{"id":290678,"date":"2026-07-03T11:41:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T15:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=290678"},"modified":"2026-07-03T11:41:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T15:41:24","slug":"nfl-2026-toughest-tests-week-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/07\/03\/nfl-2026-toughest-tests-week-1\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL 2026: Which Super Bowl Contenders Have the Toughest Tests in Week 1?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Rams were already the favorites to win Super Bowl LXI next February, in their SoFi Stadium home no less. Then, the Myles Garrett trade cleared<\/a>, and somewhere in a war room at Rams HQ, they knew the Lombardi Trophy was now theirs to lose.<\/p>\n

The former Cleveland Brown is a generational pass rusher who has terrorized quarterbacks for the better part of a decade and never once played in a Super Bowl \u2014 joining a roster that came within four fourth-quarter points of getting there themselves. He claimed the single-season sack record last season, and similar numbers next season will surely make the Rams too hot to handle. Add Trent McDuffie to a secondary that watched the NFC Championship slip away in the final minutes, and you understand why the sportsbooks installed Los Angeles as favorites before a single preseason snap.<\/p>\n

NFL 2026: Which Super Bowl Contenders Have the Toughest Tests in Week 1?<\/h2>\n

The early Bovada NFL odds<\/a> ahead of the 2026 season list the Rams as the clear +500 frontrunner to reign supreme next season, less than half the price of their nearest challenger, Seattle. And it isn’t just the new additions that are the reasons why. Reigning MVP Matthew Stafford’s still there. Puka Nacua’s still there. Davante Adams is still there. But now there’s a front seven that can wreck a game plan before halftime and a corner who can erase the league’s best receiver, not just overwhelming offensive firepower.<\/p>\n

While favorites don’t get crowned in July, they do get tested in September, and four Week 1 matchups will tell us exactly how seriously to take the rest of the contenders chasing the Rams.<\/p>\n

Buffalo Bills @ Houston Texans<\/h2>\n

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Josh Allen is 1-3 against this team. Not 1-3 against the Texans in some abstract sense \u2014 1-3 against a defense that just finished first in the league in yards allowed, that watched CJ Stroud throw four interceptions in a Divisional Round loss to New England and responded by adding David Montgomery and Reed Blankenship instead of blinking.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in Buffalo, Sean McDermott is gone, and Joe Brady is about to coach his first NFL game ever \u2014 against the one team that’s owned his franchise quarterback for three years running. Brady brought in DJ Moore. He brought in Bradley Chubb specifically to fix a pass rush that finished 27th in win rate last season, and he installed Jim Leonhard as defensive coordinator to run an attacking 3-4 with two weeks of real preseason install time behind it.<\/p>\n

Houston beat Buffalo 23-19 back in Week 12<\/a> last season. Does Leonhard’s scheme rattle Stroud in his own building, or does Houston’s defense do to Brady’s debut what it’s done to every version of these Bills?<\/p>\n

Seattle Seahawks vs New England Patriots<\/h2>\n

Seven months. Same two teams. Same locker room memories of that 29-13 demolition at Super Bowl LX<\/a> \u2014 Drake Maye staring down two interceptions and five sacks, a 19-0 hole by halftime that New England never crawled out of. Sam Darnold and Seattle’s defense suffocated that team on the biggest stage there is, and now the Seahawks open their title defense against the exact opponent they buried.<\/p>\n

Kenneth Walker III is gone to Kansas City, which means Zach Charbonnet \u2014 working back from offseason surgery, showing what people around the building are calling surprisingly strong progress \u2014 inherits the backfield alongside first-round pick Jadarian Price.<\/p>\n

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Jadarian Price has a real chance to be better than Jeremiyah Love\u2026 Simply because the Seahawks drafted him \ud83e\udd37\u200d\u2642\ufe0f@SamiOnTap<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/oCp4uzJbb1<\/a><\/p>\n

— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) May 13, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n