When it comes to starting off a season on the right foot, continuity is often king in the NFL.
Teams spend much of the offseason poring over roster holes and implementing schematic shifts, with some opting to fully transform their teams. But even the most promising plans often don’t fully take form until well into the season, creating some uncomfortable missteps in the early going. But for organizations that have already established a core and stuck with it, the first few weeks of the fall can provide a window for them to lord their comfort level over opponents still trying to sort things out.
With just two days left until the season opener, here are five NFL teams that could race out to hot starts early in the 2025 campaign:
Arizona Cardinals
If you’re looking for an outside-the-box candidate to create some early noise, this might be the leading candidate. Few teams have a more favorable path to 2-0, as the Cardinals open at a New Orleans Saints team in transition before hosting the Carolina Panthers, who made few material upgrades to a defense that ranked last in points and yards allowed in 2024. If Arizona can navigate its subsequent NFC West showdowns against the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, ensuing matchups with the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts give the franchise a ripe opportunity for its best start since 2021, when it began 7-0 before floundering to an 11-6 mark and wild-card playoff exit.
The Cardinals don’t have the same level of roster consistency as some other selections on this list, but there are several promising signs of stability. An offense that ranked sixth in success rate appears to have a higher operating baseline than many other attacks given its strong roots in the run game. While Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. still have to demonstrate a better connection with one another, Trey McBride has proven himself more than capable of serving as the focal point of a passing game. Meanwhile, a defense plugging in several new key pieces should be able to rely on savvy veterans Calais Campbell and Dalvin Tomlinson to find their footing before long.
San Francisco 49ers
Things are already looking up for a franchise that suffered historic levels of misfortune in 2024, as the Monday practice return of wide receiver Jauan Jennings and offensive guard Dominic Puni indicated the 49ers are getting closer to healthy at the right time. That’s not to say there won’t still be injury uncertainty, particularly in a receiving corps that could be without Brandon Aiyuk until around midseason. But tight end George Kittle and running back Christian McCaffrey lighten the load for both quarterback Brock Purdy and second-year wideout Ricky Pearsall, the latter needing to take over the mantle of go-to target after notching just four starts as a rookie.
But there should be little concern about what Kyle Shanahan can muster offensively after last year’s group managed to post the ninth-highest expected points added per play despite a rash of personnel losses. What’s less certain is how quickly Robert Saleh can take control of a defense that is a far cry from the edition he last oversaw five years ago. But a return to the coordinator ranks could prove fruitful both for the former New York Jets coach and San Francisco. And with the 49ers needing several young players to step up rapidly for a unit that ranked 29th in points allowed last season, Saleh seems more fit than most to engineer a rapid turnaround.
And for all of the setbacks it faced last season, San Francisco is now poised to reap the rewards of its last-place finish in the NFC West. A soft schedule will serve up the Saints and Jacksonville Jaguars in September, with the first game against a playoff team (the Los Angeles Rams) not coming until Week 5.
Buffalo Bills
If the Bills emerge triumphant from the “Sunday Night Football” opener against the AFC runner-up Baltimore Ravens, watch out. Buffalo could be a major threat to be the last undefeated team standing, as its next six games all come against outfits with losing 2024 records. With the tilt at the Jets marking the lone time Sean McDermott and Co. will leave the comfort of Highmark Stadium in the first five weeks, the Bills should have no trouble rounding into form right away.
After deftly navigating the myriad of changes last offseason, Buffalo now is posed to stand apart from its peers thanks to its ability to stay the same. Reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen is bolstered by a Pro Bowl running back in James Cook, a varied receiving corps with multiple breakout candidates and an offensive line that returns all five starters after allowing the fewest sacks in the league last season (14). The cohesion extends to the coaching staff and schemes, with offensive coordinator Joe Brady back as perhaps the league’s top head-coaching candidate for 2026 and Bobby Babich firmly entrenched on defense. Buffalo might be exceedingly difficult to keep pace with down the stretch, but the task might be even more difficult in the early fall given how few questions this group faces.
Washington Commanders
Despite reaching the franchise’s first NFC championship game since the 1991 season, the Washington Commanders weren’t content to merely run things back. The team addressed many of its most glaring deficiencies by importing elder statesmen, with left tackle Laremy Tunsil, wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. and edge rusher Von Miller all being counted on to figure things out sooner rather than later. The changes kept coming well into the summer, as the trade of Brian Robinson Jr. to the 49ers marked an official changing of the guard in the backfield.
Still, the Commanders might not require an extended time frame to have all their new contributors coalesce with the bigger picture. This is still a roster that orbits around Jayden Daniels, and all the newcomers were brought aboard in service to the second-year quarterback. The schedule should also lower the degree of difficulty on the acclimation period, with only two of Washington’s first seven games coming against returning playoff outfits. But the Commanders might also be especially motivated to capitalize on the September and October setup, as a finishing slate that includes two meetings with the Philadelphia Eagles in the final three weeks could prove lethal if the team ends up mired in the NFC wild-card chase.
Denver Broncos
Sean Payton needs no reminder of the Broncos’ inability to start off with smooth strides under his watch, with the coach last week placing a special emphasis on the matter after having started 0-2 last year and 0-3 in his debut season in Denver. Things set up much more favorably this time around, however. A defense that posted the league’s best EPA per play and success rate in 2024 looks poised to tee off against No. 1 pick Cam Ward, who will be making his first NFL start with the Titans on the road, and the Colts’ Daniel Jones. From there, the team only has three true road games – a London matchup against the Jets is set for Week 6 – in the eight weeks before the bye.
The real difference for Denver this season, however, lies in an offense that won’t be in trial-and-error mode while it sorts things out under certain. With Bo Nix blossoming from caretaker to at least an occasional true catalyst, an attack that excelled at avoiding backbreaking mistakes looks like it could be even more vexing for opposing defenses. An offensive line that returns every starter and has a legitimate claim as the league’s best front should make things easier for a new-look rushing attack. The final stretch looks imposing, with five of the last seven contests – including both matchups against the Kansas City Chiefs – coming against incumbent playoff teams. But for the first time in quite a while, Denver has the make-up of a group that can be somewhere around the front of the AFC West race at the quarter pole mark of the season rather than furiously trying to make up ground on the nine-time reigning division champs.
