HOUSTON — When Josh Allen heard the question, he couldn’t help but go with the flow.In an effort to describe the quarterback’s spellbinding effort that carried the Buffalo Bills to victory in Sunday’s season opener, tight end Dawson Knox had used a psychological term to sum up the focus, freedom and magic that causes even Allen’s opponents to shake their heads in wonderment.When I asked Allen a few minutes later if he was, in fact, in a flow state during the final stages of a 36-31 victory over the Houston Texans, he broke into a wide smile and started laughing.“Yep,” he acknowledged, “that was a good flow state. I was just feeling the flow, riding the bull. And it all came together.”The bull in question was the Texans’ formidable defense, and the ride was resplendent, culminating in an audacious, 34-yard touchdown strike to little-used receiver Joshua Palmer with 1:36 remaining.The last time I’d seen Allen after a game, he was crying, stung by yet another heartbreaking playoff defeat. Much has changed since that emotionally wrenching January evening, including Allen’s head coach and marquee receiving target — D.J. Moore, acquired in a March trade with the Chicago Bears — but his mission remains the same: bring the Bills and their rabid fan base the Lombardi Trophy they have craved for decades.Sunday’s triumph was a promising start, part of a scoring explosion across the league that included a game (the Bears’ 59-37 victory over the Carolina Panthers) with more combined points than any in the past eight years. For many of the NFL’s defensive players and coaches, it was a wake-up call — which, conveniently, happens to be the name of this new, weekly column.The upshot of a wild opening Sunday was that even in the wake of a Super Bowl triumph fueled by a dominant defense, this league still revolves around the star signal callers who give their teams a chance to dream, no matter how daunting the circumstances.Bills edge Texans in Week 1 thriller Allen, the league’s 2024 MVP, spent his Sunday torching a Texans defense that went into the season billed by many as the NFL’s best. Two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, playing for a new head coach (like Allen) and offensive coordinator (unlike Allen), was equally scintillating in leading the Baltimore Ravens to a 41-23 road rout of the Indianapolis Colts. And while Cincinnati Bengals star QB Joe Burrow wasn’t quite as hypnotic, his team’s new-look defense fueled a 33-27 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and provided hope that Cinci can end a three-year streak of missing the postseason.On Monday night at Arrowhead Stadium the league’s true jefe, Patrick Mahomes, returns from a lost season and torn ACL to quarterback the Kansas City Chiefs in an early test against the Broncos, their AFC West rivals.Beyond that top-shelf quartet of AFC quarterbacks, there are rumblings of a new generation’s push to reach that lofty level. Most glaringly, Caleb Williams, the Bears’ third-year QB, seems poised to become the latest member of his stacked draft class (joining Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye) to make pulses quicken and hearts flutter.In two playoff games last January, Williams provided some of the 2025 postseason’s most indelible moments. On Sunday in Charlotte, he nearly dropped 60 on a Panthers team also coming off a playoff appearance. Williams did it despite his first pass being fumbled away by receiver Luther Burden III (setting up a Panthers touchdown drive) and despite a failed fourth-and-1 conversion from his own 21-yard-line (ditto).Williams’ dynamic effort was one of the more notable developments on a day when they came at a dizzying pace.In the early window, the New Orleans Saints waged a furious road comeback, took the Detroit Lions to overtime and — in what was practically an homage to opposing coach Dan Campbell — blew off a likely tie and laid it all on the line with a late 2-point conversion attempt. Later, one LaFleur (Mike, the Arizona Cardinals’ rookie coach) led his team to a stunning upset while another (big brother Matt, the Green Bay Packers’ eighth-year coach) watched a seemingly secure lead turn into a Minnesota Mauling. And on Sunday night, we got our first piece of concrete evidence that the John Harbaugh Effect is real, in the form of the vastly improved New York Giants’ 28-20 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.If you were looking for a single sequence that encapsulated the frenzy, it happened during the final two minutes of the Bills’ victory over the Texans, a game that had nine lead changes. Trailing 31-30 at the two-minute warning with the ball at his 32, Allen zipped a quick pass to tight end Dalton Kincaid, who shook off an attempted tackle by cornerback Kamari Lassiter and burst into the secondary for a 35-yard gain. Two plays later Allen, after being flushed to his left, launched an errant pass for Palmer — playing in place of the temporarily hobbled Moore, who’d earlier scored on a spectacular 43-yard sideline throw from Allen. The ball instead sailed toward Lassiter, who nearly intercepted it as he fell backward into the end zone.Given another chance Allen, on third-and-11, dropped back and unleashed a throw which, based on the Texans’ coverage, he absolutely, positively had no business making. Allen zipped the ball to Palmer, who was running a deep post from the left side, into a tight window between the trailing Lassiter and closing safety Calen Bullock.Receiver Khalil Shakir, who’d juked slot safety Jalen Pitre and sprung open near the first-down marker, fully expected to get the ball in stride. “But he’s a bad motherf—er, as I told him,” Shakir said of Allen, laughing. “If everybody could slow that down and see what he did out there, the way he manipulated them with his eyes and threw that pass, there’s no question he’s the best in the league.”Later, as Bills rookie coach Joe Brady headed to the team buses — having passed his first test after being promoted from offensive coordinator to replace the fired Sean McDermott — he confirmed that Palmer was not the intended target as the play was designed.