The 2026 NFL season kicked off on 9 September with a Super Bowl LX rematch between the defending champion Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, underlining the league's dominance of American sport and television. The article, from Variety, highlights seven storylines worth following this season, chief among them a crowded field of elite quarterbacks who have yet to convert individual brilliance into championships, alongside notable coaching and roster changes.

Quarterbacks singled out include Buffalo's Josh Allen, who has twice been knocked out of the AFC Championship by Patrick Mahomes' Kansas City Chiefs; Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers, still without a playoff win; and Cincinnati's Joe Burrow, hampered by repeated injuries since reaching the 2022 Super Bowl. Major offseason moves include Myles Garrett's departure from Cleveland to join the Los Angeles Rams alongside returning veteran Aaron Donald, the Bengals acquiring defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II, and receivers A.J. Brown and DJ Moore joining Drake Maye and Josh Allen respectively. The piece notes that in 2025, 83 of the top 100 highest-rated US television broadcasts were NFL games, and the Super Bowl drew 127.7 million viewers.