The Arizona Cardinals snapped their two-game losing skid by capitalizing on three Andy Dalton interceptions in a 42-34 win over the New Orleans Saints on Thursday.

The Cardinals led 35-17 before the Saints scored two fourth-quarter TDs through Dalton passes, but the damage was done as Arizona improved to 3-4 at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Arizona QB Kyler Murray, who was seen shouting at head coach Kliff Kingsbury in the second quarter, completed 20 of 29 passes for 204 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions, along with 30 rushing yards. DeAndre Hopkins sparked his side, returning from suspension for the first time this season for 103 yards from 10 catches.

Cardinals running backs Eno Benjamin, who had 12 carries for 92 yards, and rookie Keaontay Ingram both scored TDs.

The story of the game was Saints QB Dalton, starting for the fourth straight game in Jameis Winston's absence due to a back injury. 

Dalton had thrown only one interception in his previous three starts, but gave away three, including two pick-sixes to Marco Wilson and Isaiah Simmons. He had 30-of-47 passing for 361 yards with four touchdowns, connecting with Juwan Johnson for two of them, but the three interceptions hurt.

The Saints had gone ahead early when Dalton found Rashid Shaheed with a 53-yard TD pass, but the Cardinals worked their way back with 25 second-quarter points. Ingram powered his way in for a TD, before Wilson swooped on Marquez Callaway's tip ball, followed by Simmons' interception return from the 40-yard line.

The game marked the Cardinals' first 40-plus-point game since January 1 2017, breaking the longest streak in the NFL of 87 games.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marquise Brown got a second opinion on his injured left foot and will be sidelined at least one month.

Coach Kliff Kingsbury gave the injury update Wednesday, and although he admitted he didn’t know the exact nature of the injury, he said it won’t require surgery.

"It looks like it’ll be indefinite. I think at least a month, I would say," he said via video from Bo Brack of PHNX Cardinals podcast. "We’ll evaluate it and go from there."

It was originally being reported that Brown would be sidelined at least six weeks after he was injured in Sunday’s 19-9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Brown ranks fifth in the NFL with 43 receptions and has the seventh-most receiving yards with 485, while his three receiving touchdowns account for half of Kyler Murray’s TD passes.

Murray, though, will have a pair of new weapons at his disposal for Arizona’s Thursday night game against the New Orleans Saints.

Robbie Anderson will make his Cardinals debut after being acquired from the Carolina Panthers on Monday, and DeAndre Hopkins will rejoin the team with his six-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs now over.

The Arizona Cardinals boosted their wide receiver corps by acquiring Robbie Anderson from the Carolina Panthers in a trade on Monday.

Draft compensation was undisclosed as Anderson's career with the Panthers ended on a sour note.

The seven-year veteran was sent to the locker room by interim coach Steve Wilks in the second half of Sunday's 24-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

Earlier in the game, Anderson got into a heated argument with position coach Joe Dailey before being separated by teammates. 

Later in the third quarter, he again exchanged words with Dailey before Wilks, who was coaching his first game after Matt Rhule was fired last week, sent him off.

He now joins a 2-4 Cardinals team that could be without leading receiver Marquise Brown after he suffered a left ankle injury late in Sunday's 19-9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

In fact, Kyler Murray will have a pair of new weapons at his disposal for Arizona's Thursday night game against the New Orleans Saints with DeAndre Hopkins set to rejoin the team with his six-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs now over.

Hopkins had 42 catches and eight touchdowns last season in only 10 games.

Anderson caught five passes for 102 yards with a touchdown in the season opener for Carolina but was limited to just eight receptions for 104 yards without a score in the next five games. 

He was not targeted a single time in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Signed to a two-year, $29.5million extension through 2023 prior to last season, the 29-year-old Anderson was upset about being taken out on third down when he believed he should be on the field.

"It's third down, it's a money down. I don't think I should be okay with that [being taken out],'' Anderson said. 

"So I made a comment on why I was taken out.

"Honestly, I was confused because I have never been told get out of the game. And, you know, upset by that. Nobody that is a true competitor would be OK with that.''

Competitor or not, Wilks said his behaviour was unacceptable.

"No one is bigger than the team," Wilks told reporters. "I'm not going to focus and put a lot of attention on one individual… I'm not putting a lot of energy into one individual."

Prior to joining the Panthers in 2020, Anderson spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the New York Jets.

Sometimes in fantasy football, there's one game that proves a bonanza for managers who invested in players from the teams involved.

Anyone who had Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Derek Carr or Davante Adams in their lineup for Monday's game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders can attest to that.

A week earlier, those who happened to go with players from the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions were likely celebrating wildly as they shared 93 points in a remarkable shootout.

Forecasting such games can be difficult, but the Seahawks could be involved in another this weekend, and their Week 6 matchup features heavily in Stats Perform's fantasy picks.

Quarterback: Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals @ Seattle Seahawks

The Cardinals' offense has been an extremely difficult watch so far in 2022, but a trip to Seattle to face the Seahawks represents an extremely favourable matchup.

