and might have thought it was still preseason. We’ll take a look back at the worst performances from the kickoff game. All statistics are sourced from Football Reference.

Generally speaking, it’s hard to go wrong when two top-tier quarterbacks are slated in the first game, as was the case in 2007. The Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning hosted the Saints and Drew Brees in what promised to be a shootout to remember.

However, only one of the star passers showed out. Brees had a terrible game, throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble. The Saints were trounced 41-10 on the road. Colts safety Bob Sanders told the Oklahoman after the game “Who cares if they(the Saints) were the number one offense, this is a new year.” He was proven correct.

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The NFL was really looking forward to this game, as it marked the beginning of its 100^th season. The broadcast went all-out advertising this game, and plugged the league’s oldest rivalry as the perfect way to get the landmark campaign going.

Unfortunately, both the Packers and Bears put forth lackluster efforts in this one. Green Bay ended up winning 10-3, but the game was painful to watch. CBS Sports wrote that it “was a defensive battle also marked by sloppy offense and penalties.”

As has become customary, the defending Super Bowl champion earns the right to host the kickoff game the following season. The Rams were in that position in 2022, and tried to recapture the magic that led them to the championship the prior season. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson even hyped up the crowd, which was a throwback to the Super Bowl as well.

Los Angeles probably soaked up the glory a little too much in this one, as they weren’t ready to handle a motivated Buffalo Bills team. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford tossed three picks, and Buffalo went on to win 31-10. Los Angeles coach Sean McVay said, “We weren’t ready to go. That’s on me… it was a very humbling night.”

The San Francisco 49ers took down the Giants in the first standalone kickoff game back in 2002. They won 16-13, thanks in large part to the lackluster performance from New York quarterback Kerry Collins.

Collins threw three interceptions, which put his team in a difficult position. After the game, Giants Hall of Fame defensive end Michael Strahan told the New York Post, “We should have won this game, and it shouldn’t have been close.”

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The NFL brought two AFC powerhouses together in 2004, as the Colts went to Foxboro to play the New England Patriots. The game ended up being highly entertaining, with New England narrowly defeating Indianapolis 27-24. But there was one Colts star player who hurt his team dearly.

Running back Edgerrin James did rush for 142 yards, but he uncharacteristically fumbled the ball twice, which made the difference in such a close game. The Colts’ team website also notes that kicker Mike Vanderjagt missed a 48-yard field goal to tie the game in the closing seconds, so there was enough blame to go around.

The Dolphins were desperate to find an answer at quarterback in the 2000s after Dan Marino retired. They thought Culpepper would be the solution to their problems, but it soon became apparent that they didn’t tab the right player.

Miami fell 28-17 in the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Culpepper didn’t remotely look like the player he was with the Minnesota Vikings, He threw two interceptions and took three sacks. The Washington Post noted that Pittsburgh was playing with a backup quarterback themselves, which made the defeat all the more embarrassing for the Dolphins.

The Vikings came within a hair of making the Super Bowl in 2009, but lost a difficult NFC championship game to the New Orleans Saints. The NFL decided to run that matchup back to start of the 2010 campaign, but it didn’t quite live up to expectations.

41-year-old Brett Favre was hoping to recapture the form he had in 2009 to get Minnesota off to a good start, but was only able to lead the offense to one touchdown in a 14-9 loss. That would be Favre’s final season in the NFL, where he threw 11 touchdowns to 19 interceptions.

The Broncos hosted the Carolina Panthers in a rematch of the Super Bowl. Denver was able to hold on for a 21-20 victory, but their offensive attack didn’t resemble the same one that Broncos fans had been accustomed to seeing in years past.

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Peyton Manning wasn’t the same player in 2015 when Denver won the Super Bowl, but he still had the wherewithal to move the ball down the field. New starter Trevor Siemian tossed two interceptions in the season opener. The Broncos have essentially been searching for an answer at quarterback ever since.