“That’s just a ‘love-of-the-game’ route,” Brady said. “As a receiver, you usually run that to clear out space so someone else can catch it. But with Josh, you always have to be ready.”The Texans’ proud defenders were stunned by Allen’s dramatic scoring strike, even as embattled fourth-year quarterback C.J. Stroud proceeded to lead Houston to within nine yards of a winning touchdown — part of an impressive and encouraging performance — before Greg Rousseau’s second strip sack sealed the game.As Pro Bowl linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair told me long after the game, shaking his head for emphasis: “Josh Palmer catching a deep post on Kamari Lassiter to win the game — I did not have that on my bingo card.”It was yet another indelible moment for Allen and the Bills, who’ll open their new stadium Thursday night against the Lions.If all goes well for Buffalo, he’ll let it flow the way he did on Sunday.Did Ben Johnson stutter?In early August, my esteemed colleague Dan Pompei spent 14 hours with Bears coach Ben Johnson, who wasn’t bashful about his aspirations: “You’ve got 31 other teams coming to training camp saying, ‘Our goal is to win the Super Bowl.’ I want more than that. I want to have the highest-scoring offense ever, which happens to be the 2013 Denver Broncos. I know how many points per game they scored (37.9), and I want to surpass them.”Johnson said what he said, and on Sunday, he did what he did: The Bears are now three touchdowns ahead of the Peyton Manning-led Broncos’ scoring pace, after a game that featured more combined points (96) than any in the NFL since the epic 2018 Monday night clash between the Los Angeles Rams and Chiefs at the L.A. Coliseum.After Sunday’s victory Johnson, via text, chose an epic understatement: “Found a way — now it’s on to the next.”Top Plays from Bears @ PanthersThat’s like Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, after his ripping national anthem before Wednesday night’s season-opening game between the Seahawks and New England Patriots in Seattle, saying, “Hit a few notes, now it’s on to ‘Yellow Ledbetter.’”The Bears host the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field next Sunday, setting the stage for a schematic showdown between the creative Johnson and Brian Flores, the Vikings’ ultra-aggressive and highly acclaimed defensive coordinator, who also had a noteworthy season debut. Fasten your seatbelts for that one.When you’ve gotta go …The underdog Saints erased a 21-point third quarter deficit at Ford Field, had a chance to win on the final play of regulation (on Daniel Carlson’s 62-yard field goal attempt) and rallied once more after Jared Goff threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown on the first possession of overtime. When second-year quarterback Tyler Shough cut Detroit’s lead to 31-30 on an eight-yard scoring pass to Noah Fant with 1:34 left in OT, New Orleans coach Kellen Moore entered do-or-die mode, going for a 2-point conversion to tie the game.In the House of Campbell, he had to.New Orleans Saints receiver Bryce Lance couldn’t haul in a two-point conversion attempt that would have given the Saints a win over the Detroit Lions. (Mike Mulholland / Getty Images)“I think you’ve got to go for it,” Goff told me later by phone. “We would have done the same thing.”Shough’s pass to the right corner, intended for rookie Bryce Lance, landed out of the end zone — but it doesn’t mean Moore made the wrong decision. And for what it’s worth, the 0-1 Saints, locked in a four-way tie in the uninspiring NFC South, looked like division-title contenders on Sunday.The worst thing I saw SundayWhile I’m tempted to talk about Deshaun Watson’s listless performance for the Cleveland Browns in their 34-10 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars, that dishonor goes to the elder LaFleur. Matt’s Packers had a 22-10 third quarter lead over the Vikings and, with new Minnesota starter Kyler Murray having been knocked from the game with a concussion, were playing against backup quarterback Carson Wentz.Then it all imploded. Flores’ defense produced a pair of fourth-quarter takeaways, and Minnesota scored 29 unanswered points in 16 minutes to win 39-22.Vikings rally late to beat PackersFor LaFleur, it continued a disturbing trend. His team has now blown double-digit second half leads to division opponents three times in its past five games, including painful regular-season and playoff defeats to Johnson’s Bears that doomed Green Bay’s 2025 hopes. All of a sudden, next Sunday’s road game against the Jets (1-0 after a victory at the Tennessee Titans and former New York coach Robert Saleh) feels far more pressure-packed for LaFleur than previously envisioned.Dear Mr. FantasyIf I could have one play call back for one team on Sunday, it would be the Washington Commanders’ potential game-tying 2-point conversion attempt with 1:01 remaining in a 24-22 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles. With everything on the line, rookie offensive coordinator David Blough tried to be slick, dialing up a shovel pass to tight end John Bates.Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Moro Ojomo celebrates after stopping a potential game-tying two-point conversion attempt. (Bill Streicher / Imagn Images)It was a disaster: Center Nick Allegretti got blown up, and Eagles defensive end Moro Ojomo tackled Bates well short of the goal line as he caught Daniels’ pass. I’m no play-calling genius, but it sure seemed like putting the game in the hands of the Commanders’ accomplished pair of receivers, Stefon Diggs and Terry McLaurin, would have been a better idea.Two things I can’t comprehend