Only the Detroit Lions (170) have allowed more points than the Seahawks (154) through five games, while Seattle's defense has given up a league-high 8.17 yards per pass play.

Murray has just one 300-yard passing game so far this year, but that seems almost certain to change against an opponent as porous as the Seahawks.

Running Back: Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots @ Cleveland Browns

Over the last three games, Stevenson has racked up 300 yards at an average of 5.88 yards per carry.

Ten of his carries in that time have gone for 10 yards or more. Only Nick Chubb of the Browns (13) has produced more such rushes in that time.

Stevenson and Chubb will both look to make an impact when the Patriots visit Cleveland and the former will be extremely confident going against a Browns defense that struggles to stop anybody on the ground, allowing 5.32 yards per rush.

Simply put, if you have Stevenson on your fantasy roster, you're starting him.

Wide Receiver: Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks vs. Arizona Cardinals

Let's return to the NFC West matchup in the Pacific Northwest, in which there is little reason not to expect the Seahawks to put up points given they have scored 80 in their last two games and face another vulnerable defense here.

The Cardinals held the high-flying Eagles to 20 points but have allowed 6.86 yards per pass play, the eighth-most in the NFL.

Since Week 2, Lockett has 378 receiving yards, fewer than only four other players in that time. With Geno Smith delivering a well-thrown ball on 86.8 per cent of pass attempts, the second-best rate among quarterbacks with at least 100, the Seahawks going against Arizona's defense is a recipe for another big day for Lockett.

Tight End: Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams vs. Carolina Panthers

The Rams' offense is struggling, and the Panthers' defense is unquestionably the best aspect of their team. So, on the surface, picking out a Rams offensive player not named Cooper Kupp may seem a bemusing move.

But Higbee has been targeted 24 times over the course of the Rams' heavy defeats to the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys in the last two weeks, and he has caught 17 of those passes.

He is a considerable safety net for Matthew Stafford, who is again likely to face a heavy pass rush in this encounter. Going against a 1-4 Panthers team going across the country having just had their head coach fired, the opportunities Higbee will receive should make a valuable fantasy performance, especially in points per reception leagues.

Defense/Special Teams: Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Pittsburgh Steelers

The Buccaneers' hugely impressive defense, which has allowed the fourth-fewest yards per play (4.7) in the league, should feast on a lowly Steelers team that managed only three points last week in Buffalo.

Pittsburgh's rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett has four interceptions in just six quarters of play this season. The Buccaneers have forced nine turnovers, the fifth-most in the NFL. It's an easy decision to start Tampa's defense.

Jalen Hurts felt he let the Philadelphia Eagles down on Sunday despite helping them maintain their unbeaten start to the season against the Arizona Cardinals.

The Eagles improved to 5-0 on Sunday with a 20-17 win in Arizona as Cardinals kicker Matt Ammendola hit a game-tying field goal attempt wide right, wasting the opportunity to send the contest to overtime.

Hurts, though, was disappointed he gave the Cardinals the chance to force an extra period with a kick, having thrown an incomplete pass to Quez Watkins on third down from the Arizona five-yard line with the score tied at 17-17, leaving the Eagles to settle for a field goal at the end of a 17-play drive that lasted nearly eight minutes.

For Hurts, it was a significant blemish on a game in which he was otherwise very accurate. Hurts completed 72 per cent of his passes and, per Stats Perform data, delivered an accurate, well-thrown ball on 91.2 per cent of his attempts. He also rushed for the Eagles' only two touchdowns.

"As a competitor when you have the ball in your hands at the end of the game, you want to take advantage of it and not give the opposition the opportunity to win the game, tie the game, whatever it is," said Hurts.

"I don't look at anybody else but myself. I look in the mirror and I look at myself and I ask myself, 'What could I have done more to not put the team in this position toward the end of the game? How could I have gotten us in the end zone?'

"What could I have done more to put us in a better position? I feel like in many ways, I feel like I let them down. 

"Just with opportunities we didn't take advantage of and the ball touching my hands every play. Those are the mixed emotions I have.

"The worst feeling is when we walked off the field, when I walked off the field even toward the end of the game, we kicked a field goal.

"[Eagles kicker Cameron] Dicker made a great play and put this team in a great position, but there's nothing that I can do. 

"I can't control what their kicker does. He missed it. Our kicker made ours. I can't control that, but I can control what we do in the second quarter, in the first quarter, when I have the ball in my hands. I can do that.

"I don't like putting the team in the position where their kicker has the opportunity to tie or win the game, or our defense is on the field.

"If I can control it, I want to take advantage of that. That’s just my competitive nature with it."

The Dallas Cowboys have now won four games in a row with backup quarterback Cooper Rush after defeating the Los Angeles Rams 22-10 away from home on Sunday.

Rush, who now owns a 5-0 record as a starter as he continues to fill-in for the injured Dak Prescott, was not burdened with a large responsibility against the Rams as it was the running backs and defense doing the heavy-lifting.

