Leonard Fournette ran for 100 yards and a touchdown in his NFL debut, and Jacksonville had 10 sacks and forced four turnovers to help the Jaguars to a 29-7 win over the Houston Texans.
The Texans hoped to provide a boost to the area ravaged by Hurricane Harvey with a win. Instead, Tom Savage struggled behind a porous line and was benched in favour of rookie Deshaun Watson at halftime with Houston down 19-0.
Blake Bortles threw for 125 yards and a touchdown, Calais Campbell had four sacks and Dante Fowler returned a fumble 53 yards for a score as the Jaguars snapped a six-game skid against Houston.
J.J. Watt returned after missing 13 games last season after back surgery, but injured his finger in the first half and finished with just one tackle.
Elsewhere on the first Sunday of the new season, Australian punter Lachlan Edwards was busy for New York Jets in their 21-12 loss against Buffalo.
Edwards punted six times for an average of 43.7 yards and a long of 58 yards.
Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes to tight end Jesse James as the Pittsburgh Steelers, with minimal help from Le'Veon Bell, opened the season by holding off the Cleveland Browns 21-18.
Pittsburgh also kept their Australian punter busy, with Jordan Berry called upon six times, with a long of 59 yards and an average of 40.9.
Atlanta beat Chicago 23-17, as Matt Ryan threw an 88-yard touchdown to Austin Hooper and led two fourth-quarter scoring drives as the NFC champions held on.
In Nashville, Derek Carr threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, and Carr won his third straight against Marcus Mariota and the Titans in as many years, with Oakland winning 26-16.
Amari Cooper caught a TD pass as the Raiders made the Titans pay for opening the season with an onside kick they couldn't recover. Marshawn Lynch also looked very refreshed after his year away from football. Lynch finished with 18 carries for 76 yards.
Also on Sunday, the Eagles beat the Redskins 30-17, Detroit beat Arizona 35-23 and Baltimore beat Cincinnati 20-0.
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