Cowboys pass-rusher DeMarcus Lawrence got things started with a fumble recovery for a touchdown after just 93 seconds, and the only other touchdown they scored came from a 57-yard Tony Pollard run in the second quarter.

The Dallas defense made life miserable for Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, sacking him five times, as well as snagging an interception and recovering two forced fumbles. Second-year star Micah Parsons led the way with two sacks, and Malik Hooker came up with the interception in the fourth quarter to ice the game.

Often considered a controversial aspect of the Cowboys offense, their two-pronged running back attack was the key to their success on the offensive end.

Highly paid Ezekiel Elliott was again given the larger workload, carrying 22 times for 78 yards, and he was once again outperformed by his backup, Pollard, who tallied 86 yards and a touchdown from just eight carries.

Reigning Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp was as reliable as ever for the Rams, catching seven passes for 125 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown.

Eagles move to 5-0 after late kick fails to send it to overtime

The Philadelphia Eagles remain the only unbeaten team in the NFL after a 20-17 road win against the Arizona Cardinals.

The Cardinals had a chance to tie the game with a 43-yard field goal in the dying seconds, but missed, allowing the Eagles to secure the win in regulation.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw a clean game, completing 26 of 36 passes for 239 yards and no turnovers, and he was also his side's leading rusher with 15 carries for 61 yards and two touchdowns.

Marquise Brown was on the end of Kyler Murray's only touchdown pass of the day, and adding insult to injury is the fact that starting running back James Conner (ribs) and third-stringer Darrel Williams (knee) both suffered injuries.

Standing as the only undefeated team across the NFL, the 4-0 Philadelphia Eagles will need to bring an end to a poor record in Arizona, having lost four consecutive matchups against the Cardinals.

The Eagles have not won in Arizona since Week 8 of the 2001 season, a 21-7 win highlighted by Brian Mitchell's 94-yard touchdown return of the opening kick-off, and will hope for similar magic on Sunday.

Miles Sanders enters the contest in fine form, setting a new career high in rushing yards last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars with 134 and scoring two rushing touchdowns for only the third time in his career (Week 5 & 14, 2020).

That saw him become the first Eagles player with 130+ rushing yards and two TDs in a single game since LeSean McCoy in Week 16, 2013, and only the sixth player to do so in the franchise's history.

This season, Sanders boasts 356 rushing yards to rank third among the league's rushing leaders behind only Saquon Barkley (463) and Nick Chubb (459) – the trio the only three players across the NFL to have 350+ rushing yards in the opening four games of the season.

However, the Cardinals have been strong against the rush this season with their opponents averaging just 87 yards per game, ranking fifth in the NFL, though only two teams have faced less rushing plays than Arizona (81).

For the Cardinals' offense, the onus will be firmly on Kyler Murray, who has attempted 173 passes this season, behind only Matt Ryan (195), whose 128 completions make him the sole quarterback to tally more than Murray (113, tied with Josh Allen).

However, a pass completion percentage of 65.3 is only enough to rank 14th in the NFL, with Murray's 991 yards leaving him 16th in the league and indicative of his bizarre lack of downfield threat. Murray's air yards per attempt average of 5.47 is the worst in the league among quarterbacks with at least 10 attempts.

The Eagles have allowed their opponents a gross passing yards total of 821, the seventh-lowest total in the NFL, so Murray will face a stern test if he is to lead the Cardinals to a fifth win in a row against their NFC rivals.

After no little drama so far in the NFL, the action continues in Week 5 with another Sunday crammed full of appetising games.

Following a thriller between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints in London last week, England's capital plays host to the latest international series matchup as the New York Giants face the Green Bay Packers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Elsewhere, pre-season Super Bowl favourites the Buffalo Bills welcome the Pittsburgh Steelers, while the Philadelphia Eagles look to continue their winning streak on the road against the Arizona Cardinals.

With all that and more on offer, Stats Perform has delved into Opta data to preview this weekend's contests.

New York Giants (3-1) @ Green Bay Packers (3-1)

The Giants head to London on the back of a 20-12 victory against the Chicago Bears, where they did not have a single receiver with 20 or more receiving yards for the second time in six games, stretching back to last season. Prior to that, the Giants had one such instance in their previous 231 outings.

Last week, Aaron Rodgers went 21-for-35 (60.0 per cent) in the Packers' 27-24 overtime win against the New England Patriots, which tied the Tennessee Titans for the most overtime wins since 2017 (six).

In that game, Rashan Gary had two sacks and boasts at least one sack in all four games this season. No Packers player has recorded at least one sack in the team's first five matches of a campaign, since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.

Philadelphia Eagles (4-0) @ Arizona Cardinals (2-2)

The Eagles head to Arizona as the only undefeated side remaining in the 2022 season, but they have lost four straight road games against the Cardinals, coming as part of a 3-10 record since 1993 – their last win in Arizona coming in 2001.

Philadelphia maintained their winning streak against the Jaguars after fighting back from a 14-0 deficit, their first win when trailing by at least 14 points after the first quarter since 2014, also against the Jaguars, while their last such win prior to that was against the Jets in 1993.

Cardinals QB Kyler Murray threw two touchdowns and ran for another last week, tying Daunte Culpepper as the second-fastest quarterback to reach 75 passing TDs and 20 rushing career TDs, doing so in 50 games. Only Josh Allen (48 games) has been quicker to that total.

This season, the Cardinals have outscored their opponents 49-13 in the fourth quarter, boasting the best differential (+36) in that regard, while the Eagles are -20 this season in the fourth (9-29), ranking 27th in the league.

Pittsburgh Steelers (1-3) @ Buffalo Bills (3-1)

The Steelers boast a stellar overall record against the Bills, winning seven of the last nine matchups. However, they are 1-2 in games against Josh Allen, who has been responsible for at least one touchdown in his last 18 consecutive home games, tying Jim Kelly for the franchise record.

Sunday's game will mark Kenny Pickett's first career start, having thrown three interceptions in the second half against the New York Jets last week, making him the first Steelers debutant to throw three interceptions since Terry Hanratty in 1969.

He faces a challenge to get the Steelers' offense ticking, Pittsburgh having gained 1,115 total yards through the first four weeks of the season, the team's lowest tally since the 2010 season (1,078 yards).

Stefon Diggs is the man to watch for the Bills, boasting 406 receiving yards this season – 253 more than his closest teammate in the rankings (Isaiah McKenzie, 153), which is the largest such gap in an NFL team this season.

Elsewhere…

The Chicago Bears head to Minnesota to face the Vikings and rank last in the NFL for net passing yards, with 390 so far, some 168 fewer than the Giants with the second-lowest total (558). The Bears are the first team with fewer than 400 net passing yards in the first four games of a season since 2005.

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is looking to enhance his touchdown record on the road against the Cleveland Browns, having thrown at least one TD pass in 35 different games since making his debut in Week 2 of the 2020 season – tying him with Kirk Cousins for the most games with a TD pass over the last three seasons.

The Houston Texans travel to face the Jacksonville Jaguars on the back of eight straight wins against their opponents, which stands as Houston's longest streak against any opponent all-time. Houston have yet to post a win this season, however.

The Detroit Lions have set an NFL record already in this campaign, becoming the first side to score 140 or more points and concede 140 or more points across the first four games of a season. They travel to the New England Patriots.

Arizona Cardinals defensive linesman J.J. Watt said he would play against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday after undergoing a heart procedure.

Watt spoke out ahead of his team's game to reveal he had to have his heart shocked back into rhythm after lapsing into atrial fibrillation on Wednesday.

The former Houston Texans man said he was disclosing the news because the information had been leaked.

"I was just told somebody leaked some personal information about me and it’s going to be reported on today," Watt wrote on Twitter.

"I went into A-Fib on Wednesday, had my heart shocked back into rhythm on Thursday and I'm playing today. That's it."

A three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year during his time in Texas, Watt is in his second season with the Cardinals.

Police in Las Vegas are investigating allegations that a fan struck Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray in the aftermath of Arizona’s 29-23 overtime victory over the Raiders on Sunday.

Video showed that Murray was giving high-fives to fans in the front row of Allegiant Stadium when a man appeared to reach down and strike Murray in the face with an open hand.

Murray was not injured but appeared shocked by the act on video.

A Las Vegas police spokesperson confirmed that a battery complaint was filed Sunday. Murray’s name was not explicitly mentioned by the spokesperson, who said the allegation was that "a spectator at the stadium struck a professional football player."

Police have not yet identified a suspect.

Arizona head coach Kliff Kingsbury said he has not seen the video but was made aware of the incident on Monday.

"I was just told about it," Kingsbury said. "But I think that guy's a lowlife, whoever did it, and I hope they arrest him, he gets fired and can never go to another game."

The Cardinals trailed 23-7 at halftime but stormed back to force overtime, thanks in large part to Murray tallying a passing and a rushing touchdown, along with two two-point conversions to force overtime.

Arizona won the game when Byron Murphy Jr. returned a Hunter Renfrow fumble 59 yards for a touchdown in the extra session.

Kyler Murray decided to take responsibility for the Arizona Cardinals after a woeful first half left them 20-0 down at the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

And Murray and the Cardinals were rewarded for his bravery as they rallied to a sensational 29-23 win in overtime.

Cornerback Byron Murphy's fumble return decided the game, but quarterback Murray had brought Arizona to that point.

Under increased scrutiny this season after signing a five-year, $230.5million contract extension – which initially contained a controversial 'homework' clause – Murray threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1 but saw the Cardinals beaten 44-21.

Through two quarters in Week 2, Murray had completed only six passes for 53 yards, thrown an interception and not carried the ball once.

It looked like being another miserable day for the former first overall pick and his team-mates, yet he turned the game on its head.

"I had to take over, had to do whatever it took to win," Murray explained. "That was my mindset."

The fourth-year star threw for 224 yards and a TD, rushing for a further score to put Murphy in a position to win the game.

"That feeling, going into the half where nothing is going right, we've felt that plenty of times since I've been here," Murray said afterwards. "It's an ugly feeling.

"But the grit, the resiliency of this group... the issue with this group is never about playing hard. It's about executing."

The pick of Murray's plays was a two-point conversion when the Cardinals trailed the Raiders 23-13, as the QB scrambled for 20 seconds and 85 yards before reaching the end zone.

"There's so many do-or-die plays, I lost count, where we had to have this stop, had to have this two-point conversion, had to score, had to have the fourth down," coach Kliff Kingsbury said.

"And guys just kept fighting. I mean nobody blinked. At half-time, it was just, 'hey, we got to settle in and do what we do'.

"We played about as bad as you could the first half and didn't play great the second half, but the effort was incredible."

Of Murray, he added: "He's a special talent. You can see when he's able to do his thing, that's what he does, and he had some tremendous plays.

"The numbers may not be great, [but] we don't care about numbers."

How quickly the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense would adjust to the loss of Tyreek Hill was the question on everyone’s minds entering the 2022 NFL season – but Patrick Mahomes and his teammates had a quick and emphatic answer.

Mahomes was nearly flawless and the offense unstoppable at times as the AFC powerhouses started their campaign with Sunday’s 44-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, extending the NFL’s current longest active wining streak in season openers.

The Chiefs didn’t miss a beat in their first outing since trading Hill, a six-time Pro Bowler who amassed a team-high 111 catches and 1,239 receiving yards in 2021, to the Miami Dolphins in March. Kansas City scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions, with each drive 75 yards or longer, to build a 20-7 lead midway through the second quarter and force the Cardinals into catch-up mode right from the outset.

Mahomes capped each of those series with touchdown passes – two to running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire – while completing a razor-sharp 16 of 19 throws for 163 yards over the course of those three drives.

"Guys were just ready to go," Mahomes said. "They were excited to get out there and show what we had. Everybody’s asked us the questions of what this offense, what this team’s going to look like. We’ve always believed that we were going to go out there and put on a show and I thought guys did that."

Mahomes didn’t stop there, finishing with five TD passes while completing 30 of 39 attempts for 360 yards without an interception to lead Kansas City to their eighth consecutive season-opening win under coach Andy Reid.

The 2018 NFL MVP has started the past five of those lid-lifters, and thrown for 18 touchdowns and no interceptions in those games.

"It’s coach Reid getting more weeks to game-plan," Mahomes said of his history of early-season success. "That’s always a good thing for me because he’s getting guys kind of running wide open.

"But then I think it’s (also) how we do training camp. It prepares you to be ready Week 1. Coach has a great game-plan in, you have guys flying around that are ready to go, ready to play a game and not be at practice against each other. We’ve done a great job of just executing in Week 1."

Mahomes’ rapport with the two players brought in to help replace Hill was instant as well. Former Pittsburgh Steelers wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster produced six catches for 79 yards (all in the first half) in his Chiefs debut, while ex-Green Bay Packer Marques Valdes-Scantling hauled in all four of his targets for 44 yards.

Six Kansas City players finished with at least three receptions on a day when Mahomes emphasised spreading the ball around, though star tight end Travis Kelce unsurprisingly was the focal point with 121 yards and a touchdown on eight catches.

"With the amount of tight ends, running backs and receivers that we have, it’s going to be everyone,” Mahomes remarked. "It’s going to be a lot of guys catching passes. It’s going to be running the football, it’s going to be throwing the football. It’s going to be the short game. It’s going to be the deep passes.

"I think that makes this a hard offence to stop."

The first week of the 2022 NFL season is here, with all the possibilities a new campaign brings.

Things kicked off on Thursday with the Buffalo Bills beating the Los Angeles Rams 31-10 thanks to a starring role from quarterback Josh Allen, who threw three touchdowns against the defending champions.

There are even more enticing games to look forward to over the weekend, with last season's Super Bowl runners up the Cincinnati Bengals hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers, Patrick Mahomes and the much-fancied Kansas City Chiefs facing Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals, and it will be Aaron Rodgers v Kirk Cousins as the Green Bay Packers go to the Minnesota Vikings.

Stats Perform dives head first into Opta data to preview those games and more of the opening weekend of NFL action.

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals have won their last three games against the Steelers (27-17 in December 2020, 24-10 and 41-10 last season). It is the Bengals' longest winning streak versus the Steelers since they won six consecutive games from 1988 through 1990.

Mitch Trubisky will be the first quarterback other than Ben Roethlisberger to start a season opener for the Steelers since Dennis Dixon in 2010 (Roethlisberger was suspended). Trubisky is 1-2 in season openers, losing to the Packers twice and beating the Detroit Lions (all when he was with the Chicago Bears).

The Bengals played a league-high seven games decided by exactly three points during the 2021 regular season (won three, lost four), the highest single-season total by an NFL team since the 2012 Steelers (seven). Three of Cincinnati's four postseason games were also decided by exactly three points, including the 23-20 Super Bowl loss to the Rams.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow completed 67 of 85 passes for 971 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions over his final two games in the 2021 regular season (Week 16 against the Ravens, Week 17 against the Chiefs). Burrow's passing yardage is the second-highest two-game total by one player in NFL history, trailing only Dak Prescott's 974 passing yards over a two-game span in 2020.

Kansas City Chiefs @ Arizona Cardinals

The Chiefs have won their division in six consecutive seasons, which is three more than the next longest active streak (Green Bay). Only two teams in NFL history have had longer streaks (New England - 11, 2009-2019 and LA Rams - seven, 1973-1979).

Patrick Mahomes has won 50 of his 63 career starts as Kansas City's quarterback. The only QB in the Super Bowl era to reach 50 wins in fewer career starts than Mahomes was Kenny Stabler, who earned his 50th win in his 62nd start.

Arizona scored 30 or more points in nine different games in 2022, tied for the most in a single season in team history. Since a 56-14 win over the Vikings in Week 4 of 1963, the Cardinals have gone 903 games without scoring 50 points, which is the longest streak in NFL history (Broncos, 761 straight games from 1963-2013).

Cardinals QB Kyler Murray will not want to be upstaged by Mahomes, and is the only player in NFL history to have at least 70 passing touchdowns and 20 rushing touchdowns in the first three seasons of his NFL career.

Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings

In their 22 road games against the Vikings this century, Green Bay has scored 30 or more points in 10 of them. That is tied for most 30-point games by an NFL team at a single opponent in that time with the Patriots at the Bills.

No NFL head coach has won more games over his first three NFL seasons than Matt LaFleur (39; George Seifert had 38). A win Sunday would make LaFleur the third coach in NFL history with 40 wins through 50 career games as head coach, joining Paul Brown (41) and Chuck Knox (40).

Kirk Cousins has thrown for at least 3500 yards and 25 TDs in seven consecutive seasons, the longest active streak in the NFL. He is the fifth QB in NFL history to have more than five straight, joining Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and Tom Brady.

Since becoming Green Bay's starter in 2008, Aaron Rodgers has thrown 169 TDs against division opponents, compared to 25 interceptions. The Vikings have a total of 121 passing touchdowns and 73 interceptions against the NFC North in that span.

Elsewhere...

When Carolina host Cleveland, with Baker Mayfield starting for the Panthers and Myles Garrett starting for the Browns, they will become the second pair of number one overall draft picks for the same team to go on to play against one another. The others were Jeff George and Steve Emtman in 1995.

The Eagles head to the Lions, with no team targeting their receivers less frequently than Philadelphia last season (239 targets), which led to the acquisition of A.J. Brown. The fourth-year WR has scored a TD on 13.0 percent of his career catches, third-highest rate among active players (min. 150 receptions).

The New Orleans Saints will need to beware of Foye Oluokun, who led the NFL last season with 192 total tackles, becoming the first Atlanta Falcon to lead the league in that category since Jessie Tuggle in 1995 (152). Oluokun's 192 total tackles were the most in a season by an NFL player since Chris Spielman had 195 in 1994 for the Lions.

Tom Brady is back for Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a very brief retirement as they travel to the Dallas Cowboys. The 45-year-old's last two seasons mark the first time in NFL history a QB has had 40 or more TD passes and a passer rating of 100.0 or better in back-to-back seasons.

The idea of "any given Sunday" is what makes the NFL so compelling.

Any one team can beat another, and that means at this stage of the season, with the first snap still to be taken, every team can have Super Bowl aspirations.

Sort of.

The Cincinnati Bengals, for example, may have been slightly surprising contenders in 2021, but there remain some teams whose title hopes are so remote as to be non-existent.

For some, this is because they have missed their shot at glory in recent years; for others, the plan is to challenge in seasons to come.

So, this leads us to draw up a preseason tier system, ranking all 32 teams by their Super Bowl windows with the help of Stats Perform AI predictions...

Nowhere near

This is unlikely to be a season to remember for the teams grouped in this category, for a variety of reasons.

The Houston Texans won the AFC South in 2018 and 2019, but the Deshaun Watson saga and two down years have them looking at a rebuild, with the data forecasting just 4.8 wins this year. That at least ranks them ahead of the Atlanta Falcons (3.6 projected wins) and the New York Giants (4.2), while the Texans did gain draft assets in the Watson trade.

The Chicago Bears are the fourth and final team projected to earn fewer than six wins (4.9), with second-year quarterback Justin Fields receiving little help on offense and playing behind an offensive line ranked 31st in pass protection.

Meanwhile, the Washington Commanders rank 31st in terms of skill players – better only than the Falcons – with faith in Carson Wentz long since having diminished. In Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, the Carolina Panthers have two high-draft-pick QBs unlikely to trouble the postseason. The New York Jets are in a similar boat, even if Zach Wilson is still young.

The Detroit Lions might argue they do not deserve to keep such company after a 3-3 finish to last season, but nobody could seriously argue they are title contenders.

Entering contention

If that first group was a mixed bag, so too is the second.

Anyone who has paid any attention to the New England Patriots' preseason would suggest they are very fortunate to be given any hope of success in the near future, but they finished with 10 wins in 2021 – even if that number is projected to shrink to 7.7. Despite a trade for Tyreek Hill, that still ranks the Patriots comfortably ahead of the Miami Dolphins (7.0), although the losing team in their Week 1 meeting will face a long slog of a season.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Philadelphia Eagles are forecast to have 11.9 wins – the second-most in the NFL – after a very strong offseason. But Jalen Hurts, for now, is unproven in the postseason, so Philly fans may have to stay patient.

The San Francisco 49ers are even younger at QB after promoting Trey Lance to a starting role, which explains why the prediction model looks so unfavourably on a team many consider contenders right now. Just 7.1 projected wins speaks to the potentially low floor Lance brings.

NFC West rivals the Arizona Cardinals have to be considered among this group of future hopefuls, with Kyler Murray hugely talented and now committed long term but frustratingly inconsistent, while the Jacksonville Jaguars will hope Trevor Lawrence can follow in the footsteps of the Bengals' Joe Burrow – the number one pick the year before him.

The Los Angeles Chargers, with 9.8 projected wins, have Justin Herbert to lead their charge, while the Cleveland Browns might have been contenders already if not for Watson's suspension, which is enough to limit them to a still strong 9.3-win forecast.

In their prime

The Chargers may have Herbert, but they also have three division rivals who intend to win and intend to win now. Indeed, all four AFC West teams rank in the top half of the league in terms of projected wins, with the Chargers second – behind the Kansas City Chiefs (11.5) and just ahead of the Denver Broncos (9.7) and the Las Vegas Raiders (9.2).

The Chiefs lead the AFC in this regard, although their playoff win over the Buffalo Bills last season came down to a coin flip, and the two are set to be similarly tough to separate this year. Buffalo are down for 11.1 wins.

The two teams coming off a Super Bowl run are of course prominent among the contenders, even if the model has far greater optimism for a Los Angeles Rams repeat than for another Bengals charge. The Rams are backed for a league-leading 12.4 wins and given a 15.3 per cent shot at defending their title, while the Bengals are actually projected to dip below .500 with 8.2 wins.

The Bengals' route to the Super Bowl will be complicated not just by the AFC West and the Bills but also by any return to form for the fit-again Lamar Jackson's Baltimore Ravens, who are counted among nine teams on course for 10 or more wins (10.4).

Also in that group are NFC pair the Dallas Cowboys (11.0) and the Minnesota Vikings (10.9), who may not even be the best teams in their divisions but might be nearing a point when they must seriously challenge or start again, which brings us to...

Last chance saloon

As long as Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are the QBs for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers, those teams are in with a chance. The question is how long that will remain the case.

Brady is 45, briefly retired this offseason and then missed a chunk of the preseason. Rodgers is 38, has repeatedly been linked with a move away from Green Bay and lost top target Davante Adams ahead of the new season. Still, the Buccaneers rank eighth for projected wins (10.7), with the Packers up in third (11.5).

They are not the only ageing teams in the NFL, however.

The Indianapolis Colts hope they have upgraded in moving from Wentz to Matt Ryan, yet the former MVP is now 37 and last played in the postseason in 2017 – when Wentz's Eagles took the title.

Tennessee Titans QB Ryan Tannehill is a little younger at 34, but of greater concern would be Derrick Henry's durability after the injury that limited to eight games last regular season. The Titans need to make the most of any seasons they have left of the superstar running back going at full tilt.

Missed their chance

Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees won Super Bowls with the Seattle Seahawks, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints respectively, but with all three having now moved on, it is difficult to see those teams plotting a path to the title.

For the Seahawks and the Steelers, this will be their first year without their stalwart QBs, even if things had already gone stale in 2021. Wilson dipped below the .500 mark for a season for the first time in his career, while Pittsburgh were attempting to stay competitive in spite of Roethlisberger rather than because of him.

Still, with both gone – Wilson to Denver and Roethlisberger to retirement – there is a void under center that has not been suitably filled. Seattle also rank 32nd in pass protection, likely leaving Geno Smith hopelessly exposed.

The Saints have had another 12 months to come to terms with Brees' exit, albeit they spent it juggling Jameis Winston, Trevor Siemian and Taysom Hill at QB. Winston's season-ending injury doomed the Saints' hopes of contention last year, and New Orleans' outlook for 9.5 wins with the entertaining but erratic former number one pick is at least far more positive than that of the Seahawks (6.2) or the Steelers (7.0).

Regardless, each of these three teams have provided an example in how not to do succession planning. They all could have won additional honours with their departed veterans and now face long waits for further title tilts.

The time is almost upon us. When that first ball is kicked at the start of the Los Angeles Rams' opener against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday, we will be on our way to yet another enthralling season of NFL action.

And there are few better reasons to get excited at the beginning of a new campaign than the promise of a good old redemption story.

These tales may not necessarily revolve around someone who has suffered a fall from grace, though; in some cases, it might just be someone who has taken a smidge longer than expected to blossom.

So, before the thunder and lightning of a new NFL season, Stats Perform has taken a look at five men who could have a touch more motivation to show everything they have to offer in 2022.

Baker Mayfield – Carolina Panthers

Mayfield perhaps leaps out as the most obvious choice.

Big things were expected of the quarterback when he was the number one pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, charged with leading a flailing 0-16 Cleveland Browns.

There were moments of promise in his four years in Cleveland, throwing 27 touchdowns in 14 games in his first season, and in 2020 he played a big part in getting the Browns to the playoffs, unthinkable when he came through the door.

However, in 2021, Mayfield threw just 18 TD passes, the worst season of his career, as a Browns team who were starting to feel like they had outgrown him finished 8-9.

Of quarterbacks to have more than 300 passing attempts, only Sam Darnold (59.9), Trevor Lawrence (59.6) and Zach Wilson (55.6) had a lower pass completion percentage than his 60.5.

After a lot of uncertainty, he finally found a new home after being traded to the Panthers, who are in desperate need of a quality QB after the Darnold experiment failed last year.

It is a risk for both parties, and both need it to work, but you could also argue it could not get much worse for either.

Gabe Davis – Buffalo Bills

There had not been any immediately obvious signs that Davis was going to be a breakout star for the Bills for most of his first two seasons.

Seven TDs in his rookie year – and none in the playoffs from only four catches – were followed by just six in the 2021 regular season.

However, thanks to his explosive performance against the Kansas City Chiefs in last season's playoffs, plenty are excited about what could come from Davis and the much-fancied Bills in 2022.

His four TDs and 201 yards from eight receptions – for an average of 25.1 yards – were still not enough as the Chiefs ultimately won the AFC Divisional Round encounter in overtime, but Davis emerged as a potential new star.

By the end of the campaign, no player had recorded over 1,000 burn yards – yards in situations where a receiver 'wins' his matchup against a defender – from fewer receptions (45) than Davis.

But was this a one-off, or can Davis do it all over again? We will soon find out.

Trevor Lawrence – Jacksonville Jaguars

Lawrence could end up being a very similar story to Mayfield. He was also the number one pick for a team with little else going for it.

In his rookie year, Lawrence threw for 12 TDs, but his poor pass completion percentage was set out above.

He remained a busy man regardless, with only six QBs making more than his 602 pass attempts, but the Jaguars could only manage three wins, two more than in 2020.

Whether it was sloppy throwing or feeling the need to take risks with little assistance, Lawrence threw 26 pickable passes, with only four QBs who made over 300 pass attempts seeing a worse pickable pass percentage than his 4.59 per cent (Jimmy Garoppolo – 4.82, Taylor Heinicke – 5.04, Zach Wilson – 5.21, Davis Mills – 5.56).

There is undoubted talent there, hence the hype when he was picked up by Jacksonville in 2021, and it is surely just a case of Lawrence having more help and getting more experience. We will perhaps see this season.

Matthew Stafford – LA Rams

Yes, it's another quarterback, but with a twist. This one just won the Super Bowl, after all.

It may seem strange given the ring he has on his finger, but the situation with Stafford's elbow means he must prove himself all over again.

In terms of numbers, the Rams QB has now established himself among the elite. Stafford ranks in the top 12 all-time in completions (11th, 4,302), passing yards (12th, 49,995), passing yards per game (sixth, 274.7), touchdown passes (12th, 323) and game-winning drives (seventh, 42).

Crucially, he led the team to Super Bowl success last year, too.

But the Rams' hopes of a repeat are pinned on Stafford being fit enough to perform all year long, and there are some worrying noises around an elbow issue heading into the year.

Should Stafford shake off those concerns and combine with Cooper Kupp for another outstanding season – and perhaps another ring – nobody could possibly doubt his legacy.

Kliff Kingsbury – Arizona Cardinals

It is not just players who have something to prove, but coaches, too – and you could argue Kingsbury does more than most.

While undoubtedly a talented coach, Kingsbury is building a reputation as someone who comes up with effective plays to start a season but is less able to adjust to keep ahead of the competition once they figure it out.

After winning their first seven games, the Cardinals raced out to a sensational 10-2 start last season, well ahead of projected results, only to stumble to 11-6 after losing four of their last five in the regular season, before being humbled 34-11 by the Rams in their first postseason game.

The excellent start cannot be ignored, but neither can the fact that it made nine seasons in a row in which a team led by Kingsbury have had a worse second half of the season than the first.

Despite being without DeAndre Hopkins for the first six games due to suspension, Kingsbury has an exciting team in Arizona and it would be no surprise to see them start strongly again.

They just need to figure out a way to maintain it this time.